My characters need a time-out . . .

When my kids were small, I employed the ‘time-out’ system. Sometimes it was one of my children (the instigator), at other times, all three ended up in time-out--just for a little mom peace and quiet. Even I occasionally served time-out (when I couldn’t think of a fesible, adult way to handle the latest, drama-queen or drama-king crisis, I pulled a Napoleon and retreated behind closed doors. Quick regroupings can be the only thing that saves a mom's sanity). At my mommy meanest, I’ve even sentenced unsuspecting toys (normally the culprit for whatever was wrong in that moment) to a life-term in the chair.

While, those days are in the past for me, I’m seriously considering a re-instatement of the ‘time-out’ program. My characters, in my WIP, TRICKLE OF LIES, are headed there in a serious way.

Today, they absolutely wouldn’t play nice and not a single word came from their collective mouths that didn’t require intense rework.

It was five pages of mush that had to be body-slammed, I'm talking body-slammed by a Sumo Wrestler, in order to find anything useable. Five pages and multiple hours. Nope, I'm not going to admit how long it took me to make these characters behave. Let's just say, I could have enjoyed a day at the spa for all the time I invested.

Someone told me this writing job was fun. Who was it? Oh yeah, heard it in the news.

Last week--some news story or another--claimed to know the top jobs that made people the happiest:
TOP position: anything in the religious industry (pick a clergy and they were happy)
SECOND position: firefighters (apparently saving people is a real natural high)
THIRD position: physical therapists (okay, I don’t even have to explain this one)
AND, drum roll . . .
FOURTH position: authors (seriously, the interviewer for this news program had to blindside authors in the middle of happy hour.)

So, here’s how I sum it up – twisted, sicko that I am:
If you talk to God, (clergy)
Get to play God, (firefighter)
Enjoy God’s creatures (physical therapist)
OR
As an author, simply get to be God, {remember, it’s authors who can legally kill characters off and no body says a word}. Well, I guess maybe that’s why authors are happy. I sure thought it was the booze.

Looking for my book

Changes have been made to the WILD ROSE PRESS website.

If you're looking for my book HARM'S WAY, then make sure to look for the Author's link on the left-hand side of the webpage.

Click the pull down arrow, and click on my name.

You'll go straight to my book.

Happy Reading.

PROMOS AND STUFF . . .

I started working on my blog only to discover that everything I wanted to write about seemed . . . boring.

Writers and boring should never be used in the same sentence.

But the plain fact is that I’ve spent the past week fluttering around the promo sites, learning the ins and outs of posting excerpts and book blurbs about my new release. In addition, I’ve caroused the reviewers’ sites. It’s all the business stuff that goes with the ‘fun’ writing stuff. Good things to learn, necessary information to know, but after five days my muse revolted. Only so much business before the creative side of my brain screamed for release.

Screaming brains might work in a Stephen King thriller, but it’s not pretty for a romance author.

So, to keep myself energized, I’ve dived into TRICKLE OF LIES.

I’ve decided I really like my heroine, lawyer, Kyra Malone. (Hey, don’t shoot her yet. This Austin-based lawyer is about helping the folks in a small west Texas town named Buckle Creek), which just happens, ironically enough, to be where she meets the hero, Sheriff Boston Donavan.

Well, actually Kyra meets Boston a little before they get to Buckle Creek. She sorta-kinda steals his car.

See, I told you Kyra was a different kind of lawyer.

Now, you might think that stealing a sheriff’s car would land Kyra in jail. Instead, she finds herself married to the tall Stetson-wearing law officer. Sounds like the makings for a true Texas happy ending, right? Except Sheriff Boston Donavan would rather be wrapped in barbed wire and dropped in a nest of rattlers, than be married.

Oh, and as for Kyra . . . marriage to an unwilling partner is only part of her problem. She came to Buckle Creek with the sole intention of righting a wrong, but there’s some powerful Austin folks who want her stopped—even if it means murder.

Oooh, I can’t wait to see what these two characters do next.

Happy writing!

Madness among us . . .

Like most of America, I’ve watched the news way too much today. The images of running policemen, SWAT team members, and a morbid line of ambulances have been laser-burned into our minds. In a year, five years, ten years, will you remember where you were today? What you were doing? Perhaps.

I can remember with clarity my exact location and activity when certain tragedies struck.

When the Challenger exploded I was sitting in a Chili’s restaurant. Watching the explosion on the restaurant’s television seemed surreal. I kept waiting for the break to commercial and an announcement that the movie would resume in 60 seconds. My mind refused to wrap around reality. The only logical explanation seemed to be that the images were Hollywood produced.

I remember watching as the first WTC tower fell. My husband had surprised me with an anniversary trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the first time we had ever left our three children for an overnight trip. The harrowing ordeal to cross the border and travel over two thousand ‘driving’ miles to reach my children was nothing compared to that instant of shocked stupor when the building collapsed.

Following both events, media coverage pointed fingers, seeking someone or something to blame.

Again, today, that was the media’s plan.

Why?

Do we feel safer knowing who’s to blame? As though by finding guilty parties, there is control in our world?

As I waited in a grocery check-out line late this afternoon, I listened to the voices, the intercom, the bustle of hassled shoppers—all cadences of normalcy. For one instant, I pictured those desolate, grieving families and all they will suffer over the next days, months, and years. There is no normalcy for them—at least not for a very long time. And no amount of finger-pointing or blame-assigning will ease their grief.

As writers we should capture the emotions and images onto page, so that we shall never forget.

As religious folk (whatever religion we happen to be) we should drop to our knees and pray.

As mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, we should weep for their losses.

Then maybe, just maybe, instead of immense, immeasurable despair, those families will feel our collective support and know that a nation grieves with them. Maybe then, they will find the tiniest bit of solace.

I want you to have a different image of Virginia Tech.
I found this snapshot on the school’s website. This hauntingly poignant image illustrated to me that even in the midst of madness, there is beauty . . . there can be peace.

Hug someone you love. It is important. Everyday, it is important.

My book is released . . .

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

HARM’S WAY will be released tomorrow, April 13th, 2007 in the e-pub format. So for all of you who love to read at their computer, here’s your chance to get the first look at HARM’S WAY. A print version will be released on June 8th, 2007, so you can have your autographed copy as well.

Visit: The Wild Rose Press
Scroll down on the opening page and you will find my release. Click and follow the directions for download, and enjoy the read. Please feel free to post a review on The Wild Rose Press or here on my blog. Comments are always welcome.

Nathaniel Hawthorne quote

‘Easy reading is damned hard writing’ – Nathaniel Hawthorne
For writers everywhere, this is the perfect quote.

Each writer wants their work to be filled with fully-fleshed and compelling characters, complex and intricately woven plots, and a satisfying and worthy ending. But more than these technical aspects, the reader should share the characters’ joys and heartaches, experience exhilaration as the characters reach mountaintops and despair for the plunges into the valleys below. The reader should LIVE something new because of the words on the page.

Ernest Hemingway wrote, then rewrote the final page of The Old Man and The Sea thirty-eight times before he was satisfied. Why?

Because easy reading is damned hard writing.

What is your favorite easy read?

Copyright and Release Date

Harm’s Way
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by Sandra Ferguson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com
Cover Art by Tamra Westberry
The Wild Rose Press
PO Box 706
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History
First Crimson Rose Edition, March 2007
PRINT ISBN 1-60154-047-7

Published in the United States of America

There it is . . . the COPYRIGHT page for my soon-to-be-released book.

I can’t quite describe the feeling of seeing my name listed behind the COPYRIGHT logo, except to say this all suddenly feels very real.

This is the accurate ISBN for HARM’S WAY, and with this number you can order a print copy from any Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com or Ingrams book store.

HARM’S WAY is not available yet. But if you’re visiting your local book retailers, feel free to ask anyway. If the book stores receive enough requests, they’ll order a stash for their shelves as soon as the print copies become available.

I’ve completed my Galleys (final corrections for type-setting and ultimate book release). With those last corrections in to the publisher, I’m hoping for an April e-pub release date, then a short 8 weeks later and the print version will be available.

I’m working toward an actual ‘book-signing’ date. Check back for details.

Book Cover

I am just a wee bit excited at the moment. I’ve given birth to a book. Surprisingly, the labor pains of writing and delivering a child are remarkably similar.

This book cover represents ten years of determination and gutsy tenacity, and a whole lot of hard work.

Recently, author Lori Wilde said if you’re a writer depending on luck, you aren’t working hard enough. I’ll second Lori’s thoughts. I thought luck would be the final push to ultimate publication: meeting the right agent at a conference, pitching to an editor who would love my voice, falling across a publisher who couldn’t wait to print my books. None of those things happened. Though I certainly queried enough agents, pitched to enough editors and yep, stalked enough publishers at national conferences. (Fellow RWA members will understand this technique.) In the end, luck really had nothing to do with publishing. Success in writing has been a long road: curved so I couldn’t see all the obstacles still in front and so I would forget all the trials in the past; bumpy so that I needed to hang on with both hands to keep my dream; and incredibly discouraging to make me fight to win. The dream of writing . . . no, of writing well, is not for the faint of heart.

Like childbirth . . . would I do it again? Commit my time and effort to carry the burden of intricate plot, to develop dynamic dialogue, to weave the threads until finally delivering something worthy to the reading public? In a heartbeat!

Breaking for Spring . . .

The family was ALL home for Spring Break, which is joyous for a mom and wife, and deadly for a writer.

I did manage to squeeze in time to write a new book blurb for my upcoming release. Don’t know yet whether it was accepted or the editors will opt for something different.

At present, I’m waiting for the galleys to come back from my publisher and to see the release of my front cover! Wow, this part is exciting.

As for family time. . . we engaged in several ‘fun day’ activities. We took a Vantrip to Dinosaur Valley Park in Glen Rose, Texas. Great spot—that’s located an hour and a bit from the Fort Worth area. Yep, at this state park, they really do have dinosaur tracks. The tracks have been preserved in some special cement mixture that protects them from the elements, but has in fact kept the exact imprint of the track. Pretty cool! The tracks are in the Paluxy river, so conditions do have to be just right in order to view. If the river is too high from excess rain or cloudy (again, useless from spring flash flooding), then it’s a no-go on viewing. This is the first time we’ve been back with older kids. There is a super picnic area or a short drive into Glen Rose and there are a few restaurant choices. At the park there are some great trails to explore for the older bunch. And if the weather is warm enough, the river is perfect for a sunny afternoon dip.

Have you ever seen a dinosaur track? Share your secret spot?

Great Spring Break spot . . .

Hey, where are you headed for Spring Break?

The kids are almost free from school for a week, and it’s time for a quick idea for a little get-away.

Check out The Alamo

San Antonio is always a fun place to visit, and this site can provide lots of details for any spring break event. (One of the best reasons to visit. . . not many college kids head to The Alamo for their break—probably too much like studying.) But my younger crew has always enjoyed walking through the museum, re-enacting the last Alamo battle, and then finding some great Mexican food or real Texas Chicken Fried Steak on the River Walk to top off the evening.

We’ve managed to find some superb hideaways in San Antonio—a few have been reasonable and right on the River Walk. **Hint**While looking for a great River Walk deal--stay away from the large chain hotels. Your booking success will depend on how much time you want to invest in the ‘on-line’ search. Staying off the River Walk has been fun as well, and certainly reasonably priced. San Antonio is an easy town to navigate—plenty of ‘Tourist’ signs posted for even the most directionally challenged.

A word of warning—if you have a student studying Texas History this year, then brush up on the facts. Kids do really learn this stuff in school. It can be MIGHTY embarrassing when your 10-year-old rattles off the date of the last Alamo battle, and you're simply clueless. FYI: The final assault took place on March 6, 1836.

For anyone counting . . . that’s 171 years ago—Today!

Leave a comment and share your get-away ideas!