Writing: Prep Work

Novel in 90 Days: Getting Ready

Taking the Writers' League Class? Get ready, 'cause we're writing a book!

• Begin making space in your life for your novel. Get your house clean, streamline your desk. Enlist the help of family and friends that you are making a commitment to getting your novel written.
• Really think about your novel. Figure out where and what time this story takes place, who the main characters are, what they want and how they’ll get it, or if they’ll get it. Write a two or three page “guide,” just as you would give someone directions. You should also know your GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) for your book. Why are you writing it? What is it you want to convey to the reader?
• Collect things that will help you along the way. I collected photos of what my characters look like, made out a blueprint of my protagonist’s house and office and got a map of Galveston, which is where part of my book takes place.
• Create a tagline for your novel. The tagline for SCOOP was Janet Evanovich meets the Ya Yas. Encapsulate your idea in one sentence. All of this is to get your wheels turning, to get inside your novel and work it from the inside out.
• Be accountable. Log on to novelin90days@yahoogroups.com and subscribe to the Novel in 90 Days group. We’re going to post our word counts and progress there.
• For more information on Novel in 90 Days, visit Kit’s blog at kitfrazieroffleash.blogspot.com or email her at kitfrazier@yahoo.com

Ready, set, write!

Okay, gang, get ready for Novel in 90 Days, complete with lessons I've learned, am still learning, and stuff I wish I'd learned a long time ago. If you're planning on coming to class (and even if you're not), have a favorite novel's First Page ready to go.

We're going to talk about getting started, setting attainable (but BIG) goals, how to dive in, where to dive in, and how to stay afloat once you're in up to your eyelashes.

We're going to talk about ideas and how to tell if they can carry the kind of book you want to write. We're also going prepare our left and right brain for the task at hand.

Left brain, listen up: We're going to make lists, we're going to practice timed writing, we're going to journal, we're going to talk about interviewing sources and research, and we're going to read in order to tighten up those fat, flabby frontal lobes.

Right brain, loosen up. Take a walk. Pet the dog. Make a list of things that make you happy. Describe the intricate details of the thing or circumstance that makes you happy. Splash in mud, take a hot bath, visit the library and soak in other writer's work through the happy osmosis that takes place in libraries.

Choose a soundtrack for your novel, choose a movie that puts you in the mood to write your novel.

And get ready. We're about to write a book . . .

Girls rock and Mean Jeannies

Okay, so I'm slogging, slogging, slogging through revisions *more research, please* and stopped to lunch with writer pals this week. Super talented, all, and Emily McKay with a birthday, and I got her a super cool Rosie the Riveter tool set--okay, so Rosie had nothing to do with it, but it was chock full of tools, including hammer, nails, measuring tape and an electric screwdriver *the kind that screws stuff into walls, not the OJ and Austin-made Tito's Vodka kind, although, that would have been a nice gift, too.* Fellow Writer Gals Cheryl Rae and Jan Yonkin rounded out the week with a yummy noodle bowl--just call us #36, 37 & 38 *not ages, that's our noodle numbers...* Thanks for the noodles, Cheryl! And Jan just got back from El Paso with some fresh Hatch Chilis...gracias, chica, guess what we're havin' for dinner?

And Lexi Connor, I saw you posted, but I've been away from the computer, so here's a shout out to you--Hollah!

I've forgotten how girl friends can be such a tempting treat for the Muse. And speaking of Muses, I've discovered mine has an evil twin--like the slutty, green-clad Jeannie of "I Dream of" fame. She looks an awful lot like my Muse, but when I'm away from the work for awhile, she comes in and has a party on my desk, messes with my stuff and scatters ideas and characters around that have nothing to do with The Book. At least she hasn't tried to steal my guy--but she is mean to him sometimes and says it's me.

I've got to make peace with this girl, because I've just realized she's been around forever, and I don't think she's going anywhere. Anyone know of a Jeannie Trap, maybe by Acme?

Bourbon, bananas and back to normal

The SAR chatter was right--Dean missed us, but is barreling in on Mexico. We dodged the proverbial bullet, but some of the guys are ready to head down to help sort things out after the storms. And, it was a pretty good drill, with a staging area in San Antonio, a good place south central to mobilize while missing the worst of the storms.

In the meantime, I'm finishing up revisions while enjoying some tasty Bourbon Banana Bread, which has been known to make the neighbors swoon. Baking is my default position when I get nervous. My grandmother used to wake us up in the middle of the night and say, "Who wants cake?"

Then we'd all tumble downstairs to clatter around with mixing bowls and big, wooden spoons while the scents of vanilla and bourbon floated along the stark, yellow light of the kitchen bulb. Our granddad (who slept in a seperate room) never emerged for the theatrics--either because he was *laying on his good ear* or because he was listening to baseball on the AM, drifting in and out of sleep.

And for those of you who asked...
Granny's Bourbon Banana Bread:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1 stick melted butter (cooled)
3 ripe, ripe, nearly rotten bananas
1 1/2 cup toasted pecans
3 shots and 1 tbl bourbon

Slug down the shot of bourbon and roll up your sleeves. Mix together butter, banana, eggs, and bourbon.

Mix together the dry ingredients (including the pecans) in a large bowl and fold the wet ingredients in, making sure you don't overmix. If you're tempted to keep mixing, go get another shot of bourbon and settle down.

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees and butter a loaf pan. Slug down your last shot and let the bread bake for about an hour.

Missing Texas

The buzz from several SAR buddies says we're not even close to being hit, but we remain ready, just in case. And, if Hurricane Gilbert that hit Mexico was any kind of example, we could have freak tornadoes. Hope not. Let you know.

Hurricane Readiness--Really?

So, this weekend, I was writing, cleaning house, getting ready for Novel in 90 Days and keeping a close eye on the weather, as Hurricane Dean is heading for the gulf, and may hit Brownsville in the near future. At least two Texas Search & Rescue teams responded to the devastating earthquake in Peru and now we're at the ready for a possible disaster closer to home. Sure enough, my phone beeped this morning with the readiness message--so while Brownsville battens down the hatches, we're gearing up the teams in case we're called.

In the mean time, Governor Rick Perry says, we, as a state, are ready. Really?

Remember the DISASTER of Rita, the "Tex-Odus," the completely unorganized trainwreck of an evacuation of Houston where people actually died sitting in 109- degree heat for 18 hours or more on Sam Houston Beltway and the resulting RoadWarrior-like battle for non-existant gas after being ORDERED to evacuate? My mother, brother and three of his children, as well as a neighbor's child (the neighbor came to the house and couldn't leave, but begged my brother to please, please take his child to safety) were caught in that sweltering heat in that horrifying death trap.

USA Today said, "Rita forced what could be the largest evacuation in U.S. history. Three million people fled in two states. Only Hurricane Floyd, which struck near Cape Fear, N.C., in 1999, comes close with an estimated evacuation of about the same number of people." However, in order to have an "evacuation," you need to actually provide the leadership to get people the hell out. Today went on to say, "What Rita may be remembered for most is the evacuation. As it swelled to a Category 5 with a predicted path over Galveston and Houston more than 3 million people hit the roads almost simultaneously."

What most people don't realize is that many Rita-damaged areas, like those ravished by Katrina, remain economically, ecologically and psychologically damaged beyond recognition.

Mr. Perry. I'll believe you're ready when I see it. Until then, you can bet our local SAR teams will be watching and waiting. We'll be ready, Mr. Perry. Will you?

One of the disasters of the Rita mandatory evacuation is that both sides of the freeway should have led north to get out of town, with emergency gas, water and medical provisions in medians.

Liz Taylor time and other liabilities

Okay, I got to Julie Kenner and Julia London's signing/Q&A at 3:30 (fashionably late, ala Liz Taylor time, but apparently, Mizz Taylor is passe after the demise of Sex & the City) and I wound up on the tail end of their big To Do at Barnes & Noble La Frontera this Saturday. So . . . the pics I promised are not forthcoming, but I have to say, a good time was had by all.

Despite my tardiness, I heard it was a packed crowd in the Starbuck's area *got my fave--a venti black iced tea--NO ICKY SYRUP* and shared a toasty, cheesy pretzel with fellow ARWA writer Lexi Connor. Want to hear more about the signing, visit Lexi at her super blog, which she updates way better than mine, and actually got there in time. Saw fellow ARWA'r Marj Allen off before her big trip to London; bought Julie's latest, Demon's are Forever, but alas, Julia's American Diva was gone before I got there. Ordered it, will report later.

In other news, the class for Writers' League is going well--almost sold out, so if you're planning on attending, get in touch ASAP.

I'm slamming though revisions, and about to pay a visit on a real morgue. More on that later. Have fun, and hope your week is filled with the things that make you happy . . .
Kit