You Only Need One

It’s frustrating to wait.  But it is a trait we all must adapt to – especially those of us in the creative business.  So much seems to be hurry up.  “We need those rewrites immediately!”  “Your deadline is coming.  Hurry.  Write faster.” 

And then we sit in front of the computer, or maybe at the kitchen table stuffing our faces with comfort food, as we wait and wait for some word.  "They're busy on another project. They'll get to you soon.  Yes, your work is great," my agent assures me. 

"But if it's so good, why is no one snapping me up.  Look at all the material I have.  Look at what I've done."

I don't know. Maybe because I'm an Aquarian.  They say that we're ahead of our time.   One of my young adult novels - Against Her Will - about teens in a psychiatric hospital (based on experiences I had as a psych nurse, myself,) I had written almost 15 years before.  (Well, I'd penned the outline and first four chapters because at that time as a selling writer I was able to get a contract on just that.  Now, however, unless you are a Kellerman, King or Koontz you have to write the whole novel on speculation before the publishers - big or small - will look at it. ) 

When my now fabulous agent Italia Gandolfo asked if I had any young adult stories, I hesitated and then mentioned Against Her Will (so saying because the protagonist learns that nothing in life is really against her will) I sent it over.  Drama had always been a tough sell.  Readers wanted action, mystery, comedy, I thought.  She assured me we could sell my book and so with the assistance of partner (Jo Schaffer) since I was deep into another project then, we finished the book. 

It’s not like I haven’t had some success, but as my parents told me in college – writers don’t make money.  Be a nurse or a teacher. So I became a nurse.  Still, it was my writing that I wanted to fuel my retirement and provide for my family.   But patience, it seems, has to be practiced in this business no matter how badly you want something.

Another book – My Sister’s Shadow, an unusual Gothic novel at a time when gothics were supposedly hot - took me over twenty submission (seven to the same publisher with actually very little rewriting) before it was finally accepted.   Of course, being "just a writer" at that time and not really conscious of audience cycles, I didn’t realize the reason that while readers were snatching them off the bookstore shelves, the publishers were seeing a decline in their sales.  Topics go in cycles.

Vampires were hot for a while…and then Zombies.  But if you tried to write a book with their focus at the peak, you would have been lucky to get an editor to read it.  I soon learned that when publishers think a subject is in vogue, they buy everything they can get their hands on -- and many of those manuscripts poorly written and poorly edited.  Then when the readers wise up, they stop their purchases…for a while. 

 My script Dragon Seeds (now being called Mark of the Dragon) which I started twelve years ago with my friend director Sean McNamara, won some awards, and then was rewritten numerous times with notes from a variety of sources. It now looks as if it  will now become a trilogy of books and then scripts with the assistance of Amy Miles to partner on the first of them.   Apparently, with the change of times, studios now really like it if you have an IP (Intellectual Property) behind your script since that gives them a modicum of relief that the book audience will head for the movie.  

Meanwhile, with several scripts - some from my books and some stand alones  - sit on my shelves, so I kept bugging my agent.  When are we sending these out?  When are they going to sell?  If I am so good--

Well, you know the writer's self-doubt cry.   Yet I see others, whose work I believe is not as good or as professional as mine, being picked up.  Why?  What am I doing wrong, I ask?

And yes, I have had some accomplishments – maybe more than most writers I know.  Over forty books, scripts and adaptations have been sold.  (Many of the scripts optioned and even a few made.)  I have also been able to mentor other writers by teaching at various colleges and seminars or conferences as well as a workbook –The Ultimate Writers Workbook For Books And Scripts – to help them.   But somehow I still hunger for that big bite, that major acknowledgment from the entertainment world (and reluctant family members, too, who still think I live in a fantasy world.)

"Stop focusing on your old material right now.  Don't pay for people to help you pitch them." My agent says.  “Your time will come.” She repeats that with my new current projects - The Master's Will - a great true Civil War that I was hired to write both as a book and script, and Nursing The Evidence - my television series concept and pilot about forensic nursing (which I was trained in) -- that things will sell soon. She assured me that once I get one bite, others will soon gobble up my works. 

Intellectually, I know she is correct. When you are hot, you are hot.  Yet one can't be help being anxious when sending one's "children" out into the world and wanting them to succeed.   I long for my other projects to fly off the ground, too.  Well, I waited years for some of these other books to be accepted and then published when the "time was right." 

So now I return to my revised book/ script -The Unborn Witness – a former award winning short story and short film - and make it greater than before as a feature and full length book! 

Onward and upward, writers. And I will trust in my agent's superior knowledge of the market.

The pen - or in this case - the computer - shall overcome - and maybe with a little help of some Xanax!   Stop watching that clock!

What do we believe?

Oxford English Dictionary just announced the new word of the year “post-truth” meaning supposed truth without the use of facts.  Something we noted quite a bit throughout the recent election campaign.  However, as writers, we often stretch facts and truth for the sake of our stories. 

I hadn’t planned on blogging about this but on a writing topic, but listening to the news constantly it is hard to separate things at time.  As many of my readers know I am not pleased about Trump’s win – mainly because a lot of his campaign seemed to run hate mongering against Mexicans, Muslims, disparaging women –especially those who stood up to him, and others without really giving us any facts about his plans for tax reform, women’s rights, gay rights, immigrants, and many other issues including climate change as a Chinese hoax??  (He says he will not touch Medicare and social security but his friend Paul Ryan vows that he will make changes.)   Then he hires someone as his main advisor a man who has spearheaded a white supremacy movement.   Despite some saying that Bannon is not anti-Semitic, actions speak louder than words.  

Already there have been a huge increase in hate crimes and scrawlings across the nation like notices that this is a White Christian Nation and pictures of the Auschwitz death camp with the notice “Wait for the trains” beneath.  Kind of scary. 

 No Hillary was not perfect, but who is?  Many of her decisions in the past were indeed flawed and as a Jew, I was concerned about her continuing Obama’s coolness toward Israel.  

Many of the “facts” that Trump presented were exaggerated or flawed.  According to one poll, he lied 54:3 (Hillary).   He has indicated he wants revenge on the media that showed him in a negative light and talked about removing their FCC licensing.   He forgets all the free publicity he received that pushed him into the limelight when his boisterous words echoed.   Now, he is banning reporters from certain places.  He slammed and made it appear that Hillary wanted the Muslims to overrun the country while not taking any of his own flaws into consideration.  (Oh wait – he doesn’t have any flaws.  He doesn’t use charity donations for his own use or glorification, right?  He doesn’t sue people on the drop of a pin for a perceived sight or cheat people?)

Today he is receiving accolades from various dictators around the world as Putin, Syria’s Assad, and others.  Do they see a fellow demigod in front of them?

However, a lot of people, especially in the middle of the country are angry and some with good reason.  And we have to give them some credence which apparently the Democratic party did not. (Though as you recall it was the Republicans who shut down the government not one but twice because they did not want to pass the budget. That hurt a lot of people.)  This country is great for many, not so good for others, but still probably better than most countries out there.  It still shocks me at whom I know that voted from Trump, that they did not consider the possible consequences of his words.   But it doesn’t do any good to argue. 

Trump did win the electoral college, though not the popular vote, which I still do not understand.  Nevertheless, according to our laws, he is now the President-Elect.  I heard him say that as a businessman many of his stands were part of negotiations.  But now he seems to be taking those backs.   So what really is his bottom line? Will we ever know?  Will he set off nuclear weapons in a temper snit?  Will he be able to control the hatred that seems to have increased with his own license to speak?  Will he keep any of his good promises like more jobs for higher pay and lower taxes?  He does have a majority of the Congress as Republicans now – but how many will support that?

So it seems the new word “post –truth” will now be part of our dictionary.  I hope that people learn to look beyond the post and read the real facts.  If you don’t believe the “liberal” media like CNN, New York Times, etc at least listen and take things with a grain of salt (as the cliché goes.)  I am trying to listen to places like FOX, etc to balance what I am hearing, but don't see much hope there.  

I guess we can only watch, wait and pray that somehow he will do what is right for the majority of the country – and be prepared to act, if we must, in some way to defend our rights for the next four years.

Persistence and Patience

Maybe it’s because I’m an Aquarius,  but they say it’s our “advanced”  thinking that keeps us from accomplishing things in what we believe is a timely manner.  Whatever it is, I’ve had to have patience and a lot of persistence with my ideas and especially my writing.

Living in Chicago with my first husband, who seemed to be jealous of writing even though he said he wasn’t,  I was pleased when he gave one of my manuscripts – a novel about Deborah the Prophetess (based on the 4 Bible pages of Judges 4/5)  to a literary writer friend of his father’s.  Her cruel words to me were “Honey, go home and do your housework.”  I cried for a few days before I fisted up and said “Hell no.” I was not going to give up despite the lack of support from my husband or my own family.   

While taking a class from Chicago writer in residence, someone asked, "When do you give up?"  His words to her were - "Honey if you can do so, you're stronger than me.  If it's in your blood,  then your screwed." Writing was in my blood and it could not be denied. 

I penned 8 books before the 8^th was published and I was able to later revise and rewrite 4 of the 7 books. Going back to those original manuscripts I saw how poorly those had been written and how I had improved. The book about Deborah was finally published in 1990 – a good 10 years after the first draft – by Leisure Books as Lighting and Fire.

Other ideas also took their time to mature.  Sometimes I wasn't ready and other times, the market had changed before I could finish what I was writing.

Living in England while I obtained my masters in writing from Antioch, I became infatuated with the story of Boudicea, the Celtic queen who rebelled from Rome’s oppression in 60 AD. Destroying much of Roman Britain including London.  I wrote a historical romance using the events as a background with her fictional niece falling in love with a Roman centurion - great conflict there.  It’s been almost 28 years since the idea first percolated in me and will now finally appear in July as A Pagan Love by Oak Tree Press.

Persistence also proved to serve me with my Y.A. drama, based on my work with teens thrown into psychiatric wards merely because their parents couldn’t handle them.  Against Her Will was finally published 2015 by Motivational Press when my new agent asked if I had any young adult material.  I pulled out the half done manuscript, updated a bit and, because I was already deep into other deadlines, worked with another client of hers to finish the book. 

My western romantic suspense, Deceptive Desires, also published by Leisure has now been turned into a script - Logan's Land - with several options under its belt.  Since westerns are currently not in favor for the movie market, it might have to wait a bit longer before showing it's screen version, but the book will be re-released by Oak Tree Press in December 2016.

One of my gothic novels - The Shrieking Shadows of Penporth Island - went to publishers 21 times - 8 times to the same house - Zebra Publishers- who finally put it out when the time, they felt was right. 

My non-fiction book The Forensic Nurse  (St Martin's Press) about how we as nurses help police solve crimes and written for the ordinary public to understand what we do, took years to find the right home.  Then it was optioned for a TV series not once but several times, always with something spoiling the deal at the last moment.  (In Hollywood, one must have attachments - stars and directors - push projects forward and the studios want A-list writers whom they already know can produce shows.  So I don't know what went wrong.  But finally when the last option expired, I took it on myself to write my own speculative pilot  for Nursing the Evidence - and show bible, which, has attracted attention.  Fingers are still crossed on that.  

Now, in addition to my own writing, I teach at various universities and conferences and published a workbook based on my lectures - The Ultimate Writers Workbook For Books and Scripts (Motivational Press.)  While there are some differences in writing books and scripts, you basically need an exciting story that will entice the reader and make him care about your characters.   I also assist writers with their stories, too. 

I can't say it has been easy watching my friends snap up quick contracts, but I realized that when the time is right for something, an opening will appear.  One just has to keep on writing, go onto the next project, and the next and know that if it is meant to be, it will.

Please check out my page at www.seritastevens.com

Today, meet my friend Marilyn and her book Crushing Death

Crossing Paths in Person and the Internet

Often the friends we meet on the Internet become close even if we haven’t ever met them in person.

My first encounter with the name Serita Stevens RN was when I purchased her book, Deadly Doses, a writer’s guide to poisons, published by Writers Digest Books.  The book has been extremely useful to me when I’ve wanted to poison someone—in one of my books, of course. I know I’ll be using the book again.

I believe the only time I saw her in person was at a small romance conference in Fresno—long ago. I don’t remember much about it, though I do know we exchanged a few words.

We were on some listserves together and some emailing back and forth.

Now that Serita is also published by Oak Tree Press, I have been reacquainted with her, and know that she’s now writing screenplays and teaching screenplay writing. Recently, Serita emailed me with some suggestions for putting a proposal together for mystery series. When and if I’ll do it, I don’t know, but thanks to Serita I know what to do.

I have many other Facebook friends I’ve never met in person—but I know the chance is always there. Maybe not as big a chance as there used to be since I’m not flying anymore. But I still do travel around California with my daughter at the wheel becuase I don’t drive in the big cities anymore.

When you get to be my age, you treasure all the friends you have. Thank you, Serita for being a friend.

Do any of you have favorite friends you’ve met on the Internet?

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

A Crushing Death

A pile of rocks is found on a dead body beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for violent attacks on women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has a problem.

Buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/Crushing-Death-Rocky-Bluff-P-D/dp/1610092260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457618775&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Crushing+Death+by+F.M.+Meredith

Bio:

F. M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn Meredith is nearing the number of 40 published books. Besides being an author she is a wife, mother, grandma and great-grandmother. Though the Rocky Bluff she writes about is fictional, she lived for over twenty-years in a similar small beach town. Besides having many law enforcement officers in her family she is counts many as friends. She teaches writing, loves to give presentations to writing and other groups, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America, three chapters of Sisters in Crime and on the board of Public Safety Writers Association.

Website: http://fictionforyou.com

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Facebook: Marilyn Meredith

Twitter: MarilynMeredith

Contest: Once again, the person who comments on the most blogs during this tour, can have a character named after them in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. Tomorrow you can find me here:

http://amymbennettbooks.blogspot.com/