I hope you are finding ways to beat the heat in the steamy HOT weather that has invaded a good part of the country.  The heat outside is giving me a good reason to sit my butt on the chair and work on my novel, TESSA AND CLAUDINE. 

In Chapter 17, Tessa has a disastrous experience during her first week of college and is now highly suspicious of all males.   After a short downhill slide, she gets involved in her classes and campus life and is able to move on.  By Christmas break, she’s learned to love  her freedom.  Back at home, she gets immediately slapped in the face by her controlling mother.  She feels her independence slip away.  She turns to her sister for support but Claudine, too involved with her dominating husband, ignores her.   Tessa is ready to give up on her family.  She can’t wait to get back to her dorm.

Tessa and Claudine are drifting farther and farther apart.  They are at a fork in the road.  I’m just hoping I can figure out a way to get these sisters on the same page again. 

I have read several good sister stories. Does anyone have a sisters’ novel to recommend to me?  I’m always looking for another good book to read.

Stay cool.  Lisbeth

Now that we have the royal couple married off, I guess it’s time to step out of their fairytale and go on with our own lives.  I must admit that William and Kate looked fantastic and also very much in love.  I didn’t get up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the wedding festivities, but I did view the evening highlights and check some of the details on the internet.  It looks like Kate’s pretty sister, Pippa, made a big hit.  I don’t think she’ll be lacking for dates.   Hmm, how about Harry and Pippa.  Wouldn’t that be a trippa?

Okay, okay, I know I am getting silly.  It’s time to wish the newlyweds well.  Here’s hoping the media heeds their pleas to leave them alone.  I certainly hope so.  Now, it’s time to slide  on to the next subject.

I want to give you an update on Tessa of “Tessa and Claudine” fame.  Well, my novel “Tessa and Claudine” is not exactly famous.  It’s still in the works, but I am simply getting Tessa ready for the celebrity routine.  I don’t want to take her by surprise. 

At this point, in Chapter 15, Tessa is anxious to go off to college.  Her sister is married now (to a guy she thinks is a real creep), and Tessa is eager to take wing.  Leila, her stepfather, Harry’s, mother,  a loud Italian lady from the Bronx, has just left, after visiting for a week and sharing a room with Tessa (much to her dismay).  Soon after Leila leaves, Tessa writes to her good friend, David Finkelstein, who goes to college at the University of Missouri, telling him details about Leila’s visit.  Tessa is disappointed because David has decided to go to summer school.   Before she can finish her note to David, she hears a loud pounding on their apartment door.  Tessa soon finds herself in the midst of a family emergency. 

This  chapter is not a fairytale.  Not even I expected it to end the way it did. 

Tessa is definitely growing up.

Betrayal Beneath the Spanish Moss, Leslie Stern,’s novel about  Emma, a beautiful, rich, and intelligent woman who gets involved in a relationship with, Jake, a drug addict is a real page turner.    I have discovered that, Leslie Stern, who I met at author, Rosemary Daniell’s, Zona Rosa writer’s workshop here in Savannah, has included some good advice in her book. 

She talks about the “Giant Killer” philosophy which is based on the story of David and Goliath.  She explains this theory to Jake, hoping it will help him kick his drug habit.   The philosophy goes as follows:  Do the difficult tasks in your path first, then do the easy ones.  This builds up your confidence.   Simply put, do the things you don’t want to do  right away.  (For instance, don’t check your e-mail or get on Facebook when you should really be working on your writing, write the 1000 words you promised you’d write today and then check your e-mail, etc.) 

Doing the difficult first is called using your mind instead of just doing.  “Think first. Giant killers take the high road, the more difficult path.  Giant killers not only see what they want but what the outcome will be,” Stern says in her novel.  Thanks for the great advice, Leslie.   I feel certain I’ll be getting more tips from reading your compelling novel.

Okay now that the “Giant Killer” philosophy has kicked in to get my blog updated, I’m going to nudge Tessa and Claudine, the sisters in my current novel back into action.   Much to Tessa’s dismay, at almost nineteen, Claudine is now engaged and about to marry Frank.

I love it when I’m reading a book and I come across dialogue, especially after I have plowed through several paragraphs of description and exposition.   All of a sudden the characters are talking to one another, and the story really rolls along.  I feel so good because I get to listen in on the conversation.  I’m anxious to hear what the characters have to say.  I never want to know too much about what they are thinking about.  I just want them to spit out those wonderful words.  

And, I want the characters to sound like real people.   If they speak in long sentences, it doesn’t work for me.   People don’t talk that way.   Really good dialogue sounds clipped.  It includes both what is said and what is left out.   What is not said allows me to wonder.  I learn a lot about the characters by noting the way they speak. 

Often in good dialogue, I can tell that one person is not listening.  Instead, just like in real life, they are thinking of what they are going to say next.

As for me, what I am going to say next, is that it’s time to go back to revising my novel, Tessa and Claudine.   Tessa just gave her sister, Claudine, a tongue lashing.   As usual, Claudine ignored her. 

Bye for now.

I’m a workshop junkie.  I attend these gatherings to get a critique of my work.   I used to come home, look at all of the pen marks on my chapter, and then begin to make changes.  I don’t do that anymore.   Now, I return home and mull over the questions my workshop leader and others in the class asked about my protagonist, about the relationships between my characters, and about the structure of my story.  I check to see if certain scenes move my story line forward.  I remind myself to trust my reader.

The next day, I work on the next chapter of my novel, and get excited thinking about the new directions in which my plot can flow. 

I also begin to correct small changes in my critiqued chapter but save major changes for down the road, when I can see where the story line is taking me.  I make notes in the margin and clip or stick-on notes regarding changes I’m not exactly sure about.   And, eventually it all comes together.

I find that, after a critique session,  taking time to think about revision is valuable.   I learn more this way.  I often take a walk and rehash my story.  I focus on the scenes and recall the constructive comments I’ve received.  That’s when the creative juices begin to flow. 

Sometimes, when I go out to dinner with my husband, Doug, I still have the juices flowing.  He gives me this look and says, “So how many characters are out to dinner with us tonight?”

“Only a couple,” I say with a sly grin.  “And they don’t eat much.”

I’ve got more writing tips.  The good news is that there weren’t as many pen marks on my manuscript at the second workshop.  There are two things I want to pass along.

1.  Let the reader SEE the scene.  In other words, show don’t tell.  I know you’ve heard these words over and over.  But let me give you an example.  In my novel Tessa and Claudine, Tessa is in the hospital and her Dad shows up.  Sounds fairly normal, right?  But it isn’t because she’s sixteen and hasn’t seen her dad since she was a toddler.  Her parents are divorced.  She’s a mess after an accident, and she;s shocked when he comes to visit her.  He’s about to leave, and I jump in and tell the reader why he’s leaving.    It turns out that this is a bad move.  I need to let the reader see the scene instead.  It’s better to  show the action, indicate just what the Dad is doing at this point  — after all he has to feel uncomfortable around her.

2.  Next tip.  Do not undermine the tension.  Okay, now I have a tense scene going.  Tessa’s Dad has just left her hospital room, and she hears a loud commotion in the hallway.  It’s her mother yelling and screaming her head off at her dad for coming to see the daughter he barely knows.  I slow the story down by throwing in a line about how the nurses tell her mother to keep her voice down.  (My workshop leader says NO, don’t do that, “It undermines the tension.”)    The  mother needs to walk into Tessa’s hospital room as if the confrontation with her dad never happened.  Great advice, I think.

I’m learning a lot by having my work critiqued and by listening to the critiques of others.  Stop in after my July workshop for more  tips.

Right now I’m spending hours revising my novel, but hey, it keeps me out of trouble.  It’s good and hot here in Savannah, but I love it.  I think those summers  growing up in Southern Illinois without any air conditioning prepared me for the hot, humid South.  

Happy writing to one and all.  And safe travels if you are hitting the road this summer.

Lisbeth

We went on this fantastic Western Carribbean cruise  — Cayamo,  A Journey Through Song and LOVED it.  We listened to concerts day and  night  for five days- it was great.  The musicians:  Lyle Lovett, Brandi Carlisle, Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Steve Earle, Shawn Mullins, Chuck Cannon (my favorite), and a host of others wowed us.  I went to a songwriters workshop and ever since I’ve been playing with words night and day.  

TESSA AND CLAUDINE – REVISION TIPS:  I’m rolling along with my novel, revising each chapter, making sure the reader can see the scene, and cutting out parts.  I may like a certain paragraph, or scene, but I ask, “Does this relate to the  overall story?”  If the answer is no, then no matter how well it’s written, I push the delte button.  It hurts, but it has to go.  I remember a writing instructor saying, “If you’re writing about an Indian, then everything you write must in some way relate to the Indian.”

I’m sharing chapters with a cousin who’s writing a memoir.  We read and critique.  It works well.  She catches things I can’t see.  I recommend this type of back and forth critiquing with one person you trust to do a good critique.  Sometimes we get too close to our work that we can’t see the small mistakes.  Knowng my cousin is going to want to touch, taste, see and feel what is going on is helping me to make sure I appeal to the senses.

On the cruise, I saw lot of families.  I visited with sisters traveling together.   Often the sisters seemed so different in personality, but there they were laughing, singing, having a great time together.  It gave me hope that I could get my two characters back in touch with one another.   

My sister, Charlotte, and I had our many differences, but we both liked to cook.  She loved my chicken enchiladas.  I’m going to add that recipe today.   Let me know if you like it.  (Look under Recipes for the chicken enchilada recipe.)

Any other Cayamo fans out there?

My goal this year is to revise my novel, TESSA and CLAUDINE get it on the market.  I finally have a working plan.  As a Virgo, this makes me feel soooo much better. 

Here’s the deal:  I reread a chapter on the computer.  What I’m doing is changing the tense from past to present and also tightening.  As I read, I ask myself — does this scene move the story forward.  If the answer is no, I delete it.   Since I’ve decided to put the whole book in present tense, instead of past, I pay close attention to the verbs and make tense changes.  And then I record the whole chapter on a tape recorder.

I got this idea after reading a newspaper article in which authors were interviewed about writing techiniques.  If I hesitate while reading my words, it tells me that the sentence doesn’t flow well.  I stop and make changes.  I find that while reading, I often automatically change the sentence to something that sounds more natural.  I catch spelling errors working this way and also find words that still the tense change.   Overall, this system of revision has me pretty excited.  Try it.  You might like it.

Have you got any writing tips for me?  Any new writing books you love?  I saw a book advertised by James Alexander Thom, on Writing Historical Fiction that sounded good.  No, he’s not a relative. We just happen to share the same last name.

If you are looking for some good recipes, check out Samantha Matthews website:  www.diggfood.com   She wrote me a note this week, and I loved her recipes. 

Stay warm. The winter weather is upon us.  Lisbeth

It’s  high time for another recipe before I catch you up on Tessa and her sister and also happenings with ECHOES.  January has always been my favorite soup month.   Many years ago while traveling with my husband, Al, a good friend shared his recipe for Manhattan Supper Soup and we enjoy it often.  The good news — it is super easy to make.  It’s a form of vegetable soup.  Check out my modified version of Al’s recipe in my recipe section.   I promise you will love it.  Serve it with French bread and a green salad and – get ready for lots of praise.

TESSA AND CLAUDINE:  Tessa is bummed out in chapter three.  She’s in the hospital after a car accident.  Her sister, Claudine, comes to visit, as does her boyfriend, Ben.  Claudine has the nerve to flirt with Ben in Tessa’s hospital room and leaves minutes after Ben makes his exit.  Tessa is sure Claudine’s chasing after him.   Not only is Tessa a bruised, banged up mess.  Now, her sister is after her boyfriend.  Can things get worse?  Count on it.

ECHOES:   The reviews for the poetry book my granddaughter, Rachel, and I collaborated on, are positive.  We are pleased to say the least.  Readers love the concept of our parallel poems.  A teacher friend is using our poetry book as a  teaching tool for her poetry unit.  My sister Deb ordered a copy for her school library, which is great.  I hope to get it in a lot of schools.  I’m out on the marketing trail.  Today I took an ECHOES press release to a local magazine hoping they will publish an article.

It’s rather chilly in Savannah as I know it is in many parts of the country.  It’s time to read some good books, get some exercise, and make some of that yummy soup.

If you try out the soup, let me know if it’s a big hit.

Lisbeth

Happy New Year.    May good things come  your way in 2010

It’s time to introduce you to ECHOES

Here is the blurb I helped write for the catalog description for the American Library Association conference which will be held next June:   “From a grandmother – granddaughter tandem comes a poetry book, ECHOES, authored by Lisbeth Thom and her granddaughter, Rachel Nelson. This collection presents a collaboration of parallel poems, written on similar subjects.  Both spent the summer bouncing poems back and forth, turning their dream of creating a book together into a reality.  Enjoy their poetic banter and differing thoughts on life in this unusual book.”

Rachel and I kept our poetry book a secret  so we could give it as a Christmas gift.  We had such fun over the summer working on our project.  I love writing poetry and now that I am back working on TESSA AND CLAUDINE, I still find time to take a break and work on poems.

I’ve recently written several poems that relate to stay at home moms and plan to continue that trend.   My next poetry book maybe titled STAY AT HOME MOMS.   For years, I kept a journal, and now looking back through those journals gives me ideas.  Sometimes all I have to do is let those memories fall off the shelf.  After all, those days of staying home with small children are still vivid in my mind.  I well remember those days.  I had three little ones under the age of four.  I had to remind myself not to have negative thoughts about things I could not control.  Instead I tried to focus  my energy on the positive present moment.  THAT DID NOT ALWAYS WORK…. sometimes I whined.  I tried to keep a smile on my face or at least stick my face in a book as often as possible.  I kept an open book in every room in the house.  That was my escape.  Like,  go ahead and have a temper tantrum.  I am going to the Trevi fountain with…

I often get reminders of those fun and frustrating days from reading blogs about moms who write.  Kate Hopper, a young mother, teacher, and writer has a great  blog. Check it out at:  www.motherswhowrite.blogspot.com

Let me hear from you other writers, poets, and moms out there.

Happy writing.   Lisbeth