Whenever a story idea nestles in my brain, I start a project notebook for it. These notebooks become my keep-all from initial brainstorming through final revisions. 

What's in them? 
1) Notes.
I include everything that comes to mind here - all of my "what if" or "this could happen" thoughts as well as research on various topics related to the story. This is where I also keep a copy of the back cover blurb, the synopsis, and whatever Mindmaps I've created.

2) Timeline
I always print a calendar for the year the book will take place and track chapters. I learned the hard way that it's far too easy to clip along with a story, not paying attention to what day things are happening until your characters are going to work on Saturday morning when they work a traditional Monday - Friday job (yeah, I know, those don't really exist anymore), or I lose track of how much time has gone by. 

3) Storyboards
Every morning before I start to write, I brainstorm what the current chapter is about. I don't re-read what I've written (too easy to get sucked into triple guessing and revising), but having the notes in the storyboard, helps propel me forward. 

4) A miscellaneous tab
Here's where I keep track of my beta readers and folks who've helped with the book. Another lesson I learned the hard way ... by the time I'm writing the acknowledgements page for one project, I'm usually armpit deep in another and can barely remember who I am much less who helped me with this particular project.

I'll also write down any creative marketing ideas I've come across that would be relevant for that project.

And, of course ... 
5) A photo that takes me immediately into the story.

Winnie the Pooh has long been one of my favorites. Need a mood boost? Turn to Pooh and his buds for a lift. And whether it's one of the movies or book, the result is always the same. And age, my friends, has nothing to do with it. I think I adore Pooh and his buds as much now as I did when I was a kid!

So happy your day, Winnie the Pooh. Thank you for always making me smile.

This may be a strange recommendation considering my Monday post on taking an hour to not do anything, but I think it actually fits. While I love those first words of the day before it becomes light outside and before anyone else is awake around me, the point of the book is to find that extra hour to do something you otherwise wouldn't have the time to do. 

For me, right now, that goal is to read more. As a writer, reading is part of the job and yet I've been brainwashed into believing that sitting and reading in the middle of the day is wrong. I'll read before bed and whenever I'm waiting on something (for example, when my son is at the gym, or a doctor's appointment), but I will rarely give myself the okay to sit, read, relax when I'm at home.

So yes, my first slice of cake, as Karma Brown calls it, is a deliciously quiet hour of reading. 

From Goodreads: 
How to find guilt-free time for what you really want to do, and why it matters

Do you feel like you’re always busy, even as your to-do list continues to grow?

Do you think you can’t keep up as it is, let alone add another thing to your plate?

An award-winning journalist, avid reader and new mom, Karma Brown dreamed of writing her first novel. But between diapers and tight deadlines, how could she? Like so many of us, she felt stretched taut and hyper-scheduled, her time a commodity over which she had lost control. For Brown, the answer to this problem was to rise earlier every day and use that time to write. Although she experienced missteps along the way, after committing to her alarm clock and an online community of early risers, she completed a debut novel that became a national bestseller.

In The 4% Fix, Karma Brown reveals the latest research about time management and goal-setting and shares strategies that have worked for her as well as for others. Refreshingly, her jargon-free approach doesn’t include time-tracking spreadsheets, tips on how to squeeze in yoga exercises while cooking dinner, or methods that add bulk to those never-ending lists.

How will you use this one hour—only 4% of your day—to change your life?

Writing a book isn't different from any other project. There are steps to take, milestones to meet. When I first started, I savored every step. Finishing a first draft was HUGE. Finishing a round of revisions, wine time. Getting a request from an agent, pop that champagne. 

Somewhere along the way, those individual milestones seemed to merge into one long to-do. I'd barely get one done and I'd already be racing into the next. I'd finish one manuscript and immediately dive into the next one. "No rest for the wicked," I'd joke. 

But here's the problem with that ... writing is creative (duh, I know) and creativity needs to be nurtured (something I clearly suck at). By not taking time to appreciate each milestone, I'd turned writing into one long slog. And there's only so long you can slog before mental exhaustion makes every word too heavy to carry one step further.

That's where you'll find me, sitting at the bottom of the hill, the fork in the path from one completed project and the start of a new one. Normally, I'd take a deep breath (a quick one) and plod on up the hill with my new story ideas pushing me along. 

This week, I got to that fork after sending the manuscript to the editor and immediately turned to attack the next steps. But no, not this time. Maybe because I'm too drained from a year (okay, years if we're honest) of non-stop slogging and frustrations. Maybe because I miss enjoying the process. 

This week, I chose not to continue up that next path immediately. I chose to honor that process, to enjoy the big fat notebook that is a completed draft of a book. I'm not stressing about the next step (okay maybe a little).  

For the first time in a very long time, I'm giving myself the time to celebrate a milestone.

About a month into the stay-at-home order last year, I started using the first hour of my day to do a meditation exercise via the Headspace app and read. That was my time to be quiet, without the distractions of the other people in my house or email or social media (the only one I couldn't ignore was the fluffy orange cat who thought meditation time was the perfect opportunity to perfect his stealth pouncing technique).

Somewhere along the way, though, I lost focus on the significance of that hour and allowed other distractions to seep in. Deadlines, projects I'd neglected because of said deadlines, catching up on news and social media and planning and oh my!

Between the news and emotion overload that was 2020 and what I was pushing myself to accomplish, I got to the end of the year even more exhausted than usual. The holidays were quiet but not relaxing. And so far, 2021 hasn't proven to be very chill either.  

And then a couple of days ago, this notification popped up, courtesy of my neglected friend Headspace ... 

Who am I to ignore such wisdom?!

​I've re-instated my hour quiet time while the world is still dark outside and the house is (mostly) still snoring. And yesterday, I did something I haven't done in ages -- I sat on the couch and crocheted, no noise, no guilt.

And guess what ... go ahead, guess ... :-) 
For the first time in quite some time, I felt more grounded. AND found the enthusiasm to get back to writing. 

A few months ago I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post by a fellow author about THE GIRL WHO READS ON THE METRO. I admit, the title and cover had me immediately. This turned out to be one of the best reads of 2020.


From Goodreads:
In the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop, a modern fairytale about a French woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter.

Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her metro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.

One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman's name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette's daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.

Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Metro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all.

I'm a planning nerd. A fresh new date planner makes me weak in the knees and a Gantt chart makes me positively giddy. Much of that comes from my days in the corporate world where yearly budgets and marketing plans were part of the job. So when I switched to writing, I took some of that nerdiness with me. 

How does it work for a writer? 

Mission statement
When I first started, I wrote out a mission statement: write stories with the honesty and heart to touch readers. 

I didn't say be a best selling author or make enough money to buy that dream car. I can fantasize about those all I want, but they're not within my control. But being the kind of writer who produces meaningful stories, that I can control.

I know, you're thinking, "seriously? you wasted time on that?"

There have been many times over the years that I've doubted why I continue to do this. When rejections pile up or a crappy review hits hard, I look at that mission statement and adjust my focus.

What will I accomplish this year
I need goals. Goals motivate me and keep me focused. At the beginning of each year, I look back at what I accomplished the year before, what didn't go to plan and why. After that, I make a list of the things I'd like to accomplish. Those, my friends, are NOT my goals for the year. I have big eyes when it comes to wanting to do. There are so many story ideas, so many projects I want to take on. Goals need to be attainable, otherwise you're setting yourself up for frustration and failure.

I take that wish list and give it a healthy reality check. I factor in trips that I already know about or anticipate happening, other projects that will take chunks of time, family schedules, and the biggest factor, my process. There are writers who can crank out a book in 6 months or less. That is not me, that will never be me. Okay, never say never but I'm pretty sure that's not in the cards for me.

I pick apart the wish list and take the three or four projects I want to focus on. That usually includes finishing up with a previously started manuscript (I seem to be on a schedule that has me in the final editing at the beginning of each year), starting something completely new, and then I'll add one or two additional projects that I've been wanting to tackle (maybe it's a first draft of a book in a new-to-me genre, or starting research on yet another project). 

Where do I want to be in 5 years
Here's where I allow myself a bit of fantasizing. Some of what gets put in this section I can control, some I can't. But even with the items I can't control (making a best of list, securing new contracts, etc), I know the steps to get there. Those are the carrots that push me to past the speed bumps.

What resources do I need to achieve those goals
​Here again, I generally start with a wish list then switch out the princess glasses for ones grounded in reality. What kind of marketing/publicity support do I need and what are the options? Do I need to redo my website or have photos taken? What about attending writer retreats/conferences? Any research trips? What workshops or webinars do I want to attend?What time do I need in order to achieve my goals? 

Having a business plan and revisiting it at the beginning of each year is me taking myself seriously. It's what I need to stay focused and move my writing career forward. 

Yesterday, I sat down and set my goals for the year. 2021 will be fun! 

Every January I pick a word that will be my guide for the year ahead. Usually I end up with a couple of ideas and let them percolate a bit before deciding on the one. This year, however, the word presented itself, fully formed and ready for action.  

​My word for 2021 ... 

Resilience: The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

I'm not sure about the "quickly" in the definition. Recovering from the challenges of the past year (more if I'm honest) will be a slow, steady endeavor but resilience is about not giving up. It's about taking the lessons and using them as momentum forward. I don't consider myself tough. 

Resilience will be picking myself up after a fall, maintaining hope when the knocks come, finding the positive when it's easier to see the negative. But most of all, resilience will be about not being defeated. Because I can and I will!

I admit, I struggled with reading during 2020. Not for lack of amazing books but for lack of focus. I started this book on January 1, 2020 and immediately fell for the delightful essays. So much so, actually, that I wanted to savor the book. I rationed the essays to one a night.

A few weeks ago I hit another mood slump which also translates to a reading slump. I plucked this book back out of the bookshelves and read a few essays. It's a lovely book that will remind you that life is made up of little moments and that joy is everywhere if you open your heart. 

From Goodreads:
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book of essays—some as short as a paragraph; some as long as five pages—that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: the way Botan Rice Candy wrappers melt in your mouth, the volunteer crossing guard with a pronounced tremor whom he imagines as a kind of boat-woman escorting pedestrians across the River Styx, a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, pickup basketball games, the silent nod of acknowledgment between black people. And more than any other subject, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms, the trees.

This is not a book of how-to or inspiration, though it could be read that way. Fans of Roxane Gay, Maggie Nelson, and Kiese Laymon will revel in Gay’s voice, and his insights. The Book of Delights is about our connection to the world, to each other, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. Gay’s pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight.

One of the things I've always loved when writing, is inserting what you may have heard called Easter eggs, what I call hidden gems. These are little nods to special people or places in my life, quirks of mine or someone I know that I'm fond of or find amusing or absolutely cannot stand.  

In the manuscript I'm currently working on, for example, the main character has a special ring tone for her best friend. When the Star Wars theme goes off, she knows to answer the phone, and fast. That's a ring tone I use as well.

In Carousel Beach, Maya listens to Chris Botti as she works. Trumpet is one of my absolute favorite instruments and Mr. Botti is my not very secret crush (you'll find me at every performance close to home).

Emma, the main character in The Distance Home, picks up a stone and slips it in her pocket as a reminder of the stable and better times. There's a stone on my desk that I picked up years ago that's the inspiration for the one in the book. 

I've slipped names of friends into every book but never attach characteristics that would be familiar (you know, gotta protect the guilty :-) ).

And every book I write has one character named Alex as a nod to my favorite person in the whole world.