Revision

I just read the review of a novel that took its author more than twenty years to create.  The book received a wow of a review, which made me feel better since I first had the idea for my novel Selkie Song more than fifteen years ago. 

Selkie has undergone dozens of revisions over the years, some of the deepest innitiated by writers' groups or workshops I've attended.  I am in the process now of editing the novel to send to an independent press.  Inspired by the feedback at the most recent meeting of my current writers' group, Scribbling Women, I am looking at every word, every sentence, every paragraph and chapter through fresh eyes.  

One of my sister writers asked me to contemplate how I would tell the story of sixteen-year-old Ben Corbin and Eloyn, the seal woman he discovers and saves, if I were writing it for the first time now.  Ben is so different already from the character as I originally imagined him, I resisted my group member's suggestion at first.  Now I feel Ben's story opening up in a new way, and I am endlessly grateful.  

Will keep you posted on the journey of Selkie Song as it unfolds.  Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!

The Gift

This is the season for contemplating gifts.  What we plan to give someone we love, what we hope we'll be given as well.

I once read that the purpose of life is simple--we must discover our gift, hone it, and then give the gift back to life.  We must share what we've been given, whether that's a gift for painting, for parenting, for creating pottery or delicious meals.  My gift is for story, writing and telling them.

As we move toward the New Year of 2012, I hope you spend some time contemplating your innate gifts and new ways you can discover to share.

Christmas Gift!

A friend of mine has a family with an amusing Christmas tradition.  They have a contest every Christmas day to see who can shout "Christmas gift!" before anyone else does.  My friend told me that one Christmas she phoned her sister at 12:01 a.m. and shouted "Christmas gift!" when her sister picked up the phone, sleepy and incoherent.  Yes, it counted as a win.

The tradition has roots in the Civil War, when those who could not afford Christmas gifts would tell the people they wanted to give a present, "Christmas gift!" in lieu of handing them a memento.  (There's a scene in Gone with the Wind when Uncle Peter says,  "Christmas gift, Mr. Rhett!"  Now you know what Peter's saying and why, if you didn't already.)

My friend knows the source of her family's annual joke.  I have my own plans for how I'll participate in the game this year, but I have also been thinking about the

significance of the phrase.  The desire to give to someone we love matters more than the physical gift.  My best Christmas gift arrived this year when my sister sent me a video of my niece Greta Jo "reading" Love is the Thread.  At the close of the snip, Greta Jo says, "love Leslie.  Love Leslie."  (She actually says, "wove Wesee," but I know what she means.)

I'm not feeling the need for physical gifts to unwrap after that.  And oh  by the way:  "CHRISTMAS GIFT!"  

Knitting

It's certainly knitting weather.

I have a summer weight project I worked on occasionally during the hot months of the year, but cold allows me to knit with my favorite extra bulky projects.  Yesterday during the pottery sale and book signing event, I knitted away at my new red shawl.  (A friend recently told me, "Women who were red get what they want," and I've taken it to heat!  Plus my mother gifted me with half a dozen skeins of red yarn.)

Anyway, as I knitting yesterday, one of the sale participants told me I was creating my own cozy blanket as I knitted!  Not quite a blanket, but my knees and legs were beautiully blanketed with red as I knitted between readings and signings.

You know, there are some things I love about winter.

Let's set sail in a Friend Ship

For a long time my oldest niece Greta Jo only wanted to read one book, All My Friends are Dead.  The picture book features outsized type, a subtle ecological message, and enough black humor to keep adults entertained.  One section features two men marooned on a tiny island.  "The only ship we need is a friend ship," says one character, while the second buries his face in his hands.

Yesterday while I read limited excerpts from Love is the Thread to the knitting circle at Friends and Fiber, (limited because so many women protested they wanted to buy the book and read it for themselves!) I thought about that Friend Ship.  The women gathered around the table to listen to my book were nominally in the shop to knit and receive help from Vicki, the owner.

While I read about my friend, Kristine, I listened to the clustered women share recipes for holiday cookies and apple cider, discuss what each was knitting, fondle luscious yarn, and share their own stories.  When I'd been at the table more than an hour, one woman straightened up and laughed.  "I've done two stitches the whole time I've been here," she said.

We were seated around a table, surrounded by a beautiful selection of yarn, nibbling treats and drinking wonderful hot cider.  We were actually in full sail on the Friend Ship.  No wonder she hadn't gotten much knitting done.

The treasure we discovered?  Both on the page and in the room, women's friendship shared.

Partying with Writers!

In How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead, Ariel Gore offers some amusing and useful thoughts on the successful launch party for a book.  Instead of a stuffy event, make the launch a real celebration with food, fun and a friendly atmosphere.  Last night the celebration of the publication of Love is the Thread  included plenty of food and fun to go around, with old friends and new rounding out the crowd.

Pushcart Prize nominated poet Sheri Wright and I played a spirited hand of Rock, Paper, Scissors for the right to be the first to take the stage at the Bard's Town, 1801 Bardstown Road.  While the crowd enjoyed the locally owned eatery's witty menu, clever descriptions and food, I suppose it should come as no surprise that, as writers, Sheri and I both went for "paper" first!  Sheri won the tie breaker and opened the evening with a selection of her insightful, incisive poetry.  (I was happy to leave with a signed copy of one of her books, Contains Scenes of Indigenous Nudity tucked under my arm.)

Writers aren't rock stars, as Sheri herself has said, but I loved sharing excerpts from my newly published book.  The stage lights dazzled me almost as much as the sounds of laughter from the audience during the funny moments in one chapter, and the not-so-muffled sobs during "The Ebony Needles."  Every writer dreams of moving readers.  Thanks to everyone who came out on a chilly December evening to celebrate the launch my first book into the world!