PUT ME AWAY. ANYWHERE.

This is Pupukea.
This will be my tower without a ladder.


A cabin in the woods.
No internet.
No distractions.
Just electricity for my kindle and my computer.

It takes a lot to create a first draft of a novel. No cats needing to be fed. No dinners to fix. No phone calls or long internet ramblings.
Mostly it takes being undisturbed.
When my story is new and unformed I have to immerse myself in it and let it take me where it goes. My first drafts are really quite horrible. They are a large amorphous outline that I'm able to revise and expand. That revision and expansion I can do bit by bit and deal with interruptions but the first draft?
Nope.
I gotta be alone (as Garbo said).
So I'm doing an experiment thanks to my friend Nodie. I'm being isolated intentionally. I will blog about it when I'm done.
Any cheering and suggestions will be gratefully accepted.
As for now?
Hasta la VEEESTA baaaybee!

LANTERN FLOATING FESTIVAL

The canoes wait for sunset and Shomyo. The sails on the horizon are those of the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokulea.

MEMORIAL DAY

Each year thousands of lit lanterns are laid on the ocean in memory of those who are no longer with us.
They will be carried out to sea...

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA...

The birthday surprise:
Be on the beach at 2pm in my bathing suit...Where the most excellent surfing instructor JD taught me how to paddle board.
First step be able to carry the board - pass.
Then be able to kneel and get up and down.
NOTE: It helps if you can hold your breath when you fall off the board so you don't get water up your nose. Just a thought...Practice. Practice. Practice...and then...
You have to stand up and BELIEVE me when I say it isn't as easy as it looks...The water was surgy, the wind was picking up, there were lots of swimmers to avoid...and one nanosecond later I plunged into the water ass first. But then I tried again.
And it got easier...
At the end of the day it was apparent that paddle boarding was a lot like writing a novel...

It looks REALLY easy when other people do it well.
Before you get good you have to fall on your ass a bunch of times.
It's easy to criticize how other people do it with out doing it yourself.
It takes practice.
More practice.
And even more practice.
You can't worry what you look like.
And it's way fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE....

I'm working on my second 29th birthday...



This photo reveals much of what I became.
Wearing slippers on horseback.

I'm told I must be on the beach in my bathing suit at 2 pm sharp for a surprise...
I will let you know what happens if I survive lol!

TOOJOURS SAD RE MISS SNARK

MAY 20, 2007

TWO YEARS AND COUNTING...

SO SAD TODAY...

IS THAT A DRAGON IN YOUR POCKET OR ARE YOU JUST GLAD TO SEE ME...

Here, there be dragons...there, there be dragons...everywhere, there be dragons...

As a writer it's easy to see dragons behind every door.
Editing...
Revising...
Figuring out if I can use the same coffee and filter and just run the water through again...
You know.
Important stuff.

I thought I'd make a list.

THINGS CHARACTERS DO THAT I WOULD NEVER THINK OF DOING

1. Stop at each mirror admiring my tawny legs and my honey golden hair.

2. Go down to the basement when I hear a strange sound when there are Zombies on the loose.

3.Drive on a deserted highway with an eighth of a tank of gas, pick up a hitchhiker, examine a dead body in the road, or get out of my car for any reason other than I've gotten to where I'm going.

Can you think of others????

MAKING GROWN MEN CRY AND OTHER WORTHWHILE ACOMPLISHMENTS...

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE LETTING YOUR REVISED MANUSCRIPT SIT...


And you answer emails and apologize for making readers cry.
It occurred to me that I may be misunderstanding.
They may not be crying because my words resonated with them.
They may be crying for other reasons...

Dear Ms. Wood,
Your book was okay. I really cried while I read it because my cat died the day before.
I loved that cat...

Dear Ms. Wood,
Your book was not all that great but I found myself crying because I had just peeled 32 onions...

Dear Ms. Wood,
Your book was adequate but I just had to tell you I cried all the way through because of your use of language. It's so sad to see split infinitives. They're so lonely...

Dear Ms. Wood,
I was going to tell you I liked your book because I cried while I was reading It but then I realized I hadn't stopped crying after reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. It wasn't your book at all...

It could be worse.
I could be getting letters from TOOLOOSE.

DER MZ WOD,

I CRID BECUZ THER WAZ NO CAT FUD.
I DID NUT RED YOR BOOK.
YR CAT,
TOOLOOSE

P S ( IF YOU FEED ME I WIL RED IT MAYBEE...)