First Book Blues

My first novel, Tea With Nanny , was self-published in 2017 on Amazon: it originated from a creative writing course in college in 1985. Although I had wonderful relationships with both of my grandmothers, my paternal grandmother, "Nanny" and grandfather- "Paw-Paw", (by her second marriage, never really knew my biological grandfather) held a considerably significant influence in my childhood, thus the photo of Nanny as a young woman on the cover.

For those following my series, Old Enough in Chapters you can easily find a glimpse of a more evolved Paw-Paw, a character still growing, changing and alive in the section of my brain marked, "author's favourites". I can't seem to write enough about this enormous personality nor the impact that growing up in the USA's deep south had on my life. That's a good thing. This leads to my first lesson which never fails me, write what you know. The reality is that if my life has more than one novel in it, then so does yours. Next, I expand my experiences: I have a gift of sorts, sometimes more of a plague really, of extraordinarily detailed memory. I see in pictures and remember words from an early age of two.

Although fiction is not an autobiography, it is spun off something, a fantasy, a dream, even an arbitrary prompt, however hands-down my best work is based on real people that I study and obviously embellish with non-truths. In "Tea With Nanny" the busy-body Aunt Ophelia's character is based on some true events that transpired from another very real person n my life. (anonymity is just that).

The main character is a girl nicknamed "Bird", she is Nanny's grand-daughter, part native American and extremely sensitive; her character is exposed to a whirlwind of circumstance which lead her to become a uniquely strong woman. The whirlwind was a whole lot for such a short first book. We don't need to pile on a whole lot of happenings or antagonists to create drama. Simple can work just as well.

It is very clear that her nature is multi-facets of myself. Throw in some reality, add some completely fictitious occurrences blend until smooth and Voila! Yet, Bird's value as an MC deserved much more investigation and perhaps, should I continue to pursue this series as I said I would, (cough), Bird really needs more time with the reader to be fully understood. This lesson has me taking my time with developing my MC's in "Old Enough": the series I mentioned above found in "Chapters".

The best of Paw-Paw is not what he actually said in real life, but his embedded persona, the essence of who he had the potential to be in my writing world is integral to his maturing as a character. This lead to my second lesson: know each character's depth and leave room for discovery.

In my first book I rushed through my character's narrative as if running a 200 meter dash: why did I rush? I wanted to finish! I had this notion that I had to get this piece of a project started at the age of 22 out of my brain, out of my life, out in the world and wrap it up. I remember the panic, the sense of cramming several short stories into one bigger plot. Thus leading to my third lesson, slow the heck down! Write more! Write longer! In the seven years since I published "Tea With Nanny" I have written more than I wrote in the first half of my life. My fourth lesson is now a creed I stick to: Discipline. I write everyday, even if it's just jotting notes for later in one of many small notebooks.

Here is an example of good writing in my debut novel that I like: bare with me, it's not rubbish entirely.

"The ceiling fans spun lazily with a monotonous hum which could lull most anybody to sleep in the middle of the day." - this is a great sentence! I remember my professor reading it out loud to the class. I was eyed by those more competitive. I kept that sentence for 25 years and opened my book with it. Each sentence is part of the overall rhythm. I highly suggest to not throw in unnecessary words to fill up the page: HUGE in my personal development as a writer is EDIT. Edit, sleep on it. Edit. Wait a week. Alas, lesson five, walk away, yet *Never throw away* : If I had thrown away the work from one creative writing semester in college that sentence would have never been used.

In "Tea With Nanny" there are several characters that bounce around I would like to know better which means the reader most likely wants to explore more of also. I can not stress enough the value of time and devotion in deepening one's exploration of detail: does your MC prefer chocolate or vanilla? That may not be pertinent in the storyline but you catch my drift by now. Know who you are writing about and why.

With all this laid out, there is always more to stumble upon and I am always learning. I am not a teacher. I consider myself an ongoing student in life 101.

The question of when is a novel finished has come to me often and I think I have found my answer: when my MC exits and leaves nothing more to question I don't pull them back in. This just drags out the story.

I do recommend reading my debut short novel of 188 pages. It's a hallmark of my determination, sweet and complicated, warming in so many ways. I put it out as a young adult novel yet now see it as an any level quick read.

What I intend to do now is to give my upcoming novels and short story anthology time to steep. I intend to shop around for ways to publish as well: self promotion is not my strongest point. I need help to sell my work.

I am very open to ideas and I really want to hear about your publishing success and tips. Please share what you have learned along the way.

Last Lesson, there is never a final lesson!