I know I'm getting older when I hear myself saying things my mother and grandmother said years ago. One of them was that time goes faster the older you get. (They also said that getting older wasn't for sissies, but that's a whole 'nother subject.) It's not true—time passes at the same rate—but with the expectation of many years ahead, getting things done quickly isn't a priority. Now that "the days fly by like wild horses over the hills" (in the words of Charles Bukowski, one of my favorite poets), I'm sometimes struck by how little I seem to have written, despite the fact that it's September. 

Last year at this time, I began telling people about the new book I was working on. "A young adult fantasy novel," I said, "which is going very well so far." I'm still writing that book, and it's still going well—just more slowly than I expected. In part, that's because I chose to take on other projects. Between last September and this, I've published two other authors' novels and an new anthology of stories (you can learn about these at www.TwoCatsPress.com), traveled to numerous Arizona libraries as the ONEBOOKAZ kids' book winner, talked with students at schools in Arizona and California, attended several book fairs, spoke to pickleball clubs, and got settled in the new house. That doesn't cover visits to family in California, getting back into pickleball (finally), and—well, the list goes on. 

When I wasn't doing all that, though, the writing continued. Book one of The Rift has grown into a true epic fantasy. I've written over a hundred thousand words, and I'm not done with the first draft. (The book will have to be published in two parts to afford the printing). I've diligently brought chapters to my Sunday critique group, and they tell me they love it, so hopefully you will, too—if we all live long enough. :-)

My editor wrote me a message the other day that read, "Okay, I'm hanging.  Able to pick up my editing pencil anytime if you still want me to." He's very patient. I hope you are, too. 

Before I go, I need to say I'm looking forward to this year's trip to Glendora, California, where I will be visiting at least three schools and meeting new students and their teachers! Many of the classes are reading Bruce and the Road to Courage now, so they should be finished, or nearly so, by the time I arrive at the end of October and the first week of November. It's always an exciting time, and one I love dearly. I can't wait. 

Those who follow me on Facebook or Twitter have heard this news, but I'm still flying high with the most recent award for Bruce and the Road to Courage: it won the ONEBOOKAZ Award for 2015 in the kid's category. This award is presented by the Arizona State Library to one children's book judged best of all those submitted by Arizona authors. Awards are also given for the best young adult and adult books. 

Last night at the Civic Center Library in Scottsdale, AZ, Joan Clark (pictured with me, top right), Director of the Arizona State Library, presented all three authors with certificates. We also took part in a panel discussion about how we create our books, our general writing process, and the difficulties and rewards of being self-published.

While Bruce and the Road to Courage received other awards in the past, I prize this one more than the rest. The judges reviewed all eligible submissions based on quality, creativity, originality, style, grammar, and whether they felt the content would be enjoyed by a wide range of Arizona readers. Winning authors must reside in Arizona.

The goals of the ONEBOOKAZ program are to encourage writing, reading and thoughtful interaction with literature in digital formats. To this end, they are providing copies of our books free of charge to all Arizona residents via their website (www.onebookas.org)  through the month of April. Books may be read on the computer or downloaded to digital e-reading devices.

They are also providing an honorarium allowing me to travel to nine different Arizona cities during the months of April and early May. The goal is to have communities across the State of Arizona read the same books at the same time and participate in discussions and programs centered around those books.

Beyond that, they created a wonderful teacher’s guide for Courage that will make it easier for teachers to incorporate it into their curriculum. I had begun work on such a project myself a few months before, but their help turned my guide into something extraordinary—truly a great tool and a wonderful gift for me as I strive to reach out to more schools and students.

Finally, they are in process of creating an audio version of Courage for the visually or physically impaired to enjoy as well. I’m excited to hear what a professional reader will make of the voices of Bruce and his friends.

My first stop on the tour will be Yuma on April 15, followed by Prescott, Sedona, and Cottonwood from the 16th through 18th. If you have friends or relatives in those areas who might wish to attend, the details can be found on my website calendar.

By the way – I’m still writing while all of this is transpiring. Don’t give up hope that I’ll turn out another book one of these days. I was very busy for a number of months working on the novels of others (see the Two Cats Press website to learn more about these great books), but I’m back to working on The Rift, my Young Adult book series, which is going very well! (Bruce and the Road to Freedom is on hold until I can get book one of The Rift finished.)

Mom's Choice, one of the groups that gave my books an award, is a great organization because they help parents select toys, books, and other products that meet their criteria of excellence. The group is also good to their awardees because they help with marketing in various ways. Yesterday, they posted a topic on their blog asking, "What do you love most about marketing?" 

"Ha," I said, with a wry smile. (I'm very good at smiling wryly.) "Is that a trick question?" Nevertheless, I wrote a reply, which I thought I'd share with you.

"What do I love about marketing? Besides being an author, I'm also a decent salesperson, so I don't hate marketing—but I do hate having to do it. Like most aspiring authors, I hoped to live the dream of having people flock to my book signings and clamoring for my next novel to come out. Sadly, that dream rarely materializes.

"Sometimes, marketing seems like trying to put together a puzzle without all the pieces. With the advent of affordable and easy self-publishing, the market is now quite saturated with books of all kinds, and it's hard for one novel to rise above the rest. I'd much rather be writing than selling, creating press releases, posting blogs, or sending email newsletters, but I keep doing it, because every person's name added to my mailing list is potentially many more contacts who will not only buy this book but perhaps all my others, past and future.

"You never know where the best contact will be found. My greatest one came when I sent a book to a friend, who shared it with her friend, who gave it to a teacher who was currently unemployed, who sent it to another teacher who loved it so much she now starts her school year language arts program by reading it aloud to her class—and she shared the book with teachers in other schools, all of whom invite me to come and speak to their classes and sign books. You just have to keep plugging. 

"I don't love marketing, but I love my books, and I know children do, too. If I want the books to become known and loved by more children and their parents, I have to keep selling."

It is a lot of work, all this marketing stuff. I'm not one who would just keep pouring the words onto the screen if I thought no one would ever read them. I don't write out of a compulsion to bare my soul, and I don't want to be recognized posthumously for works I never published. I'm a storyteller, and I write for you. Without you, the stories have no life. When you (or the child for whom you chose my book) read my words and communion occurs—along with the joy of discovery and of sharing in the lives of the heroes they care about—then the words come to life. That's why I write and, therefore, why I market. 

And since it's been a while without an update: I was away from active writing while I took on two editing and typesetting projects for author friends. One of those projects is now complete, and the other is nearly so. Meanwhile, I've still been working on The Rift, and the readers in my critique group tell me they still like it. I've also come back to work on Bruce and the Road to Freedom, which is turning out to be more challenging than I anticipated. Freedom is not an easy concept, and it has different meanings for different people and depending on context. I think it will be an interesting and fun story, and I'm happy to say that some of the earlier characters who haven't been seen in a while will reappear.

I hope those of you in the southwest are enjoying this great "winter" weather. To those in the east: remember, spring is coming soon, and shortly thereafter, you can all point at us in Arizona with our 110° heat and put on a wry smile.

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy doing research for my books. Last night, that enjoyment took a funny turn.

The current setting of this book is a fantasy world, and its technological advancement is pre-industrial, similar to that of Renaissance England. As I wrote the start of a new chapter, my characters had to go fetch some hay. Not a terribly difficult task, even if they are centaurs,* or so I thought. 

I wrote something like, "They cantered up the road to bring back some bales of hay." (Pulitzer worthy, don't you think?) Then I realized that baling of hay didn't happen until there were machines to help, and this society would not have that technology. 

I remembered seeing an album cover, years ago, that showed a drawing of what I was looking for (any Traffic fans out there?). It featured a (blank) of barley, with "blank" being the word I needed.

A Google search led me first to a site describing early harvesting in England and suggested the word "pook." I loved the sound of that and looked it up. It's definition was extremely helpful: "a haycock." What the heck is a haycock? I discovered it's "a small conical pile of hay stacked in a hayfield awaiting removal to a barn." I'd learned something fun, but pook wasn't the word I wanted, so I kept digging. 

Oddly, I came across a site specifically designed to advise writers of fantasy fiction that's set in pre-industrial worlds to avoid using the word "bale" when their characters get hay. (Apparently, there's a lot of hay gathering going on in fantasy fiction.) I thought running across that article was rather strange, but I kept looking. 

I finally arrived at the word I needed: "sheaf," with plural "sheaves" (as in "bringing in the"). The picture here looks like what I had in mind. It shows sheaves of wheat or barley--not hay--that have been "shocked" (stacked against each other in an upright position). Evidently, shocks help protect harvested grain from rain and allow it to dry faster. 

Of course, my next thought was, "Wait. What season is it in the story? If it isn't fall, the sheaves won't still be in the fields . . . or will they?"

The entanglements resulting from one tiny word seem endless, but they're also great fun. In the end, the centaurs did finally manage to canter up the road on a fine, fall day and bring in the sheaves of hay using travois, or sleds, they pulled behind them. Hooray!
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* Half human/half horse creature from Greek and Roman mythology. 

I’m always interested to discover how other authors go about writing their novels, so I was delighted when my friend and YA novelist, Ann I. Goldfarb, invited me to join her on this blog tour. I'd heard about these virtual tours for some time, and joining one was on my "to do" list -- but like tweeting, it still seemed kind of foreign and hard to break into. But I figured if Ann was going to do it, I'd follow suit -- and many of the other authors whose blogs I peeked at seemed to have some really fine fiction (my reading list grew by four or five new authors/books, sigh), so I felt honored to be in such good company.

Let me first commend Ann's work to you. A New York native, she now lives with her husband in a suburb northwest of Phoenix, AZ. Ann spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and staff developer. I'm guessing they migrated to Arizona with the intention to retire, but in 2011 Ann wrote her first young adult novel, and she never stopped. Now with seven books to her credit and two more in the works, I find myself in awe of her ability to write such great fiction so quickly. Her last four novels are labeled "Light Riders time travel mysteries": historical fantasies with a dash of murder thrown in for good measure. They're terrific reads, regardless of what age you are. I recommend starting with the first of the series, Light Riders and the Morenci Mine Murder," but don't stop there -- the rest are great fun, too. You can read more about Ann and her books here: http://www.timetravelmysteries.com.

A blog tour is a bit like a virtual interview. One of the writers on this tour wrote that it's like our version of show and tell. Ann posted her answers to four questions last week on her blog, which you can find here: http://www.timetravelmysteries.blogspot.com/. In turn, I tagged two more authors—Christopher Wilke and J.D. Scott (more about them at the end of this post). They will be answering the same questions next week (July 7, 2014) on their own blogs. 

But now for my answers to the burning questions I know you've been dying to ask:

What am I working on now?
Those of you who've been reading my blog know I've departed from my previous middle-grade children's novels. I'm researching and writing the first in a new series of YA fantasy novels called The Rift. Its hero is a fourteen-year-old boy named Tom. The story begins when he and his sister, Jessie, and their parents are at the zoo for a family night on Halloween evening. As Tom watches Jessie walk toward the carousel, she simply vanishes, leaving behind only a crystal necklace. The usual investigation ensues, but Tom knows she wasn't abducted, as the authorities believe. He saw Jessie disappear. He begins researching other disappearances and learns that other children have gone missing from that same area over the years. When one child's father steps forward with clues to his daughter's disappearance, Tom finds himself caught in a plan that will transport him to the world where Jessie now resides---a realm of magic, where the mages of that world vie for control over the "hybrids" (centaurs, satyrs, harpies, etc.) and battle with each other for dominance. The consequences of this battle will have far-reaching effects, because if they close the "rift" separating their world from ours, the worlds might both perish.

How does my book differ from other books in its genre?
This series deals with the parallels between the technological world of Earth and the magical world of Thera and how the development of each was very much the same. Additionally, the story incorporates the mythological tales, treating them as part of the original magic Earth possessed before the rift moved the magic to Thera, leaving Earth with technology alone. One of the main differences between this series and others of the genre is the focus on that mythology and how it has persisted on Thera. After Tom is recruited, part of his mission is to unify the hybrids and convince them to stop warring with the humans -- and even to the cause of the Blue mages, who wish the rift to remain.

Why do I write what I do?
I love to read many types of books, but fantasy, science fiction, and good adventure stories have always been my favorites. I write books I would like to read. I appreciate good character-driven fiction, so I guess that's why my stories focus on the characters as much as they do; but the plot -- the action -- has to be there, too. It's blend of elements that come together to make a complete whole that will satisfy most readers that I strive for. But truly I write from the heart, and most often I find my stories convey a message, something the hero has to learn, along the way. I want my readers to come away from a book saying, "Yes, that's the way it would have been. I never thought of it just like that, but it's exactly right." If I can achieve that and reach into the heart of my reader, then I've done it right.

How does my writing process work?
I know there are "pantsers" (those who write by the seat of their pants) and "plotters," but I tend to be a blend of both. My first novel was plotted and outlined to the max, and I didn't feel I could jot a word without having it planned. My second and third were written more by the seat of my pants, and I discovered a tremendous well of creativity by allowing the characters to do what they wanted to do. Now, I tend to plot the basics, so I know where to begin and end and have a rough idea of the middle (which is, I believe, the most important part of the story). With my current book, I'm stuck figuring out how to get from Tom the unknowing to Tom the leader, but it will come. Stephen King describes the process as similar to digging up dinosaur bones. You know you have something, but you've no idea what it is at first. Little by little, it begins to unveil itself. 

As for the physical job of writing: I can write anywhere, anytime. I have done great work while sitting in a chair in the living room while my husband was watching "Criminal Minds." I've written in coffee shops in the afternoon, in my office at any time of the day, in the doctor's office, in the car, anywhere. I don't believe writing is inspired by a muse and that you need to bow down and ask for guidance and you can only write in the morning after you've had one cup of coffee. A writer reads, and a writer writes. 

Now for some notes regarding the authors who will follow on after me in this blog tour:

C. A. Wilke's first novel, Scarlet Angel, just hit the ebook shelves at the end of May, so not a lot of folks know about his writing -- yet. If you're looking for your next book and you like action and strong women who kick butt, check out action/adventure/scifi novel Scarlet Angel. When asked about himself, Wilke says, "Reader. Writer. Technophile. Gamer. Geek." Besides the new novel, Chris has several published short stories in various anthologies, including Twisted History, Twisted Nightmares, and the forthcoming Room 427, which he also helped produce. He grew up reading stories like the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Legends), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Wheel of Time, Darkover, Rama, LOTR... and more. After some time in the U.S. Marines, he began a career in graphic design and marketing. Now, he balances the day to day stuff with his passion and what he considers his real calling: writing. Read more: http://www.writerwilke.com/

J.D. Scott is the organizing member of Abba’s Writers in Phoenix, Arizona. She leads, instructs, and teaches critiquing and story development to its members. In 2013, she became part of the team at A Book’s Mind as a Publishing Consultant, and she  enjoys working alongside writers, helping them fulfill their dreams of becoming published  authors. Before being bit by the writing bug, J.D. spent 20 years working with children as a nanny, mentor, camp counselor, and youth group leader. With a heart for today’s youth, she set out to write books that both entertain and inspire them to rise above the current culture and see their true value.She continues to live out her life’s passions of writing, publishing, and counseling/mentoring women and children. 
      J.D. launched her first book last year, and its reviews are stellar. The Disillusionment of Anahera Daniels combines excitement, adventure, fantasy, and more in a book that's tough to put down. Check out her website: http://jdscottnovels.wordpress.com/