Sunday, May 5, 2013

A Novel, Cat Fantasy, and Letter


Hello All, on this rainy Sunday here in the Midwest. The two-year drought has ended with waterlogged soil. Forecasters predict two sunny days this week, so while farmers plow, I’ll weed the shrub garden. Before doing that, however, I’d like to share three things about my writing life.
         In March, I read the draft of the Bronze-Age Greece manuscript Three Roads Diverged, which I began to write back in 1994 after a three-week trip to Greece, financed by my earning from A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story. This draft used up nearly 70, 000 words and yet represented only a third of the story.  Given that, a completed first draft might comprise 210,000 words. That’s twice as long as most presses want to publish for a first-time novelist.            
        Considering that, I’ve decided to write three shorter books. By this time next year, I hope to have completed the ending to Book 1 and to have edited, rewritten, and polished it.  


A 1996 photograph of my cousin Mary Ann (right)
and myself by the flower garden
behind my home in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Note the T-shirt I’m wearing.

I’ve completed Book 1 of a cat-fantasy trilogy and have half of both Book 2 and Book 3 done. Fortunately, Judy King—the gifted artist who captured Dulcy’s sweetness in A Cat’s Life—had the time to do the art for Book 1. Each of the seventeen pencil sketches she sent me yesterday displays her creative wit. And the cover she’s designed is as inviting as the one she did for A Cat’s Life.
Last week, Judy Healey, the twice-published historical novelist and friend who is reading The Reluctant Spy, sent me an e-mail that made my day. As I’ve explained before, I started the Palestine novel thirteen years ago and Judy read an early draft. After reading the first few chapters of the present draft, here’s what she had to say:

Dee:
 At long last I'm reading your book...about 40 pages in.
          It is very engaging and I'm hooked. It is slow going because I am making notes on pages . . . all pretty minor stuff. But the writing is very good and I think the book has improved 100% from an earlier version I read some years ago.
          I'm going to do the first 100 pages and mail them to you. At the end I'll also have a short memo on overview stuff. . . . It will be into next week when I mail the first set. But congratulations.
          We can talk publishing strategies later. Love, Judy

You can appreciate why I’m pleased. Judy is an accomplished historical novelist. If she sees some worth to this draft then I’m content that I’m growing as a writer. That doesn’t mean of course that any agent will want to represent it or any publisher publish it. However, the fact that Judy praises it helps me know that my writing does have some merit.
For most of my adult life, I’ve considered myself a hack. My writing seemed so prosaic next to the writers I read. To my surprise, many of you have complimented my writing as seen in my on-line memoir blog. So because of you, I’ve stopped comparing myself to the fine writers I read and simply accepted that I am a storyteller and that my stories speak to others. I thank you all for this gift you’ve given me. Peace.

15 comments:

  1. You are an excellent storyteller!! Isn't a storyteller what any author is?

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    1. Dear Fishducky, thank you. It's true that an author must have a story to tell. It's the way its told that makes the difference. And slowly, ever so slowly, I think I'm learning how to tell the story. Peace.

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  2. Yes! Writers are storytellers! And no two tell a story quite the same way. What wonderful news!! congrats! :):)

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    1. Dear Rita, it's so true that no tells a story quite the same way. I can see that in reading the postings of blogger I follow. Your blog is much different from mine and yet in both we share the stories of our lives--my past life, your present. And readers seem to enjoy us both! Peace.

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  3. I'm so happy you've made progress, professionally and personally. What a good idea to write three shorter books.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie, I do think that I"m making progress. And I'm comfortable with doing a cat fantasy trilogy as well as a Bronze-Age Greece one. Something shorter seems more doable because once the story is in draft, there's so much more to do on it and time, as I age, seems to be so fleeting. Peace.

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  4. Prosaic L. prosa, commonplace, dull.... Hello, but that could not possibly be Dulcy's Story. After all, she, the cat, wrote that one all by herself and managed to create one of the best books that I, an avid reader since age 6, a student of the classics, has ever read? So it would have to be that other one, in the brambles by the river in Palestine, that marvelous story that hooked me right away, and that I have wanted to read ever since. To me, dear Dee, you are not just a wonderful storyteller, but you have a way with words that is so poetic, so touching, so unusual....

    I just had to get all that in and you don't have to publish this if it is too much. In the end I am just so thrilled that your friend gave you a good perspective on your book. And you as an author.

    And BTW, I was thrilled in much the same way when you told me you preferred my review of Fran's book to your own. Thank you so much for those kind words.

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    1. Dear Inger, your kind words lighten my heart. Thank you. I think you will like the Bastet-Net cat fantasy books. Judy's art will so enhance them. And I meant what I said about your review. It caught the flavor of Fran's book. Peace.

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  5. I'm so glad you can see what we've known all along- you are a remarkably talented writer. I also think The Reluctant Spy is going to be seeing the light of day in the published world sooner than you might think. I'm glad because I want to read it.

    And I think storytellers are the lifeblood of writing.

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    1. Dear Shelly, I'm on pins and needles about what Judy is going to ultimately say about the manuscript. So many years and drafts have gone into it. The book means so much to me because it reflects my own spiritual journey and longings. And I do hope you are right that it will see the light of day. The "lifeblood of writing"---another memorable sentence, like the one you recently used in your Soozie postings. Peace.

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  6. That is very good news, Dee. I know how much I enjoyed A Cat's Life and am glad you are beginning to realize that comparison between writers is counterproductive. You are the only one who can write about your life! :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, I do know that comparisons are odious and counterproductive. I've told that to many writers and yet I've fallen into that trap again and again. I know that only I can write my own memoir--it's those novels that I find daunting! Peace.

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  7. Dee, this is such an optimistic post, full of positive developments and it was great to read it. I'm pleased that Judy likes The Reluctant Spy and is so complimentary about its quality. I also think your decision to concentrate on shorter books using your Greek material seems very sensible and more likely to succeed. All steps in the right direction. :-)

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    1. Dear Perpetua, you've captured the word that described how I'm feeling--optimistic. I'd like to be as interested in exercise as DJan is or as involved in projects as many other bloggers I read, but my passion is writing and when what I write is enhanced by exceptional art or sees the light of publication, I am "tickled pink" as my mom would say so many years ago. Peace.

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  8. That is so encouraging to me. Like Grandma Moses, I started writing late in life when we aopted a one day old and a three year old, when we were in our 60's. Humor...or serious drinking, had to follow. Jody, The Medicare Mom.

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