Cockroaches and Parking Spaces - That's what happens when you write from your dreams

 

            It sounded so easy when author Stephanie Meyer of “Twilight” fame said she got the idea from one of her dreams. Oh…if only it were that easy. Maybe her dreams are orderly and sequential. Maybe her characters are well developed and believable, even if they drift by in a Nano-second of sleep. But I can’t rely on REM sleep to provide me with any of the fodder needed to craft one of my novels.

            It’s not that I don’t dream. I dream all right, but it’s a hodgepodge of weird images, unrelenting obstacles, endless frustration and the occasional disgustingly gross vision that inevitably wakes me up and begs me to head to the shower! Last night was a prime example.

            I dreamt I was getting my hair done, but when I leaned back into the sink at the salon, the hairdresser yelled, “Wait a minute! There’s a cockroach in there!” I awoke in an instant, immediately brushing off my hair and looking at my pillow for any signs of unwanted bugs.

            “It’s the cats’ fault,” my husband explained. “You let them sleep in the bed with us. They walk across our heads at all hours of the night. No wonder you thought bugs were crawling around.”

            Then, the parking lot dream. (This is actually a variation of the same dream I’ve been having for years. The one where you get to a goal, only to have someone or something take it away or prevent you from getting there. I think there’s a psychological term for this type of dream but I’ll be darned if I know what it is). Anyway, the dream was simple enough. I was trying to park my car in a parking lot near a building I had to enter, but every time I got into a parking space and got out of the car, a man in a long black trench coat stopped me and told me I couldn’t park there. This went on and on, and each time I kept trying to get a look at the guy’s face but couldn’t. I woke up frustrated and miserable.

            Maybe it’s because I have too many real things “hanging over my head” that are unfinished. Like my taxes. Every time I start on them, I suddenly stop and find myself working on my next novel. Or the laundry. Yesterday it actually made it to the washer. I’m aiming for the dryer tonight when I get done writing this blog.

            So you see, I really can’t count on my dreams to give me the ideas for my next novel. If I’m lucky, maybe the best I can hope for is a decent night’s sleep without cockroaches or parking lots.

           

Guest Author Gale Leach

Enjoy Gale's blog and please visit her website at www.galeleach.com

Welcome Guest Author Gale Leach!

When Ann asked me to do a guest post on her blog, I thought about all the research that goes into her books. They may be fiction, but they're based on fact, just like my children's novels are, too. It takes a lot of time, but the reward is knowing that what you include in your story is as correct as it can be. Not only that, researching to ensure what you say is correct often leads to new discoveries that enhance your writing in other ways.

My first series of children's books is about Bruce, a caterpillar. Bruce goes to school, wears a backpack, and speaks to birds, ants, and pigs -- he's definitely anthropomorphized -- but still I tried to describe the habits of a caterpillar and, in fact, his particular species of caterpillar accurately. Bruce has a great series of adventures, all of which involve many other creatures. Near the end of the last novel, Bruce and his friends are in terrible trouble: they're stuck in a quarry and an evil bat is trying to kill them. Two of his friends are a praying mantis and a moth. I did some online research about these creatures and happened to run across the fact that mantises and moths have evolved mechanisms for ultrasonic hearing that allows them to sense bats' echo locating calls. Suddenly, not only did I have the information I needed about the mantis, but I also had a new method for getting everyone out of trouble and back to safety.

For me, getting the facts right probably doesn't matter as much as it does for Ann, whose stories are depicting real events from history. But I know that my characters, who are very real to me, will be more real to my readers because I've done my research.

You can read more about me and my novels at www.galeleach.com.

Writing - It's Not The Disciplined Schedule You May Think It Is

I don’t know who came up with the idea that writers have a specific schedule for sitting down at their desks (or wherever they translate their thoughts into words) to work for a designated amount of time. Frankly, I’m lucky if I can string together more than two hours in a row. It’s not that I don’t want to be engaged in creative thought, but the demands of my part time paying jobs (yeah, I can’t rely on book sales alone to survive) coupled with family, pets and household needs pull me in all sorts of directions.

If only I could be as disciplined as J.A. Jance. Do you know that she actually wrote from 3:00 – 5:00 A.M. every day when her children were in school? I felt so guilty when I heard her mention that at a conference three years ago. Good grief! At 3:00 A.M. the only thing I want to see is the inside of my eyelids, and preferably from deep or REM sleep!

When I first moved into my neighborhood in Arizona’s West Valley, the woman across the street said, “I’m so impressed. Every morning at 4:30 A.M. I see your lights on in the front room. You must be busy writing one of your novels.” I should have let her believe that, but I just couldn’t lie. 

“Actually, my desk isn’t in the front room. It’s in the back of house and the only thing I’m doing at 4:30 in the morning is cleaning the kitty litter boxes. That’s what’s in the front room.”  If I don’t clean the boxes at the crack of dawn and again at 10:00 P.M., my cats will inevitably seek out someplace else to do their business. I’m disciplined all right but only when it comes to issues like sanitation! 

So when do I write? Whenever I can. At coffee shops, waiting for an oil change, at doctors’ appointments and even at the dentist while the Novocaine is starting to take. In fact, I almost pushed the panic button during an MRI because I finally figured out the dialogue I had been struggling with for weeks. I said almost. Sometimes common sense just has to prevail.

But the best moments of all are the few quiet ones when it’s just me at the computer with no obligations for the rest of the day. Unless of course, I forgot to clean the litter.

 

Being Pulled In Two Directions

             Years ago when my niece and nephew were young, my brother decided to take them through the ice caves in upstate New York. It was a popular tourist attraction and he figured that his 8 year old daughter and 7 year old son would enjoy it. What he didn’t count on was being pulled in two directions.

            You see, the minute they entered the ice cave, my nephew yanked his father’s arm and started bellowing, “Let’s go Daddy! Let’s go!” But my niece planted her feet in one spot and pulled his other arm, crying “I don’t want to go in! I don’t want to go in!”

            Forget the stalactites and stalagmites. All my brother remembers about the experience was yelling “Slow Down!” and “Come on!” depending upon which arm was attached to which kid. But somehow they made it through the ice caves.

            As an indie writer trying to make my way, I know the feeling only too well. I’m constantly caught in the middle trying to decide if I should be using what available minutes I have to write, or to market my books.

            Writing and marketing have become the yin and yang of my world.  They’ve got to work in harmony or I won’t survive this game. Then why do I feel so guilty when I’m doing one thing instead of the other?

            My characters plague me all day with their continuous dialoguing in my head. But my social network is constantly reaching out for attention, too. Which writers’ conferences to attend?  Who might be interested in interviewing me? What brick and mortar bookstores are eager to sell my novels? It’s all about contacts, contacts, contacts. And I can’t do that if I’m thinking about the grisly body that my protagonist just found.

            I know. I know. It’s all about time management. At least that’s what they teach you in school. Maybe set a block of time for writing and another for marketing. But believe me, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

            Like it or not, I’ve become my brother. I’m moving through the ice caves in two directions. But I’m moving. And right now, that’s the best I can do.

           

The Dilemma With Writing a Multi-Genre Book

When Kirkus Reviews said that perhaps my greatest feat in writing Light Riders and the Morenci Mine Murder was “an effective multi-genre approach of murder, mystery, sci-fi and …western,” I was overjoyed! Someone got it! Not all books can be pigeonholed into one category. But that’s not how agents and booksellers see it. And there’s the dilemma. My last conversation with an agent went something like this:

“Just tell me one thing – Where are you going to shelve it?”

“Fiction. Young adult fiction.”

“No, no, no. That’s too broad. I would suggest it be placed in science fiction and that’s the category it should carry.”

“But it’s not really science fiction. Okay, yes, there’s the time travel thing. My characters use Snell’s Laws of Refraction for time travel, but that only gets them someplace. Then they either have to solve a mystery or a murder, or a puzzle or-----”

“Stop right there. It’s still science fiction. Strange planets, weird universes, and all of that.”

“Actually, it’s more like historical fiction. My characters never leave earth. They just go back in time. Back to 1930’s Arizona. Everything I wrote was historically accurate. You can’t imagine the research I did.”

“Doesn’t matter. Once you’ve got that time travel thing, it’s sci-fi.”

“But what about the mystery part? I introduce and develop all those key elements. You know…the ticking clock, one step forward and two steps back, foreshadowing, withholding information, and of course the cliffhangers. It wouldn’t be suspense without the cliffhangers.”

“Still doesn’t matter.”

“But what about the western element? The book practically screams “Western.”

“It’s not screaming loud enough. I don’t care if it has a stampede, a barroom, and dangerous outlaws running about.”

I had to admit, I was stuck. And not just with this novel, with all of my novels; since every one of them is a blend of historical and science fiction. I still say the book belongs in fiction and leave it at that. But I’m new to this business and frankly, if someone wants to sell my books, I would be ecstatic no matter where they place them. But maybe the time has come for a new section – Multi-Genre. I’m sure I’m not the only author in this predicament.   

In the meantime, sci-fi is looking pretty good!