Holiday Gift Ideas and Writers in Their Own words

I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings filled with family and food and laughter. I don't know if you're like me, but I don't even really think about holiday shopping until, well, until the pumpkin pie is gone. So, like, now. And then I start realizing, whoops, I better get cracking. And then I worry about what to get and when to find the time to shop.




Well, worry not because BOOKS are always the perfect gift (and the perfect fit. Plus, they are so so so easy to wrap!). And I have two to recommend, via the GCC. Without further ado, let me introduce Wendy Tokunaga and Melissa Senate.




Wendy's new book, LOVE IN TRANSLATION is for anyone who’s ever dreamt of finding love and family in an unexpected place... Michelle Redmond, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Fog calls it “A delightful novel about love, identity, and what it means to be adrift in a strange land. This story of a search has an Alice in Wonderland vibe; when Celeste climbs down the rabbit hole, one can't help but follow along.”





And Melissa's book, THE SECRET OF JOY, starts with the question: What would you do if you discovered you had a half-sister you never knew existed? "The Secret of Joy is a warm hug of a book. Insightful, wise, and romantic, it's as inviting as the small-town life it depicts." –Claire LaZebnik says, "The Secret of Joy is a warm hug of a book. Insightful, wise, and romantic, it's as inviting as the small-town life it depicts."

Let's hear from them in their own words:

1.) How did you come up with the idea for this book? Are you more driven by plot or by character?

Wendy: In this case I was driven by the character. I wanted to write about what it’s like to be a female gaijin (foreigner) in Japan, a place that despite its sophistication still can be construed as somewhat xenophobic, with many Japanese displaying a weird fascination mixed with disdain toward people who are different, especially Westerners. I also wanted to write about a cross-cultural relationship and how love can transcend culture, as well as the power of music. So with all this, I had to put a plot together, which came second. But this plot also spawned other themes: the meaning of family, identity, and what it means to discover your own voice.

Melissa: Several years ago, I received a startling email: I think you might be my half sister. Whoa. I was, indeed. I didn’t know how I felt about everything such an email had swirled up, so I ended up writing about a woman who discovers she has a half-sister she never knew existed and set her off to find her. Only the very nugget of the idea is based on my own life; I flipped everything else on its head. But the emotional force driving the story is very real.

I often steal from my own life when I start to write a new book, so in that sense I’m driven by plot, but because I never base the characters on myself or anyone I know, the characters take over completely and drive the plot themselves.

2.) Who's your favorite character in this book and why?

Melissa: I love Joy Jayhawk, the main character’s half sister. I share some of her trials and tribulations, and I understood her reserve and emotional journey in a way that made me feel so close to her.

Wendy: I have a special fondness for Mariko. She’s a native-born Japanese who grew up frustrated with the social restrictions placed on her in Japan as a Japanese woman. She married an American and ended up living in the United States. But a family issue has brought her back to Japan and her American-influenced personality makes her stick out like a sore thumb. She’s much too direct, laughs too loud, and has a penchant for using every English swear word possible. But she also doesn’t give a damn what people think about her.

3.) What's your writing process/writing environment like?

Wendy: I work in my own home office when I’m writing new material for a novel. Once I’ve written a significant amount of pages (or, more like when I just can’t come up with any more to write!) I print them out and go to a coffee house or somewhere, read the pages and make notes. Then I will go back to my office and input changes. Then hopefully I’ll write more new material, though that is what I find the most difficult.

Melissa: I fell madly in love with this beautiful mahogany secretary-desk that is completely useless for writing, so of course I bought it with a matching beautiful chair. The desk is tiny and barely holds my laptop and the glass of Coke Zero I can’t seem to write without. But the desk itself inspires me! My writing process hasn’t changed since my first book (and I’m now on my 10th, though I keep hoping it will): I write and revise as I go, so it takes me a verrrry long time to write a first draft. The good news is that when I’m done, I only have to do a second draft to edit, then a third to polish. I wish I could just write a draft all the way through, letting it be shitty, as my hero Anne Lamott advises, and just getting it all down. Maybe one day.

4.) What's your favorite part of writing?

Melissa: When my characters truly begin telling the story for me, when the words come that easily.

Wendy: Definitely the revision process. I like kneading and massaging the rough prose I’ve already written.

5.) What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten about writing?

Melissa: Trust your gut. It knows.

Wendy: In the words of Anne Lamott, you are allowed to have a shitty first draft. And it’s nothing to be ashamed about.

Writers in Their Own Words-GCC

I'm thrilled to be "touring" my fellow GCC buddy, Jessica Brody whose newest novel, Love Under Cover, is in stores now! Booklist calls it an "an honest, witty portrayal of modern love."

In her job, she’s an expert on men…

In her own relationship, she doesn’t have a clue.

Boyfriend behaving badly? Suspect your husband of straying? Jennifer Hunter can supply the ultimate test. She runs a company which specializes in conducting fidelity inspections for those who suspect their loved ones are capable of infidelity.

An expert on men, Jennifer can usually tell if they're single, married or lying... Unfortunately, her new boyfriend, Jamie, is one of the few men that she's never been able to 'read.' Has she finally found the perfect man or is he too good to be true?

A captivating new novel from the bestselling author of The Fidelity Files.

Let's hear from Jessica in her own words:

1.) How did you come up with the idea for this book? Are you more driven by plot or by character?

As soon as I finished writing my first novel, The Fidelity Files¸ I knew that Jennifer’s journey wasn’t over yet. Although she had seemed to find her happy ending there was so much more fun stuff I had in mind for another book. Setting Jennifer up with an entire agency of fidelity inspectors was definitely the first and foremost on my mind for the next instalment.

Plus, I really wanted to explore what a fidelity inspector would be like in a committed relationship. After everything she’s seen—all the cheating, dishonesty, and betrayal—would she really be capable of settling down herself? So that’s what I set out to focus on in this book.

2.) Who's your favorite character in this book and why?

I love Jennifer’s three friends. They’re all fun to write in their own unique ways. Zoë has a terrible road rage problem and she has a habit of talking on the phone while driving so those conversations with Jen and Zoë on the phone are always really entertaining for me. I get to channel my inner turrets patient. Sophie is totally neurotic. I love going over the top with her.
And John is the flamboyant gay boy from West Hollywood who is always quick with his sarcasm and wit. Sometimes I don’t know where his remarks come from. I must be channelling my inner gay man because I’ll write something that he says and think, “That’s really funny. Where the hell did that come from?”

3.) What's your writing process/writing environment like?

I have a desktop and a laptop but I prefer to write on my laptop. I do all my “busy work” like emails, interviews, website stuff, on my desktop and I found that switching computers helped me switch focus.
I used to not be able to write in a public place. But then I discovered “white noise” mp3s. They basically play nothing but…well, white noise. Now I go to my favorite coffee shop, pop in my ear phones, crank up the white noise and the world around me dissolves away. Plus… coffee helps.

4.) What's your favorite part of writing?

My favorite part? Definitely the first 50 pages. They fly by. They’re brilliant and fresh and exciting and full of promise. I feel like I could do anything. I feel like I write an entire novel in two weeks.

My least favorite part? Everything that comes after that.

4.) What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten about writing?

Jump and the net will appear. You can’t wait for the perfect opportunity to come along, you just have to go for it. When I decided I would be a published author, I made the decision and I leapt off the cliff…without a parachute. I quit my high-paying, corporate job at a move studio, started taking odd jobs off of Craigslist to make ends meet, downgraded my car, my apartment and my lifestyle to save money and just went for it. I never looked back. I turned down three job offers from other studios, all which paid even more than I was making when I left my previous one. I sold my first novel a year and a half after I quit. Now I write full time and this year, for the first time since I quit my corporate job in 2005, I’m making more as a writer than I was making as a “suit.” Do what you love and the money will eventually come. I’m a big believer in this. And I am living proof that it works!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

It's another "Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace" NICE HAPPENS Tuesday over on my JUST BE NICE blog. And it's also my younger son's birthday. (So please excuse the cross-post.)

It's fitting. He was born at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night 22 years ago today. I'd like to say he's been full of grace his whole life. I'm not sure that'd be totally accurate.

He's been full of boy. And trips to the emergency room. And sweetness.

He made us a family.

He makes me laugh and smile.

And here's one thing I've learned from him about niceness (among many other things. He really is a sweet kid.)--when you call someone, start with "First, I wanted to say 'hi.' And see how you are." That's the way to start the conversation, even if you're calling to complain or ask for money or explain you might not have done so great on that test you took last week.

Start with showing you care. Start with love. After that, everything else is easy.

Happy Birthday, Eric! Come home and visit soon. Your mom misses you.

Writers in Their Own Words-GCC

Today is the first real autumn-y feeling day we've had. I love it. There's Italian Beef in the crock pot, I'm wearing a light sweater, the jeans I haven't worn in 6 months still fit, and I'm ready to make a cup of tea and curl up with a good book. Lucky for me, Marilyn Brant has provided the perfect book: According to Jane.



Susan Wiggs, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, describes it a "A warm, witty and charmingly original story." And Cathy Lamb, author of Henry's Sisters, says it's "An engaging read for all who have been through the long, dark, dating wars, and still believe there's sunshine, and a Mr. Darcy, at the end of the tunnel."

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet "tsk" of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there.

Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go--sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham.

Still, everyone has something to learn about love--perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending. . .

Now, let's hear from Marilyn in her own words . . .

1.) How did you come up with the idea for this book? Are you more driven by plot or by character?
I’m definitely more driven by character, but I think a good set of characters leads to situations that can be shaped into an interesting plot. For According to Jane, I started with a “What If?” premise: What if a young woman had Jane Austen’s ghost giving her dating advice? How would Jane instruct her? Would she listen? What might go awry? And what if Jane were wrong about someone? Would the young woman have the courage to follow her heart against the voice of wisdom?

2.) Who's your favorite character in this book and why?
Ellie, my heroine. She and I share a certain introspection and we each had a tendency toward perfectionism in school, plus, we were both children of ‘80s pop culture. I gave her those sides of me and love her like a favorite cousin. However, we’re not one and the same. Most of her painful relationship problems were (thankfully) extrapolated from things I observed or they were exaggerated from some real events and grafted to modernized versions of scenes I found fascinating in Austen’s novels. I like to think she handled those challenges fairly well, at least given how difficult it is to grow up. Certainly better than I would have.

3.) What's your writing process/writing environment like?
I write in my home office--a messy place, cluttered with stacks of paper and towers of books, but also a very nice window overlooking our backyard. Sometimes I’ll write at a local coffee shop (either with my laptop or, most often, just by hand on notebook paper), and that has the advantage of endless cups of coffee and occasional snacks. As for my process, I’m a very slow writer. It’s rare that I can draft more than a page or two in an hour. I obsessively reread and wordsmith before moving on to the next scene, which in no way means that I don’t also revise again (multiple times) at the end of a manuscript. It takes me about 9-10 months to completely write a women’s fiction book from start to finish.

4.) What's your favorite part of writing?
Getting to do something creative every single day. Truly, that’s been such a gift. Even when the plotting of a scene is giving me fits or the synopsis doesn’t seem to make sense at all…I love knowing that I have a place to play with these characters and storylines. My hope is that by writing about women’s dreams and experiences as honestly as possible, I might get closer to helping readers recognize truths about their own lives. It was this sense of “recognition” that my favorite novelists gave to me.

5.) What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten about writing?
I’ve gotten a few good ones, applicable to life as well as writing, I think:
“Begin as you intend to go on.”
“It’s better to be than to seem to be.”
“Always over-deliver and under-promise.”

Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, but she also hangs out online at her blog "Brant Flakes." When she isn't rereading Jane's books or enjoying the latest releases by her writer friends, she's working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry.

Novel 101: Begin Wherever You Start

A few weeks ago, I was a couple of days away from going back to a WIP I'd set aside last April. Back then (last spring) I was going back to the drawing board and completely rewriting/revising a novel I thought I'd finished several times. I finished that rewrite at the end of June, took some time away from all writing (except thinking about it), then did another read-through and tweaked things here or there and sent it off to my agent.

Then I skipped town for a week.

Then I was ready to go back to that WIP. I knew the characters, knew their voices, had the whole story arc in mind.

But, the week I was getting all ready to dive back into Full-Writing-Mode, something happened. Something I had very little power over. Absolutely no control.



A mother started telling me things. She wouldn't let me go. I couldn't ignore her no matter how hard I tried. And, damn, what she had to say was incredibly compelling. I even found myself dreaming about her. Seriously.

So, I started writing her story. And her daughter's. And then, the detective who's working with them started telling me about some of the struggles in her life.

And an image was in the background, an image that lends itself to a really lovely, haunting title.



So, I began writing. Not the story I thought I'd be writing, not even, necessarily where I thought it would start. But I began it. And I've pecked away at it nearly every day since then. It's starting to take shape. The characters are telling me more, letting me into their lives. And I can't stop thinking about them. It's kind of like falling in love.

Scary, thrilling, and never quite what you expect.

Spreading the word . . .

The lovely Larramie, fairy godmother to writers and readers, wrote an incredibly nice post about my new blog . . . and I have a new post up over there as well. Please stop by . . .

Thanks!

My Mama Taught Me Better

What's going on in society these days? I mean really. Look at Kanye West and Joe Wilson (two names that have probably never been uttered in the same sentence before!).

When did rudeness become acceptable? Defensible? The status quo?

When did apologizing become a sign of weakness or backing down?

My mother taught me to be kind. Be responsible. And yes, to stand up for what I believe in but in a civilized manner. She taught me that the world doesn't revolve around me. I passed those lessons on to my sons. I said I was sorry . . . and I MEANT it when I said it . . . when I'd been unfair to them. Or even just short-tempered. I believe that being willing to apologize shows strength and compassion.

Rudeness is never acceptable. Even when I've been treated poorly, it's not okay. I don't want to stoop to the lowest common denominator. I want to rise above it.

Breaking rules is not okay. I learned this one many times, but the best reminder came when I was 16 and had gotten caught going off campus for lunch (something only seniors could do and I was a junior). Since I was the driver, I got three days detention. Since I wouldn't rat on who else was in the car with me they tacked on another two days (I felt sort of noble about that!). When I tried to defend myself to my mom (who wasn't buying any of my teenaged outrage, by the way) by exclaiming, loudly, that it was a stupid rule, she calmly replied that it might well be but I had two choices: obey it or work to change it. Breaking it was not okay. In honesty, I'd like to say I worked to change it, but no. I did get better at not getting caught (it was all in which parking lot I parked in, I discovered).

But, I digress.

Joe Wilson was out of line to yell "You lie!" during President Obama's speech. He could have groaned or booed. That's what the parties in opposition do. And now he's acting like not apologizing makes him more of a man. Uh, no. It makes him look weak and stubborn and ill-bred. His mama must be shaking her head.

And Kanye? Most of the folks nominated for any award DON'T win. That's the law of numbers. And just because you think the voters got it wrong, you don't get to hop up and announce your opinion to the world. You win some and you lose some. That's life. Deal with it without looking like a doofus. Or worse. What must your mama think?

What's happening? Do we need a MOM SQUAD or something to go from town to town and teach civility? Kindness? The Golden Rule?

Shouldn't it come naturally?

***UPDATE*** check out my NEW blog Just Be Nice . . .