Wise words from Anne Lamott

I think it's pretty safe to say that every writer has "woe is me" periods.

It's such a flattering look, isn't it?

Woe is me, I can't get an agent.
Woe is me, I can't sell a book.
Woe is me, I can't sell another book.
Woe is me, my advances are small.
Woe is me, I'll never be as good as I want to be.
Woe is me, I'll never be as good as (insert any successful author's name here).
Woe is me, I never get any big push from my publisher.

I'll stop there because, honestly, the "woe is me" possibilities are ENDLESS.

I can go months without having any. And then, all of a sudden, BAM - and I'm filled with the woe. It sucks. I mean, it really, really sucks.

For me, it usually comes down to one simple but painful truth: I will never be as good of a writer as I wish I could be. I don't have the kind of imagination I wish I had and I don't have the kind of writing skills I wish I had. Please understand - I'm not saying I'm a terrible writer. I just wish I were better.

My career to this point has been all right. I've written and published quite a few books. And I feel fortunate to be able to do the work I'm doing. I mean - I make stuff up for a living. Like I'm getting PAID to write stories. I'm my own boss, which I love, so I set my own hours, which means I can, like, go grocery shopping at eight on a Thursday morning, when the stores are empty. Since I hate grocery shopping with a fiery hot passion, this is a very good thing.

It is a pretty sweet job, and I know this and I am thankful every single day. And what I might lack in skills, I try to make up for in hard work. Because one thing I am is a hard worker and have been since I was twelve, when I picked strawberries every day, since child labor laws apparently didn't apply way back then? All right, fine, my grandma usually picked me up in the early afternoon so we could watch General Hospital together, but in the mornings, I picked those strawberries like... a twelve-year-old girl.

I was recently talking to a friend about all of the books I have coming out next year. In order to have all of these books come out, I've had an insane schedule this year, writing like a crazy person. My friend said something like, "It'd be a lot easier to just have one or two books sell really, really well, wouldn't it?"

Hahaha. Ummm, yes, abso-freaking-lutely.

And that's the thing about this business that could drive a person mad if you let it. Yes, talent and imagination are important, no doubt about it. And I may never have what it takes to be super-successful in this business. But I've always said there is also some luck that plays into this business too. The right book hits the market at the right time and it's an instant bestseller. Or the right person reads a book and it's a movie deal in the works.

Some weeks it seems like everyone around me is winning the publishing lottery with big-named blurbs, award nominations and movie news. And my soul cries to the heavens, can't I catch just one lucky break? Please? PLEASE!? (Usually this happens when I've been working a lot and I'm tired and all I want to do is lie on the couch and take about a week for a Breaking Bad marathon, so I can finally understand what all the fuss is about).

And so, that's where I've been this past week. Despite the beautiful sunshine, the warm temperatures, I just couldn't shake the blues.

I was flipping channels earlier today, and I came across Oprah interviewing Anne Lamott. And it reminded me of her book, Bird by Bird which I haven't read in a long time. I jumped up and went to my bookshelf and got it. What do you know, it was just what I needed. Here are a few little gems I share if you, too, have been sucked down the "woe is me" hole lately too.

"I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surpries. That thing you had to force yourself to do -- the actual act of writing -- turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward."

"I told myself that historically when people do too well to quickly, they are a Greek tragedy waiting to happen. I, who did not do too well too quickly and who was in fact not doing too well over time, was actually in the catbird seat. I was not going to end up the cocky heroine in an ugly hubris drama. This is not to be underestimated."

"You are going to have to give and give and give, or there's no reason for you to be writing. You have to give from the deepest part of yourself, and you are going to have to go on giving, and the giving is going to have to be its own reward. There is no cosmic importance to your getting something published, but there is in learning to be a giver."

Thanks, Anne. This week, I will remind myself to look for the reward in the writing, that I should be glad I'm not going to end up in a Greek tragedy (ha!), and that I am a giver, which is not such a bad thing in this pretty messed up world.

Oh, and I will also continue to eat the Halloween candy I bought far too early. When will I learn???

Covers, covers, COVERS!!!

I can finally share my upcoming covers for the first in the middle grade CHARMED LIFE series, comng in 2014! What do you think???

~*~

The first in the series:

Coming May 27, 2014

From the catalog: "Four best friends, one lucky bracelet, and an utterly charming new middle-grade series!"

Caitlin would stay at summer camp forever if she could. Her new best friends in the world, Hannah, Mia, and Libby, are there. And at home? Everything's different: Her dad is worried he might be losing his job; her mom is repainting the whole house and making the kids volunteer at a soup kitchen; and Caitlin is starting sixth grade at a new school, where none of the girls are as fun or friendly as her Cabin 7 BFFs. But Caitlin has a good-luck charm--or a good-luck charm bracelet anyway. The Cabin 7 girls bought it together, and Caitlin is taking the first turn wearing it. She's sure it will help turn her luck around...but when?

~*~

Second in the series:

Coming May 27, 2014

Celebrating Teen Read Week with Longview Public Library

Next Tuesday, October 15, 2013 I will be at the Longview Public Library in Longview, Washington to celebrate Teen Read Week. The event is from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The first ten teens receive a free copy of my most recent YA novel, FALLING FOR YOU, which is really cool, so if you're in the area, I hope you'll come and get there early! I'll be doing a short, inspirational talk, answering questions, and signing books and bookmarks.

I love libraries and I love reading and teens, so I'm thrilled and honored to be a part of their celebration.

YA novel coming in 2014

Publisher's Weekly announced my latest YA news last week, so thought I'd share with my blog readers.

To see the official announcement, go HERE and scroll down a bit.

I call it my small town, big sky, driving aimlessly, football is king novel. Yes, football is a part of it, but it's not really a football book. As I told someone on twitter, I had to do something with all that Friday Night Lights love in my heart. The official short summary says, "It is told alternately by a 17-year-old girl who is new to a small town with a family secret, and the star football player she meets who is having a tough year and has big dreams beyond the field."

So for all the fans of Chasing Brooklyn who liked how the story alternated between Brooklyn and Nico, this one alternates between Lauren and Colby (Lauren's part is told in verse, Colby's part is told in regular prose).

There's actually a lot of my own high school experiences in this book, and I'm sure I'll talk more about that as it gets closer to publication. In the meantime, I went looking for some images that convey a little bit of the feel of this book, and here's what I found (all images courtesy of morguefile.com)

You can add the book on goodreads if you're into that kind of thing: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18520398-the-bridge-from-me-to-you

I'm really excited about this one and hope you are too!!

10 books - how did that happen?

Tomorrow my tenth book is officially released. Here they are, in order of publication.

BABY CAN'T SLEEP (Picture book, Sterling, 2005)
I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2008)
FAR FROM YOU (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2009)
CHASING BROOKLYN (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2010)
IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES (MG novel, Aladdin, 2010)
LITTLE CHIMP'S BIG DAY (Picture book, Sterling, 2010)
THE DAY BEFORE (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2011)
SPRINKLES AND SECRETS (MG novel, Aladdin, 2011)
FALLING FOR YOU (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2013)
FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP (MG novel, Aladdin, 2013)

Ten! How did that happen? Although it would be fun to say little elves came to my desk every night and magically wrote stories for me, that did not happen.

No, it happened through hard work and perseverance, plain and simple. Oh, and lots of tea and cookies.

Today I thought it would be fun to take a look back and see how I got to this place where I am now a full-time author making a living doing that which I always dreamed of doing - writing books for kids and teens.

I started writing seriously way back in 2000 and 2001. Yes, I know, it was so long ago. And in case you're wondering, there were computers back then, thank goodness.

The first thing I ever wrote was a chapter book, because my oldest son was in second grade at the time and we had a hard time finding things he wanted to read. He loved the MAGIC TREE HOUSE books, but that was about all I could find that he enjoyed. I thought - we need more chapter books, especially for boys! So I wrote one, because, hey, how hard can it be? Ha - turns out, very hard. Turns out it's one of the hardest things to write. But I was stupid and I didn't know that, so I wrote a pretty bad, pretty weird chapter book. During the time that I was writing it, I was also finding out everything I could about the publishing industry. Back then, there was a message board at writeforkids.com where I gathered lots of information about the industry, and ordered books they had on the subject as well. A few years later, Verla Kay put a message board up on her site, and everyone kind of gravitated there. It's still in place today (www.verlakay.com/boards) although I think it's merging with the SCBWI message boards soon.

I found a critique group through the writeforkids site and that was really helpful in my early days of writing. I ended up being a member of some different groups through the years, and I learned so much from the various writers I met in those groups.

It's true what they say - you don't wake up and decide you want to be a brain surgeon and make it happen in a month or two, just like you don't wake up and decide you want to be an author and make it happen in a month or two. Writing a book that is good enough to be traditionally published takes *most* people years and years of practice. Of course there are exceptions to that rule (pretty sure those people have magical unicorns as pets or something), but I wasn't one of them.

After the lousy and weird chapter book, I focused more on picture book stories. Back in the early 2000's, many of the houses who publish books for children were still open to submissions from authors. In other words, I didn't need an agent to submit to editors, and so, submit I did. And I racked up a lot of rejection letters. I still have a file folder with many of them, as a matter of fact. Is this a little bit like a soldier showing you his battle scars? Yeah, kind of. I "battled" with the publishers, and here are the letters to prove it.

If you look closely, you can see the letterhead from houses like FS&G, Little Brown, Dial Books for Young Readers, etc. Yes, back then, submissions were done through the mail, and the author was required to include a SASE for a response back. I SWEAR WE HAD COMPUTERS, young people reading this and shaking your heads. Publishing is just slow to get with the times. Every day I'd go to the mailbox, wondering if there'd be an envelope there waiting for me. It was usually NOT a good thing to get a letter back, because everyone knew good news came via a phone call. But it was hard not to hope for a letter. If I was really lucky, I'd get a personalized response with encouraging words about the story. Every author hoped for something along the lines of, "I'd be happy to see manuscripts of yours in the future." I remember one rejection letter said, "Although this doesn't quite fit our list, I would encourage you to keep writing. You're very talented." I practically framed that rejection letter, let me tell you.

I was lucky in that I had words of encouragement from editors, both in person at conferences and in those letters, throughout those early years of rejection after rejection. I am so thankful to those people now who took the time to do that.

Here's a letter with the date, so you can see it really was over ten years ago that I began this strange yet wonderful journey. Please ignore the title of the book mentioned. It's gotta be a mistake. I mean, come on, WHO would write about teddy bears from another planet? Are you even kidding me?

I was working part-time at OHSU in their Human Resources department when I got the call from Sterling letting me know they wanted to publish my picture book story, BABY CAN'T SLEEP. It was a dream come true, getting that call. I still remember talking to the editor at my desk, pinching myself because it didn't seem real. Actually, that's not true. I was so glad the call came that day because I'd been up ALL night the night before with a vomiting child and before that call, I was literally falling asleep at my desk. How could I sleep after that call, right?

I started out writing picture books because I wasn't sure I knew how to write a novel. When I realized how hard it was to really make a career writing picture books unless you were Dr. Suess, I decided I wanted to try and see if I could write a novel. During those years of working part-time, I spent lots of time at home writing bad novels. I told myself they were good, but they were bad. I call those books the Twinkies of my career.

Eventually I took a full-time job at OHSU because we needed the money. I would get up early and write before going to work and write on the weekends when I could. Yes, people who want to write find a way, but it's not always easy. It was never easy. But I did it because I couldn't imagine not writing at that point. (Although I still went to bed every night hoping the magical elves would finally show up).

I look at the years 2004-2007 as my schooling, where I spent my time writing bad novels that would never be published. It's what I had to do to learn what not to do, I think. Things were changing, and it was becoming harder and harder to do anything in the kidlit world without an agent, so I queried agents on and off during those years with my wonderfully crappy novels (because I didn't really know they were crappy, dang it). Finally, in 2007, my wonderful agent, Sara Crowe, took me on and we sold I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME that same year. In 2010, things were getting crazy busy at the day job and with multiple books out and more coming out, I decided to quit my job. It was SO scary, giving up that guaranteed income. I was leaping, and could only hope the net would appear so we wouldn't have to sell the house and live on the street because of this crazy idea that I might be able to write stories about cupcakes and make a living at it.

Well, what do you know? Kids love reading about cupcakes (as is evidenced by the fact that since IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES came out, there are now approximately 4,237 books about cupcakes on the shelves for kids. Pretty sure mine was first. Just saying.)

This can be a hard, frustrating business at times. But it's also so fun, making up stories for a living. Hearing from readers, telling me my books have made a difference in their lives, is incredibly rewarding. Books and stories meant a lot to me growing up - it feels right that I wound up here.

I get asked often for advice on how to become an author. It really comes down to these five things (unless you can find those magical elves):

Read a lot.
Write a lot.
Find ways to learn about craft, through workshops, conferences, critique groups, etc.
Believe you can do it.
Don't give up.

Next year I have three middle grade novels coming out along with a YA novel. In 2015, two more books are scheduled. Will I make it to twenty published books someday?

You can bet your book-loving bippy I will!!

Bookmarks, get your bookmarks!

We are just one week away from the official release of FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP!

A wonderful librarian (Hi Sandi!) who has been a fan of the series since the very beginning e-mailed me today asking if I had new bookmarks I could send her, and I realized I should offer some up to any teachers or librarians who are interested. I will even sign them for you! Here's what the front of the bookmark looks like.

I'm speaking at the Oregon Association of School Librarians in October, and need to make sure I have 100 or so available to give out there, but that still leaves me a few hundred left to mail out. So once I see how many people are interested, I'll divide them up and mail them.

If you are a parent who REALLY wants one for your child, I'll see what I can do. Fill out the form and if I have enough, I'll send you one or two.

To request some bookmarks, just complete the form below - thanks!

It's a trilogy!

A few final copies were delivered to me on Saturday.

So here is the latest book, Frosting and Friendship, cuddling up to the other two, It's Raining Cupcakes and Sprinkles and Secrets.

Three is definitely not a crowd in this instance, right?