Love and Heroin

Take away love, and our earth is a tomb.
Robert Browning

In between staving the fulfillment of my two latest addictions, which is the Netflixing of Season Two of Burn Notice and Season One of True Blood (Vampire Bill being the latest boy toy of choice in my middle-aged brain), I’ve been – gasp! – writing, inspired by the fact that North Korea just may make good on their threat, a sharp reminder that life is too short to whittle away time while waiting for the Muse to strike.

So I’ve returned to my notes for Avery and Jeremy’s story, another Cakian tale, jotted ideas for some children's books, penned some eulogies, and am writing some fiction and non-fiction tales inspired by a day spent above stormy Scituate seas with my sister, also an author. (Apologies for the blatant use of alliteration, but the fact remains that I was in Scituate and the sea was stormy.) We are determined to be on Oprah and between us probably have enough stories to get us there. If only Vampire Bill would stop interfering!

Mostly, though, I’ve been on a reading marathon, which includes much spiritual based non-fiction – Caroline Myss, Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch and Don Miguel Ruiz, plus a lot of great fiction. Of course, the Sookie Stackhouse series is included in this list and some Megan Hart, who packs emotional punches throughout her simmering tales.

But last night I finished Alice Hoffman’s The Story Sisters. Ms. Hoffman is probably my favorite modern writer. She sees life through the same glasses that I wear and manages to capture that worldview with a pen. This book particularly resonates for me as the tale is about three sisters and the blood ties between them. Fundamentally, though, this is a book about true love. Not the romantic kind, although there is that, but Ultimate Love, that which fuels the universe, and that which saves us.

And this morning I finished Grunge is Dead: An Oral History of the Seattle Music Scene, which was a rare biography/history because it wasn’t written second-hand by a biased fan or outsider. Instead, the author, Greg Plato, compiled first-hand interviews and uses these comments to compile the book’s timeline, which takes us back to the seventies and brings us up to the so-called “grunge” explosion. This is a fascinating history for music fans in general and lovers of the Seattle music scene in particular. A worthy work and it’s a shame Chris Cornell of Soundgarden fame or the remaining Nirvana members did not participate. The book reads like a novel, craft-wise, with build-up, climax, dark moment and redemption, and the last quarter of the book is riveting, as dark material always is.

Like Elv in The Story Sisters, so many of the characters in Grunge deal with heroin addiction. Unfortunately, these are real people, and while the world knows of the tragic demise of Kurt Cobain, this book delves a little deeper into the influence of the music industry and heroin on his choice to end his life. The book continues with a chronicle Layne Staley’s slow death, heroin again, through the eyes of his friends and mother. All mothers should read these chapters. The book makes it clear that drug addiction can happen to ANYONE and maybe just being prepared for such a fate can help a parent prevent it. I don’t know. Incredibly sad.

I’ll never forget Rush Limbaugh’s laughter at Kurt Cobain’s death. How he stated, “All drug users should be put to death.” I was disappointed when he became addicted to drugs himself and did not meet such an end, but perhaps he is more compassionate now as a result of his own experience. I doubt it, but one can hope.

Both books, though, leave one with the absolute certainty that love does conquer all, most obviously in Hoffman’s tale, as fiction has a way of tying themes together in a tight little bow, but Grunge finds this truth as well, culminating in the professional success and spiritual growth of many of the survivors of that time period.

On the iPod: “Season of the Witch,” Donovan.

On the Nightstand: Intrusions by Ursula Hegi

Mama Writers on the Rise! A Q&A with Christina Katz

As my loyal readers know, my monthly blog is a collection of musings as seen from my corner of the sofa, but this month I'm doing something a little different in hopes that any writers out there, especially mama writers, will take some inspiration from Christina Katz, who has prompted me to stop watching Burn Notice and actually start writing again. (Okay, so I haven't stopped watching exactly. Instead, I allow myself an episode only if I've written at least one scene per day.) So for my reader friends, here's a look at the zany world of writing and for any writers out there, enjoy! Welcome, Christina!


An Interview with Christina Katz
Author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform & Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).


Q: What is a platform?

CK: Long story short: Your platform communicates your expertise to others, and it works all the time so you don’t have to. Your platform includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership. If others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then that is your platform.

A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. Get Known explains in plain English, without buzzwords, how any writer can stand out from the crowd of other writers and get the book deal. The book clears an easy-to-follow path through a formerly confusing forest of ideas so any writer can do the necessary platform development they need to do.


Q: Why is platform development important for writers today?

CK: Learning about and working on a solid platform plan gives writers an edge. Agents and editors have known this for years and have been looking for platform-strong writers and getting them book deals. But from the writer’s point-of-view, there has not been enough information on platform development to help unprepared writers put their best platform forward.

Now suddenly, there is a flood of information on platform, not all necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t have a platform yet. Writers can promote themselves in a gradual, grounded manner without feeling like they are selling out. I do it, I teach other writers to do it, I write about it on an ongoing basis, and I encourage all writers to heed the trend. And hopefully, I communicate how in a practical, step-by-step manner that can serve any writer. Because ultimately, before you actively begin promoting yourself, platform development is an inside job requiring concentration, thoughtfulness and a consideration of personal values.


Q: How did you come to write Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: I already had a lot of momentum going when I got the deal for a very specific audience. I wrote a column on the topic for the Willamette Writer’s newsletter. Then I started speaking on platform. When I gave my presentation, “Get Known Before the Book Deal,” at the Writer’s Digest/BEA Writer’s Conference in May 2007, Phil Sexton, one of my publisher’s sales guys, saw it and suggested making the concept into a book. Coincidentally, I was trying to come up with an idea for my second book at that time and had just struck out with what I thought were my three best ideas. My editor, Jane Friedman agreed with Phil. That was two votes from people sitting on the pub board. They converted the others with the help of my proposal, and Get Known got the green light.

Q: Why was a book on platform development needed?

CK: Writers often underestimate how important platform is and they often don’t leverage the platform they already have enough. At every conference I presented, I took polls and found that about 50 percent of attendees expressed a desire for a clearer understanding of platform. Some were completely in the dark about it, even though they were attending a conference in hopes of landing a book deal. Since book deals are granted based largely on the impressiveness of a writer’s platform, I noticed a communication gap that needed to be addressed.

My intention was that Get Known would be the book every writer would want to read before attending a writer’s conference, and that it would increase any writer’s chances of landing a book deal whether they pitched in-person or by query. As I wrote the book, I saw online how this type of information was being offered as “insider secrets” at outrageous prices. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for the information they can find in my book for the price of a paperback! Seriously. You can even ask your library to order it and read it for free.


Q: What is the key idea behind Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take an in-depth understanding of platform, and then the investment of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. Marketing experience and technological expertise are also not necessary. I show how to avoid the biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your platform is for and why – and hopefully save writers from the confusion and inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big picture into account before they jump into writing for traditional publication.

Often writers with weak platforms are over-confident that they can impress agents and editors, while others with decent platforms are under-confident or aren’t stressing their platform-strength enough. Writers have to wear so many hats these days, we can use all the help we can get. Platform development is a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Anyone can do it, but most don’t or won’t because they either don’t understand what is being asked for, or they haven’t overcome their own resistance to the idea. Get Known offers a concrete plan that can help any writer make gains in the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive publishing landscape.


Q: What is the structure of the book and why did you choose it?

CK: Writer Mama was written in small, easy-to-digest chunks so busy new moms could stick it in a diaper bag and read it in the nooks and crannies of the day. Get Known is a bit more prosaic, especially in the early chapters. Most of the platform books already out there were only for authors, not writers or aspiring authors. To make platform evolution easy to comprehend, I had to dial the concepts back to the beginning and talk about what it’s like to try and find your place in the world as an author way before you’ve signed a contract, even before you’ve written a book proposal. No one had done that before in a book for writers. I felt writers needed a context in which to chart a course towards platform development that would not be completely overwhelming.

Introducing platform concepts to writers gives them the key information they need to succeed at pitching an agent either via query or in-person, making this a good book for a writer to read before writing a book proposal. Get Known has three sections: section one is mostly stories and cautionary tales, section two has a lot of to-do lists any writer should be able to use, and section three is how to articulate your platform clearly and concisely so you won’t waste a single minute wondering if you are on the right track.


Q: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four phases of the authoring process. What are they?

CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction, the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.

Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase. Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base, and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors have known this for a long time.


Q: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?

CK: Here are a few:

• They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
• They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
• They confuse socializing with platform development.
• They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
• They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
• They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
• They undervalue the platform they already have.
• They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
• They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
• They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
• They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.

[INSERT audible "gulp" from Mad Hen]

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.

My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.


Q: What are three things my readers can do today to get started building their platforms?

CK: Don't start building your platform until you have clarity and focus. Otherwise you will likely just waste your precious time spinning your wheels. Or worse, fritter away your time with online distractions (and trust me, there are plenty!).

But once you know what your expertise is and what you are doing with it and for whom, then consider these three steps:

Start an e-mail list: Who are the people who like to hear about your writing success? Why not start a list in your address book with them and keep adding to it as time goes by. You can start by sending out simple regular announcements of good things that happen—just be sure to get permission. One way to get permission is to send an announcement about your work out to everyone you know and tell them that they can unsubscribe if they don’t want to be receive future messages from you on the topic. I strongly recommend that all writers read Permission Marketing by Seth Godin.

Create a simple website: Although social networking is fun, a proper writer’s website is not a Facebook or a Myspace page; it’s not even a blog. So save the detailed descriptions of your quirks and faves for the social networking you will do after you’ve built yourself a solid website to publicize your genuine writing credentials (creds) across the ethers while you are sleeping. And if you don’t have any genuine writing creds yet, getting some is an important first step. The step-by-step instructions are in Get Known.

Blog when it makes sense: Blogging can be great for writers assuming three things: 1) You have ample material to draw on and time to blog regularly. 2) You take the time to determine your appropriate audience, topic and your specific slant (or take) on your topic for your specific audience. 3) You don’t plan on starting a blog, blogging like mad for six weeks, and then disappearing from the face of the blogosphere without a trace. Preparation can prevent this common pitfall from happening to you.

Don’t forget that platform development and building takes time. Once you are ready to get started, just do a little every day and you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish over time.

Cornering Baby

All creativity has been sucked away from me. I cannot stop watching “The L Word.” I’ve just started season three. With six seasons, there’s far to go before I sleep, or read, or write, or think. Entire series on DVD are dangerous. I’ve become a child at the cookie jar with no parent to restrain my indulgence. I have become “The Garden of Earthly Delights.”

I did take a breather Sunday afternoon to hop on the T and spend three hours at The Opera House in yet more pursuit of mindless entertainment. Dirty Dancing. Sure, there have been some bad reviews, mainly from those who expect their theater to be high art or at least shockingly low brow. One of the favorite digs seems to label the production “theater for suburbanites.” There is some truth to the scorn, but who cares? All I know is that I grinned like a loon the entire time, never got bored, and squealed when Johnny strode down that aisle to mount the stage and claim his Baby with the most famous line in movie history besides “Frankly, my dear…”

I had the time of my life.

Many critics have argued that the production is not worthy of Broadway since it is, word for word, the movie. Even the actors resembled the movie actors in both looks and mannerisms. And thank the stars for that. Can you imagine Baby and Johnny singing to each other in standard Broadway musical fashion? Egads.

The production is perfect as it is, providing its guests with the romance novel experience of highs, lows, and promise of never-ending happiness. There was enough great singing and dancing, of course, and fun stage props to give the audience a live theater experience.

Additions to the movie script were most welcome and made me wish that the movie could be redone with its original cast to incorporate the deeper insights into character as well as the political and social environment of 1963 beyond the confines of Kellerman’s Resort. Subtle conversations about Freedom Riders, civil rights, and musical interludes of political folk songs added richness to the story’s theme. The additions also let us get to know Mrs. Houseman as a female force rather than the arm candy mother we saw in the movie, as well as provide more insight into Johnny and Baby’s relationship.

Even minor characters like Vivian’s husband (so clueless in the movie) and Neil Kellerman become three-dimensional in the stage version. There is closure for all, even these minor characters, and the audience gets a hint about what happens to Johnny and Baby after the curtain falls.

The enhancements succeed in that they emphasize the original premise of the story: do the right thing, fight against injustice, and do not judge others by your own narrow viewpoint. Dirty Dancing, entertaining as it is, reminds us that it’s wise to remember Neale Donald Walsch’s message of “God only sends angels.”

Quote of the Day: Got to find a brightness in the soul / Not look outside to find out where you are / Or you’ll never be satisfied / Until you make possessions of the stars. (“All Come True” by World Party)

Better Late Than Never

New Year’s Resolutions. Buy local. Smile. Stand in the sun. Wear sunscreen. Walk in someone else’s slippers, then be happy when you find your own again. Listen. Judge no-one. Protect your own. Eat broccoli. Gobble ice cream. Laugh. Help your neighbors. Plant a lilac bush. Smile. Be excellent to your friends. Pick your family. Pray for all. Ask why. Embrace the inner hobbit. Smile. Learn. Play. Accept. Be. Hear live music. Appreciate your partner. Turn off the TV. Jump rope. Smile.

Just Finished: Mark Perry's Grant & Twain, An American Friendship. Highly recommended. A short, detailed portrait of the friendship and life correlations between Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant. Humble and uplifting. Interesting read for writers. Grant is my new hero.

On the Bookshelf: Charles de Lint's Widdershins.

On iTunes: Kings of Leon.

Not Much Has Changed...

Wall Street owns the country.
It is no longer a government of the people, by the people,
and for the people, but a government of Wall Street,
by Wall Street and for Wall Street.
Mary Ellen Lease, 1890

Howard Zinn quotes a larger excerpt from Lease's speech in A People's History, but this sentence sums it up. Don't think I need to comment except that there is a horrible comfort in knowing things never change. The truth frees one to follow other pursuits.

Four Score and Seven Years Ago...

Christmas night. Finally home after a day of feasting on homemade raviolis and meatballs, much laughter, and way too many gifts. The city is empty and quiet. Husband off playing Left for Dead. Son dreaming of his new train set. So I clear a swath of torn rapping paper to sit in the cold leather chair by the pine with its gumdrop lights and new hedge ornaments (one for father, one for son), and finally get to finish Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson.

Great read. McPherson focuses on Lincoln’s presidency, specifically investigating Lincoln’s journey from a man with no military experience and how he becomes a great military and inspirational leader as a result of the Civil War.

I particularly found interesting the moral, political and strategic gumbo that is the issue of slavery. We are taught, in high school, that the sole reason for the Civil War was slavery. This is not altogether true, although slavery had been a thorn in America’s big toe since before the Revolution.

At the start of the Civil War, Lincoln’s only goal was to maintain the Union. If ending slavery would preserve the nation, he’d do that, but if keeping slavery would save the States, then he’d keep the institution, regardless of his personal beliefs. As he grows in his role as Commander in Chief, his political/moral/strategic management of the war changes. Midway through the campaign, emancipation becomes a reason for continuing war and by the fourth year, the permanent liberation of slaves is a requirement for peace, which Lincoln will not sacrifice, even if the decision ruins him. Honor and morality guide him.

The book is not a light read, but the last third reads like any good thriller despite that the reader already knows how it all ends (one hopes so, anyway). As I read the epilogue, which begins with Lincoln’s murder, I even got a bit teary that the world lost such a leader and I wonder, as many have, what this country would be like today had Lincoln lived to lead in peacetime.

New Favorite Author: Laurie Halse Anderson (www.writerlady.com).

Remember Pearl Harbor

This little blog o’mine tends to the light and fluffy, despite the fact that I take my frivolity seriously. After all, I rarely venture outside my world of music, books, romance, and um, potty training. Today, however, I emerge from a bed in which I got very little sleep because I watched Body of War yesterday evening and grew angrier and angrier until the bedside alarm blared. So today I go from Mad (as in slightly off-kilter) Hen to Mad (as in furious) Hen.

Body of War is a documentary that follows the life of one American veteran, Tomas Young, after his return from Iraq. He joined after 9/11 to fight terrorists hiding in Afghanistan but was instead sent to Iraq where he was shot and paralyzed almost immediately. His story is peppered with footage from the 2002 Senate hearings to decide whether or not to give the President authority to go to war.

A part of me hopes that in October 2002, President Bush was a victim of lies, that he was duped like the rest of us. His war-mongering would not be excusable, as stupidity isn’t an excuse for anyone, especially the leader of the free world, but it comforts me more than believing he willingly lied to start a war that has killed millions of Iraqi civilians and has left thousands of our American soldiers dead or maimed, and the ruined return home to substandard care.

I’m not a leftist. Nor am I right-ring. I don’t get people who only listen to liberal media, just as I don’t get people who only listen to Fox News and Jay Severin. One-sided news reporting only results in more of that “I’m right and you are wrong” egotistical behavior that gets us far from Truth. Both sides have valid points and sometimes one side is more accurate than the other, but real truth is somewhere in between.

The Senate majority used the arguments that Saddam was evil, that Iraq was singularly harboring terrorists, and that Saddam was growing an arsenal of weapons to vote to authorize the President to start a war. They rushed into the decision, feeding the America visions of an Apocalypse if we didn’t choose to invade a country that did not invade us. And then the President justified that war in Jesus’s name. Do I need to point out the obvious correlation here?

I believe the truth here is that Iraq had little to do with 9/11. Reasons...Saddam? Definitely needed to go away. But he could have been taken out by a sniper. Why torture the very people he tortured? Weapons of mass destruction? Even Bush admits there were none. Harboring terrorists? No doubt. But every single country in this world is harboring terrorists, including America.

Tomas Young was ready and willing to fight terrorists because they attacked us and our home needed defending. However, he began to question why he was sent to Iraq, where he was surrounded by women and children. Why was he invading a country that did not invade us?

And why, after following the President's orders, did he return, wounded, left to substandard care at Walter Reed, to be already forgotten by that same President, like so many veterans before him?

I was pushed over the edge into full outrage when the documentary arrived at the 2005 White House Correspondents Dinner where President Bush spoofed his claim that Iraq harbored weapons of mass destruction (“Where are those weapons? They must be here somewhere…” he mutters as he peers under a tablecloth.) This self-deprecation parody gets many a cheer from his bejeweled audience in between sips of champagne and nibbles of delicacies, but when the camera cuts to Tomas Young, body broken, watching from home, when the camera pans over the legions of mothers who have lost their sons and daughters to this war, if the viewer of this documentary does not feel absolute disgust in our politicians and in ourselves for not seeing through the garbage these senators and representatives spouted, then there is something morally wrong with the viewer.

The shining light through this documentary was Senator Robert Byrd, whom I believe was once a Grand Master in the Klan, itself a terrorist organization. Like any wel-crafted character in literature, Senator Byrd turned to Light, denounced his Dark past, and now fights for truth, justice, and the American way. Right-wingers will call him a hypocrite, no doubt, but this is a man who on the Senate floor, implores all Americans to stand up and speak out against invading a country that did not attack us and giving power to kill to a single man when his reasons for killing aren't all that clear.

Too late. But not too late to prevent it again. Every American should re-read the words of our Founding Fathers. Every American should see this documentary. It is hard to watch, partly because Tomas Young is laid bare, body and soul, partly because it is sometimes hard to see past personalities and egos to listen to the story being told, but mostly because of the realization that politicians control the world – and we let them.

I suspect Rush Limbaugh and his ilk will mock this work, calling it “Body of Lies,” left-wing propaganda and unfortunately, most of his followers will agree without even bothering to check it out for themselves. This is unfortunate. I believe that all sides need to be considered before choosing to follow a politician, whether that leader is a Bush or an Obama. Many believe not supporting one’s President is unpatriotic. I disagree. If one follows anyone blindly, without one questioning what that leader spouts, whether that leader is a politician, celebrity, or your priest, then one is going against every principle upon which this country was founded. And that is unpatriotic.

And back to the Fluffernutter…

On The Big Screen: Just saw Let the Right One In, a vampire flick without, thankfully, none of the romantic overtones that seem to glut every vampire tale in modern popular fiction. The movie is sad, mostly, and disturbing, but it has moments of humor, joy, horror, and I found myself inwardly cheering at the end where the bullies get what they deserve. In essence, though, this is less of a vampire tale than it is a story about the intricacies of human relationships and what draws people together.

In this case two very lonely beings find each other. At the point in time, it is clear that the two love each other, but one wonders if it is a healthy love, one that will bring out the best in each other, or an enabling co-dependency where he enables her to reenact the past 300 years over and over again and where she feeds his serial killer obsession. All in all, the movie is a little long, the story tragic, but worth a viewing.

On the Nightstand: Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever. This woman can write.

On the iPod: The Ramones “Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg."