This post by Mary Connealy first appeared in Seekerville on October 4, 2010. Comments are closed today so we can catch up with our reading and writing!
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| Mary Connealy Circa 2010 |
Do I tell the truth?
Or do I make this entertaining?
Oh, yeah. I can hear it now, TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH!
But really, is that what we're here for? Seriously?
Okay, the truth. Hmmmm….
I seem to write sort of compulsively.
The thing is, if you write for ten years and have twenty finished books on your computer and you get a book published, people say you've got a great work ethic.
They say you're persistent, you pursued your dream, you're dedicated.
If you NEVER get a book published, they say you're got obsessive compulsive disorder and stage an intervention and try to get you into therapy, if not a psyche ward.
So I got published. Phew!
I look back on all those years of writing, writing, writing and I just don't know what possessed me to do such a thing.
My writing life is born of some kind of natural love for putting words down on paper. Add in I just am passionate about reading. I can remember reading my first Mary Higgins Clark book and closing it and staring at that book and thinking, "How did she do that?"
How did she make this book into a roller coaster ride? What does it take to write like this?
I remember her, Walter Farley and Clive Cussler when I write. They have a gift for dragging you right into the middle of the action and absolutely refusing to let you escape.
So, wait, that's not my writing life, is it? Rats! Okay, I write 1000 words a day. Every day. Seven days a week. I let myself off the hook if I miss, no big deal. I'm a Christian, the concept of forgiveness and starting new each day is alive and well within me.
But still, I write 1000 words a day seven days a week. Sometimes more. Rarely less. I'm not particularly finicky about my environment. I can write in an airport. I can write for ten minutes, get a phone call and talk for ten minutes, then turn right back and write some more.
I can write early or late. In quiet or noise. That's my writing life.
I think maybe it's pretty boring. I mostly stay home. For years I worked five days a week at a day job. I'm an insomniac and to some extent, writing helps me keep my sanity. (and why, oh why, do I know Ruthy will have a 'keep your sanity?' remark to make if the comments were open.)
I really don't think of writing as something I DO. I think of writing…being a writer…as something I AM. I look back and see I've been writing all my life. Scribbling always, everywhere. I'm surprised I haven't written on my walls.
The one thing I remember so vividly is when I began writing Petticoat Ranch, which ended up being the first released book of my published life, I knew what I wanted. Vigilantes. Romance. Cowboys. Comedy. Action.
I remember staring at that blank computer screen...I've always loved starting a new book...I remember thinking...Remember everything you know. Apply everything you've learned. I focused on that screen and I knew I had to explode my beginning. I had to show instead of tell. I had to dump the backstory and weave it in slowly. And I started typing. That's my writing life.I write.
That is pretty much 100% of it.
So, do what you will with all this wisdom (drivel—whatever).
Long Time Gone
The Boden clan thought their problems had ended with the death of a dangerous enemy, but have they truly uncovered the real plot to take their New Mexico ranch? Rancher Justin Boden is now in charge. He is normally an unshakable and rugged man, but with his brother, Cole, shot and in mortal danger, even a tough man faces doubts. And it doesn't help that Angie DuPree, the assistant to the doctor trying to save Cole, is as distracting a woman as Justin ever laid eyes on.
With her and the doc's timely skills, Cole looks to be on the mend, and Justin and the rest of the Bodens can turn their attention back to the dangers facing them. It's clear now that everything that's occurred is part of a much bigger plot that could date back to a decades-old secret. Can they uncover all the pieces before danger closes in on them, or is the threat to the ranch even bigger than any of the Bodens could imagine?
With her and the doc's timely skills, Cole looks to be on the mend, and Justin and the rest of the Bodens can turn their attention back to the dangers facing them. It's clear now that everything that's occurred is part of a much bigger plot that could date back to a decades-old secret. Can they uncover all the pieces before danger closes in on them, or is the threat to the ranch even bigger than any of the Bodens could imagine?
Mary Connealy writes suspenseful romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a two-time Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader's Choice finalist. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of 50 plus books and novellas.
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