Meet my April guest …

I am delighted to introduce my first guest blog, from Christi Corbett; Christi Corbett’s Blog, A Writer’s Path to Publication.

The first time I read Christi, she was doing a guest blog on Pimp My Novel, while Eric was on a Holiday break. Pimp My Novel is a valuable industry blog that keeps everyone, both aspiring and published writers up-to-date on the latest news from the publishing industry.

Of course, I immediately linked Christi to my site and subscribed so I might receive blogs as they are posted.

Christi’s amended bio has been lovingly “lifted” from Romance Writers on the Journey, by Keli Gwyn.

From a young age, writing was an integral part of Christi Corbett’s life. She further developed this skill during her career as a television writer. Now, Christi continues to broaden her writing horizons with the completion of her first novel, Along the Way Home, a historical romance that takes place on the Oregon Trail.

After graduating from Western Washington University with a degree in Communications, Christi took a job with a CBS affiliate in the Creative Services Department. During her time with the TV station, she received multiple American Advertising Awards (ADDY) and was recognized by the March of Dimes with an award for providing “Outstanding Communications Support.”

Christi lives in a small town in Oregon with her husband, young twin children, and their recent addition, a Border Collie puppy. The location of their home holds a special place in Christi’s writing life; it stands just 600 feet from the original Applegate Trail, and the view from her back door is a hill travelers looked upon years ago as they explored the Oregon Territory and beyond.

Christi’s husband has learned not to be surprised when he returns home and finds yet another large-scale project beginning around the house. From building and staining a bookshelf to painting an entire room in only an afternoon, their home undergoes frequent changes. When Christi’s not remodeling or writing, she enjoys hiking, camping, and fishing.

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Breaking news:  Christi just finished an interview for Romance Writers on the Journey and has completed the book trailer for her new book: Along the Way Home.

Here is the first of my new series of aspiring or newly published authors and their journey to becoming realized “between the covers.”  Please enjoy:

A Writer’s Space…Ideal vs. Reality

This post was published the first time on: October 2, 2009 on Christi’s blog and then again on December 23, 2009 on Pimp My Novel.

When I was young I pictured the location where authors/writers did their work. It was always some variation of the following…

The recently showered and fully dressed writer pads down a long hallway and opens a door to their own private writing space. Clutching a mug of tea/coffee, the writer sits down at  a comfortable chair located behind a highly polished, very organized mahogany desk. There is a wall of books on one wall and a window with a completely astounding view of a lake, a mountain, or a field of wildflowers.

Selecting a full pen from a drawer, the writer/author thinks for a long moment and at the precise moment inspiration hits, leans over a clean piece of paper and the words begin to flow.

Then I became a writer. Here is the reality.

On a typical day, when I’ve begged and pleaded for time to write, I can count on a minimum of five interruptions per hour. Last time I reserved a block of time to write I kept track of said interruptions for my own amusement (and for this blog)

6:30am    Hubby wants to know where the flea powder–dog is scratching

6:41am     Hubby comes in room for some clothes

7:01am    Hubby brings me breakfast (OK-this one is great! Love him!)

7:09am    Powdered, yet still scratching, dog is let into the room

7:25am    Kids come in to see if I have any bacon left and can they have it

7:36am    Boy twin comes in for a hug 

7:42am    Hubby needs toilet paper….where are extra rolls kept?

8:08 am   Girl twin needs me to fix her hair

8:25am     Knock at window reveals family showing ripened tomatoes  

8:26am     Boy twin can’t find toy army men…do I know where they are?

8:50 am    Girl twin wants to weigh herself

9:01am     Hubby needs jersey to watch upcoming football game

9:17 am    Hubby wants to know if he can pull bread from freezer          

And so on….   

So, that is a typical block of “writing time” for me. Now, lets move on to the instruments for said writing.     

My computer is ten years old, shuts off at will (usually when I haven’t saved in a while or I’m in the middle of a fantastic run of words), and is located in a peeling wood veneer cabinet that is shoved in the corner of my bedroom.  My kids find everything in the cabinet fascinating and things disappear at will. (4-year-old twins find calculators, screen cleaners, coasters, my drafts, and notecards to be much fun to play with).

Sometimes I don’t use the computer. When inspiration strikes I use anything that is at hand. Some examples…

Sticky notes (they paste so nicely to the computer monitor don’t they?)

Backs of envelopes

Any kind of paper with a blank space on it anywhere.

You get the drift. As for writing utensils…

Our pens never have ink in them (my fault since I leave them clicked open all the time) so I’ve had to improvise at times.

Crayons
Lipstick
Dry erase markers

And my personal favorite–using the tip of an empty pen to gouge the words into the paper. Trust me, if you’ve got a great flow of words coming to you this will work!

It is during these times that I try to remember it all comes down to this…

How you write doesn’t matter, as long as you’re writing!

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Other Side of the Coin

This post is the follow up to “Ideal” and was published on: October 5, 2009 on Christi’s blog

My previous post detailed what I put up with from my wonderful family in order to get words onto a page. Now, let’s go into what my family puts up with from me.

 “I’ll be there in ten minutes sweetie” is honestly what I mean when I say it, but then I discover just one last thing that needs to be fixed, a word that could be replaced with something more meaningful, a chapter title that needs a little tweaking…and before I know it two hours have gone by.

At any given moment there are a minimum of three sticky notes on the computer monitor, and usually the number is more like seven. Good for me, but super annoying to the lovely hubby. (Kids like them too…as in they like to pull them off and make a run for it)

A bathroom filled with half-read books, articles on the craft of writing, and various drafts awaiting edits. (You ask me where a mother of four year old twins can get a moment of privacy and I’ll tell you the best bet is in the bathroom…for a while. Soon the family will catch on that I’m actually working in there.)

I consider any clean paper lying around the house to be fair game for writing on. I am one of those people who thinks about my edits during the day, even when I don’t have the draft printed out in front of me for review. As a result, sometimes I have an idea and if I don’t get it down in writing fast I’ll lose it. So, after a mad scramble I find whatever I can and go for it. Just last night in fact I used my daughter’s paper she was coloring on, and wouldn’t you know it…it was the first thing she asked for the next morning! As they’ve gotten older (they are four) I find I can’t use their stuff as much anymore since their memory is starting to get better

During Bi-monthly writing critique group meetings, about two hours each evening, large blocks of time each weekend my family is on their own. Fortunately I have the BEST AND MOST SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND EVER and he makes it possible for me to be “away” during these times. (He does however have a large range of plans on what to do with all the millions I make from my hugely successful books. I can’t bear to tell him what an average advance is for a first time novelist is…I just grin and play along)

And finally, Bessie. Dear, sweet, (ok, she’s actually very temperamental and totally grouchy but don’t tell her I said that or she’ll shut off again while I’m in the middle of a brilliant moment of prose) Bessie is my computer. My VERY OLD computer with no tolerance whatsoever for anything new so I have to watch my dear hubby like a hawk to make sure he doesn’t, you know, try to download ANYTHING, visit a site like YouTube, or give it another command while she’s chugging away at the first command. When I turn her on it takes over five minutes for her to warm up, pull up all the icons on the desktop, and sort through and display the various error messages. If you dare touch ANYTHING during this process you’re toast. Might as well plan for the blue screen and eventually pulling out of the all the plugs to reset the whole thing.

(Don’t tell Bessie but if I do ever sell my book I’m buying a laptop )

Yep, my family puts up with a lot so I can pursue this dream, and I love them very much for it!

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Look for our next guest blog
in May
Good writing,

fOIS