About 11 years ago, a hopeful teenager bought a red sign that said “Future Award-Winning Author At Work.”
She hung it on the doorknob of her cave during writing sessions. It motivated her, kept her optimistic. (It also warned the family not to disturb her unless the house was burning down.) She wondered if someday she’d be able to cross out the word “Future.” As she prepared to release her first novel about a year ago, she even blogged about that dream.
Well, yesterday it came true.
At about 11 AM, I received The Call, informing me that The Illuminator’s Gift had won a silver medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards! I entered this award back in July and was just coming to the conclusion that nothing was going to come of it (as many of my contest entries have over the years). But some dreams do come true, even on Tuesdays!
Among 1,300 international, independently published entries, The Illuminator’s Gift was second place in the Best First Book (Chapter Book) category! The full listing of contest winners is here (TIG is in category #38)! I’m over the moon (no pun intended) with excitement. Writing books, while full of passion and purpose, can be a long and lonely road, and validation from the outside is a welcome exhortation not to give up. Especially since there’s a lot left to do on Book #2 before its December release…
After a dizzy day of trying to work in spite of sheer euphoria, texting friends, and celebrating with family, perhaps the sweetest moment was when I took my gold sharpie and did something I’ve dreamed of doing for a very long time. I crossed out a word on my red sign.
I’d like to send this photo back in time to my shy, geeky high school self, the girl with the pimples and the big vocabulary, who wondered so often if her dreams would ever become reality.
Hang in there, girl. Believe in the gift you’ve been given. Someday the future will be the now.
Blogging has been (and will probably continue to be) spotty this month, because I am revising the draft of my NEW NOVEL–a sequel to The Illuminator’s Gift!
So, in one of my brief appearances above ground, I’ll give you a quick, behind-the-scenes tour of my revision process.
It starts with my stellar team of test readers, who critique confidential advance copies of the manuscript. These amazing people are kind of like FBI agents, only with better punctuation.
I pore over their comments for hours.
Then, using all 3 cells from the left side of my brain, I consolidate their comments into a spreadsheet. I look for patterns and common themes.
Using the comments, I map out a revision plan, using color-coded post-it notes for different sections of the book. Yet another reason I love office supplies.
Then it’s back to the drawing board–simultaneously the most rewarding and most grueling part of the revision process. Just when I’ve finished writing a whole book, I have to write some more. But on the other hand, I get to write some more (longhand, of course), which is my favorite thing. It’s like having a play date with my characters.
Then it’s time to type up what I’ve written, editing as I go. I go over the entire manuscript, paying attention to skipped words and long sentences as well as overall structure and flow, trying to make every scene fit seamlessly with the others. (Sneaky writer tip: it’s way easier to write a good beginning when you’ve already written the end.)
Sometimes revision seems like a neverending process, gobbling up hours and hours and hours on end. But just when I think I can’t keep going…
…ice cream makes all sorts of things happen.
If you’re a teacher or homeschool group coordinator located in the SF Bay Area, I talk about things like the revision process in my classroom visits! If you’re interested in scheduling a visit, send me an e-mail!
Ever noticed how violent some photography words are? Like capture, frame, shoot?
Don’t get me wrong. Photography is one of my hobbies, and I like composing a good image and goggling at beautiful galleries as much as the next person. Maybe even more.
But especially in this age of social media, of iPhones and Instagram, I think photography can be overdone.
This week has been really busy for me. Besides being a writer who has less than 100 days until the publication of her second book (eep!), I also work as an editor and an English tutor. All of these jobs were chugging away at full blast this week, leaving me pretty tired.
Sometimes you have to choose between taking pictures and enjoying experiences–between looking happy and being happy. Sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy to do both.
This week, I chose being happy. So this post has no pictures. There are no photographs of the moments of rest and smiles I found this week. Because I was busy enjoying them.
Like a melty, gooey chocolate chip cookie in the afternoon.
Or the moves I make when I’m enjoying the stretchiness of yoga pants.
Like my first pumpkin spice latte of the season.
Or a floor full of beautiful pictures as I sit planning with my illustrator.
Like a well-placed comma finding its way into a manuscript.
Or a friend who watches in amazement at the melding colors of M&Ms melting into a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
We can spend so much time trying to capture, frame, shoot our moments, forever preserving them like scientific specimens in formaldehyde, that sometimes we–I, at least–forget to actually live them, enjoy them.
And sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the shutter button for exactly that purpose.
They’re also the colors of most of my laundry. And my bedroom wall. And obviously, my book cover.
I’ve always found myself attracted to purples and blues. They’re peaceful, refreshing, and easy to be around. In a way, I feel like they represent me.
I used to think that only one color range could do that. But recently I’ve become fascinated with the color orange.
My writer friend Angela Wallace has been a fan of orange at least since we started writing stories together as teenagers. Even some of her book covers are orange.
The orange memo has only recently reached me. But now I see it as representing fearlessness, power, energy, and fun.
Maybe I’m attracted to the color now because I want to be more of these things. Maybe it’s because I’m already becoming them. And I haven’t stopped liking blue/purple or repainted my bedroom wall. But in 2014, orange has become my other favorite color.
Like for toenail polish.
And for my new indoor cactus garden.
When Angela and I got together for a photo shoot, I even wore some orange in my scarf.
After all, blue and orange are complementary colors.
Maybe a person can be more than one color–can be peaceful yet also fearless; can be easy to be around yet also powerful. We humans are multifaceted, with each facet constantly in a state of change–growing, shrinking, morphing. That’s a fact of being of being alive (and of staying out of ruts).
Maybe that’s also why we need friends who are multiple colors, to help stretch us and balance us out.
Yesterday my family and I spent an afternoon at the beach. It was the first time I’d been there this summer. This may sound ridiculous, living as close to the ocean as I do, but I protest: I’ve been writing a book.
I love the ocean, even–maybe especially–when it’s overcast and silvery, like yesterday. It’s the perfect place to rest and read in the warm sand. Or to walk and think to the rhythm of the waves. And to write poetry.
Because the whole place is poetry.
So here’s what comes of a walk along the Northern California coast on a foggy August day.
After books, some of my favorite things are office supplies. As a self-employed writer/speaker/editor/tutor, not only do I need these tools for my trade(s), but they also make me really happy.
Like really, really happy. Probably way happier than a normal person should be about lots of paper, plastic, and ink. But normal is overrated.
Because smoothing the pages of a blank planner, cracking the plastic on a new box of post-it notes, opening a fresh dry-erase marker–these are the signs of new beginnings, like daffodils in a California January. With this new batch of tools, who knows what new starts I could make this year?
I’m serious about my office supply shopping. I wait for back-to-school sales, compare bargains, then stock up for the whole year. This year my brother and I even made a date of it. He deserves a medal for waiting with great patience as I stood waffling in the notebook aisle.
The best part of office supply shopping, obviously, is choosing pens. Though it’s also the hardest. Good pens are like good friends–with you through thick and thin. Nothing irritates me like a pen that gives up in the middle of a battle scene or that writes inconsistent sentences.
My new love is the Sharpie pen, which I discovered when I started signing books last December. It’s a fine-point, felt-tip pen with an absolutely consistent ink flow, just like a regular Sharpie. But unlike a regular Sharpie, it doesn’t bleed through paper. I meant to keep my supply specially for book signings, but found myself reaching for them all the time. So now I have them in 6 colors.
My new love.
I feel like a dragon in a treasure cave. Happy day.
About two years ago, I read the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It inspired me to start keeping a thankfulness journal.
Thankfulness has long been touted as an important spiritual discipline. But recent psychological research shows its connection to a happier mindset as well. Writing down the good things that happen in a day helps bring the positive things to the top of our minds and overcome our natural human “negativity bias.”
Over the long term, I think my thankfulness journal has really improved my mood and, more importantly, begun to discipline my mind into a habit of focusing on the positive things. Every night, look back over the day and write down the moments that brought me happiness. Sometimes they’re things anyone would consider happy–like getting a call from the Los Gatos Library, inviting me to their literary fair next month (see my note in the sidebar!). But more often, I write down the little things that brought me a smile or a heaven-sent moment of relaxation in the midst of a stressful day. A sunny morning walk. Classical music playing over the gas station speakers. A yummy cup of coffee.
This past spring, I decided to take my one-line thankfulness notes to the next level for an extra boost of happiness. First thing in the morning, I would look back over the last night’s thankfulness notes, pick one, and immerse myself in that memory. Then I used it as the subject for a seventeen-syllable haiku poem (5-7-5). Haiku is short, rewarding, and emphasizes life’s details–a perfect form for this exercise.
#1-Photograph
A haiku a day
Lupin beside the asphalt
Gratitude snapshot.
Photo credit: Tom Flemming
Writing a happiness haiku first thing in the morning had two benefits. First, it started off the day with a focus on something good.
#7-Shopping
Shopping bag of smiles
Rainbow Skittles, photos, frames,
A little goes far.
Photo credit: Dano Nicholson
Morning haiku also had an unexpected perk. It got the words flowing. When I was done with my seventeen syllables (sometimes counting to seventeen before coffee was harder than it should have been), I wanted to write more. Which was perfect for someone working on a second novel.
#23-Cactus Flower
From among sharp spines
Pale orange petals shimmer.
Fierce, lovely triumph.
Photo credit: Seen Not Heard
It’s been several months since I wrote my last haiku, but now I have a collection of these short, intensely focused memories of happiness, like tracks showing me the road I walked. At the moment all my words are going into The Book, but maybe when it’s done, I’ll pick back up on this habit of capturing the ephemeral blessings in daily life.
Last Thursday was The Illuminator’s Gift‘s first solo appearance in a bookstore! The charming Village House of Books hosted a party that entertained both kids and kids at heart. About 50 people turned out for the fun, in spite of a massive traffic accident that blocked Highway 17 and much of Los Gatos. I myself was almost late to the party. But hearing about a huge truck crash with fatalities makes you grateful to be alive, let alone be at a bookstore having fun with some wonderful kids.
Photo credit: Jim Hillmann
My mom did shiny, swirly face painting, with designs either from the story of The Illuminator’s Gift or inspired by the cover.
Photo credit: Jim Hillmann
Kids of all ages entered a coloring contest, redesigning the cover of The Illuminator’s Gift according to their own imaginations (and supervised by cover artist Amalia Hillmann).
Photo credit: Jim Hillmann
More than one guest arrived in a stroller or baby wrap. These moms are my heroes for starting ’em young. This little charmer was helping me sign books.
Photo credit: Daniel Sayre
Then we all got to do some reading. Perfect party, right? This image is a snapshot of my dream job.
Photo credit: Jim Hillmann
One lucky girl won a free book as a door prize. A bunch of the kids followed along in their copies as we read from chapter 15, “Illuminations.”
Photo credit: Jim Hillmann
Another girl won a book based on her shiny entry to the art contest. Several of the contestants posed to show off their beautiful work.
Fun was had by all, then this writer went home for a good night’s sleep.
I’m so excited to welcome author Shelley Adina to the blog! Shelley is the author of a mind-blowing 30 books, from steampunk to romance to Amish fiction. Her book, Lady of Devices, was my introduction to steampunk, and I’m now gobbling up the series, cheering for the spunky Lady Claire as she dominates at engineering and chemistry in between making witty Victorian retorts. Listen in as this prolific writer talks costume design, chicken rescues, girl power, and teatime with the Duchess of Devonshire.
AS: Welcome, Shelley! We all know that good writing comes from good reading. So tell us–what are some of your favorite books?
SA: The list is so long I hardly know where to start! I cut my teeth on English authors like Elizabeth Goudge (The Little White Horse and Linnets and Valerians were my favorites). Then I read the grandes dames of suspense, like Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Phyllis Whitney. When I got into publishing, I read books by people I knew and liked personally—Jennifer Crusie, Kristin Hannah, Bella Andre. Now I read all over the place—mysteries by Donna Leon and Linda Castillo, steampunk by Scott Westerfeld and Devon Monk, urban fantasy by Jim Butcher.
AS: You wrote your first novel when you were 13. What was it about?
SA: Since I read all the Nancy Drew books one after the other, my first novel was a total Mary Sue/Nancy Drew, with international art thieves and cruise ships and three teenagers who solved it all. My happiest hours were spent writing that book, on yellow typing paper with dots of white correction fluid. Sadly, when I sent it off to a publisher, my budding genius was not recognized and it came back with such speed I wondered if they’d even opened the envelope. But inside was a letter saying that while they were declining, they could see I knew how to tell a story, and to keep going. So I did.
AS: What are some of your non-writing hobbies? How do those inform your writing?
SA: I like to do creative things. I’m a costumer, and really enjoy making dresses related to the books I’m writing. When the Magnificent Devices series goes back in time to Lady Claire’s ancestors in the Regency period, I’m going to have such a good time! I also play the piano and the Celtic harp, and I rescue chickens. There is a chicken somewhere in every book I write, even if it’s only a pattern on the kitchen wallpaper 🙂
Shelley in a Victorian costume of her own making!
AS: You’ve done quite a bit of traveling. Is there a place that’s particularly inspired your writing?
SA: So far I’ve been to 27 countries. But London inspires all kinds of steampunk ideas—which isn’t surprising, since many books in the genre are set there. I’ve been there four times, I think, the most recent in 2012, when I was researching the locations in the Magnificent Devices series, like Bedlam, and Wilton Crescent, and Vauxhall.
Book 1 of the Magnificent Devices series, set in an alternate London
AS: What’s the best thing about being an author? The hardest?
SA: The best thing about being an author is hearing from readers who enjoy living in my world as much as I do. I say, the more the merrier! The hardest thing is curbing my impatience to write everything all at once. I have books laid out for the next two years, and it’s like reining in the mental horses when I want to do it all at once!
AS: You write in a variety of genres: steampunk, romance, young adult, even Amish women’s fiction. Do you see common themes that link your books together?
SA: Oh, yes. After 30 books, I’m discovering that writers often have a “core story” that they can’t help but express on the page, no matter what the actual plot of the book is about. My core story is the young woman breaking free of the cage of other people’s expectations to find her own path. It seems that no matter what genre I write in, some aspect of that core story comes out. Maybe that’s why people like them—because it’s a kind of universal experience that’s at the same time specific to that book and that character.
AS: As a hybrid author, you’ve self-published some of your books and had others traditionally published. How would you compare the two experiences? Do you prefer one over the other?
SA: My current publisher, Hachette, has been very good to me and I adore my editor, Christina Boys. The tradpub and selfpub experiences are very different, but these days, most of the marketing falls on the author no matter which path you take. I love the control that I have with self-publishing, in scheduling the books, in writing them, in not worrying about whether this or that will be acceptable to someone in marketing. All that matters is whether it’s acceptable to the reader, and I love that direct connection.
AS: If you could have tea with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
SA: Wouldn’t it be lovely to have tea with the Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806)? She was such an influential woman in a time when women were only expected to be decorative and produce children. She had star power, that girl. And a difficult life, for all her wealth.
AS: What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?
SA: First of all, read widely. One of my biggest fears is that I’ll be derivative, so I love to read what others are coming up with. I’m amazed at the power of the imaginations out there. And secondly, don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops and push your own limits. Stretch yourself so that you can find your own space in which to create worlds and people that are unique to you.
AS: What’s next for you?
SA: I’ve got a bunch of things going on. Here’s a partial list—
• Herb of Grace, book 1 in my Healing Grace series written as Adina Senft, comes out on August 5. I turn in book 3, Balm of Gilead, on August 15.
• Immediately afterward, I begin work on The Leftover Bride, a romance set in Lucy Kevin’s “Four Weddings and a Fiasco” Kindle World.
• Once that’s done, I begin work on A Lady of Integrity, book 7 in the Magnificent Devices series, which will take me to the end of the year.
• In between all these, I’m re-releasing my All About Us teen series, which will be renamed the Glory Prep series, with all new covers and updated content.
Alina Sayre, Author 