Book Giveway – Win a copy of my latest Stamping Sisters book, FALSE IMPRESSIONS. Just leave a comment. I’ll pick a winner randomly on Sunday night, Midnight EST.
I'm not one of those people with unpublished manuscripts in my closet. Before I sat down to write Wild Goose Chase, I wrote mostly in my head. Which is not the way to get published, let me tell you.
Okay, okay, there was that romance I wrote in the 80s but that doesn't really count. I was trying to prove to myself that I could write a book. I had just gotten laid off, and we'd bought a new computer so I devoted my mornings to writing. I wrote a romance because there was a book out on how to write romance. But my heart wasn't in it. I loved mysteries, not romance. You must be in love with what you're writing. So I wrote that one book and when it got rejected, I burned it.
I thought I was finished with writing, but the mystery I wanted to write kept coming back to me. I tried to ignore it but once I found the California Writers Club and through them, my critique group, the book found its way onto the page. And so I began. I was lucky enough to sell that manuscript and subsequent ones, so I don’t have that store of unpublished books.
What I do have are pages and pages that you'll never see. I always make a file and save the cut stuff. Backstory, character development. Whole scenes that never worked out. Like the Wild Goose Chase where Claire is alive and meddling in Dewey's life. Where Freddy is mean and Kym is darling. Where Buster (whose name was also Gus, and Arnie) was just a neighborhood cop and not Dewey’s love.
Sometimes it’s hard to cut the wonderful stuff you’ve written. You’re sure it’s better than anything you’ve ever written or will write in the future. You’re positive it illuminates your main character more than any other scene. It is bound to catch Oprah’s attention, shooting you to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. But then you remember, your words must serve the story. That is their only function. And so off they go into the Cut Stuff folder.
Never to be seen again.
Don’t forget to leave a comment to win a copy of FALSE IMPRESSIONS. Contest will end Sunday night.
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33 comments:
False Impressions is a good title. Sounds like an interesting book to read.
Looking forward to reading this book!
Would love to read the book!
xlacrimax@gmail.com
I liked your explanation of writing but waiting. I can definitely empathize with that. I also have a several "in the works" projects that keep waiting for me. I work with them for a while, and then they get put aside (again). And, yes, they involve writing.
I wrote this on the previous page, but it got erased when I clicked the post button. I hope this works.
I had said that I can emphathize with what you are going through. I have about three projects that patiently wait for me to finish them (also writing projects). I bring them down and work on them for a while, and then they get put back on the shelf to wait patiently for me to finally finish them. I have great ideas when I get started, but I get caught up in the process and lose the train of thought on what got me started back on things in the first place.
I've often wondered what happened to things that authors cut from their stories when editing or the back stories they write while developing their characters. Could make for interesting reading.
sounds interesting - count me in please
I been surfing this blog spot and reading many of the authors blogs. Good start to my morning. Thanks and keep writing!
Good morning, all. Thanks for you comments. You're all entered in the drawing.
As for ideas, please continue to write them down and work with them. They never come out perfectly on the page, but if you don't write them down, you'll never be able to use them.
Have a great day,
Terri
Good morning, all. Thanks for you comments. You're all entered in the drawing.
As for ideas, please continue to write them down and work with them. They never come out perfectly on the page, but if you don't write them down, you'll never be able to use them.
Have a great day,
Terri
would love to read this!
mommasdawge at aol dot com
HI I love reading about authors. In reading your blog I feel that you are starting to find your nitch and need to be going forward. Maybe having a structured time isn't for everyone. Have a notepad around where you are doing other stuff and your ideas will flow. Just my 2 cents. Happy writing.
looking forward to your book signing at M is for Mystery in Sept.
Writing sounds difficult; glad you love it, ause I enjoy reading your work.
I like the idea of a "cut stories" because it's like bloopers that you can go back and read and perhaps use the idea in another story.
The blog explains a lot thanks. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comments! I have yet to use my cut stuff in something else, but I always hope!
Hi Terry!
I guess you already know that I love your quilting mysteries Wouold loe to win a 'stamping' one!
Love your collaborative blog!
Can't wait to get the new book. See you tomorrow at Pruneyard!
Please enter me in this giveaway - thanks!
seizethebookblog(at)gmail(dot)com
Would love to read it!
Val
quiltlover1(at)gmail(dot)com
False Impressions sounds interesting. I love the title. I just finished Stamped Out and I'm looking forward to reading Inked Up and False Impressions. The Stamping Sisters seem so real.
I have never read you and this title sounds like one that might just hook me.
jane1 at cp-tel dot net
You say how you wrote a book. It got rejected so you burned it and thought you were done. Once you have a passion for something you are never done with it. You can't stop writing any more than I can stop taking pictures. You see and feel things so much differently. You are aware of more things around you. Your mind and thoughts are constantly going. The feeling you get when you have taken a picture, or write a book and you think it is the best one yet is...such a high you can't really describe it. I hope you never lose that feeling- that yearning to write it's what makes you- you Ronnie Reid
Maybe you could combine all of those cut scenes in your file and come up with a new book. :)
I would love to win a copy of your book.
I enjoy reading about all your writing experiences.
I had no idea there was a mystery series using rubber stamps. It sounds really interesting!
This does sound like a good book
Thanks, everyone! It's good to know you're out there reading the blog. You'll be entered in the contest. Good luck.
Ronnie, you've got it exactly right. Thanks!
Following the "how to" book on writing romances must have been good training for developing the relationship between Dewey and Buster (and Buster is a much better name than Gus or Arnie). I'm impatiently waiting for another quilting mystery, but could satisfy myself with a copy of False Impressions.
Wonderful! I adore your books and I have been making little crochet purses for friends and family. I would love another book.
Michelle G
Funny, I do like writing the Dewey and Buster bits. Guess there is a bit of a romance writer in me.
Thanks again for all your comments! Can't wait to pick the winner. Tomorrow night...
And the winner is Dr. H!
Dr. H, please email me (terri@territhayer.com) with your snail mail info and I'll send the book along.
Thanks everyone for playing. It was very nice to hear from you. If you're on Facebook, please friend me.
Have a great week,
Terri
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