!important! reminder

Just a reminder that this blog will no longer update.

Please add camarshall.blogspot.com to your readers and update your bookmarks/links.

Thanks!

MOVING!!!

camarshall.blogspot.com

Hey guys.

So I've known for awhile that I want to be published under my mother's maiden name (Marshall) and it's been said that I need to change my website name to reflect my nom de plume now, rather than when I actually have a book out... So that means a lot of hassle for me and a little bit of hassle for you.

I've moved all my entries and comments over to the new blog where I will be posting to from now on.

But you, dear reader, will have to update your bookmarks, readers/RSS feed thingies, and links.

I actually think this is much more work for you than for me, which is a shame and I apologize.

This blog will remain active (i'm not deleting it) but it won't be updated anymore, so make sure you visit the new blog:

camarshall.blogspot.com

The Mighty MA

Today is the move-in day for freshmen at my undergraduate college. The only thing I remember about my move in day (though, not my first semester, as I commuted for a bit first) was that I had gone out to buy blue and green tinsel to decorate my room with. Yes, blue and green TINSEL. Tinsel. Because of course that's what modern independent college-aged women decorated with, I was sure. And a string of blue fairy lights. I was so proud of that room! I don't even remember who my roommate was. I think she left in the first two weeks or something. It was a very lonely semester.

That got me thinking about going away to Newcastle for my MA (honestly, when don't I think about it?). This time, thankfully, tinsel-free. Instead, I managed to fish a blue direction arrow sign from a skip outside the local chippy and I cleaned it up and set it atop my wardrobe. I wish I still had it, that was a great little sign, even if a bit beat up. If I had the extra moolah, i'd buy one, that's how much I liked it. That wasn't so lonely as I had dear Nicole with me and what would turn out to be a great set of flatmates, minus the Swede.

In truth, we had no idea what the programme was going to be like. No idea. We were pretty sure we just got in because we were international and therefore, handing them big bucks. But for what? What did we spend a year of our lives and $80k in student loan debt for?

It was for being shocked to be served wine at orientation (both of us coming from the same christian undergraduate college[where I was once "grounded" for drinking wine in the dorm, but that's another story]) as we surreptitiously looked for wedding rings amongst our classmates. When the personality disorders began to surface we prayed to God that we had made good choices when it came to friends that we would either have to tolerate or try to ignore for the next year.

I was glad that our MA class wasn't composed of people who were used to being the standout writers. I would gather that the poetry section had a bit to be worried about, but the prose section was happily made of people who really just wanted to see if they could hack it as a writer for a year. Some of them i'm sure have since decided that they couldn't and have given up.

Most of the workshops are heavily focused on short stories and then once a semester an agent visits the class and tells you that story collections are completely unmarketable and no one will even consider publishing yours until you have a novel to back it up. If you're a poet, go ahead and stick your head in the oven now because the only way you're getting published is to print them yourself and even then you'll be lucky if you own mother buys a copy. And forget about entering contests or applying for the residencies that they're telling you about if you're American, because then none of that stuff actually applies to you because you're ineligible.

Beyond actually acquiring the paper diploma, it’s difficult to figure out if a tenure as an MA student is a success. It’s not like the degree is meant to help you land a well-paying job. I suppose you could base it on who you are still speaking to when school is over. When you arrive at the airport you have no idea where your flat is and so you try to call the phone number of the girl you're going to be sharing it with only she's out of cell reach and you end up talking to her grandfather who you can barely understand because it's been 27 hours since you last slept. After being deserted by your cabbie, you finally arrive at the flat and your flatmates' mum takes you on a wild joyride through the streets of your new city and you are absolutely lost but she takes you to a little corner store and you find sustenance until you can track the steps of people carrying Morrisons bags. Then you get your first flat mate, the gene-splicing Spanish goddess. Then the Swede, the only boy, who you'll never ever see do his laundry and his room will smell like it. Then the American-raised Brit finally moves in for good, and sooner or later you'll get the salsa-dancing Grecian doctor-type who takes over for the Swede when he skips out on rent and leaves town after a suspicious visit from the police.

For your classmates, first, there's that crazy preacher guy that you hated at the beginning of the year for being that guy who always asked the stupid questions turns out to be one of the most loveable and you really wish him all the best. Then there's that frightening ex-teacher who always knows when you're trying to avoid the professors eye and calls you out on it ends up with a book deal and you may or may not attend her launch and book signing. Next is the naughty actress that can not only write one of the best starts to a novel that you have ever read but also manages to simultaneously land a west end theatre gig at the same time, all while looking absolutely fabulous. Then there's inevitably some romantic fiascoes with the rich American tearing the heart out of the sweetest guy you've ever met who enjoys making out with the naughty actress and you may or may not have drunkenly kissed him at a house party once, or maybe you just lie on the floor in the kitchen as the Swede steps over you to make his dinner at 3am. I was lucky enough to have a best friend to have photo shoots and music videos with and make lemon squares and crack cookies with and share a bunk bed with during trips on the megabus and share the kitchen table with during those weeks leading up to our dissertation submissions. And who can forget when all of these people get together after handing in said dissertations and get properly drunk on cider at the Hancock.

Yes, this is exactly what i've spent $80k to experience, and it was worth every penny.

Contest Alert: Rampant! Two free signed copies!

Carrie Ryan, author of the widely acclaimed The Forest Of Hands And Teeth, is holding a contest for two lucky readers to win a signed copy of Diana Peterfreund's new novel Rampant!

Be sure to visit Carrie Ryan's contest posting and also be sure to visit Rampant's website at www.killerunicorns.com and watch the PSA!

Making Banana Bread, or, Waiting Until The Store Is Open

I've got book two of Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series 'Flyte' and i'm devouring it. I loved the first one (Magyk), and found the third (Physik) at the Memphis (Michigan) library and thought "Hey, if there's a first and a third, there's bound to be a second!" and so I searched and lo, it was delivered to my local Capac Library yesterday afternoon. I've since found there is a fourth (Queste) and a fifth (Syren) and a sixth (Darke) and i'm very much looking forward to them all.

Because i'm reading so many books lately, I have yet to start writing book two. I know I really should be getting on top of that, but i'm just not in the right place yet. I can't force myself to write. I mean, I can, but it's all crap if I do. And I don't like to write crap.

So, yeah, right, the way I figure this is that say I want to make banana bread (which, incidently I am doing right now) and I find that I don't have any bananas because a certain family member has eaten them in the space of time when I decided to make the banana bread and when I actually started to make it. I can taste the banana bread, just thinking about it. soft crumbles of moist cake and maybe a handful of nuts, a thin layer of butter after a crisp dip in the toaster... ahhhh...

But remember now, there are no bananas. None. And be cause it's past 8p, one can't just saunter up to the store and buy more because the store is closed and they frown on breaking and entering. Especially if all you're going to do is steal bananas.

So what are you to do?! No bananas means no banana bread! Oh, but hey, there's a can of pumpkin in the pantry! You can make pumpkin bread! Nevermind that the can of pumpkin is for pumpkin pie on thanksgiving. Nevermind that you wanted banana bread. You'll just have to deal. It'll just have to be different. It just won't be what you want.

Forcing myself to write is like wanting to make banana bread but someone ate the bananas. I don't have all my ingredients. It just isn't right. And if I go ahead and make pumpkin bread, it wasn't what I really wanted and will probably go bad and to waste and have to be thrown away. Do you get my point?

And to make matters even worse (really, what can be worse than no banana bread when you really want it?), if I do give up the can of pumpkin that is being saved for the pie, I lose out on both banana bread and a pumpkin pie. Or, this means that I am unhappily writing crud and giving up time that could have been spent reading a good book. lose-lose situation.

So for me, I like waiting until the store is open. I like having all my ingredients. The way I gather my writing ingredients is to read a book. Then maybe read another. And maybe another. Until just that right time when my fates or muse or little genius (see Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk here) decides that it's time that I get this book finally written. And when they decide that the time is right, watch out! i'll write 15k in two days and it'll be soft and sweetly crunchy and full of little walnuts... and just perfect. I mean, the bread will. The writing might take a few revisions.

So what do you guys do? Do you wait for all the ingredients, or do you make something else in the meantime?

Oh, and I highly recommend The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. It's amazing. And if you like that one, i'd recommend The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. Be warned, however, Pink Carnation is a bit of a bodice ripper in two places. Both novels have two parts to them, one that takes place in history, the other is modern day (1991 for Deliverance Dane).

Don't Quit Your Day Job, Get Laid Off Instead.

Being a writer in these dismal financial times can be tough. Taking time off or out to write a book that has no guarantee of bringing in income can seem like a crazy and incredibly selfish thing to do. It's even more tough when you're trying to bring home the (turkey) bacon and instead you get laid off. Like I was today. On the plus side for me, it's supposed to be a "temporary layoff" and they hope to have us all hired back in in about a month or so. But for the next month, I am unemployed again. ::sigh::

So feeling pretty bummed out today, I took Mollie out for a three-months old photoshoot. And you guys get to see the fruits of that labor!












I call this one her "Madonna" pose. It reminds me of all those statues of the Virgin Mary.




I love this shot! She was actually crawling towards me and was making this hilarious face!

How can I be sad and depressed with this little face to look at?

So in the meantime, I'm going to try as hard as I can to get book two off and rolling. I finished outlining a few days ago so now all that is left is to write the silly thing. And now i've got time to do it.

Any guesses on how much book I can write until I'm re-hired? I'm going for 30k words. I'm thinking the book itself is going to end up around 60k, so roughly half the book? I can do that. Especially now that it's been outlined. Unless that outline changes, as it is apt to do... but I digress.

I've also got tons of stuff that needs doing in the next few days:

-Make a ringbearer pillow for Nicki's wedding
-Watch Mollie's dad's and mom while my aunt and brother go to Vegas
-finish my family scrapbook for the reunion on saturday
-go to the reunion on saturday
-Nicole is visiting Monday-Tuesday
-Clean up my room so Nicole has somewhere to sleep
-Remember to water garden everyday so my green peppers don't die...
-put together and use our new vaccumn

And that's just in the next few days... hopefully i'll have time for writing in there somewhere!

I was feeling kind of awkward today anyway, as I finished Harry Potter and The Extended Camping Trip The Deathly Hollows on my iPod yesterday and today I had to start something else. After over 100 hours of Harry Potter, it felt strange to listen to something else.

I think i've decided to write this second novel in 3rd person, like the Harry Potter books are written. Tinkers is written in first and it was so tough to get some of those scene's in the right perspective. I like what Rowling has done in her novels using 3rd person and I can only hope that mine turns out that well done.

Top 10 Signs You've Just Completed A Novel

10. The internet has become boring. Google Reader is empty. As is your email.
9. You can't find a use for twitter or facebook.
8. Trips to the library now require a wheelbarrow instead of just a carrier bag. And books get returned on time, too.
7. Your house has never been so clean. Look, nothing under the carpets!
6. Your TV is strangely clean and the DVR is empty.
5. All those friends who were so eager to distract you during the writing of the final chapters have suddenly disappeared. no one seems to have openings in their schedules but you.
4. You can't decide if you are severely depressed or overjoyed.
3. You second guess your revisions, and think that maybe you'll just go back and change this one thing. And six hours later, you ended up changing several chapters, merging two characters into one, and changing the name of the main character to "Paul".
2. You look at a stack of six books and think, 'Eh. Done by tomorrow night. Easy.'

And the number one sign you've just completed a novel is:

1. You open up a brand-spanking new Word file to start a new novel and and are as happy as a clam. Until you write the first sentence and then it all starts over again!

YES! I'VE FINISHED MY FIRST NOVEL!

Well... it's as finished as I can make it. Jess has returned it with her helpful edits and i've worked out all of her suggestions and fixes and now It's off to five lovely people who wanted to be first readers and help me out by marking up their first responses and reactions.

There will be another round of editing and then i'll be officially officially done. I hope anyway. Someone might find something terribly wrong and I might have to scrap the whole thing. I think that's called frogging? Silly words. I hope my words arn't silly.

People say that first novels are the author working through all of their issues. I can see quite a lot of my own issues in this novel (dead mother being the glaringly obvious one) but I hope they are issues that strike something in someone else as well. I'm not expecting much out of this novel, but it's a big part of me.

I think finishing a novel is harder than starting one. Sure, finding an idea and developing it and spending months, years even, to get it all down on paper sure is a tough feat, but tying up those loose ends, fleshing out ideas, fixing plot holes, organizing, making sure you don't reveal too much too soon, making sure you reveal enough to keep the reader interested, keeping pace, keeping interest, and keeping your own sanity is harder. I've spent a ton of time reading and re-reading my novel to find holes, make sure the dates line up (I had one girl giving birth at age 11), and keeping up with who was related to who and how and how all those little teeny tiny things you add to make the story richer add up.

So now it's on to officially starting a second novel. This one is as good as I can get it for now.

I feel so inadequate.