Giving Thanks

Well, wouldn't you know it? As I pen this note it is Monday evening, and I am sick. Yes, Thanksgiving week! Can you believe it? I hope none of you are feeling under the weather. I was ill once before during this holiday, but, thankfully, it was many years ago. So, right there I guess I should be thankful and complain less. That time I had an allergic reaction which made it extremely difficult to eat. I recall wondering whether I would end up missing out on all of the great holiday food. Thankfully, the problem then began to dissipate just in time, allowing me to be able to eat relatively well.

This time it seems that my regular allergies have kicked in. I began to feel my infamous post-nasal drip begin to choke me last Friday, just as California was being hit with a nice winter storm which brought us a lot of much-needed rain. It was particularly stressing because my wife was having some elective work, which meant that I needed to be on my feet for her. I managed to get through the day, but barely. Saturday night I was hit with a fever. All weekend long I was heading for the tissue box and choking on you-know-what.

I was bummed out because I had hoped to make some headway with the edits on Dance on Fire: Flashpoint, the sequel to my novel. I had thought that by the end of that weekend I might be in great shape. Unfortunately, between going line by line and getting up seemingly every ten minutes, I really didn't get very far, and certainly nowhere near as far as I had hoped. At this writing, I am barely half way, and I have given myself a deadline of December 1st. We'll see what this cold thinks about my deadlines. It might be one thing if all that I had to do between now and then was my day job, celebrate Thanksgiving and complete editing. On top of that, however, I had this post as well as an article due for Kings River Life Magazine, a local on-line magazine that I write for.

[caption id="attachment_3885" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Garcia Men"][/caption]

Now, having written all of this, a part of me is poking me in the shoulder. I really do not have to turn around to know who it is and what it is that he want to tell me. The PG version is probably something along the lines of "Stop Your Sobbing". I say that because I'm a big Pretenders fan and that was one of their early hits. Really, I think it's something like "stop your whining". Without going back over old territory, I have way too much to be thankful for. I've been married 20 years, which is one hell of a lot longer than many these days. My boys are great and healthy and talented, and well on their way. My wife and I are both working, and we have money to do things. And finally, I have been spending this past year writing. I haven't made any money doing it, as of yet, but I can see that it's coming.

I could complain about a few things, but it would be more of a shame-on-me-thing for doing it. You know what I mean? So the doctor gave me an antibiotic, which I will start taking tonight after I eat something. I took some Advil this afternoon and now my fever has broken, and perhaps more importantly, at least mentally, they gave me another allergy shot. I say that because I swear by those shots! I'm surprised that it did not quite make it a complete year, but whatever! I feel so much better already and it's only been a few hours.

One of the other things that was bumming me out was my potentially not being well enough for Black Friday. Hold your horses! That's not what I mean. I already have to get up that early for work; why would I want to get up that early on a day off...for shopping? The day after Thanksgiving is my day for decorating the house. It will take the entire day, and I will be rearranging two rooms along with a bunch of furniture, but at the end of the afternoon Christmas will have arrived. So, if I am too sick for that, I will really be bummed.

[caption id="attachment_3886" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Our living area"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3887" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Our Dining Room (Read: my office. See trusty lap top?)"][/caption]

As I said, I am feeling better already, so I'm optimistic it will be a good week after all, and that these two photos will look completely different in a few days time. Come back in December and I'll show you the "after" photos.

How about you? Will it be a good and thankful week for you and yours? I hope so. If your year has been less than spectacular, then I hope the holidays will be a magical time that restores your optimism for 2011.

Your new friend,

James

Transitioning

[caption id="attachment_3815" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="I love to read. I used to have time for that."][/caption]

Some of you may know this, some may not, but one year ago at this time I had just found a publisher. Vamplit Publishing had my debut novel about vampires with a Christian twist, and I was simply waiting for the editor to send back my carved-up manuscript. At that time, I had one MySpace account which was gathering dust (for spying on my teenager, don't you know), as well as one Facebook account. With that, however, all that I was doing was looking for old friends and playing Vampire Wars. Other than checking my e-mail multiple times per day for my edits which would ultimately not come in until Christmas Eve day, I had nothing to do in terms of writing.

     Oh, what a difference a year can make.

     Why am I telling you this, you ask? Some may be wondering why I am retelling it. Faithful readers of this hallowed page may have noticed that what was once fairly regimented has grown, shall we say: loose. There’s a reason for that and our hope here is it will be temporary. You see, many of us have gotten busy at quite the same time with regards to writing projects becoming published novels, and blogging evolving into PR campaigns and book tours.

     For me, 2010 transitioned from checking my e-mail every day, waiting for my novel to be published - to being published nearly every week. First came the blog. I didn’t design that. My publisher handed me the keys, but it was certainly up to me to fill it with stuff. I posted information about my novel, as well as film and music reviews and the occasional rant or editorial. A guest post on Wicked Writers transitioned over to a regular spot every other Friday. A review in a local magazine brought me to the attention of an editor who had just launched her own on-line magazine. I had never written articles before, nor did I have any kind of experience in Journalism; however, I have now been writing articles for her since the summer. I now have a second Facebook page (The Official James Garcia... You get the idea) as well as a Twitter Account.

     The point I’m attempting to make is, we spent a lot of time dreaming that these days might come; that we might be writing. Little did we realize, perhaps, just what form that might take; or how it might all come together. I think many of you have probably gone through the same things. Notice how I’ve mentioned nothing at all about us having houses to maintain, or children or grandchildren to parent. Or day jobs! Many of you are writing and running blogs; others are reading, reviewing and running blogs; and a whole bunch of us are trying like heck to do it all. Busy, huh?

[caption id="attachment_3816" align="alignright" width="225" caption="There's a few DVDs there I still haven't seen yet."][/caption]

 This brings me to the heart of the matter: please hang in there if we suddenly seem to have neglected to post on our day; or if we fail to update the poll or go a while without offering another contest. I think everyone here would agree that this site is very special to us, as well as all of the interaction with you fine people. Many of us are simply coping with transitioning at the moment. C.J.’s flying about the country on the Wicked Writer’s corporate jet, doing lectures and signings. NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) has claimed a few of us braver ones who are endeavoring to write a complete novel in one month (Anastasia and J.D.), Greg can’t hardly get any work done with Hollywood pleading with him to save some blockbuster project of their's by taking the lead role. And for me, between writing posts and articles, I’m supposed to be overseeing the PR machine as it figures out new and improved ways to get the information out about my positively reviewed novel that few know about. I am also supposed to be polishing up its sequel and getting it ready for the moment that my trusty publisher asks for it.

     John Lennon is famous for a great many things, but in the Beatles’ song, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, he sang, “Christ, you know it ain’t easy…”. It isn’t one of my favorite Beatle’s songs. In fact, I typically skip it. However, being motivated by music, it was the one lyric to leap into my head as I was crafting the paragraph. You may also notice one of these days that the blog appears a bit different. Potentially, we’re moving. I’m told it will be seamless and you will not have to be redirected or find one of those notices that we’ve moved. You will not have to pick up our mail or kick the pile of newspapers out of your way while walking to the front door. Nothing like that.

[caption id="attachment_3817" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jones is waiting for someone to come play with him! "][/caption]

     Just please hang in there (like my cat), because that’s all that we are attempting to do as well, amongst all of the stuff.

     As I like to say over on my blog…

     …We’ll talk soon.

Mentally Preparing Before Sitting

The topic this week at Wicked Writer’s is writer’s block. I stared at this sentence for a week! I’m just kidding. For those of you wicked readers who have surfed over this week, looking for someone to help with a problem that you either have had or are having presently, only to find a group of (mostly) unsympathetic unbelievers, waiting to feast upon you like starving vultures – I want to apologize. I want to apologize for joining in that feast!

You see, I am another who has yet to experience any real trouble with the muse or creative process of writing. Even this particular post was something that I volunteered to write only two days before. Forgive me for sounding cocky and please allow me to explain.

I write fiction. That has been the bulk of what I have been thinking about since puberty, other than a little time spent thinking about girls, that is. If you know anything about me as a writer at all, then you know why I have done little writing over the last twenty years or so. It was because I was busy with career and family, never really believing that this time would ever come. Thankfully, it did come; however, I will not bore you with those details here. What I will tell you is how the inspiration does come. I will explain how it is that I have had two short stories published, my debut novel published as an e-book (poised to become a paperback this fall), and finally the novel’s sequel written in a mere eight months.

For me, the key is to wait for the inspiration to come…but not while sitting in front of the keyboard. I have mentioned what I do in previous blogs, so some may have read this from me before. What I do is build up to the writing. Whether I am in the car, in the shower, or in bed during those first moments before I fall asleep, I remind myself where I left off the following day and allow my mind to decide what should occur next. A gestation occurs, if you will.

I do outlines, but they are extremely rough and leave a lot of opportunity for new ideas to take shape later. I remind myself where I left off the time before, so I usually know where I am heading. The next part of the story does not always come easily. Sometimes I dismiss ideas or decide what I do like out of a given brainstorming session. If I like what I am seeing in my head, then it usually powers the next part rather excitedly. If I do not like what I have, I give myself more time.

There are many moments in life for the mind to go off on tangents. Have you noticed? I’m in my early forties and have been married for over twenty years now, if I see an attractive woman, it is very easy for my mind to go places that I do not need it to go.  Therefore, this is a very helpful process on a great many levels! I am sure my wife would second that notion. All humor aside, for me, it really works.

Early on, I received many questions during interviews, where I was asked just what it was that I was attempting to convey when I created this character or that plotline. Like a George Orwell, was I hoping to issue an edict on this social disorder or warn of the corruption of some establishment? People were looking for some message or another, and I would have loved nothing better than to grin at how clever or brilliant I was compared with other writers. The truth of the matter, however, is I am just a guy who has been blessed not only to see movies playing in my head, but to also be able to write them down in a fairly descent manner, hopefully before they dissipate like pardoned ghosts.

For those of you who struggle, I wish you well. Keep writing, and keep thinking about writing. Perhaps this will help.