Advertising for "Growing Up Ivy"

I discovered an advertising blurb for my upcoming novel on the website of a major on-line bookseller. I thought the blurb captured the essence of the story so well that I wanted to share it on my blog (with only a few minor tweaks).

Living in grim Depression-era Toronto with her actress mother, Frannie, Ivy Chalmers has never met her father. In 1931, Frannie sends 12-year-old Ivy to stay with her paternal grandmother in Larkin, Ontario, while she seeks stardom in New York City.

When Ivy's father, Alva, arrives unexpectedly in Larkin, he turns out not to be the Prince Charming she imagined, but an illiterate peddler. Rescuing Ivy from her uncompromising grandmother, Alva takes her with him for the summer, wandering the countryside by horse-drawn caravan, selling shoes.



Back at her grandmother's, at summer's end, Ivy meets teenager Charlie Bayliss, orphaned as an infant and raised by his aunt on a farm outside Larkin.


Ivy has a flair for writing and boundless imagination; Charlie loves baseball and loathes farming. Unknown to both of them, though, is a secret connection they share. When the final pieces of the puzzle of their lives fall into place, nothing will ever be the same.



Intrigued? I couldn't have written it better myself. I hope you'll look for Growing Up Ivy late next spring.

My Daily Writing Routine

When I was working (read: employed) I used to write on my days off. The people around me knew that Tuesday was writing day. After I retired I gradually became less disciplined. There was more time -- too much, perhaps. I became easily distracted. If I was writing and I thought of something that needed attention, I'd go look after it. It could be as trivial as adding an item to the weekly shopping list, or checking to see if I should water my houseplants.

Finally, I realized that if I wanted to be more productive, I needed a regular routine. Besides, the muse has to have a way to reach me, and with my mind running all over the place, she wasn't having much luck.

I made the decision that I must be ready to go to work every morning at 9. I must have had breakfast and be dressed for the day. No more writing in my PJs. I keep a pad beside me as I write, and if something off-topic comes to mind, I write it down. It can be looked after when my work day is done.

Now, I have to confess that I had let email become 'way too important to my day. I had to make a new rule for myself: NO CHECKING EMAIL UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO BE DISTRACTED. Reading email early in the day, which is when I happen to be at my creative best, has been totally distruptive for me. If I didn't reply to it immediately, I'd be thinking about my responses. Or I might read an email that unsettled me, got my mind going in another direction entirely. That's the kiss of death for me!

It's not a hard schedule to follow. I take a short break at 10:30, the same as one does at a regular job. Then I go back to work till 12 noon. I have lunch, check my email and go for my walk. The afternoon is when I look after any household chores and prepare the evening meal. But I find that after an uninterrupted morning of writing, my mind is still so absorbed with the story that I return to the manuscript frequently during the rest of the day. And this is good. Because much of the preparation for writing takes place in my head.

A writer needs self-discipline, and this is the routine that works for me. I'd love to hear how you schedule your writing day.

Write on!

Thinking Time

The hardest part of writing a story, for me, is the second draft. I write the first draft with abandon, recklessly. Having fun, in other words. But then comes the excruciating part as I try to get the story to make sense, get those elegant, unruly characters into line.

I look for excuses at this stage to avoid it. I pick up the phone, check my email (again), sort my bills. I even have to trick myself, by leaving the manuscript on the kitchen table where I usually write, and where I'm confronted by its unresolved bulk at least three times a day.

Brenda Ueland, author of If You Want to Write: a Book About Art, Independence & Spirit (first published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1938), suggests that if you're having trouble at this stage it could be because your story is not yet well-enough "imagined." It needs more time, more thinking time.

She says, "Try to see the people better . . . See them-- just what they did and how they looked and felt. Then write it. If you can at last see it clearly the writing is easy."

I think I knew this already; sometimes I just need a little reminder. So, today I'll spend time with my characters. Perhaps they'd like to help me clean up the flowerbeds?

"A Passion for Narrative"

One of the favourite books on my resource shelf is A Passion for Narrative, by Jack Hodgins. Subtitled, A Guide for Writing Fiction, it was published by McClelland & Stewart in 1993.
Although I read it years ago, today I still dive into it for help with certain aspects of my story. Lately, I've been re-reading the chapter on plots.

The chapter details a wide variety of plot categories--something I find rather daunting--from one Professor Norman Friedman. I love Hodgins' conclusion to all this.

He writes, "Rather than think of plot as a prescribed formula (or choice of formulae) to which you must make your material "fit," I suggest you think of it as a general pattern floating somewhere in the back of your consciousness as you write . . . Let the combination of your material and your hopes for it, rather than anyone's list of characteristics, guide your story's progress."

I find that comforting.

Most helpful to me, at the end of the chapter Hodgins provides some questions to ask myself about the plot, now that I've reached the first-draft stage. These thoughtful questions give me an idea of why it might not be working.

Write on!

Acceptance!

Life is good. My confidence has been renewed.

I knew--and I told the people closest to me that this would happen--somewhere, someday, someone would take a chance with this story.

The writing life is a series of ups and downs, and right now mine is on a high. Ivy lives! It's all happening very quickly. Within three days of his request for the complete manuscript, the editorial director telephoned to say he'd like to do my book. In the spring of 2010!

And as soon as the contract discussion was out of the way, he needed material about my book for the publisher's spring catalogue, which was almost ready to go to the printer. Could I come up with a 150-word blurb for the back cover, a 50-word biography and some ideas about what I envisioned for the cover of the book? The following morning would be perfect. Of course, I could do it!

I loved writing this novel like no other. In the early days it seemed to write itself. Ivy Chalmers, my main character, has lived in my head since 2007 when I first began to scribble my way towards a new story. I just let Ivy (and Charlie) go where they wanted, until I finally had to rein them in. When I began to see the direction the story was taking, I ditched some scenes, rearranged and rewrote others, tightened the story and tried to reinforce the theme. Then it was time to test the waters.

The story is set in Toronto and rural Ontario, and it takes place during the Great Depression. Ivy lives with her mother, Frannie, who dreams of becoming a famous actress. The two read fairy tales and engage in games of "make believe" to get them through the hard times. When Ivy is 12, Frannie decides to take off for New York City to make a name for herself on the stage. She sends Ivy to live with her grandmother, someone she has never even met. In spite of the grandmother's conviction the Frannie has abandoned her, Ivy is confident that her mother will return. Frannie's games of "let's pretend" have not prepared Ivy for life with her no-nonsense grandmother.

The book is called Growing Up Ivy. I hope you will watch for it. It is to be available in the spring of 2010.

Wilma's Wish

Exactly one year ago, our writers' group lost one of our members. It hasn't been the same since. Wilma was the one who kept us on track, encouraged us to "soldier on" whenever one of us felt the sting of rejection.

The successful author of seven children's novels, as well as numerous short stories and a radio play, Wilma had had her share of rejections, but she never let anyone be discouraged for long. It was "pass the Kleenex" and get right on with the writing.

"History with a mystery" was how Wilma E. Alexander described her fiction. As was our custom at meetings, Wilma read novel number eight, Finding Silver, to us, chapter by chapter over the months, looking for suggestions and hearing how it sounded read aloud. We listened and made our comments. We all loved it.

Wilma had a wonderful sense of story. She and I used to toss around, half-jokingly, the idea of collaborating on something one day. My books are character-driven; I spend a great deal of time developing characters and letting them decide where we're going. On the other hand, Wilma had this wonderful ability to weave the most intriguing plots.

She had completed this eighth novel for young readers and was shopping it around to various publishers when she became ill. Before we knew it, she was gone. Her final wish, according to her husband, Jim, was that he publish Finding Silver himself.

This week, Wilma's wish came true, and Jim accepted delivery of Wilma's last novel from the printer. He had taken great care in selecting a publisher and in arranging for editing and proof- reading of the manuscript. Only another writer can appreciate what a labour of love this was.

The finished book looks most professional. Wilma would be proud. Besides the fascinating story inside, the book is attractively designed with an eye-catching cover. It is well-bound and has a reader-friendly typeface that will appeal to children.

Thanks to Jim Alexander's generosity, every school and library in a wide area will receive copies of Finding Silver at no charge. Any proceeds from further sales of the book will go directly to the Canadian Cancer Society, in Wilma's memory.

Soldier on, fellow writers.

The Essential Notebook

I cannot be without my notebook. It's as important to me as my wallet and the pen that I carry in my purse. Over the years I have filled many of these small, black books with my jottings. Take this morning, for instance.

I had to take my car in to the garage for its scheduled oil change, and while I waited, I perused my current notebook. In between story ideas, I found bits and pieces that I'd written while sitting in other waiting rooms. There were also notes I'd scribbled while travelling on the train or while "killing time" in parking lots.

I always strive to be on time for things and consequently, I sometimes arrive too early for a presentation. When that happens, I'll find the farthest corner of the parking lot and open my notebook. I'll write down my expectations for the day, the things I see around me, where I am with the story I'm working on at home, anything, until a more reasonable arrival time has come.

Maybe this habit of mine of being too early is how my brain schedules some writing time into an otherwise too-busy-to-write day.

Write on.