September 6, 2016: Online book launch of The Spawning Grounds

[Michelle Barker]

Mitch, for starters. He listens and lets me blow off steam. Then, my kids. I can't tell them to keep moving forward, if I don't. But the real thing is the writing process itself. As long as I'm in the habit, I feel driven to write. I love it, just for the sake of doing it. Of losing myself in it, and that numinous feeling that comes with it. I write for that.

Yes. Also this. For sure. The joy of writing a really good sentence. Losing oneself in a scene. Looking up and realizing your coffee is cold and an hour has gone by (okay, usually my coffee is finished, not cold, but you know what I mean).

 

[Laurie Elmquist]

Hi Everyone, I'm a bit late but I'm enjoying the discussion so far. To get back into my project, I go to one of my cards and develop a new scene or a new topic.

 

[Emily De Angelis]

Mitch, for starters. He listens and lets me blow off steam. Then, my kids. I can't tell them to keep moving forward, if I don't. But the real thing is the writing process itself. As long as I'm in the habit, I feel driven to write. I love it, just for the sake of doing it. Of losing myself in it, and that numinous feeling that comes with it. I write for that.

I really like the notion of "habit" because even with the things we feel most passionate about or committed to, if you don't develop a habit to address them it is difficulty to move forward. That goes for any artistic endeavor. My sister is a visual artist and she struggles with this too.

 

[Deborah Serravalle]

I do the same, unless I'm excited to get to a particular spot and know what I want to write.

 

[June Hutton]

So when I received this review by Metis writer and editor Dene Moore, I actually wept I felt such relief.

Excellent review, Gail.

 

[Heather Davis]

I have a fear of getting into my writing and refusing to come back to the world! Or of figuring out what I should say, but then not having the time to write it before I forget.

 

[Gail Anderson-Dargatz]

The release of The Spawning Grounds marks the 20th anniversary of The Cure for Death by Lightning. Twenty years! @RandomHouseCA is celebrating with an updated cover for The Cure for Death by Lightning.

 

[Deborah Serravalle]

Do you read everything you read the day before? How do you get back into it? I find I waste so much time getting back into the moment, revising what was written, etc.

I know what you mean. I have used this to procrastinate too. But when that happens to me, it's because I need a break from the work. I find this the most difficult. I love the act of writing. I do feel that for me part of the process is ruminating, thinking, and letting the ideas emerge without force.

 

[Deborah Serravalle]

The release of The Spawning Grounds marks the 20th anniversary of The Cure for Death by Lightning. Twenty years! @RandomHouseCA is celebrating with an updated cover for The Cure for Death by Lightning.

Yikes! Time flies. But how wonderful to celebrate this anniversary with, The Spawning Grounds!

 

[Ann Eriksson]

Finding time to write is, of course, the big one. I had to keep reminding myself that if I just found an hour a day to write, then I could hammer out 250 words a day. That’s a rough draft in a year. But of course the real work comes in rewriting. I find having set goals necessary here. I use Scrivener in my rough drafts and that helps. I just focus on a given scene each day, and that little bing of a reward when I reach my day’s word count goal really helps (I get my piece of chocolate).

Chocolate reward. Now you're really on to something.

 

[Linda Maj]

Um. Age.

LOL I met a man at a writer's conference who waited 30 years for his first ms to be published. He re-wrote the first paragraph almost daily. The thought of him always slows me down

 

[Michelle Barker]

I'm going to say goodbye, Gail, and good luck. I hope to see you at the Vancouver Writers' Festival. In the meantime I am eager to read your book, and I want you to know that your VOICE OF ADMONISHMENT continues to echo in my mind every time I even THINK of writing a coincidence into my novel. Just saying...

 

[Catharine Lawrence]

That's it exactly. In the writer's mind it often is, but getting it onto the page can be daunting. Long walks help, long talks with other writers, dinners and red wine with them, too.

Hi everybody! I'm just joining you. Long walks are the best as are talks with other writers. It took me a month to come up with a new outline after Gail worked on my first draft. I'm just started rewriting now.

 

[Mitch Krupp]

The thought of him always slows me down

That's just too funny!!!

 

[June Hutton]

Writer's block, I think, is often that we're depleted. When I feel like that I stop and get out into the world.

Well, put Deborah. Finding inspiration is about learning how to refill that well, how to recharge those batteries. Just walking away from the keyboard for a bit can do wonders. Just for a bit, mind you.

 

[Gail Anderson-Dargatz]

I want you to know that your VOICE OF ADMONISHMENT continues to echo in my mind every time I even THINK of writing a coincidence into my novel.

Hah! Grasshopper, I have taught you well.

I send hugs!

 

[Gail Anderson-Dargatz]

Well, put Deborah. Finding inspiration is about learning how to refill that well, how to recharge those batteries. Just walking away from the keyboard for a bit can do wonders. Just for a bit, mind you.

Walking and yoga really help me out here, to find clarity and focus. (Which I'm frankly lacking at the moment )

 

[Liisa Kovala]

But I do try to just write scene and worry about making connections and cleaning it all up later ...

I'm learning how to just write scenes and put the jigsaw together later, but it's so difficult when you want to see the story unfold. I think I get impatient. Scrivener is certainly helping because all of the scenes are so neatly organized on the screen. Of course, the writing crap part comes naturally!

 

[Linda Maj]

I have a fear of getting into my writing and refusing to come back to the world! Or of figuring out what I should say, but then not having the time to write it before I forget.

I have a fear of getting into my writing and refusing to come back to the world! -- That's a great premise

 

[Laurie Elmquist]

I'm grateful for this newest book The Spawning Grounds. I think it's very inspiring to know all the work that went into it. Writing is not magic. And that's good to know. It's a lot of sitting down and writing, and just sitting down and writing. And confidence to keep going.