Byzy in the lake with a stick

Now that the first draft of my new book is finished, we’re headed to New Hampshire for a little R&R which, for me, includes long swims in our little lake.

Years ago, I taught my dog, Byzy, to swim. At least that’s what I like to believe. The fact is, he could always swim. After all, he’s a Golden Retriever.  But he didn’t like the water as much as I thought he should, so I decided to teach him to love it as I do. When he was a puppy, Byzy was a bit timid about going out into the deep water. And since I thought it would be great fun to have a companion on my long swims around the lake, I had to do something to help him get over this fear. So I started calling him to me as I got farther and farther from the shoreline. It wasn’t long before he was swimming right to me, no matter how deep the water was.

The one thing I didn’t anticipate was that, when he caught up to me, he would always try to put his paws on my shoulders to keep himself afloat. This was fine when he was a little puppy. But now, Byzy is close to one hundred pounds, huge for a Golden, even an alpha male. He is powerful and muscular and, even at fifteen and with a bit of hip dysplasia, he can still swim much faster than I can. So as soon as he gets to me, he still puts his paws on my shoulders, and down I go. When I come up again, he seems relieved to see me and swims over and again puts his paws on my shoulders.

You can see where this is going. I have tried to retrain him, and, failing that, to explain to him in plain English why this is not the great idea he seems to think it is. On certain issues, Byzy seems to understand plain English. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. Try as I might, I couldn’t get him to change his behavior. So now he stays on the screened porch while I swim. Then, afterward, I throw a ball into the lake and he fetches it and sighs. We still swim together on occasion, we just don’t venture into waters so deep that neither one of us can stand up.  He doesn’t like that as much, but I’ve explained to him in plain English that this is better for me. He sighs. And then, the first chance he gets, he shakes the lake water out of his fur onto as many unsuspecting people as he can find.

This weekend, I’ll be appearing at two events in Austin. The first is the For the Love of Books Club event at the lovely Lake Austin Spa Resort. I’ll be discussing The Lace Reader and answering questions about my writing process. You can check out the schedule here. Be sure to click on the Details link for the complete information.

Then, on Sunday morning at 9 a.m., I’ll be on a panel with my super-agent, Rebecca Oliver from William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. The event is the 2009 Agents Conference sponsored by the Writers’ League of Texas. Check it out here.

So with a massage, some amazingly delicious and healthy food, exercise, great music, and hours of lively conversation about books and writing, this is a great way to end the months tied to my desk in the little room. I’m looking forward to a wonderful weekend in the Lone Star state.

Okay, so being tied to a chair isn’t such a bad thing. I have recently heard other writers say that they have resorted to the same extreme measures in order to finish their books on time. And it is clearly working. I have completed a second draft of my new novel with almost three weeks to spare before the deadline. What gets me down isn’t being tied to the chair; it’s the little room the chair sits in. Actually, the little room is not so little. It has four big windows and a view of Salem that is an inspiration in itself. And the old National Geographic maps that line the walls give me ideas of places I might travel to when I finally emerge, though the maps are so old that several of the countries don’t even exist anymore.  What makes the little room seem so tiny are all the things I have filled it with during this writing process, things that are meant to inspire but have become a hodgepodge that now threatens to crowd me out of the space. So I thought, rather than worrying about how much cleaning out I’m going to have to do, I’d list some of the things I have gathered to inspire my story:

All things Hawthorne and Melville.  A carved wooden moose on skis that I brought back from Maine on last summer’s book tour. Two Revolutionary War soldiers that were once in my parents’ house and now stand facing each other from both sides of the fireplace.  Three ships’ models. Several books about pirates. A map of famous New England shipwrecks. Six volumes of romantic poetry. Three envelopes full of Gibraltar candies from Ye Olde Pepper Company. A photo of my maternal grandmother in her wedding gown. A piece of lace carved from an eggshell. Two quartz singing bowls tuned to different chakras. Several books on meditation. A ceramic tree my mother in law sent with Celtic crosses and leprechauns hanging from its branches.  A seagull that flies upside down like a distress flag and cannot be up-righted. Several cups of coffee in various stages of consumption, decaf for writing, full octane for the editing process.

I will have to clean out my office soon. I know that. But, right now, I have a third draft to finish. So I will crowd myself into what space I can find and, for now, I will remain tied to a chair. 

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Therese Walsh from WriterUnboxed.com. Therese is a writer herself so her probing questions about process and craft helped me to take a step back and look at what I do as a writer. We really hit it off and ended talking at length so the the interview turned into three separate blog posts. You can read Part 1 by clicking here. Links to the other parts are at the bottom of Part 1.

My interview aside, WriterUnboxed.com  is a great website for anyone interested in “the craft and business of genre fiction.” For three consecutive years, it has been designated as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest so be sure to add it to your blogroll or your bookmarks.

Enjoy!

I love it when Easter and my birthday fall on the same day! Early this morning, I received some beautiful roses in a tea cup from my niece, Whitney (very Eva, I must say), and an Easter basket (with a special wind up chick) from my brother, Mark . We had a lovely family brunch at the Lyceum in Salem. For dessert, as is my family’s tradition, I bit the head off of a small chocolate bunny and surreptitiously slipped the headless carcass back into someone else’s Easter basket.

Also, my article on Salem was published today in the Sunday London  Times travel section. You can read it by clicking here. 

And the ads for The Lace Reader have gone up around London as well.

Ads for "The Lace Reader" are on display in the London Underground.

 I have taken an oath not to do any writing today even though the deadline for turning in my new book is looming.  It’s a difficult promise to keep, addictions and work ethic being what they are. This little post doesn’t count as writing and to help me avoid any real work today,  Gary and I are going to take a ride up the coast. Fun times! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.  Details on my recent  trip to Mobile, Alabama next. 

At 7 PM, I’ll be speaking at the Mobile Public Library, West Regional Branch at 5555 Grelot Road. Please call them for more details at 251-208-7097. Stop by if you’d like to learn more about “The Lace Reader” and my life as a writer.

UK "The Lace Reader" cover

I now have a Lace Reader page on BookArmy.com. You can post questions there and I’ll be stopping by frequently this month to answer them and to join in on the discussions.

You can check it out by clicking here.

Creativity and a Sense of Place workshop

As part of the Literally Salem Festival, I led a workshop for writers on Saturday exploring the ways in which a sense of place and creativity intersect. We looked at several aspects of this pairing: where you write, where you live, places you know, and places that live in your imagination. It was great to have so many people participate and share their experiences of writing and location.

For one exercise, I gave out a handout designed to spark the creative process. You can get a copy by clicking here Worksheet handout PDF.

Here’s an interesting take on visuals for The Lace Reader. They used lace to construct images for the cover and then made a piece of lace for the inside cover that incorporates many of the elements from the book. Very clever! Click on an image to enlarge it.

On Saturday March, 28th, I’ll be conducting a writing workshop in Salem on “Creativity and a Sense of Place.”. For more details, click on the link below. 

I hope to see you there.

Brunonia

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?sid=d7940fd5c992e91dc9eaa0a45301d242&eid=58267386142

 

Brunonia Barry