Think Tank

I have some serious ground to cover! As if December isn't busy enough, our son had a birthday on Friday (and we gave him a surprise "retro" party, which was quite a trick to pull off), and I only today got my head into the fact that Christmas is less than a week away. But concerning this blog, I really need to celebrate the contributions of people who participated in the Exercise the Right to Read campaign, as this cycle comes to a close at the end of the calendar year, and I have some spotlighting to do! But I've also promised the Sammy fans following this blog that I'd present them with an idea this week, so for this entry, I'm going to focus on that.

The people at Random House are looking at different ways to generate sort of a drum roll about Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher. After all, it's the 13th book in the series, and there are some pretty major developments in the overarching storyline. RH has some cool ideas, but I'd be interested in hearing what would appeal to you, or what you think might help spread the news that there's a new Sammy Keyes book coming out.

Now, let me make really clear that "dumb" ideas can lead to good ideas, and believe me, I've had many dumb ideas...but you have to start somewhere, right? So if you think something's "dumb", maybe it'll spark an idea for something better--which means that the original idea wasn't really dumb at all, but a catalyst for something cool.

Also keep in mind that ideas will only work if they are practical and affordable. If it's not both, it won't fly with my publisher.

So to get the ball rolling, let me give you some of the ideas I've had:

My awesome sister-in-law has given me a charm for every SK book that has come out. I have this amazing charm bracelet with a charm that symbolizes each title -- binoculars for Hotel Thief, a jack o' lantern for Skeleton Man...you get the idea. I've always thought that having a charm that went with each book would be very cool... But how would they get distributed? Packaging them with the book is not practical....mailing them to readers is not practical...distributing them at the POS (point of sale) could be...but the whole idea is a little fussy. and really, are charm bracelets even in style for teens? I don't think so.

Which brings me to an adjustment on the idea.

How about a leather band that you could add beads to? A bead for each book?

Does the idea have any merit at all?

What would YOU think was a cool thing to have / collect?

Another idea: shoelaces. I've thought it would be so cool to give away Sammy Keyes shoelaces with the purchase of a book -- ones you could lace through your own high-tops ('cause, of course you've got high-tops, right?). It's more practical than a charm bracelet (because it's a one-time thing)...but I don't know if other people will think it's as fun as I do. And what would you want to see printed on the shoelaces? A string of all the titles? Or just "Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher"? (Seems too "commercial" to me.) "SK" repeating? (Don't say SK + CA, 'cause much as I love him, there's more to Sammy Keyes than Casey Acosta :-))

When it comes to practical and affordable, the Internet is king. So Random House has tossed around ideas about maybe having "Sammy" tweet, or blog, or...have some sort of Web presence which was more personal than the sammykeyes.com website.

My reaction to this is that it might be more interesting to hear "tweeting" or on-line comments from Sammy's friends...Marissa and Holly and Dot and Billy and (especially) Casey. And of course we'd have to include Heather :-)

Does that idea have appeal to you? Do you think people would follow?

And anything that could be downloaded from the website...that would be practical and affordable...but what? Educators (and publishers) tend to think in terms of bookmarks and test-your-knowledge quizzes...but I'd like to know what YOU think would be a cool thing to find you could download from a website. Maybe you like the idea of a bookmark...maybe you've got an idea that's new and unique and, you know, more Sammy.

So send me your brainstorms, your preferences, your "that's cool" and "that's lame". I want to hear what you think. I'm excited to invite you to be part of this process--from the comments some of you have posted, I know you're the right people to ask!

If you don't want your comments / ideas to go public, you can always send them to me via the "Contact Us" button at the Exercise the Right to Read website (www.exercisetherighttoread.org).

So get on your idea skateboard and ride!

The Pot of Gold

It's been sort of a dark week. Family matters (my mom's health), work load (two manuscripts landed! 700 pages of rewrite due when???) and the weather (dark, cold, rainy). Then suddenly today the skies cleared and a magnificent rainbow arched clear across the canyon.

I tend to get a little overly excited by things like rainbows and moon rises and deer grazing in our yard. And although I used to run for my camera, I've learned that I prefer to just enjoy the moment. Before I know it, the rainbow will fade and vanish, the moon will leave the horizon behind, and the deer will flick their tails and move on.

I no longer want to live the moment trying to capture the moment.

I just want to live the moment.

So soaking in the rainbow today (while Mark ran for his camera), I thought about the proverbial pot of gold. When I was a child, I believed in the pot of gold. It was probably a hope more than a belief. but still, I harbored enough of a hope that I chased after it a few times.

Today, I could actually see the end of the rainbow and it was very clear that there was no pot of any kind. There was simply a field, with a few cows. Not a leprechaun in sight.

I wondered at chasing for gold. How when you want it so badly, it just eludes you. The end of the rainbow keeps shifting, keeps changing, keeps disappearing.

And it occurred to me that the rainbow, in all its dazzling beauty, is the pot of gold. By chasing after something more you lose what's right in front of you.

So, reflecting on the bright and beautiful, I've decided that the colors of my rainbow for this week are:

• The people who have been leaving me comments at previous postings at this blog. You guys are crazy and I love you! (And I will answer your Sammy questions at the entries where you posted them.)


• The out-of-the-blue call from a screen writer who loves Swear to Howdy (my little overshadowed book that is so near and dear to my heart) and wants to write the screenplay for it.


• A report from someone who has seen a preliminary screening (without music) of Flipped and says (breathlessly) that "it's brilliant".


• A counter on the Internet that reports that there are "only" 277 days until the premier of Flipped.


• The unexpected gift of a cut glass punchbowl that belonged to Mark's grandmother.


• The friends who took the time and braved the storm to jingle bell rock the night away.


• My family, whole and healthy and home.

Who needs a pot of gold?

A Hard-Earned Finish

Sometimes, the best strategy is simply to step back for a moment while you change your expectations, then lower your head, put your new plan into effect, and just keep going…

Hi guys! Mark here, filling in for Wendelin as she takes an extremely well-deserved recovery nap after today’s event.

I will say this right now: That girl is a trooper! Yes, I’m extremely biased, and yes, we saw others out there today who faced challenges of their own. (One poor woman went down maybe 50 yards in front of us, somewhere around Mile 23. Total bonkage – likely glycogen depletion and/or dehydration. We stopped for a second but some kind spectators were taking care of her.) But still, Wendelin has my admiration for hanging in there until the end, under very trying circumstances.

She got very little sleep last night, and woke with a migraine headache. Luckily we got a ride to the start from some friends (thanks, Ellen and Stuart!) so we avoided some of the usual standing around in the cold & dark. The start was delayed ½ hr, and the sun was up by the time we got going. We took it easy during the opening miles, but even so, Wendelin felt whipped by headache-induced nausea by Mile 6. A bad sign indeed. (When training for a marathon, anything under maybe 12 miles is considered a short run, and we had a couple of recent 20-milers under our belts, so this was unusual for her to feel this bad so early.)

Her nausea never got better, and as we approached the halfway mark I lobbied for her to consider stopping at that point. No way. So we pushed on. She had to make a couple of pit stops, and we did some walking near the end. (Her legs were fine, but the act of running made her want to puke. Not the best condition to have during a 26 mile race, to say the least!) But we eventually crested the last big hill and made it down to the coast and that beautiful finish line. (The finish line is always beautiful, but today it was doubly so.)

Then we finally had some good luck. We had originally planned to walk back to our motel from the finish, to cool down (maybe 2 miles). But clearly that wasn’t the best plan, so I stuck out my thumb and immediately this nice couple with their daughter stopped and gave us a lift. (The woman was a participant also, so she took mercy on us.) Wendelin was sitting next to the daughter, who looked like the perfect age to be a Sammy Keyes reader, so Wendelin asked her if she’d heard of SK, and it turns out she's a big fan. The family was happily surprised to learn they'd given the author a ride. Totally cool. The young lady’s name was Lucia, and we want to thank her and her parents again for rescuing fellow runners (and readers!) in need.

So, that was a bright spot in our day. And at this moment Wendelin is tucked in and sound asleep, with her shiny finisher’s medal still around her neck.

I’d say she’s definitely earned the right to wear it…

I Have OCD...Do You?

I've had several good laughs this week, and the funny thing is, they've all come from people who love Sammy Keyes. They laughs have come from the sack of physical fan mail (that I'm finally sorting through and answering), from e-mails at the Exercise the Right to Read mailbox, and from comments made to postings at this blog.

They've been good laughs.

Really make-my-day laughs.

I think my favorite from this week is, "I have OCD!" -- Obsessive Casey (or, I suspect, Cammy) Disorder.

How funny is that!

When I read it, I actually ran across the house and interrupted my son (who went as "Casey" last Halloween) and his girlfriend (who went as "Sammy" last Halloween) with the news.

Yeah, it can be embarrassing having me as a mom...

Anyway, I guess the thing about being a productive author is that you spend much of your time alone. Or really, alone with your characters. So what happens is, the characters you create become real to you, and when you discuss them with others you find yourself having to explain to peripheral listeners that no, it wasn't an actual person who cemented a gangster's tush into a wheelbarrow--it was Sammy Keyes.

Now, that's what you tell them, but in your head, she really did it. In your head, Casey and Billy and Heather and Grams and Hudson and Marissa and Dot and Holly and Mikey and Officer Borsch and everybody really exists.

It all sounds a bit mad, I know, so generally I don't let on about this in public. But when I get mail from readers and they are SO excited about developments in the series, it makes me feel good--like I'm not alone in my madness. The letters are physical proof that I'm not the only one who cares who Sammy's dad is. I'm not the only one who wonders if Billy has a secret crush on Sammy. I'm not the only one who wants Casey to be the prince we think he is...despite Sammy's heart wrenching suspicions that he may not be. And I'm not the only one who'd like to see Heather doused...even though there's still a lot of gasoline left near her fire.

I am, though, perhaps the only person who doesn't wonder how it all will end. I know what the last book will be and how it will tie everything together. I can't wait to get to it, because it's going to be unique and surprising and...well, good. But I have to pace myself to it. Sometimes I feel like Sammy Keyes is the dark horse in the Series Races. I see other series gallop ahead, but I just remind myself as they burn brightly and then fade that I'm in this for the long haul. And I have confidence in the long haul because I know that my "fans" are individuals. They're not followers. Sammy Keyes is not the flavor of the month to them. They're in it for the long haul, just like me. I'm thirteen books done--about two-thirds of the way there. And instead of being tired or burned out, I feel like I'm just hitting my stride. That I can do this and that I will finish strong.

Part of that is that my love for Sammy continues to grow.

Part of that is that I get letters and messages from people who love her too.

If you're one of them, know that you're like a tailwind. I feel you at my back, and I'm grateful that you're there.

The Camping Pot Incident

There is a huge turnip in a Charles Shaw wine box at the end of my driveway. I have no idea who put it there, or why it's there. Is it a gift? A suggestion for my yardscape? Will someone be returning later, expecting soup?

For some reason seeing the turnip in the box reminded me of running over a camping pot and a sorry-looking yucca "tree" with the family car when I was a teenager. The turnip at the end of my driveway rivals the yucca. Really, it does. Bulbous base...not much in the way of greens...lurking in the dark.... Plus the yucca was scrawny, and this turnip is huge. So yeah, I could make the case.

Why a wine box reminds me of the camping pot is not exactly clear. They both hold stuff, but my trash can makes regular appearances at the end of the driveway and it has never reminded me of a camping pot.

I guess the brain just sometimes yields curious connections.

I should, perhaps, explain that I ran over the yucca and camping pot not because I was inebriated or taking the driveway turn too fast, but because I was still new at driving and terrible at backing up. It was a look-over-your-shoulder-turn-wrong-and-panic-with-your-gas-foot maneuver.

My parents didn't seem to care too much about the yucca. Perhaps they'd considered taking it out themselves and I'd just saved them some time. And since by some miraculous stroke of luck I hadn't caused any harm to the car, I got off easy with the yucca.

It was the camping pot that I caught heat for. It was our big one. Some sort of prized aluminum, no doubt. One that I needed to buy a replacement for.

I should have just chucked the pot in the trash with the promise that I would buy a new one. After all, what good is a smashed camping pot? But I took it inside and put it in my closet instead. And every time I opened my closet door, there it was, reminding me.

Making me old.

I didn't use that phrase at the time. It took me many years to coin it, but the Camping Pot Incident was the event I trace the feeling of a nagging burden back to. It was like the turning point of responsibility, where instead of hoping I'd get out of something I'd been told to do, I was now weighed down by the fact that I hadn't yet done something.

It's different than a conscience. It wasn't about having done something wrong. It wasn't even about not having done something to make it right. It was knowing I had to take care of something...and putting it off.

I look at my life now--at all the things I've been meaning to do, all the people I've been meaning to contact, all the promises I've yet to fulfill--and I wonder at the unappreciated simplicity of a life where buying a camping pot could free me from the sense that something was "making me old".

And I would pontificate on this some more, because I find the whole concept of avoiding things that "make you old" quite compelling, but Mark just walked in with a Charles Shaw box announcing, "Someone left us a present!"

Really.

So I better go. I think he's planning on making soup.

Guest Blog by Mark Parsons

Hi, guys! Mark here, filling in for Wendelin as she takes care of some pressing writing biz. Since the primary themes here are running and writing, that’s what we’ll discuss.

Running first…

We’re now three weeks out from the inaugural Santa Barbara International Marathon (where “Team ETRTR” will cheerfully be representing Exercise the Right to Read!) so this morning we did our final ‘long run’ before we start to taper. Today’s run was a 20-miler, but it was relatively civilized, all things considered.

Our previous long run, however, was another story. It was a hot day and we’d headed inland. Big mistake. The heat and attendant dehydration took its toll, and it ended up being more of a death-march than the fun little jaunt it should have been. So this morning we stuck near the coast (perfect weather – clear and 60 degrees out), took plenty of hydration breaks, and set a good, moderate pace that we could maintain over the distance. (Correct pacing is everything! Okay, except for a decent training program. And pre-run nutrition. And fueling and hydration during the run. And rest & recovery afterwards. But other than that, trust me, pacing is everything!)

SO… all of the above-mentioned factors made today’s trot a much more pleasant experience, and we’re feeling good about the upcoming marathon. We’ll post a short ETRTR video update after event (similar to what we did for the San Francisco Marathon a few months back).

And now writing…

Wendelin’s been discussing her writing process here lately, and the short story here is that—while not identical—my process is pretty similar. Like her, I’m a huge believer that much of the real creative stuff actually has its beginnings in the subconscious, and the best thing you can do as a writer is to facilitate the delivery. It seems that often, great ideas come bubbling up when you’re otherwise occupied in some semi-mindless task. (Running is great for this. So is driving. And standing in the shower—especially after a long run—is about as good as it gets…)

And contrary to some conventional wisdom, I’m also a big believer that talking about writing ideas can do a lot to “unstick” the creative process. My theory on this is that talking uses a different part of your brain, and verbalizing your thoughts allows you to access this otherwise-unused part of the mind. Wendelin and I frequently “talk plot” on long car trips, and it’s helped us both immensely.

One area where Wendelin and I differ, however, is that she has learned to really love the rewriting process. I enjoy it somewhat (and certainly recognize its value) but perhaps I’m less evolved than she is (I’m a dude, after all) because I still prefer the “oh yeah!” moment of initial creation over the incremental improvements of repeated revisions.

It occurred to me today (probably because I’m in the middle of a revision) that writing—at least, writing for publication—is actually a collaborative process. Which seems strange, because writing is often thought of as a solo creative effort. But between your initial manuscript and that shiny new book on the bookstore shelf stands something very important—an editor. And a good editor does a lot more than acquire projects and do all the admin stuff and schedule the various steps of the process like a corporate Project Manager. Good editors also edit. (Well, they do all that other stuff too, but they’re called editors for a reason.)

I used to tell Wendelin she was lucky, because at least she got to see (and revise) the various editings of the various editors who have edited her various works before they went to print. I used to write primarily non-fiction, and frequently in non-fiction you send off the manuscript and don’t see it again until its edited version is on the pages of a book or magazine. So that’s sort of a one-way collaboration (which I guess isn’t really much of a collaboration at all, is it?).

But with fiction, you send off your manuscript and get back (at least initially, way before the copy-editing stage) comments as to how the story might be tightened up and improved. And that’s where I am today—trying to incorporate an editor’s suggestions into my manuscript. And if the ideas were contrary to what I was trying to say in the story (or just plain lousy) then I could brush them aside and be done with it, one way or the other. But this editor is a very good one, and I can tell that her comments will make it a stronger book in the long run. But you can’t just tack things on with glue and duct tape, or you’ll end up with a literary version of Frankenstein’s monster. It requires many small additions, subtractions, and “smoothing over” of the transitions so that there are no obvious scars. So in keeping with our monster metaphor, what you want instead is more like perfect plastic surgery, which by definition should be both an improvement and unnoticeable. (Which it rarely is, by the way, which is where the simile falls apart. But you get the idea…)

So here I am, hopefully learning to “love the process” as much as my wonderful wife does! And really, I’m only too happy to have the opportunity to make the revisions myself (rather than finding out what the editor’s done only by reading the finished product). So yes, it’s really a back-and-forth collaborative effort, and if done right the final result is better than it could have been any other way.

That’s my take on it…

Happy Milestone

Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher---part mystery, part comedy, part fairy tale (!?). Woot! Done!

Well, not actually done done, but that's okay. I'll start the revision process tomorrow, but I took the weekend "off" to celebrate this hard earned (and joyous) milestone. The last 30 pages of a Sammy Keyes book is where all the set up in the previous 250 pages comes together. The last 30 pages are a tumbling together of subplots and punch lines (or both kind) and theme. It's the big, fun payoff for the months and months and months of buildup.

My editor once asked me if I ever write the fun scenes of a book first--as in out of order--before it's their turn in the sequence of pages. I was shocked because I'd never even considered it, but apparently some authors do this. To me the fun scenes (and the climactic ones) are the reward for all the work I've put into setting them up. To write them before I've "earned" them? That seems like cheating. Or, you know, like charging something I can't yet afford to my credit card just because I can't wait to have it.

Speaking of my editor, she's actually the one who taught me the value of rewriting. I used to dread it. But now it's a process I thoroughly enjoy. It's the part where I get to go back and tweak (or out-and-out fix) places that could be smoother (or just don't work). And now that I'm at this major milestone, I can relax a little. I know Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher works...so going back through it to make it tighter and funnier and more cohesive is actually fun.

Everybody has a different way of writing, but I find that what works best for me is to print each chapter after I finish it, rewrite it using a red pencil (and yes, the pages can look quite bloodied at this phase), enter the changes, print again, and add the stapled pages to my growing stack of chapters.

Then, when things start to get a little muddied--after 6 or 7 chapters I may have added a character or changed my mind about something--I will take the entire stack of chapters and rewrite through it. Then I enter the changes on my computer, print it again, and go on with the writing of the next chapters, until I stop, take the whole manuscript up to that point and rewrite it again before moving on.

There are about thirty chapters in this book, and I have already gone through the majority of the manuscript (the first 25 chapters, or so) at least a dozen times (with the earlier chapters having accumulated more attention at this point than the later ones). By the time I am through the revision process (it'll be a few weeks), I'll have gone through the entire manuscript at least 20 times.

Then, when I think it's "perfect", I'll send it off to my editor, who will (usually after many months) get back to me with ideas on how to make it even better.

Oy.

But I've learned to take an objective look at her notes and appreciate the fact that she's put so much thought into the story, and that she has managed to come up with ideas to improve the story.

After I've mulled over her comments, I go through the manuscript another few times, resubmit it, and months later it finds its way back to me with comments and technical corrections made by a copy editor.

Double oy.

Comma placement can drive me batty.

So even when I'm done, I'm not, but I'm ignoring that for now. For now I'm celebrating that Sammy 13 is "done" and that the "Cammy" fans (Casey+Sammy) who have been begging for the next installment will be ecstatic to find out what happens next.

Woot!