Mariachi On the Endangered List

Not if I have anything to do with it!

What the heck am I talking about? Check out this video.

Ever since I started rewriting "The Ballad of Aracely Calderon" (aka the mariachi book), I've been given "signs" that seem to say that I'm doing the right thing.

The day before I started, I was driving to pick up the Little Dude from school and saw an Astro Van crammed with men in trajes and a sign on the window that said, "Mariachi de Cantares." Today, when I hit the wall with chapter two, I stumbled upon this video.

Like I said in my previous entry, experience and confidence aren't enough to finish a book. Faith and an open mind are underrated. Sometimes I need a sign or a little karmic nudge to keep on going. I'll just keep my eyes, ears and mind open and see what happens next.

Salud!

Beginner's Mind

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

-Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

This week I began a page one rewrite of my mariachi book. I know, I know. I've been working on this book for three years. The writing experts would've told me to give up and move on to more profitable pastures. Actually, three years ago I would've told myself the same thing.

But the last eight weeks (and being dumped by my agent) have shown me the number one reason why this book has yet to fly. It's not the fault of my agents or readers. It's not because the market sucks or Mercury in retrograde. It's because I worked on it with the mind that I knew what I was doing.

I'm not saying that this journey has been wrong. I'm not blaming anyone or anything or labeling my decisions as mistakes. In fact, I'm beginning to waver on the concept of right versus wrong and adopting the idea of "what is." (Note to Karen Maezen Miller: you're rubbing off on me, comadre!) For us Westerners, specifically for us writers striving to become published/acknowledged/adored, the idea of "it is what it is" is wrong and scary and exclusive to authors with a lot of money and mileage on the best-seller lists.

Through all of May and June I wrote a pilot script, a series treatment and then a spec script. I began those projects never having taken a TV writing course or having written a script for TV. (Although I'd taken screenwriting courses in university, that was 15 years ago and I'd lost those class notes!) How did I do it? Well, I did it by pinching my nose and jumping in. This journey turned everything I had believed in as a writer upside down. I believed in business plans, outlines, the three-act structure and 10,000 hours of practice. I believed that I had to get away from my beginner's status as quickly and efficiently as possible. I even believed that my producer should have hired an experienced screenwriter instead of a beginner like me.

But then I remembered what Nora Roberts had said in one her chat sessions back in 1994. Someone asked if she ever got over the fear of writing a new book. Nora, who has written something like 120+ books in her career, replied, "No. Starting a new book is like starting all over again."

At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about. I thought it was nice of Nora to say that to all us beginners, but now I know what she meant and it freed me to write the pilot, spec and treatment. No matter how many books or screenplays I may end up writing, I will always be a beginner. It's not scary or discouraging. A beginner's mind isn't hemmed in by business plans, right vs. wrong, plot-driven or character-driven or the three-act structure. A beginner's mind damns the consequences and is open to spontaniety and "what if." Isn't that what we writers do?

Between the Pages with Karen White

Give me a story with a plucky heroine in a mysterious house surrounded by trees draped in Spanish moss and I'm one happy girl. It's enough to make me wonder if I was a Southerner in a former life. Nonetheless, Karen White delivers the goods in her latest novel, The Lost Hours. Its a powerful story of redemption and how the past still sends ripples into our present day lives. But man is this story powerful. When I reached the denouement, I had to put the book down and hold my Little Dude in my arms.

Please welcome Author Karen White!

Chica Lit: The Lost Hours is a story of healing about a heroine who wants to bury herself alive and a mystery that probes into a very ugly part of U.S. history. How challenging was it to write and how did you keep going when it got rough?

Karen: I always start out with flawed characters who have a lot of growing and learning to do. When I put them in tough situations, I feel like a mother with a toddler helping him to walk for the first time. We have to suffer with them through the falls and stumbles, but we'll all be better off with the end result. So, when my characters are suffering, I know it's for a good reason and they will learn and grow from the experience. I still cry and/or laugh with them through some of the scenes--which always takes a lot out of me, but that means I'm on the right track!

Chica Lit: Why do you think Southern Gothics are so fascinating?

Karen: I don't know about other readers, but for me it's simply because it's such familiar territory! I come from a long line of Southerners (my dad's family has been in the South since the French Revolution) and I've got a very 'interesting' family tree. I don't want to call them crazy , but there are characters and settings that I've experienced in real life that have certainly fed my fascination for "Southern Gothic" and inspired quite a lot of my own writing.

Chica Lit: What comes first: character, theme or story idea?

Karen: Always, always, always the character. Everything else stems from her and what she needs to learn.

Chica Lit: How do you know when a book is done?

Karen: When I've reached my deadline. Just kidding! When I feel as if I've tortured my characters enough and they've learned what they're supposed to--that's when I know the book is done.

Chica Lit: What's next?

Karen: In November, The Girl on Legare Street (the sequel to The House on Tradd Street) will be released. I'm contracted for two more books in this series to be released in 2011 and 2013. In the meantime, I'll have two new 'southern women's fiction/Southern Gothic novels out in spring of 2010 and 2011, and somewhere in there (we haven't figured out exactly when) will be the re-written and re-released Falling Home, originally published in 2002.

All this will be accomplished if my children leave me alone and my head doesn't spin off my shoulders!

To learn more about Karen and her books, please visit her website!

For Writers

Image from BustedTees.com

About once a week, I get at least one email from a writer who is looking for guidance. While I can't meet with each individual person or read your manuscripts (legally, that's a touchy area that I'd rather stay out of!), I can point you in the right direction.

Here are some upcoming events and online resources just for you:

Events
Friday, June 26, 2009
Screening of Under the Same Moon/La Misma Luna, with Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos
6:30 reception, 7:00 screening followed by Q&A
Libreria Martinez-Lynwood (in Plaza Mexico)

Starting July 21
Five-Week Creative Writing Workshop by Reyna Grande, 2007 American Book Award winner and author of Across a Hundred Mountains
Fee: $125.00
Libreria Martinez—Lynwood (in Plaza Mexico)
To register: reynagrande@yahoo.com

Online resources:

Marcela Landres - monthly e-newsletter filled with Q&As, workshops, fellowships, etc.
Writers Digest - everything from the monthly magazine, articles about writing, reference books and links to writers organizations and conferences
Orange County Chapter RWA - offers a diverse schedule of online writing courses on a monthly basis
Writers on Writing - radio show for writers hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett that you can tune into via KUCI or online
Books for Writers - my own list of must-reads for every writer

If you have a resource that you'd like to suggest, please share in the comments section. My plan is to update this entry every month or so with new and exciting stuff!

Know When To Hold 'Em

Image from Art.com

Yesterday I wrote the rough draft of a spec script involving Native Americans. I think I might go to hell for the politically incorrect nature of what I wrote and I'm okay with that. In fact, I feel rather liberated by the whole thing because when I worked on Hot Tamara and In Between Men, my editor asked me to cut out some lines and passages that she felt were too inflammatory for chick lit readers. I did it because I was so excited to be published and I was careful not to do anything that would displease my editor. But I've always regretted cutting out those lines and passages because as ugly as they might have been, they were real. In a way, I think by pink-washing those books, they weren't as strong and relevant as they could've been.

(Then again, I think I make up for it with the sex scenes.)

The more I write, the more willing I am to stand up for my own work. My mom says its because I'm 35 and the older we women get, the less crap we take from people. Nonetheless, I'm more willing to honor my work for what it is. I'm more willing to be honest and write characters who push buttons, even if they're the ones we'd rather pretend didn't exist.

Earlier this week, Norman Lear was featured on CBS Sunday Morning and he talked about his controversial and wildly successful show, All In the Family. Lear's work is infamous for tackling the issues of the day - rape, abortion, racism, etc - through comedy and of that he said, "You know, you could hear anything we were saying in a schoolyard. What was the big surprise?"

Here's a link to this story, if you're interested.

For those of you who are trying to break into publishing and you get notes from agents and editors who ask you tone things down or smooth over a character's dialogue that might offend readers, its natural that you want to please them.

Like Kenny said, "You gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run."

Perhaps this blog is more relevant to romance writers because RWA still debates the merits of books that employ strong language. (Am I mistaken but do women not cuss?) Anyway, take this from someone who now knows better: please the gatekeepers to a point and not at expense of your work's integrity.