Welcome to Write for Your Life

Among the many things I do in my spare time ( other than scrounging the house looking for chocolate) is writing. To which you will likely say, duh. Don’t you earn your living as an author? Exactly. But a funny thing happened on the way to getting published. I discovered that my passion for storytelling and creating fictional fun was spilling over into my real life because the creative techniques I was using to get my characters out of trouble were also working in my every day life.

Here is a for instance.  One of the strategies I use to create real-sounding, lifelike characters who are three-dimensional and not caricature stick figures is to interview them, as if they were actual people. I’ll just sit right down in front of the computer, put on my Katie Couric hat and ask away. Tell me about your childhood.  Was it a happy life? Who were your friends? What were the kinds of trouble you’d get into that got you grounded? How did you feel after your third grade teacher dumped your desk in front of the entire class? Did you like your parents? And out of this conversation, which of course is all taking place inside my over-caffeinated head, comes some fascinating insights and stories that literally spill onto the page. This is the point at which I know I’m not the writer as much as the designated typist.

Often times I’ll use this same technique to problem solve for my characters, to help them get out of the binds in which I put them (and if you’ve read my books you KNOW I get them into some real tough dillies). I’ll ask them questions like, who do you blame and what would you like to try but you’re afraid? It’s a great device for eliciting real top of the mind answers that are not being held back by anyone’s criticism or judgment.

One day when I was particularly stymied by a personal problem, I thought, hmm, I don’t know what to do about this. Maybe I should try interviewing myself and see if I can come up with any brainstorms I haven’t thought of. And guess what? It worked. When I allowed myself to just let it rip, let my thoughts pore out without worrying that someone might second guess me or call me a fool, there was an outpouring of wisdom and ideas that had never been on my radar. In other words, by giving myself an outlet for hearing myself think, I really did have the answers within. Talk about AH HA moments. This was huge!

Then I thought, how silly not to take advantage of the power of the written word to help with the stress I feel managing a family of three kids and a husband (make that four kids, lol) and a pressure filled career that involves deadlines and aggravation. So I started keeping a journal, not just filled with my entries, but emails that were meaningful, IM conversations with my kids, things that I would like to read and re-read later on. It gave me great perspective and made me feel good about the way my life is unfolding.

Anyway, it gave me an idea to create a hands-on workshop for moms like me who feel like the plate spinners at the circus.  Every day represents another challenge to keep so many lives going- our partners or spouses, our children, our parents, our family and friends…. what if I could show them how to incorporate writing into their life as a way to stay connected with their inner voice? To listen to what is in their head and their heart so they have perspective and direction and LESS STRESS?????

This past Wednesday evening, I was thrilled to launch the first major workshop event called WRITE FOR YOUR LIFE. 55 women participated and I am so happy to tell you that they really thought the idea was wonderful. They were entertained, enlightened and left with the knowledge that they are certainly not alone when it comes to frustration, worry and every day challenges.

OMG We have the SAME problems!

This is a very exciting program, if I do say so. Get in touch with me if you’d like to know more for your school or organization. I am also creating a program just for students because they have their own special challenges (if you’re taking organic chem you have my sympathy).

Email me at saralee@saraleerosenberg.com.

Professor Rosenberg at Hofstra University? Not quite

This past Saturday, I was invited to run a writer’s workshop at Hofstra University on Long Island, home of the final Presidential debate only three days earlier.  It was great to see all of the signs still on display, a memento of such an important event that took place so close to home, that NOBODY could get a ticket for unless they were a lottery-winning student, a faculty member named Dean, or a New York political big wig.

Still, I felt proud to be strolling through the leafy campus knowing that my faculty- for- an- hour status brought me close to the seat of power. What I didn’t expect was that my class, the one I had so much time preparing for, would be a bust. The only person who showed up thought that I was giving the lecture on fitness and nutrition, which had been offered an hour earlier. Do I LOOK like a fitness expert????

Exactly. So after writing and then erasing my name on the blackboard a few times (this is not as easy as it looks) and spending a half an hour of debating politics with a sympathetic passer-by, I took my notes and headed for the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts.  I needed coffee and a sugary French Cruller (told you I wasn’t a nutritionist).

What was the topic I had planned to discuss? How to turn your ideas into articles and books AND how to use writing as a tool for self discovery and creative problem solving. Isn’t that interesting? And yet, no takers.  Not to worry.  I am doing this program next week at a different location and will report back if I get a better turnout, lol. All it will take is 2 people to show up!

The following morning, I participated with my friends Susan Sloan and Debbi Berger, our daughters’, Taryn, Stacey and Sarah, and their wonderful BBG chapter in the annual Breast Cancer Walk at Jones Beach. Talk about a wake up call for life. There is nothing like walking for those who can’t to be reminded about our priorities in life. All the carrying on we do about our stress is nothing compared to those women and their families who fight every day to keep it together.

I’m proud to have been among the 40,000 people, including survivors, who raised over a million dollars for research for a cure.  May it be in our lifetime and may we all remember to take NOTHING for granted!

Meanwhile, if we all look cold, it’s because the winds were really blowing but our hearts were warm!!!!

 

 

 

New from the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit is the latest hot hot hot international adventure, Cutting Loose, by the talented and very fun Nadine Dajani. Here is the story:

Meet three very different women (or so they think) and the men who’ve turned their lives upside down as their paths collide in sizzling, sexy Miami. . . .

Ranya is a modern-day princess—brought up behind the gilded walls of Saudi Arabian high society and winner of the dream husband sweepstakes . . . until said husband turns out to be more interested in Paolo, the interior-decorator-cum-underwear-model, than in his virginal new wife.

Smart, independent, but painfully shy, Zahra has managed to escape her impoverished Palestinian roots to carve out a life of comfort. But she can’t reveal her secrets to the man she adores. Neither can she stop thinking that if she holds on to anything—or anyone—too dearly, they will be taken away.
Rio has risen above the slums of her native Honduras—not to mention the jeers of her none too supportive family—to become editor in chief of Suéltate magazine, the hottest Latina-targeted glossy in town, and this in spite of Georges Mallouk, her clueless boss, and in spite of Rio’s affair with Georges’ delicious but despicable younger brother, Joe.

In this city of fast cars, sleek clubs, and unapologetic superficiality, Ranya, Zahra, and Rio wrestle with the ties that bind them to their difficult pasts, each wondering if she will ever manage to cut loose…

“Dajani spins a tale of three women and their individual journeys to find happiness. Through strong writing and distinctive characters, readers are drawn into their lives, their loves, and their internal struggles. Dajani wraps it up nicely in the end, leaving us with a delectable tale that is hard to put down” – Romantic Times“Engrossing”

About the Author: Born in Beirut, Lebanon to Palestinian parents, Nadine spent the first nine years of her life in Saudi Arabia before settling in Montreal. While Nadine could definitely think of better ways of spending a year than devoting it to mastering the French language, the experience (and all that duty-free terminal shopping) would turn Nadine onto the wonders of world travel and the quirky, unexpected (and usually hilarious) ways cultures meshed (or stubbornly refused to). As an adult she moved to the Cayman Islands to pursue a career in, what else – offshore banking. And while Nadine has yet to see her “golden parachute” she did get to reap the rewards of Caribbean relocation by island-hopping to nearby Cuba, Jamaica, Honduras and Miami whenever the travel bug bites.  Cutting Loose is her second novel.

I recently interviewed Nadine and asked her some fun questions.

Q.  If you could get a rave review in “People” magazine, what would you want it to say about Cutting Loose?

A. “Hugely entertaining… file this one under ‘thinking’ beach reads… Dajani’s sparkling prose takes you from the boudoirs of petro-dollar heiresses to the Miami offices of Sueltate where sexual tension spills over from the pages of this Latin glossy to the lives of the cast of colorful characters who run the magazine, from the garbage-lined streets of a Honduran shantytown to despair in the Palestinian Occupied Territories… readers won’t know where fantasy ends and gritty realism begins.”

A little over the top, but a girl can dream, right?

Q.  Writing a letter can be daunting. How do you even begin the process of writing a novel? Does it start with a title? A character? A plot? All or none of the above?

A. It’s daunting. There’s no point in denying it. I go through about 5,000 drafts of chapter one until I’m so tired of typing out “chapter one” that I have no choice but to move on. But, the good news is that I’ve put so much thought and effort at the beginning of the draft, that the rest of it comes much more easily. There’s also been a tremendous difference between my process for my first book and my second one. The first one is much more escapist, the plot can be described as “sweet”, whereas for Cutting Loose, I grew up a lot as a writer. I’m much more confident about the quality of the writing itself, which means I can focus on things like character development (my absolute favorite part). That’s why there’s so much thinking up front… I need to wait until my subconscious unearths cool characters, then I have to see if their issues and stories can sustain a whole book, and then get to work on a plot where these characters can really shine. Plotting for me is like pulling teeth – if left to my own devices I would write pages and pages of neurotic characters agonizing about how unfair the world is. Luckily, I have critique partners who keep me in check!

Q. Do you have show and tell with your first draft? Who do you trust for honest reaction, or is so fragile you show it to one you love who you know will be kind?

A. When I was working on my first novel, I took things much more personally and though craving feedback, was pretty selective about who got to see my drafts (and there were A LOT of them)… my boyfriend at the time, a select group of fabulous critique partners, and my sis. Now that I have an agent, I will send all my work to her before sending it to my editor. I don’t ask for line edits anymore, and my critique partners and I have reached a stage where we’ll read great big swaths of each others’ work and give our general impressions. My agent is brutally honest, and I’ve grown enough that I can take it, so I totally trust her to tell me what works and what doesn’t.

Q.  What is one of the nicest compliments that you have ever received about your book(s)?

A. “I stayed up as long as I could reading because I had to find out what was going to happen.” It’s moments like that that keep me going : )

Q.  Whose writing talent do you greatly admire, and which successful author makes you want to gobsmack your head because you cannot believe they’ve had a bestseller(s)?

A. I tried to read a Michael Crichton book once, it was a mangy-looking paperback I must have found in somebody’s basement, and cracked it open thinking: millions of people can’t be wrong…I never made it through chapter one. Not past chapter one, through chapter one. I’m sorry, but after the sparkling wit or even well-done slapstick humor of a lot of chick lit I’ve read, it was hard to “downgrade” to poor writing. I’m sure the plot was great, but I couldn’t get past the writing. Dan Brown’s writing style also grated on my nerves (that Sophie character – please!), but he had me so enthralled with the plotting and subject matter, I can’t complain.

As far as commercial writers who’ve inspired me, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez makes the cut for her honest, cynical voice which manages to be hugely entertaining and educating at the same time. Another writer I wish would write faster is Isabel Allende – I get so lost in her worlds, I forget to come up for air. Sophie Kinsella cracks me up no matter how silly her characters and unlikely sound, and achieving that level of sympathetic characters in no mean feat. Then there’s Marian Keyes who also manages to walk the line between serious and hilarious with aplomb.

CUTTING LOOSE by Nadine Dajani
Forge Books; October 1st, 2008
ISBN: 0-7653-1943-8
www.tor-forge.com

You think the Maytag repair man is lonely? He is a party animal compared to authors who are trying to finish a manuscript. We spend so much time alone, chained to our computers, whole seasons go by almost without notice. That’s why when our books are finally published and we get out to meet and greet readers, it’s a liberating escape. Oh yay! People! Discussions! Coffee and cake!!!!

This past weekend, I had the absolute best time returning to Bloomington, Indiana, home of my alma mater, Indiana University. For a glorious three days, I got to hang out with my daughter, Alex, tailgate, enjoy the company of other families from her sorority, get reacquainted with old friends AND speak at the local Borders.

At Borders in Bloomington, Indiana explaining how a book is born. Notice the ass behind me!

The best part was hearing how readers there took to the main characters in DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD.  Beth is the consummate Long Island mom, with her New York attitude, designer everything and high maintenance lifestyle. Mindy is more down-to-earth, but not immune from trying to keep up with the Jones’s.  So how would these two ladies play in a small, Midwestern college town?

Readers were unanimous about Beth. They couldn’t stand her, but they recognized her. Turns out one doesn’t need to be located twenty minutes from the nearest Nordstrom in order to be judged as a total pain in the neck.  There are plenty of women just like her where they live too- someone who is totally self-absorbed, mean spirited and convinced that they are HOT  S___T! As for Mindy, they understood where she was coming from, but wished that she wasn’t such a pushover and would liked to have seen her put Beth in her place much sooner. They rooted for Mindy to do just that!

Long Island Book Club Members holding their donated pajamas and books for the Pajama Program

Today, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting with a local book club on Long Island- my home turf. Turns out that just like the ladies in Indiana, they shared the same opinion of the main characters. Beth was intolerable and Mindy was the dream neighbor who they would love to have as a friend.  BUT, the difference was, in spite of Beth’s nastiness, they found themselves rooting for her (maybe even a little more than Mindy). Seems they liked the idea of Beth redeeming herself although they wondered if this was a realistic ending.

What do I conclude from this? Nothing scientific I suppose. Just that the Midwestern Moms and the East Coast Moms may have different sensibilities but both do love a fun story about friendship and survival.  Especially if it has a happy ending!

I would like to thank my IU friends who came out for the Borders event, including Martha Engstrom, Cynthia McBurney, Legene Whitell, Amanda  Zuicens-Williams, Kaylnn Huffman Brower, and all the friends and families Alex invited from school. You were a great crowd and I so appreciated your high praise.

I also want to thank the wonderful women who gathered this afternoon at the home of Amy Andelsman, who graciously put out a feast for us (best French Toast ever). Thank you Renee Faibish for organizing the details and for getting everyone on board. I totally enjoyed myself and can’t wait to meet with you again. Thank you also ladies for your generous support of the Pajama Program. Your donations will keep lots of children warm and happy this winter.

So all is well in book world.  Readers are happy, I am happy, and most of all, people who need books are the luckiest people in the world!

I am a big fan of astrology. I’ve had my natal chart done (yep- I snuck a peek at the last page to see if the ending is good), I’ve had readings, I subscribe to Jonathan Cainer’s on-line service that gives me a personalized daily forecast, I read Susan Miller’s astrology zone… so I’m hooked. I find it revealing and comforting to know that when things aren’t going my way, maybe it’s because there are greater forces at work and to just hang in there.

But…  ask me to tell you to explain to you the 12 zodiac signs or what it means when Venus conjuncts the Sun or the Sun squares Saturn… are you kidding me? I have no idea. However! I do know that when the world feels like it’s been turned upside down and everyone is acting strange and unpredictable (did anyone say McCain and Palin?),  when life feels like it’s at a standstill and nothing is progressing (the $770 billion dollar bailout),  when all forms of communication get totally scrwed up (your cell phone dies, your computer freezes), I can guarantee we are in a Mercury retrograde phase.  And sure enough, we’re right there.

It began on September 24 and hold your breath, lasts for another week until October 15. Trust me, it explains a lot. Mercury retrograde is that disconcerting period when we feel like we’re taking two steps backwards and zero steps forward. When we have to focus on the “mis” words like misunderstand, miscommunicate, mistake, mislead, and also the  ”re” words- regroup, rescind, reflect, return, repent, reconsider, revisit, remake, retaliate, release, redesign.

In other words, everything old is new again and what you thought was no longer an issue becomes front and center again. 

But on the upside,  this is supposed to be a chance to get it right, a chance to reflect and better understand what we didn’t learn earlier and then move on. It suddenly dawned on me that tonight marks the eve of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Perhaps there is a reason why they are occuring at the same time. After all, Jews do follow the lunar calendar (it’s the year 5769)  and the focus of this awe inspiring holiday is to reflect on the year- what we did right and wrong, what we need to apologize for, who we need to forgive, what we need to do better going forward, etc. It is also about seeking repentance.

Is it possible that the timing of these two events- the day of atonement and Mercury retrograde have coincided for a reason?  That for all of us,  regardless of religious background, we must stop what we’re doing and take time for careful consideration, thoughtful analysis, honest understanding and passionate reflection?  Our world would certainly be best served if we did all take the time to ponder our failings and make a pledge to do better.

Happy New Year and let us pray that this new beginning brings us to a better place and that our mortal reflections and commitments put us in the book of life. Truly, there is none more important.

SPEAKING OF BOOKS…

I am happy and proud to announce that I was recently inducted by the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, a group of wonderful women authors who help each other by introducing readers to their latest books. There was no hell week like a sorority, and we don’t get jackets like a volleyball team, but we network and help get the word out about great new books to look for. The first one I want to tell you about is called WATER WITCH by Deborah LeBlanc (Dorchester Publishing, October 2008)  This is a modern horror story, perfect for Halloween reading and gift giving. From the great accolades this book has earned, this looks like one spookily good yarn. Boo!!!!!  

Here’s the story:

Dunny knew from an early age what it meant to be an outsider.  Her special abilities earned her many names, like freak and water witch.  So she vowed to keep her powers a secret.  But now her talents may be the only hope of two missing children.  A young boy and girl have vanished, feared lost in the mysterious Louisiana bayous.  But they didn’t just disappear, they were taken.  And amid the ghosts and spirits of the swamp, there is a danger worse than any other, one with very special plans for the children-and for anyone who dares to interfere.

To check out the book trailer on Water Witch, visit: http://www.deborahleblanc.com/index.cfm

“One of the best new voices of modern horror.” -Cemetery Dance

“It’s now official:  Deborah LeBlanc has become a master not only of good spooky stories, but also of crafting great characters to fill them.” -The Horror Fiction Review

“An imaginative chiller.  Riveting!” -Publishers Weekly on Family Inheritance

“A solid haunted house thriller.” -Midwest Book Review on A House Divided

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a business owner, a licensed death scene investigator, and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams. Deborah’s unique experiences, enthusiasm, and high-energy level make her a much sought after speaker at writers’ conferences across the nation. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.

She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana, president of Mystery Writers of America’s Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Women Writers, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, Deborah created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual, national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and soon after founded Literacy Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. Her latest novel is WATER WITCH.

For more information, please go to www.deborahleblanc.com and www.literacyinc.com

In Deborah’s own words:  When I first started writing, I had been in business for more years than I cared to remember. At first, I thought the two entities (writing and business) had absolutely nothing in common, so I tried separating the two. It didn’t take long for me to realize how big a mistake that assumption was. Writing is a business, just different from the ones I was used to. Needless to say, though, as I restructured my thinking and attempted to merge the two together, I met with frustration of the highest order. Argg! As some of you have heard me spout off about before, publishing does not follow any standard business practice known to man, woman, or wooly-back orangutan. It’s its own worst enemy at times.

That being said, however, I decided to take the advice of a man I’d admired for years. One whose wisdom has helped me understand the meaning of success, which inevitably moved me up the ladder in quite a few corporations. I figured why not use those same principles in writing?

So I did. And I’ll be damn if they didn’t prove to be just as true in the publishing business as in any other venture.

Look for Deborah’s new book and thanks for visiting.

OH YA  WE GOT TROUBLE!!!!! Trouble with a capital T which Rhymes With P and that Stands for Palin!!!!

I know what you did last night…. me too. I flicked on the TV at 9:00 PM EST, wine glass in hand, (and the bottle close by in case of emergency), and sat down to watch what was being billed as the next thrilla from Manilla- the vice-presidential debate.  Would the heavyweight champ, the six-term senator from Delaware knock out his opponent, the lightweight Governor of Alaska in the first round, or would she go the distance?

Based on her recent performance in the TV ring, not even her staunchest supporters were predicting a positive outcome. Sarah Palin had just spent the past few weeks dangling in the ropes, done in not by battering punches, but quick, innocent jabs, like being asked to identify a single print publication she reads or explain how Alaska’s proximity to Russia constituted having foreign policy experience.

What were the odds that she could answer a difficult question by putting together a string of coherent sentences that included nouns, verbs and the occasional dangling participle? Trust me, it wasn’t only the Biden supporters who planned to drink their way through the debate.

All day I received e-mails from friends who fretted that this was Biden’s match to lose because he could not appear condescending or sexist, could not come off as the valedictorian vs. the cheerleader, could not wipe it in her nose that his thirty-five years of political life trumped her five weeks as VP Barbie. All she had to do was show up and not throw up and Republican pundits would be calling it a whopping victory.

At the same time, Biden was cast in the role of angry villain- the undisciplined wise guy who goes off on long tangents and doesn’t get back to his point until he damn well pleases. His advisers fretted that he would forget that the cameras were rolling and mock her while she attempted to respond to a question.

Instead, Biden was not only extremely poised and brilliant, he showed great respect for his opponent by not diminishing her experience or knowledge (or lack thereof), or dwelling on even a single charge against her ranging from Troopergate to women’s rights to the slaughtering of animals to sinking Wasilla into deep debt, to submitting bogus expenses to the state for reimbursement, etc. He simply stuck to the issues, answered the questions with great insight, and demonstrated his unparalleled knowledge of both our domestic and foreign policies, backing up his statements with facts, figures and viable solutions that represent real change.

And what did we get with Sarah Palin? At first she reminded me of my kids’s Teddy Ruxpin doll. Sit pretty and speak when wound, or like a juke box at the diner.   Press C9 and B7 and cue sound bite.  Over and over again she relied on the same cliched talking points: Thanks to John McCain we have blah, blah, blah… Oh gosh darn gotcha by golly, we must wipe out greed on Wall Street… I’m just a hockey mom… When I was mayor of Wasilla I cut taxes (and left the town in twenty million dollars in debt)… She offered style but not substance, accusations but not facts, snarly barbs instead of solutions. BUT… she was the first vice presidential candidate I can recall who ever winked and blew kisses to the audience.

It felt like a bad movie and then it hit me.  Sarah hadn’t watched “Rocky” to prepare for this debate, she watched “Legally Blonde” and “The Music Man.” Didn’t you expect at any minute to see her stand tall in her Elle Woods suit and stilettos and her jeweled American flag pin and break out in song? “Well ya got trouble my friends, right here I say trouble, right here in River City… trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool.”

She was Harold Hill in drag!!!! She couldn’ answer Gwen Ifill’s questions so she changed the subject and  sang the same song…. trouble, trouble, trouble!!!! Oh we’ve got trouble!And you could just see the glee in her eyes as she spoke to viewers hoping to instill fear and paranoia. She knew she didn’t need to sound intelligent, she only had to convince the townsfolk that under her leadership, there would be NO trouble!

But folks, we do have trouble if the millions of undecided voters support the Republican ticket because they bought what Sarah “Harold Hill” was selling- another con job. Another four years of mixed messages, destructive policies, inept management and horrifying judgment calls.

My hope is that even those prone to vote for “a regular person just like them” recognize the unequivocal and inherent danger of letting Sarah Palin and John McCain anywhere near the White House. We do not need another administration that puts actors in charge who learn to recite their lines but are otherwise clueless and asleep at the wheel. We saw that dreadful movie already and it starred Ronald Reagan.