MAUI WRITERS RETREAT DAY FIVE

Hard at work. Well. Actually. um...

11:30 pm. I have been looking for a thermometer for days. I guess I'll just have to wait until I get home.
So many talented writers and such a wonderful teacher.
If you ever get a chance to take a class with Karen Joy Fowler-- do so even if you have to sell your first born son. It was amazing and beyond fun. We all bonded and became close in just five days.
Maui has a tendency to do this.
We know there are no rules. If it reads well it works but pieces can always be made better.
The biggest problem?
Writers do not finish their projects and start another.
They struggle with self doubt and don't continue.
Maui gets them going.
So bloggers save your pennies and I'll see you there next year.

DAY FOUR MAUI WRITERS RETREAT HELPING EACH OTHER

Lisa, Holly and Mindy posing for me. We are all exhausted yet inspired.

9:30 pm. Tomorrow is the last day of the retreat. A half day. I'm trying to figure out if I can fit in a massage. I hope so. I finished my scene but I'm still dissatisfied. I see where my voice falters and my writerly self intrudes.
I start to see that by recognizing this failure in others I can see it in my own pages. I had three hours of sleep last night and yet find it difficult to rest and relax.
I must sleep. Holly kept putting drops of visine in my eyes each time she noticed they were red. I must look like some werewolf or vampire. Talk to Holly. She sees them in everyone's project.
Tomorrow we finish looking at shortened paragraphs that pitch the premise of our novels. Unagented writers are preparing to talk to agents and editors. I feel their nervousness and yearn to say it's Okay to be stressed. I long to offer reassurances that they will obtain representation. But I can't. After the elation of the retreat and working on projects comes now the bitter reality for some.
And my heart goes out to them.
Wanting it badly does not mean getting.
Perseverance is the trait that is needed here.
Tenacity.
Stubborness.
Determination.
Getting up again...and again...and again...
Then once more.
And again.

DAY 3 MAUI WRITERS RETREAT : IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PROLOGUE (OR WAS THAT THE PERFECT MAI TAI?)

This is the bar at the Wailea Beach Resort and Spa.
We know it well.
We find our muses here.

So that pesky pesky prologue. We have met many authors who use them.
It's just that many beginning writers do them badly.
Including me.
My first prologue was a mess. It eventually became chapter 1.
And then transformed back into a prologue.
So do not despair. You can have your prologue...and eat it too...
Or is that cake?
I have to wake up at 2 am to do live radio interviews so I can't be sure.

When I walk to class each morning I pass this pool. If I glance over superficially I miss the koi. The water lilies. The fragrant blooms lining the edge. Our homework is to create a scene. Expand it. Make it richer. Deeper.
See the koi.
Smell the jasmine.
Touch the water.
Make something happen.
We read a scene from Bel Canto and learned.
And then we went out to dinner. We sat behind our heroes...Jacquelyn Mitchard and Ann LeClaire.

They are both teachers here at Maui and are working hard.
Very hard...in fact Ann is having trouble keeping her eyes open.
Jackies new book STILL SUMMER and Ann's book THE LAVENDER HOUR are out and at books stores everywhere.
Buy many copies of each...
Along with LOTTERY.
Ann likes dragonflies too.
That is SO cool.

MAUI WRITERS RETREAT DAY 2

10 PM and too late o'clock.
I should be in bed. Actually I should be reading the pages from the other students, write my comments and then go to bed. And doing my homework. Instead I went to the bar with Andy and Joe. We talked about writing novels, finishing novels, premises and what went on today.
This morning John Lescroart talked about the six things you have to consider if you want to create a best selling novel. Two things on the list were write, write and write more and finish your novel.
Our class was spent starting an in depth critique of our work. The writer could not talk until the very end.
The class was positive yet offered many constructive suggestions.
The homework involved those who wrote prologues.
Shorten them up. Make sure they are really prologues. If they aren't then make them chapter 1.
Several members of our class have been tasked with the re writing of their prologues.
This afternoon Ann Hood talked about turning real life into fiction and Gary Braver discussed the ten basic ingredients of a thriller.
And then I went to the bar.
I'm spending a lot of time in the bar.
I can't remember why. It involves something with Bailey's and Coffee.
And muses.
It has something to do with muses...

REPLACEMENT MUSE

DAY 2 MAUI RETREAT
Reminds me of the movie SIDEWAYS...

IN VINO VERITAS
Muse hunting.
When faced with finding temporary muses one can do worse than the use of a Piquant Pinot.
The writers in classes at Maui are so talented. I met Joe last year and am convinced that in a couple of years we will be seeing his work in bookstores all over.

He has that writerly look don't you think?
EXCERPT FROM JOES PROJECT:
*********
In the months with R's we ate oysters.
We ate them in pool halls for lunch, and in the evenings we ate them out back of my rental. We pried open their shells with flathead screwdrivers and dumped them still living in our upturned mouths, and along the way drank inestimable amounts of beer.
We went to Troy State, Jeff and I, which is in the town of Dotham, which is in the great state of Alabama, or more precisely, the great state of South Alabama.
South Alabama -- the peanut capital of the world. Where Miss Peanut reigns. And where --for only a year-- we converged: the oysters from Apalachicola, Jeff from Charleston, and me from a crossroads town in Ohio that no one, not even a Buckeye, will ever have heard of.
*********
I will not give away the story. Suffice it to say it is unexpected and a compelling read.

We are fortunate to be working with Karen Joy Fowler. Our exercise today consisted of producing one or two sentences which describe a character in your project. Not physically. Tell us more than that.
For example:

Although he swore excessively, he said twenty Hail Marys each time he did so.

She was the kind of woman who bought an expensive silk dress, wore it to one event, then returned it and got her money back.

He looked furtive as if he had set off a fire alarm as a prank then blamed it on someone else.

How about you?
Can you think of some examples?

MAUI WRITERS RETREAT DAY 1

I have to get a tee shirt tomorrow. Aren't they cool?

11:20 PM after eating myself into a stupor and very warm.
So much fun. I forget how star struck I get at Maui. The book store is stuffed full of all the books by the instructors and the instructors themselves are so approachable and down to earth.


James Rollins teaches at Maui. In fact when he was unpublished he went to the Maui conference and retreat -- you can't find a nicer best selling author. His new book Judas Strain is out now and on the NYT list. He mentioned meeting me and talked about LOTTERY on his Barnes and Noble site which was keen!
Jacquelyn Mitchard is here and is a wealth of information. She's supportive and kind no matter if you are in her class or not.
Her new book Still Summer is out.
The author Holly Kennedy is here and her books are in the bookstore also.
It's a thrill to see a huge room full of books and know the authors are all there at the retreat and conference.
Then there are the writers themselves. LISA R, GAY, MG TARQUINI and others are here to learn just as Holly and I are.
I am humbled when I see how many talented writers there are. With determination, a little luck and serendipity they will find themselves published someday too but the point of the retreat is for all of us to focus on our writing.
The conference is where you learn the nuts and bolts of the publishing industry.
So who's here for fiction?
Gary Braver, Thomas Cook, Karen Joy Fowler, Ann Hood, John Lescroart, Jacquelyn Mitchard, William Martin, James Rollins, Ann LeClaire are here teaching at the retreat and then Luanne Rice and Scott Turow are here for the conference.
I will let you know which workshops I attend and what is covered so you can get a virtual Maui experience.
Tomorrow morning starts bright and early with a talk by Thomas Cook about finding your own voice.
If you are going to find it anywhere...it will be on Maui.
Aloha for now

DAY ZERO

Arrival.

8:15 pm and cooler than Oahu.
There's something about Maui. Those of us from Oahu sense a decrease of pressure. We slow. We breathe.
I think I can work here. Have you felt that way about a place? A nurturing beauty?
Safety?
The retreat begins tomorrow. I see familiar faces. The buzz of concentrated purpose.
How will I feel?
Like a prickly crown of thorns sensitive to every piece of advice?
Reacting like a hedgehog?

Or should I try to blend in. Fade. Be an observer.
Like the male frogfish who lets the world drift by?


I surmise that something inbetween might suffice.
But how to create that balance between thoughtful consideration and firmness of belief?
That is the dilemma.
How many voices do you listen to?
How much risk do you take?
What say you bloggers?
What say you?

TIME ONCE MORE FOR THE MAUI WRITERS RETREAT AND CONFERENCE

When packing muses it is very important to use the proper size box and entice them to get in.

5:30 am and 78 degrees.
The posts for the next several days will be done from the venue of the MAUI WRITERS RETREAT AND CONFERENCE
.
The author HOLLY KENNEDY and I will be attending the retreat working with the New York Times Best Selling Author Karen Joy Fowler.
We bring printers, paper, workbooks, notebooks and our muses.
What's that you say?
What about clothes?
Oh.
I have to go now.
And pack some clothes.

OUR OWN MIA KING!!!!!

HERE SHE IS IN THE HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN!
WAY TO GO MIA!!!!

CONVERSATIONS WITH TOULOOSE

LOTTERY READING GUIDE

10 am and 84 degrees.
I told Touloose about how cool the LOTTERY reading guide looks.

He looked at me with kitty skepticism and said, "Yeah well?"
UK NEWS: LOTTERY IN THE WINTER CATALOG


I showed him the catalog from my UK publisher. "Look Touloose!" I said excitedly. "I'm lead title and I made the cover!"

He covered his face with his paws and said, "Enough already! You made the cover of the Putnam catalog! Do you have to tell me every little detail?"

And then the phone rings.

"LOTTERY IS NOW IN ITS SECOND PRINTING!!!!" Happy voices proclaim.

"SECOND PRINTING?" I screamed. "Is that a good thing?" I ask.

"THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING!" The emails and voices ensure.
I hear cheering and the sound of clapping hands by happy Putnamites.
And I know it will be a merry evening in Putamland.
I wake both cats.
"LOTTERY IS IN ITS SECOND PRINTING!!!!!" I scream.
Touloose marches to the galley and does this:

"LOTTERY LOTTERY LOTTERY!!! ENOUGH ABOUT LOTTERY!! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT YOUR STUPID BOOK! CAN'T YOU TALK ABOUT IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE THE GLOBAL WARMING AFFECT ON CATNIP AND KITTY LITTER? AND WHAT ABOUT CAT FOOD? HAVE YOU TAKEN ONE MINUTE TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE NEED TO BE FED????!!!!"

I ponder this later as I finish my letter to the editor on the status of the world catnip supply.
I have to go feed my cats now.
Bye.

THE SLEEPING AUTHOR HAVING SLEPT SLEEPS ON...

10:25 pm and 82 degrees.
We have one full day of preparation. We are both writing...well to be honest, I am answering emails and Holly is sleeping.
I need to be the one sleeping as I have a live radio interview at 5 am tomorrow morning. But I am doing this instead.
Well Holly WAS sleeping but now she is writing.
It is possible for two authors to write in the same room without talking.
It's possible but very unlikely.
Tasks to do tomorrow:
1. Eat breakfast.
2. Pack.
3. Ask Holly to get up.
4. Go on a walk.
5. Ask Holly to go on a walk too.
6. Make sure Holly does not go back to sleep.
7.Wake Holly back up if she does
Today we sat in the Ocean (don't worry Tommy we didn't go deeper than our knees). We talked of characters and premises and realized how rare it is to be able to talk of writing with someone who understands the language.
On Friday when we leave for Maui we will be immersed. For a week and a half we will talk of nothing else.
Holly said it was like gamblers in Las Vegas?
I agree.
The odds are better than even.

NOW APPEARING IN ORION'S FORWARD CABIN

6:30 am and 76 degrees.
Guess who's sleeping (still) in my forward guest stateroom?
Non other than the FAMOUS HOLLY KENNEDY.
We will be attending the Maui Writers Retreat and Conference together and presenting along with the REALLY FAMOUS AUTHOR JACKIE MITCHARD.
So buckle those plumeria leis and fasten those mai tais cuz we're taking you on a VIRTUAL TOUR of the MAUI WRITERS RETREAT AND CONFERENCE.
So today is preparation.
THINGS TO DO TODAY LIST FOR THE NOT QUITE FAMOUS AUTHOR PATRICIA WOOD:
1. Make coffee.
2. Check to see if Holly is awake.
3. Feed cats and make sure there is enough kitty litter while I am gone.
4. Check to see if Holly is awake.
5. Go to Marina Deli to buy fruit for breakfast
6. Check to see if Holly is awake.
7. Check email.
8. Check to see if Holly is awake.
9. Verify appointment to get highlights touched up.
10.Wake up Holly.

IF YOU CANT BE IN THE PLACE YOU LOVE...LOVE THE PLACE YOU'RE IN...

Girl Kitty is sleeping in my mess. Really. Even when I took the picture she didn't wake up. I think she had indentations in her belly from my plastic organizer. She is a true writer's cat. The ultimate muse.

9 pm and 82 degrees.
So are you OK in the place you're in? When I first decided to actually finish a novel (and yes that one is deep in my drawer to be taken out and dusted off when I am ready to revise it) I thought how wonderful it would be to have an agent.
Four novels later. Newly agented. I was euphoric...but...wouldn't it be better, I thought, to have my novel SOLD?
Enter the SHARK of discontentment.
That anti-muse which all writers have.

He swims through your subconscious.
Your novel sells.
You are in transports. Life is wonderful. Maybe it even goes for a good deal...But...not a significant deal...Or maybe a significant deal but not a MAJOR deal.
Like Roseanna danna says,"It's always something."
That shark again.
You know your life will be amazing once that novel is published and out selling in bookstores.
Release day comes.
You are content for a nanosecond.
Amazon numbers are made just for the obsessive compulsive author.
So are Barnes and Noble.
And reviews.
And. And. And.
That pesky shark again.
So maybe we should all learn from Girl Kitty.
The Place is the thing.
Enjoy where you're at.
You go Girl Kitty. You go!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT OVER THE WEEKEND

We are all artists deep inside and sometimes on the outside too.
This is my friend Dee. She amused me and introduced me to her friends in Portland.

9 am and 80 degrees.
I got to thinking -- the more people I've met during my talks and booksignings-- we are all artists to some extent. My buddy Dee is a wonderful painter -- she creates works of art- stories using color in the same way I create stories with words.
These are the woods around her house. She tried to lose me but I had breadcrumbs out.

I tried to take photographs of her pieces. Multiply what you see by a thousand and that's how beautiful they are in person.



Aren't they cool?
And you don't even have to win the LOTTERY to buy her stuff...
Anyway before Dee had a chance to abandon me in the woods again, her dog Pippin came to the rescue.

Dogs are good at that.
I could never depend on Touloose to save my life.
He won't run through the forrest.
This is what he is good at:

Go with your strengths.
That's what Touloose believes.
Go with your strengths.

I GOTTA BE MEEEEEEE

What lessons can we learn today from Touloose?
Yes.
You guessed it.
Read on to find out.

83 degrees and 8:22 pm.
I need to go to bed.
"Why?" I hear you ask.
Well This next photo is a hint.

I get to do some radio interviews for morning shows.
Morning shows on the east coast.
So let's review.
What does that mean for Pat?
In Hawaii.
8:30 am EST = 2:30 am HST
Can you do the math?
So my land line is on the ready- My coffee maker just has to be turned on. And how do I act?
I'm me.
Can I be anything else at 2 am?
So anyway I did important things today just like all the famous authors I know.
I did laundry. Mopped my floor. Did my dishes. Yup. I got a lot of writing done today.
Then I looked for Touloose. Couldn't find him anywhere. Searched for him all over.
Even checked out on the dock. In my neighbors cockpit.
Where did I finally discover him?
Here.

In my husbands underwear cubby.
Touloose does not make the distinction between a cave for super duper kitty hunter of dangerous and truly awful creatures such as dust bunnys and crumbled up bank receipts -- and my husband's underwear cubby.
He is who he is.
I learn from Touloose. In interviews it is tempting to create an author persona. But yanno.
Bottom line?
You have to come home to your own underwear cubby.
And that's the truth.

THIS JUST IN!
WPOC RADIO INTERVIEW with Laurie DeYoung in Baltimore! Scroll down past the photo of LOTTERY and listen to the broadcast.

WHAT DO PEPPERS, HURRICANES AND EARTHQUAKES HAVE IN COMMON?

3:30 pm and 87 degrees.
So the produce at Pike Place Market fascinates me. Especially the peppers. I don't remember peppers every color of the rainbow when I was growing up. I just remember green ones.
And hurricanes.Never in a million years did I think I'd be in a hurricane.
But Earthquakes.
I was in an earthquake in elementary school in the 60's. Good Friday. Remember that one?
I know about Earthquakes.
So today I wanted to talk about choice.
An author makes a specific choice.
POV.
Narrator.
Subject.
It may not be a popular literary strategy. It may create difficulty in characterization or plot arc.
But it is a conscious choice.
You may not agree with mine and I may not agree with yours.
Fair enough.
Let's agree that there are many ways of telling a story and my way is just that.
My way.
Not the right way.
But A way.
When critics tell me my narrator with mental challenges creates a weak story I accept the fact that my protagonist may not tell the story the same way as another might.
When critics tell me a better narrator would have been one of the evil brothers I understand that our society accepts greed and malfeasance more readily than cognitive challenges.
When critics tell me they are uncomfortable laughing at someone who has cognitive challenges I understand they have difficulty knowing when it is possible to laugh with and celebrate commonalities with those who are termed different.
All these things I know.
And accept.
Because it was Perry's voice that came to me first.
Not Keith's.
Not Gram's.
Not Cherry's.
And it is his story.
So what does that have to do with peppers?
Well.
It takes all colors.
And hurricanes?
They pass.
And finally.
Earthquakes.
Like reviews they shake you up for a bit but eventually subside.
And you go on as before.

AND PIGS CAN FLY OUT MY...

10:33 PM and 83 degrees.
YES!!!
I have conquered BLOGGER! Here's a few belated shots (there will be more to come).
I just stepped aboard ORION. I had so much fun but it's good to be home.
Susan Wiggs and I celebrating our books being on the "beach reads" table at Eagle Harbor Books

Me Schmoozing with readers and attendees of my talk at Elliott Bay Book Store.

AND THEN?
What I found when I opened up Sundays Honolulu Advertiser in the car on the way home from the airport.
BESTSELLERS IN HONOLULU

YOU HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT

This is a photograph of me in the Olympic hotel in Seattle.
Not.
This is a photograph of me going to bookstores with the amazing and incredible Eileen who takes authors all over Seattle.
Not.
These are photographs of me being interviewed for morning radio.
Not.
This is a photograph of me preparing for my reading, talk and signing at Elliott Bay Book Company.
Not.
These are photographs of the event itself. See the food (wine, cheese and fruit). See the people chatting. See me circulate meeting people and seeing old friends. Here is a picture of me talking.
Not.
One would think blogger was being malevolent.
Or cantankerous.
Or spiteful.
Maybe.
Trust me.
I met bloggers and AW ers and other authors.
They took photos too.
Some day you will see them if blogger is willing.
And now?
Tomorrow I am on my way back to Honolulu.
And ORION.
I miss the tradewinds and the Ocean.
And home.
I miss home.

PHOTOGRAPHLESS IN SEATTLE

I wanted to post a photograph of the Space Needle.
Blogger wouldn't let me.
I wanted to post a photograph of the Ferry to Bainbridge Island on my way to visit NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR
SUSAN WIGGS
But blogger wouldn't let me.
I wanted to post a photograph of Susan and I in Susan's UBER cool BMW sports car.
But again.
Blogger wouldn't let me.
And Finally?
I wanted to post a photograph of me and Susan at Eagle Harbor Book Company and me laughing and signing stock.
And yes.
You guessed it.
Blogger wouldn't let me.
Bad blogger.
Bad.

PAT AND EMILY'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

This is my media escort Emily. She is really a princess in disguise.

TV ADVENTURE
I was filmed for AM NW and look what I discovered...
The green room is really green.

See Pat.
See Pat sign.
Sign Pat sign.

Finding LOTTERY on the new releases table at Barnes and Noble.

READING AND TALKING ADVENTURE


MEETING BLOGGING BUDDIES AND THEIR FRIENDS.

I met so many great readers and drank many lattes.
AND NOW?
My bags are packed and I have to say Aloha to Portland. I arrive in Seattle tomorrow to start my excellent adventure all over again.

NO REGRETS

How is this tree like my journey now? So many twists and turns. I can't see the sky. It can be confusing. Then I look down and see my feet.
And know where I am.

DARK o'clock AND COLD degrees.
You can't second guess yourself.
Woulda.
Coulda.
Shoulda.
Are words a writer thinks in response to reviewers.
Did they miss my point?
Not understand my intentions?
Have I missed the boat?
But it doesn't matter.
Nothing matters but the reader.
The reader's the thing.
The main thing.
The only thing.
I write for my readers and always will. So when you are profoundly moved by my book. Email me. Write me. And I will answer.
Because you are why I do what I do.
And you are really the only ones who matter.

PARTY AND BOOK TOUR - THE SHORT VERSION

NEWS BULLETIN JUST IN!!! Check out the NEW YORK MAGAZINE!!!!!!
60 something degrees (I was too disheartened to look) and 11 am here in Portland (8 am in Hawaii).
Here are a few selected photos of my LOTTERY bash.
The table was front and center. All the books were sold with some eager readers even snatching some of my own copies. I have to order more for myself!

This is Bob. Number one beta reader and all around fan. He manages the world famous Pizza Bob's restaurant in Haleiwa (the North Shore) which is transplanted to Washington State in my novel. This is called artistic license. He made this shirt up. Pizza from Pizza Bob's sustained us while we discussed my plot details and writing career. It still does - that thai shrimp pizza is ONO (delicious in Hawaiian).

Friends, neighbors and complete strangers appeared. We even accosted tourists coming off the snorkel and dolphin cruises.

Hey...all's fair in love and book sales.
And now out my window in the city of Roses!

Breakfast of Champions. If you are in the Pacific Northwest ORDER THE FRESH BERRIES...I AM NOT KIDDING!!!

The schedule for today?
Lunch with a faithful Portland beta reader. Radio interview in the evening.
And sleep.
Up to check Amazon and Barnes & Noble numbers.
And sleep.
Back up to check numbers.
More sleep.
Up one more time to check numbers...