Patricia Sands

Author

Natalie Hartford

Feeling slightly homicidal …

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I’m attempting to resist distractions like golf, grandchildren, and fabulous friends who are too interesting and/or too much fun to ignore. The reason? REVISIONS! As Stephen King would say, “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” His “On Writing:A Memoir Of The Craft” is one of my bibles.

Oh the pain, the agony! It gets messy at times! Trust me folks, it’s not easy deleting and reworking characters and scenes I thought were brilliantly, wonderfully, and abso-frickin’-lutely vital to the story. But that was just me …

I want to have my next novel published by the end of October *palpitations starting … body heat increasing … urge to eat chocolate almost overpowering* so I absolutely have to stay focused. I know all of this murderous behaviour wil only make the story better.

I have a talented, experienced, editor whose opinion I trust and respect. We worked together on the content edit of The Bridge Club  and his guidance is stellar … often difficult to force myself to follow … but stellar! And, yes, I did say “he”… half my age, devoted father of a toddler, who somehow gets what I like to write. I feel very fortunate that he is also available to meet or discuss a point as I know that’s an option not always easy to find.

Okay … I could go on … but my point is this. I MUST stick to my plan today. My Tuesday golf game was rained out and my dinner tonight with my bestie rescheduled. My husband is out of the country for ten days with our youngest son. I have no excuse but to have at least a week of super-productive writing and that means shutting down the social media to a minimum … or I’m in trouble, as it’s the biggest time-suck going!

I’m going to send you instead to Jenny Hansen’s blog which has one of THE most amazing collections of links about writing I’ve seen in a very long time. If writing is a topic that doesn’t call to you at the moment, there are other fab options. So do it … please … click right here and start visiting or bookmarking.

One of the awesome posts Jenny includes is August McLachlan’s “Plotting, Pantser, or Plantser:Finding What Makes You Tick”. I’ve always admitted I’m heavy on the pantser side of things but August, brilliant as usual, offers a compromise. Where do you fit?

Oh, and be sure to check out the always-entertaining Tameri Etherton’s post on self-hosting your own blog which also includes terrific links.

If you are a travel junkie like I am and have been following my posts about Drew and Christine Gilbert‘s documentary The Wireless Generation, take a few minutes to read this recent interview with Christine. All the links are also there for other information you might want to see about this creative, adventurous couple and the choices many people are making about taking their work with them as they travel the globe. As a senior *gulp*, I totally embrace the possibility. Would you?

Natalie Hartford, besides keeping her readers in stitches about topics most of us wouldn’t dare touch, is one of the most vocal advocates for the campaign against drinking and driving. Her family’s personal experience will touch your heart and hopefully encourage you to spread the word.

See what I mean? I could be on here all day just pointing you to other great spots to stop. As always, the blog roll down the side of my page here offers a wealth of fine reading. Alright … I’m outa here … see you Friday!

A more important message

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If it’s Friday, it must be France will be back next week. I’m up to my ears in my manuscript … and on a roll … gotta keep at it! So forgive me for slacking off blog-wise today.

In the meantime I want to share this very important message from my friend Natalie Hartford’s blog. When Natalie isn’t writing fall-on-the-floor hilarious posts, she is the most authentic and effective advocate against drinking and driving that I know and with good reason, as you will see.

This St. Patty’s day weekend, celebrate the luck of the Irish and be sure to plan ahead!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rew4L4mF80k?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

Two years ago, my beautiful mother-in-law’s life was cut tragically short by an impaired driver. In honor of Donna Jean Kennie, please don’t drink and drive. Impaired driving is 100% preventable. Think about it.

Support MADD Canada and follow them on Facebook, Twitter (@maddcanada), YouTube, and on the Web.

Did you know this about Dickens?

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Excusez-moi! First an apology – OMG, this is my FOURTH post this week!!! Holy S***!  I normally only post twice a week so – to you wonderful subscribers – please don’t hate me.  I promise not to bombard you with posts this often ever again … or  … at least hardly ever. You know, sometimes stuff just happens. I really wanted to support Darlene Jones with her exciting novel launch on Monday, and then there was the Queen’s Jubilee stuff happening on Tuesday (how could I ignore that?)  and August McLaughlin’s fabulous Beauty of A Woman BlogFest could not be missed. I hope you had some time to check in on that! You will want to bookmark that blog and return again and again to read some amazing stories – some funny, some painful, all true. Great writing!

Here, does this help you feel better? If I could I would send every one of you on an all-expense paid trip to Paris for putting up with my extreme blogging this week!

This week also celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of  Charles Dickens (Feb. 7th) and the planned festivities rival those for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee! Take a look at the official Dickens 2012 website here. It’s quite remarkable … but very fitting for an author who influenced the entire world.

I really wanted to mention a bit about Dickens this week but couldn’t fit him in until today. So then I wondered how I would tie him into something about France.

Bien sur! Of course! A Tale of Two Cities  is one of my favourite novels. How about you? Set in France and England, I thought I would focus on where Dickens visited in Paris while he was gathering his research, right? After all, isn’t that what we all do as writers? We visit the places about which we are writing, n’est-ce pas? Of course today we do it via the internet more often than not.

I was sure there would at least be plaques around Paris saying that Dickens slept, or ate, or cavorted at such and such a location, since Paris has changed considerably since the Revolution! Well, mes amis, I’m shocked to tell you it just isn’t so! At least not that I could discover and I did a ton of googling! I’m going to do some more to make sure I haven’t missed anything but it appears he spent very little time in France. He did travel there a bit to do some readings but he disliked the Continent intensely and didn’t stay long. Apparently everything he wrote about France and Paris in A Tale of Two Cities, he wrote from England. He relied heavily on the writings of his good friend Scotsman Thomas Carlyle for much of the physical detail of the Revolution. Dickens’ brilliance in this novel came from his understanding of the roots of the Revolution and his incredible insight into human nature. However it was really Carlyle who wrote extensively about the actual Revolution. I found all this quite fascinating! If you want to read more click here for an excellent article about it.

A little back history on Dickens – He was born on February 7, 1812, the son of a clerk at the Navy Pay Office. His father, John Dickens, continually living beyond his means, was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea in 1824. 12-year-old Charles was removed from school and sent to work at a boot-blacking factory, earning six shillings a week to help support the family. This dark experience cast a shadow over the clever, sensitive boy that became a defining experience in his life, he would later write that he wondered “how I could have been so easily cast away at such an age.” For a long time he could not forgive his mother who had actually tried to keep him working at this child labour even longer.

This childhood poverty and feelings of abandonment, although unknown to his readers until after his death, were a heavy influence on Dickens’ later views on social reform and the world he created through his words. Don’t you think he might have felt better if he had spent some time researching in Paris and enjoyed some French wine and ladies of the evening  or Can-can dancers?

So I’m feeling badly that Charles .. I don’t think he was ever a Chuck or a Chaz or a Charlie, do you? Charles just sounds so right for him … anyway, I’m feeling badly that he never loved Paris or really even kind of liked it. I’m sure if he were to come back today he might feel differently. He might enjoy strolling the lanes of Montmartre with all the artists working their craft for everyone to get suckered into buying enjoy … well, it is pretty touristy I’ll admit but still fun and there are some very talented artists in the mix.

Sorry it’s a bit drizzly there this day but no one ever minds in Montmartre. 

He would have missed the amazing Sacré Coeur and those delightful carousels the French have even in small towns. No matter how Dickens felt about Paris and how little time he spent there, I’m sure he did visit Notre Dame  (below) which was very much a landmark even then. It was begun in the 10th C  for heaven’s sake, although it was badly damaged during the Revolution.

Too bad the Eiffel Tower wasn’t there for him because that would have won him over for certain! Never mind, for someone who didn’t like France he was still a most amazing writer whose legacy will last forever. I’m sure he would forgive me too for using him as an excuse to put a few of my Paris photos in this post.

Speaking of amazing writers … pardon the segue … for the next two months, the fabulous Wana711 group of writers (graduates of one of Kristen Lamb’s fantastic blogging courses – sign up now if you haven’t taken it!! )has organized a blog tour. I’d like to introduce to you this week’s line-up of awesome budding writers and truly amazing published authors.

First up is Natalie Hartford. This ball of energy will keep you in stitches as she talks about life and just plain fun. This week she’s featuring Elena Aitken an author who writes some amazing stories that touch on emotions most would rather not admit. Check out both of these blogs. If you comment on the interview you could win one of Elena’s books. So hurry on over and have a visit.

Next is Angela Orlowski-Peart. Born in Europe and living in the United States gives her blog an international feel. This week she introduced author and friend Traci Bell who writes adult paranormal and fantasy. If you answer this week’s question you could also win a free copy of Traci’s book.

You only have today and tomorrow to get in on the two contests, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy the experience of these wonderful women.

Are you a fan of Charles Dickens? Which book is your favourite? Can you believe he didn’t spend time in Paris researching?  I know,  it’s shocking isn’t it? Ohhh sorry, it’s been a very long week of writing. I think I should go to bed now.

A busy week in the Blogosphere

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Here we are again! I swear these weeks keep getting shorter … or perhaps it was just all the time it took me this week to figure out TRIBERR.COM. Thank you Jenny Hansen for the instructions on your blog this week  including that unbelievably helpful video (which I watched about 358 times). Big hugs of gratitude to Wana711 blogging buddies Natalie Hartford and Jillian Dodd whose never-ending patience kept me sticking to it. Now that I’m in the site I don’t know what took me so long … oh, maybe it’s because I’m seriously tech challenged …

Anyway, to get fired up and back to writing I played a little of one of my favourite French singers, Zaz. You may have seen this during the summer when I first discovered her … if so, enjoy encore une fois! She’s energizing!

Here are a couple of the other reasons it was a busy week (which prevented me from spending all my spare ~ha!~ time daydreaming about France).  But wait, first I’ll just sneak in one photo to give you Francophiles something to think about until next week. This is one of my most favourite views, looking over Eze Sur Mer and St. Jean Cap Ferrat from the hilltop village of Eze. I took this shot from the castle ruin above the village. You climb up through the most amazing Jardin Exotique that was created by hand after WW2 – one stone at a time, there’s no other way! The view is worth the climb, n’est-ce pas?

Okay, where was I? Oh right, this busy week …although I have been trying to stay focused and diligent with my WIP schedule, there’s always something just way too tempting to refuse.

I was delighted to be invited to help the fabulous Marcia Richards celebrate her One Year Blogbirthday with chocolate cake, balloons and the hilarious Jess Wilkins. Hop on over to her Sexy, Smart, From The Heart website and take a look at what she forced  asked us to send her … it’s so much easier to write about others than it is ourselves. But what a party we had!

Next I channeled myself across the ocean to the U.K.. to spend some time with medium and clairvoyant Richard Holmes on his uplifting Bloggin’ With Rich site.  It was a pleasure to recount a cool memory of a rather spiritual encounter that my real Bridge Club experienced as a result of an unplanned stop one morning on a beach on Vancouver Island. You’ll find yourself in another world when you stop in at Rich’s blog. Astral traveling anyone?

Oh, and Myndi Shafer? Your Leave A Caption post on Saturday had me laughing out loud all day. The captions are priceless!

This world of writing and blogging offers incredible opportunities to come in contact with the most diverse, fascinating, amazingly ordinary people who connect and share their thoughts and experiences in unpredictable and surprising ways. Creative, humorous, thoughtful, helpful, challenging, hilarious, touching, authentic people. A community. Don’t you just feel like breaking out into a chorus of We Are Family? What a ride!

And now back to work or novel #2 will never get completed.

How do you feel about the community in which you live or work or just spend most of your time? Don’t forget to take a few moments every day to let people you value know just that!