Strolling Along Social Media Street

 I've learned over the years that writing a book is a play in three acts.

The curtain goes up on Act One, the birth of an idea that grows and develops in several scenes as the plot unfolds and characters enter and exit.

Act Two involves multiple scenes: writing, revising, rewriting, revising, editing, submitting, acceptance (eventually) and publication (finally).

Act Three may seem anti-climactic because the book is done, but for me that last act has been the most difficult. I've resisted the demands on my time and energy. I wanted to get on with my writing; the next book had already taken shape in my imagination and I longed to get it going. I've resisted jumping into the social media scene, but now I know I need to learn it all so I can give my latest book, WHISPER ISLAND, a good send-off. I've come to realize that, if a book was important enough to work on for several months, it deserves my efforts to get it before the public eye.

When I planned the WHISPER ISLAND launch at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Historic Site in Rodanthe, NC, I knew that just traveling there and signing books wouldn't be enough to give my book the debut it deserved.

Rodanthe Beach,Outer Banks, North Carolina--another great place to stroll!

So several weeks before the launch I took some baby steps onto Social Media Street. Now I stroll along slowly but surely. I'm on Twitter and Pinterest and Facebook and LinkedIn. I own a smart phone. I tweet and pin and post. I have circles and pages. I've learned how to link and like.

And you know what? After the initial stress of learning something new, I'm beginning to enjoy it. I have a long way to go, but I'm getting there.

Welcome to Whisper Island!

Last week, Peter and I drove to the beautiful Outer Banks in North Carolina for the launch of my new historical novel for young readers, Whisper Island.
 

On July 10, the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station -- the site that inspired the story of Primmy and her quest to serve in the U.S. Life-Saving Service (a precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard) -- hosted a delightful book launch. The young readers of Rodanthe were among the first to purchase Whisper Island, and I had a great time signing their copies of the book! The launch party also included games for the kids and live demonstrations of the life-saving equipment at the museum by the U.S. Coast Guard.

This marks the start of a summer full of readings, book signings and other events to promote my new book. Stay tuned for updates! In the meantime, here are a few highlights from our time in North Carolina:
 

The launch event was held at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, North Carolina

Signing books for the first young readers to buy Whisper Island

The Coast Guard demonstrates a Life-Saving drill of long ago (left);
I was thrilled to meet Myrna Midgett Peters, whose ancestors were Life-Savers (right)

Spring Surprise

A spring surprise--While looking through our gardening storage areas, many and scattered, I came across a planter with two green sprouts emerging from the soil. I struggled to remember what might have been planted there and decided it was either a long-forgotten amaryllis or a long dear mother-in-law's tongue. Why I considered the second option is beyond me at this point and at any rate, it was faulty thinking on my part. The shoots were, indeed, from what I had thought was a defunct amaryllis. It had been so long since it had appeared that I couldn't remember the color. I put it on the deck and wished it luck, as I do most of my plants, knowing that they're pretty much on their own once they go outside. This morning I woke to glorious white blossoms, soon followed by several more.

I'm hoping that, like my amaryllis, a few months of hibernation from blog-writing will now become a beautiful blossoming of words and thoughts, embellished with graphics and photos. No, I'm not just hoping, I'm determined!

Moving Day

I've moved! I'm now working in our basement laundry room, in my own little corner. It's taken me two months, but I've finally moved books, files, desk, laptop, printer and research material to this little corner. I'm right next to a window that looks into our backyard, and this afternoon I watched a feral mama cat nurse her two little kittens right outside my window. Chipmunks drop by for a drink from the planter saucer I keep on the patio for them; squirrels and birds eat and chase each other; and Ella, the hound next door, desperately tries to get at them from her side of the fence. Wonderful distractions for the creative spirit and much better than the upstairs distractions of dust and dinner and doorbells and the general demands of a household.


Now, to get some writing and networking done down here. I'm ready!

Writing the Novel

"If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel,
or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail."--D.H. Lawrence

I ran across this quote the other day and found it interesting--even intriguing. Since first reading it, I've been thinking about the nail it refers to. Have I been trying to nail something down in the novel I'm working on? Have I been forcing characters to do and/or say something they're not comfortable with? Have I been moving the plot in a direction it simply doesn't want to go? It's true I can't force characters or plot onto a path that suits me if that direction isn't true to the story. It's so easy to forget that when I'm in the midst of writing.

So I'm grateful every time a character steps up to tell me that he or she simply won't do what I want--or when a new character appears from nowhere and pushes me in a different direction. I'll always try to pay attention, for fear the whole thing will get up and walk away with the nail I'm trying to force into place.

I've never been good with a hammer and nail!