I was honored to be invited by Catherine McCall, international best-selling author of the memoir, “Never Tell,” to participate in the #mywritingprocess blog tour. The following four questions have been asked of everyone who has and will participate in this community of writers.
1) What am I working on?
I am currently marketing my book, “Reckless: A Memoir,” that was published May 1, 2014. For more information, visit http://www.recklessamemoir.net. The writing took 17 years and the shock and delight of it being in the world is mixed with the rigor of finding ways to market it with fresh ideas. I do have my next book planned, but when I sat down to start my first draft, I learned my brain isn’t refreshed from the “Reckless” journey. My papers, outline, various notes are splayed across my desk where I will put my bum in the chair and write. For now random thoughts flit around and feed the future.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My first craft was acting, and that informs my writing from a specific sensory and psychological point of view. Often, this point of view is not appropriate in the final drafts, but it helps me develop place, internal monologues and hidden agendas people cover up with contrary behavior.
3) Why do I write what I do?
If I picked one behavior that I believe is the most destructive, I would pick keeping secrets. I’ve lived the nightmare of keeping secrets and the peace of releasing them into the world. My first book, “Reckless,” is a deeply personal one that pulled the covers off a lifetime of secrets. My next book is a more public one. My goal is to shed light on people who are often condemned based on a lack of awareness. These are not secrets, per se, but they are truths often hidden from public view. Real life is plenty fascinating for me so non-fiction is my genre.
4) How does my writing process work?
I prefer to jot ideas, quotes, cut out articles that inspire or inform my subject. Then I create a draft of tumbled out words without judgement. In the past it took me decades to figure out what the story was so that I could shape and discard hundreds and hundreds of unnecessary pages. Now I aim to define the story much earlier. This is probably an exercise in futility, but hope springs eternal!
Who is up next?
I am honored to present the following writers who will be posting next week.
Judy Alter
Judy Alter’s first published book was the 1978 y/a title, After Pa Was Shot. For almost twenty years she wrote primarily about women of the American West, for both y/a readers and adults. Several of those books are now available online—Mattie, Libby, Sundance, Butch and Me, Cherokee Rose, along with many written for school libraries on everything from surgery and vaccines to passenger ships and state histories.
In 2006 Judy turned her attention to cozy mysteries set in Texas, and she now has six (almost seven) published in the Kelly O’Connell and Blue Plate Café series. Coming in July is Deception in Strange Places, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery.
Judy is the single parent of four and grandmother of seven. She lives in Fort Worth, TX with her Bordoodle, Sophie.
http://www.judyalter.com; http://www.judys-stew.blogspot.com; http://potluckwith judy.blogspot.com
Laura Schoefer
Laura Schofer is a journalist who has worked for two Long Island community newspapers for the last 18 years. She has won journalism awards from the National Newspaper Association and the Press Club of Long Island. She has also written several plays including “Silent History” that was produced at The Spiegel Theatre at Hofstra University as part of a conference on Long Island Women and “Cleaning Lessons,” a play produced in conjunction with the “Women and Work Performance Project” by NEAR Theatre in Huntington as well as at Pen & Brush, a women’s arts organization in New York, New York. “The Fingerprint of Destiny” is her first novel published by Hope’s Point Press.
Hope’s Point Press was founded in 2012 by Laura Schofer. This electronic publisher press is dedicated to publishing creative works that take place on Long Island. “The Fingerprint of Destiny” is the first novel to be published by this press.
To review this book, interview its author or learn more about Hope’s Point Press go to www.hopespointpress.com.
Ruminations on RECKLESS themes 