Month: December 2006

I caught the tail-end of the coverage of October’s Ironman Triathalon yesterday. Sister Madonna Buder, age 76, oldest female finisher in the event’s history, swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and then ran a full marathon (26.2 miles) in 16 hours, 59 minutes. yeah – 76 years old. I bow in humble adoration to Sister Madonna. She is my new hero.

The Hoyt family ranks right up there, too. Like Sister Madonna, they finished the Ironman. Again.

I think someone should hold a 10-day combo sports/running camp and writing workshop. At a facility with great food and massages. I’d be the first to sign up…

I’m off to the gym as soon as it opens. Today is a long, slow run day. Aiming for 7 miles. And then 7 pages.

A great question from Anonymous came in the comments the other day. I get it a lot, so I figured it’s worth repeating as loud as I can.

Anonymous wrote: “i go to fm high school and ive always been wondering who the teachers really were at the school. i know one of them is based on mr procopio (who still teaches there by the way) but i dont know which one.”

(Note to world: F-M is where I went to high school.)

Here was my reply: “Nobody in the book is based on anyone in real life. (I keep saying this over and over and over again, but nobody seems to listen to it.)

SPEAK is NOT a memoir. SPEAK is a work of fiction.

However, the kind, positive influence that Mr. Freeman has is very much like the kind, positive influence Mr. Procopio had on me, and countless other students. Fiction writers borrow from real life. But we don’t photocopy it.”

I guess the distinction between fiction and memoir/autobiography/RealWorld is getting blurrier as all the stupid “reality” shows continue to inbreed and virally infect our brains. Like most fiction authors, I borrow some things from my life (not much), I take material from the culture and world around me, and I make up tons and tons of stuff. Blend it together and it becomes a story.

I am fascinated by what seems to be a growing concern about what is “real” in books, as opposed to what is “not real.” (This is also the heart of the issues faced by writers like James “I Lied, I Lied” Frey, and some are now saying, Augusten Burroughs.)

Let me see if I can give you an example. If I want to write (in a novel) about a scene between a girl and her boyfriend, I have a lot of choices. I can make it up completely. I can pull a scene from my memory bank, something that happened between me and one of my boyfriends. I can describe a scene someone told me about, a friend, one of my daughters, or a story I heard standing in line at the coffee shop. I can describe the scene I saw and unfortunately heard (everyone heard, they were not discrete) in the restaurant. I have many, many choices.

Because I enjoy writing fiction, and because I actually am a fairly private person, I will probably go with the very first option – make up the whole darn thing. I will, however, probably pull something from my emotional memory bank. (This is an advantage older writers have over younger writers. More years = more experiences = bigger pile of emotion to tap into. On the other hand, we fall asleep by 8:30pm, so it evens out.) I know what it feels like to fall in love, fall out of love, be starry-eyed, have a jealous fit. Whatever the emotional tenor of the scene requires, I’ve been there. So even if I make up every single detail of the scene, the emotions probably echo something I’ve lived through.

Does that make sense? Any thoughts?

Excellent recipes in yesterday’s comments section. I’ll start baking this weekend and will let you know how they turn out.

Today is suddenly crammed with Family Obligations. I am printing out my draft in case I can snatch a few quiet moments with it in the car.

Today’s question has to do with my TWISTED book tour, which takes place at the end of March. (Details will be posted as soon as they are available.)

I would like to give some swag (i.e. small gifts) to the hearty souls who come out to see me on the book tour. If you go the Academy Awards, your swag might include a new watch or iPod. I have three kids in college and another in braces, so that won’t be happening. My swag has to be a) cheap, and b) small because I’ll be lugging it around in my suitcase to about ten cities.

Some authors give out signed post cards with their book’s cover on it. Or bookmarks. These ideas do not excite me. I have thought of a couple of things, but your collective mind is much more clever than mine, so I ask you, faithful readers: what do you really want? And what do you want that I can realistically provide?

Great photo essay at pamie.com about first draft writing.

Half of my WIP is on Draft 3. The other half is on Draft 2. Don’t ask. I am liable to take your head off at your knees. The goal is to have everything up to Draft 3 quality by Christmas. Yesterday I expanded chapter 19 into three chapters. This morning it is clear that chapters 24 & 25 should be combined into one. The universe craves balance, I guess. At 10 pm last night when I wailed that this was going to be a 400-pound, I mean 400-page, book, BH patted my head and suggested that maybe I needed to sleep.

I don’t want to sleep. I want to stay awake for the next 1000 hours and fight my way through this sucker.

I guess I’ve entered the Fear and Loathing Stage of the writing process.

At least it’s snowing out.

(Still looking for healthy muffin recipes. My Aunt Barb came through for me. Anyone else? Muffins just might be the salvation of this book!)

The F-M girls cross-country team won Nationals. That is amazing!!!!!! (If you read the article, you’ll see reference to stotan… I wish they would have referenced Chris Crutcher.)

We had ten cords of wood delivered on Saturday. And we are expecting nine inches of snow. I love it when it works out like that.

Trying to crank out many, many chapters this week. The DEADLINE looms. I have moved from the “feeling vaguely uneasy about deadline” stage to the “beginning of tummy upset over deadline” stage. Maybe I should write the 12-stages of deadline avoidance. But that would get in the way of actually making the deadline. I read the opening chapter of the WIP last night at a fundraiser for the Mexico Historical Society. It seemed to go over well. But everyone asked when the book would be out and I had to say, “Ah, it’s not done yet” and they all suggested that I go home and finish it.

Does anyone have an incredibly nutritious high-protein, low-fat/sugar muffin recipe? I’m looking for one, preferably with whole grain, seeds, nuts, twigs, etc.

Scribble, scribble.