Tag I'm It!

I’ve been tagged by two fellow blog writer friends, Sioux and Lisa. I’m to answer a few questions about my writing… then tag someone else.

What are you currently working on?

How long do you have? Too many. I flip-flop back and forth. Currently it’s my fictional epistolary novel, Dear Soldier (until a better name comes up). It’s Young Adult, even though that’s not what I had in mind when I first wrote it. My niece gave me the idea to write epistolary since I’m a handwriting letter freak. “Aunt Lynn, have you considered writing a book in that style?” And an epistolary monster was created. So this story… a teenage girl writes a soldier during the Vietnam war. It’s a one-sided epistolary. She doesn’t realize that her hopes for him are the same for her… to feel loved, accepted and worthy.

The other epistolary fictional novel is The Locked Heart with universal themes of letting go of the past, forgiveness, acceptance, dreams/possibilities and ultimately love.

Then there’s Hidden Treasures, my first NaNoWriMo. I wanted to know more about a great aunt who was institutionalized and came to a dead-end. I decided to tell her story… fiction, of course. Turns out later I discovered some info about her and what I wrote had a hint of truth.

I also work on my memoir that I’m writing for my three children. I would love to have my mother’s memoir and figured my children might like it some day. It’s what drove me to start my blog—Present Letters. Initially the posts started with, Dear Mom…

I also write short pieces because of my critique group—WWWPs (Wild Women Wielding Pens) Beth, Linda, Sioux and Tammy—they put the pressure on. In a good way. They inspire me. One of them shared the call out for Gloria Gaynor’s book, We Will Survive. They encouraged me to send something in due to my... surviving. Thanks to them, I’m in the book. You can pre-order here.

Oh, and then there’s a children’s picture book (Dream Come True) that I wrote many moons ago... err dare I say? 25 years ago! It gets filed away, then pulled out, filed, pulled out. It’s pulled out right now… not for any revision, but for illustration. I originally had visions my son would illustrate this book, but he wasn't interested way back. In its pulled out phases, several other artists attempted... now it's back in my son's hands. It really is a Dream Come True!

Seriously, I flip back and forth on all of these… I have writing ADD.

How does it different from other works in this genre?

I’d have to say because of writing in epistolary style. I mean, epistolary is out there, but...

Why do you write what you do?

Because I love handwriting letters. And if you read the answer to the next question, it explains it even more.

What is the hardest part about writing?

There are two things… both are equally hard for me. One and it’s probably the biggest, is my Inner Critic (IC) who tells me I’m not good enough. To stop writing. To stick with letters… which is why all my stories are epistolary. Can’t beat the IC, so I had to find a way to sort-of join it. Two—revision and sticking with one novel until it’s completed. I tend to fizzle because after a while, I’m tired of it—then the Inner Critic jumps in and assures me, see you can’t do it. So again, rather than let IC beat me, I’ll pick up a different one. Because of being tagged, I realized the other thing that's hard is telling what your story is about in one sentence... I'll be working on that one!

 

I’m not tagging anyone as I think everyone I know has been tagged. But if you’re a writer and want to play, consider yourself tagged! Then let me know so I can read what you're working on.