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Fretting over nothing

14 Nov

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My husband and I have been busy packing this past week: Our oldest and our youngest daughters decided it was time we get our families together for Thanksgiving this year. So Bob and I are off to spend a week in Louisiana and a week in Texas.  At ages 85 (for me) and 87 (for Bob), getting ready for such a trip is never easy. It seems the older we get, the more “problems” we can manufacture … we seem to have perfected the art of fretting over the details.  Unfortunately, that means little worries too often become big ones.

Yet, deep in my heart I know that we’re really fretting over nothing. Once we are buckled into our seats, we are on our way to a visit that promises to be heartwarming and fun.

As a result of preparation, I haven’t been able to get much writing done this week, and, of course, won’t be able to for the next two weeks. Since the publication date for our first book—Twist of Fate—draws near, it’s hard for me to leave the excitement behind. I don’t have an exact date, but the book will most likely come out while I’m gone. I wish I could tell all my readers and friends the exact day when our mystery-romance story will come out, bringing to life our hero—homeless, kind-hearted Danny—and our heroine—rich, wheelchair-bound Casey. But in the world of publishing, pinning down exact dates is tough. All I can tell you is that if you have an e-book reader, keep checking Barnes & Noble or Amazon. The printed version will take a little while longer.

As you can see from the background of this blog and the picture here, the cover of Twist of Fate is blue with white lettering representing the big snowstorm that plays such an important role in the book. You’ll see an empty wheelchair with a single red rose on the seat and a drop of blood on the floor. I won’t tell you the symbolism behind our cover, but I hope you’ll keep checking for that image.  Don’t give up, dear supporters, our book is definitely on its way. And I guess it’s time Bob and I were on our way to see our loved ones.

Genilee and I will keep you posted!

F. Sharon Swope

 
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Posted by on November 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Getting lost in our passion

10 Oct

What is it about writing that quickens my pulse, that takes my mind completely away from the mundane moments that make up so much of life, that brings fresh air into my lungs? I know there are multiple forms of artistic expression, and I know that I could be good at many of them, with the right direction and study. I’m a creator by nature, a trait I picked up from my own dear mom, who has succeeded at everything from crewel to quilting to oil painting to figure painting. Her initials are scrawled on many objects.
But my canvas has always been the blank paper or computer screen that calls for words. I’ve been writing since I was about 10 years old and got my very first diary. And I have taken true pleasure in most of what I’ve done as I graduated from diary to short stories to poetry and then found a way to make a living as a freelance writer and finally a magazine editor. But now, as I near retirement years, I have finally found a path back to what I’ve wanted to do since I was a child: write creatively.

The truly wonderful gift of finding this path at the ripe young age of 58 is that it no longer contains unrealistic expectations. When I was young and dreaming about the possibilities, I assumed the dream came with fame, and maybe a small fortune (enough to put me in a picturesque cottage in New England or living in the mountains so that the ocean or those peaks would serve as inspiration). I live in Dumfries, VA (or as we hicks like to call it – Dumb Fries), and I accept that fact since it includes a wonderful husband, beautiful daughter, career that keeps me interested and some good friends and neighbors. I don’t have a cottage or mountain get away. And I certainly don’t have the fortune. But life has taught me neither has anything to do with happiness.

In the mean time, I’ve found a front door to fulfillment, which is a giant chunk of the happiness pie, by finding a way to work with my own mom in writing books.
There are some mornings when the hour I’ve set aside for creative endeavor finds me forcing myself to sit at the computer and begin. But there are no mornings when I get up after that hour willing to go back to my regular work or daily routine, because what happens in that hour transforms me. The words I am working with that day surround me, beckon to me, excite me and get my blood pumping like it hasn’t pumped in years. And when I get up with great effort to begin the rest of my day, I say a little “thanks” to God for letting me lose myself completely in my passion.

 

 
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Posted by on October 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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The bipolar life of writing

25 Sep

Although I’ve been writing all of my life and spent many weeknights and weekends working on creative pieces, I’m fairly new to the author’s profession. Twist of Fate will be the first book I’ve had published. Like my coauthor and mother, I wish I’d started earlier; but I’m ever so glad I finally got around to it.

However, I have to admit being an author is driving me insane.

You get to the end of that first draft, and you’re ecstatic. Finally, I’ve finished a whole book. You celebrate with a glass of cheap wine and a bubble bath. The next day, you begin reading through it again and realize how much work there is yet to be done. That’s a tough morning, but you get through it, and you settle back into your writing routine. Many more weeks of work pass. A second draft, a third draft, and one day you just realize: this is as done as I can be. You’re ecstatic—you’re finished at last. You celebrate with an expensive glass of fine wine and a massage.

But then the real work begins—you need to find a publisher. You become your own secretary spending months researching on the Internet, narrowing the list of places to solicit to those that might be interested in your story. Then, 55 rejection letters and many crying jags later, you receive two emails in the same day asking for more info, the full manuscript. A contract arrives. You’re ecstatic. You pop open the bubbly—real champagne. You take your husband to dinner.

And then the real waiting begins. The publisher has a lot of projects in the hopper and an editing/approval process to get through with each one. You understand that reality, but begin biting your nails as weeks, then months go by. You get back comments from the publisher, go through several more drafts, keep your spirits going in between drafts by writing, writing, writing on other projects. Your hair gets a little grayer. You add a few worry lines. A mock-up of the cover arrives, and you try hard not to run screaming through the neighborhood: the book is coming, the book is coming!

Then one day, an email arrives that sends you over the top: “Twist of Fate’s publication date will be mid October.” It’s time to buy champagne for the entire neighborhood, massages for all your favorite friends, dinners for your entire family and gift baskets for every person who helped with the book.

OK. That last bit didn’t really happen yet, and I’m trying hard to contain my urges to celebrate. But I can see that being an author is dangerous – at best you’ll go broke. And at worst, you’ll be glad several of your dear friends are psychologists!

—Genilee Swope parente

 
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Posted by on September 25, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Aside
01 Sep

The art of patience

Although my title suggests I’m about to give you tips on how to live through that awful period of “radio silence” when your editor is giving a final polish to your book and you have no publication date yet but many people asking when they can see your creation, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I can only tell you there is no “art” involved with patience. Only fingernail biting and finding ways to keep going instead of losing steam or getting angry with promises that don’t arrive when you expect them.

Patience, as the saying goes, is a virtue, and one that doesn’t come naturally to most of us.

You’ve spent every free moment for the last year and a half writing, squeezed out as much material as you can from the cells in your brain that birth creativity, put feelings and emotions you didn’t know you had into your work. So why do you have to wait to share it with the world?

I say it’s because you are not writing just for yourself, but for your readers. If you care enough about what you do to want to get it into the hands of the right audience – the people who feel something similar to what you felt when you created your masterpiece in the first place – you have to take the right steps. In the publishing world, that means waiting for the decision makers – editors, production people, then the marketing staff – to do their jobs and do them right. They are in the business to make money and if you’ve placed your creation in their hands and they asked for a contract, that means they believe in your project. But they need time to make it happen.

Only a handful of artists are lucky enough not be forced to play the waiting game, and that handful probably doesn’t appreciate success to the degree that you will if you stick it out. The important thing is to never give up.

And while you’re waiting, work on the less polished aspects of your art. Finish that second book; write a short story; start a blog. You’re supposed to be an artist, and that means, you’re supposed to love the journey as much as the destination. If you’re awaiting arrival at the next station, just remember your can always distract yourself by working on a side trip.

 

 

The art of pati…

 
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Posted by on September 1, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Why oh Why Did it Take So Long?

16 Aug

Every time I sit at the computer to write, I ask myself the same question, “Why on earth did I wait until I was 82 to actually try to write a book?”
Here I am at 84 now and I can barely read a written page. My eyes seem to get worse each day because I have macular degeneration. If my son hadn’t put a “man” on my computer to read what I write [an automated program that reads the words to me], I couldn’t do it now – but I have wanted to write as far back as I can remember. Why haven’t I done it?
I suppose part of the answer is lack of encouragement. Oh, I knew I had the ability and skill. I am quite good at conversation, putting together plots, and coming up with characters. The trouble was (and still is) that I am terrible at description. Luckily, this is my daughter Genilee’s strongpoint in writing, along with great editing skills. I think the real reason I didn’t put down some of my ideas, however, is that I was afraid of what others would think of my writing.
Of course, there are also those great daily excuses for not actually sitting down and writing out the stories constantly running through my mind—by this I mean the everyday demands on my life as a wife, mother of four and office manager for my husband’s business. And don’t get me wrong: I WAS writing—I wrote a recipe column for over 30 years for my husband’s newspaper. The recipes were incidental really; the columns were stories about what was going on in the raising of my children.
But I also could have made time to write down my stories. Why didn’t I? The true answer lies within one of the characters in my first book, Twist of Fate. I’ll tell you more the next time we meet. Maybe by then, you’ll be able to read the book!
8-15 From Sharon Swope, author of soon-to-be-released Twist of Fate

 
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Posted by on August 16, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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