I'm an Author, Jim!

Anybody else remember Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy complaining to Kirk about what he was ("I'm a doctor, not a ____!") and trying to blow off anything that didn't fit his label in his own sort of way? Perhaps I've just outed myself as a total nerd (like you couldn't guess--I mean, Russian werewolves and Cold War conspiracies ;-).

I'm feeling a deep kinship with Bones right now. I'm an author. A writer. My taxes officially proclaim it. And yet... The time I currently spend writing stories feels minimal.

This week already has included heavy farm work as I constructed a new pen for a newborn ram lamb and his mother and began sugaring off maple sap for syrup, and there's been plenty of promotional stuff: an exclusive 3000 word prequel story for St. Martin's Press, helping get authors together for a special Spring Break post over at The Daily Dose, organizing photos and pieces of things for my series website (supposed to launch on the 15th); planning my son's 6th b-day party (Saturday!); helping out at a great forum that asked for me to do a Writing 101 with them (*very* flattering and it's only growing...); planning my travel to several events; catching up with blog posts; catching up with obligations related to a great event I was asked to help host (squeee!); filling out interviews, interviews, interviews!

Promotional stuff's cool, and I'm glad to help other authors with it right now (it's kind of like holding hands when facing a firing squad) but I want to be writing. I'm no longer naive enough (if I ever was) to think I could simply write a book and not need to do anything else.

But I'm also trying to keep Orson Scott Card's advice in mind. Card suggested limiting promo stuff (conventions and conferences and other events) because writers need time to write. Huh. Imagine that. So, I'm pushing through as much promo as I can now because I hope it snowballs in May, June and July (right around the book's release). But who knows what'll happen by then?

And yes, I'm still writing. My prequel story only made me more desperate to get back into it. And with my brother and husband pushing me to pursue my next project (we're all brainstorming together and I *LOVE* it) and my agent loving what I recently put ibn front of him... Well, it appears I'll keep the label of writer for a while at least. :-)

So, how much time writing are you writers getting?
~Shannon

Movie Madness

I've been reading, writing and watching a lot of movies recently. Two nights ago (after a lengthy discussion) we decided we could introduce our son to Star Wars (he's been playing the Lego game and knows most of the "mythology" behind it already).

So I sat down to watch what's technically episode 4 (imagine explaining why we started with it instead of 1) and loved it. All over again (and I've seen it lots). I have a new appreciation for it, having gone through Campbell's The Hero's Journey and using it in ways in my own writing. Have I dealt with reluctant heroes? Yep. Put somebody in "the belly of the whale"? Sure. I think sometimes I could rename both Pietr and Jess as Jonah.

And it was AWESOME to see it all track out so neatly with the combined talents of Lucas and ILM.

Next time you're thinking about how your movie viewing can improve your writing, consider The Hero's Journey and how it fits in with your writing. There are three movies (off the top of my head) I think of when I think about The Hero's Journey: Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Trek (this most recent one), and The Lion King. So, pass the popcorn and tell me which movies you think of that follow The Hero's Journey in at least some way. Any pop to your mind?

Take care!
~Shannon