What We're Writing Week: Julia Slowly Staggers To A Stop

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: No, it's NOT done yet, dear readers. This is absolutely the worst part of the book for me - the ending. I swear, if I could just publish manuscripts that were 5/8 done and crowdsource the endings, I'd get books out - gosh, who knows, maybe every three years instead of four!

My issue with getting over the finish line is partly me, and partly the nature of the genre. For me - honestly, I don't know. I always slow down here, and we know, I'm not that fast to begins with.

 Psychological barriers to completion? Fear of success or failure? Not wanting to let go? I've done a lot over the past years to improve my scheduling and organization; maybe now it's time for therapy.

The nature of the genre is such that the end of any sort of crime fiction is usually 1) the high point of action and 2) has to tie all the threads together. For the first, well, I'm known for my action sequences. I like them. The readers seem to like them. But they are HARD! Making sure the reader knows who is doing what, where in space and when in a sequence of events... sometimes it feels more like planning a multi-person jaunt through an unfamiliar city via public transportation.

As for tying the threads together - I can only point out I have more than one unfinished piece of very elaborate needlepoint. Oh, I just LOVE adding more and more and more threads. Figuring out what to DO with them... not so much.

However, I am progressing. In fact, if I didn't write such #$%& long books,  I'd be done now, or close to it. Alas, I don't seem to have any more control over the length of my stories than I do anything else. Truly, writing is a mysterious process. 

This is the place where I would usually put some hopefully interesting question that would stimulate lots and lots of backblog comments. Instead, I have a favor to ask. Will you, dear readers, be my accountability partners? I'm highly motivated by guilt (if you had met my mother, you'd understand)  so if one of you asks "Julia, have you written today" EVERY DAY until I finish, I'll be too embarrassed not to write. Don't all do it, for goodness sake, that would be a nightmare. Just one person.

TIA, Julia

Procrastibaking with Lucy Burdette

Jane Brody's biscuits but made with sour cream and garden herbs

LUCY BURDETTE: I am a sucker for the Wednesday food section in the New York Times. Sometimes I find a great recipe, sometimes an admirably well-turned phrase by Pete Wells, and sometimes an article that hits my stomach and my heart at the same time. On May 16, one of the front page articles, by Julia Moskin, was about something called "Procrastibaking." Apparently this is a thing--baking when you should be working. It even has its own Instagram hashtag. Procrastibaking allows a person to feel productive while avoiding actual work. And there is a fabulous reward, assuming you've made something delicious. And it turns out, I am an active procrastibaker...

Here are a few baked goods that I've made and recommend…


Cherry Cobbler--oh my gosh, too good to be believed...but only make this when cherries are in season

Raspberry Almond cake--easy as pie and very forgiving while also delicious


And this killer upside down Roman fig cake for the two or three weeks when you can snag fresh figs in the grocery store (or beg them from a neighbor's tree...

As I was reading this article and noodling over a post for this blog, I felt the urge for cornmeal cheddar and pimento scones swell and soar until it could not be refused. Here's what I made, and damn the word count, I say!

Pimento Cheddar Scones

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (can substitute white whole wheat)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder (I use low sodium)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ tsp. cayenne or to taste
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1-2 tablespoons chopped pimentos, drained

Preheat the oven to 425. Mix together the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or your food processor until it resembles coarse meal. Blend or pulse in the cheese. Stir together the egg and milk and add this to the other ingredients. Stir until combined, then dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a minute until everything holds together.

Flatten the dough into a disk and cut it into six pieces. Place the sections on an oiled pan or parchment paper and bake for about 12 minutes until lightly browned. (Try not to overcook or the scones will be dry.)

Are you a procrastibaker? If so, what have you made or what's on your TBB (to be baked) list? If you aren't, what might you like me to try in your name?

PS from Lucy: And hope you will indulge me in this moment of excitement--I found out last week that DEATH ON THE MENU will be an audiobook, first time ever for me! And I got to choose the narrator from three readings. Her name in Laura Jennings and she sounds just like Hayley!! (You are under no obligation to listen to it all, I was struggling with editing.)

Addicted to Facebook

RHYS BOWEN: Like most writers I will do anything, yes anything, to avoid writing. I will stare at the computer, get up, throw a load in the laundry, dead head the flowers, dust the ornaments, make out to-do lists for the next three months, rather than get down to the scene I’m supposed to be finishing.
And one of the things I do lately is to check out Facebook. I try to avoid the political stuff; it makes me too depressed and it’s hard to tell the fake news. But I’m a sucker for the baby animals, the cute animal friendships. Who knew what noises a baby sloth makes? And when I found out it was really “Oh, is that all?”
But the quizzes. What color is your aura? What were you in a past life? I am especially tempted by the ones that start “Only a genius can get all these right.”
Of course I get them all right. They were easy.
And it turns out there is a reason they were easy… quizzes are a way of hacking into accounts.
Who knew? Does that mean I won’t be able to find out what career is right for me? What sign my ideal mate should be? Does that mean I’ll actually have to sit down and write all day?
So fellow Reds: who else does Facebook quizzes?
And what else do you do to keep you from sitting on a chair and getting on with your writing?

HALLIE EPHRON: The other day I sorted through a 2-foot-high stack of mail accumulated over several years, just to avoid writing. I never do quizzes, but I still love to hang out in Facebook and see what my kids/friends are up to. And I'm sadly addicted to newsfeeds because how much more bizarre can things get?

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm surprised to hear you are a procrastinator, Rhys--as much as you produce! And Hallie, that two foot pile of mail sounds positively awful. I know we will have that in Connecticut waiting for us in April. But meanwhile, it's all about the Facebook addiction for me. I love catching up with friends and fans--and I know I miss 90% of what's been posted. I also like to peruse Pinterest, mostly for recipes to try. And this mostly happens at night when I'm hungry. So if you see a flurry of pins from me, you'll know exactly what's going on!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm seldom on Facebook, which frustrates my friends and family members who use it regularly. What I do to keep from writing? Clean, of course. It's amazing how compelling the dusting can become when you can't think of how to continue a scene. The laundry. Walking the dog. Driving Youngest to school/play rehearsal/archery/mosque/pizza place. To tell the truth, it's not so much that I do things to avoid writing: it's that I have so much to do I have to MAKE time to write. Which, again, is very easy to avoid...

I want to hear more about the quizzes as hacker tools, Rhys. I don't take them, but The Smithie is addicted to the ones on Buzzfeed. Does it matter where you find them? Or all they all suspect?

RHYS: Julia it was on the news this week that Facebook quizzes have become an easy way to hack into accounts, get personal information. I have to say I don't do any quizzes that want my email address or anything else personal about me, but I suppose if they can get into my Facebook account they could find quite a lot.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I don't do quizzes, Rhys, I'm not even tempted, so I guess I'm safe there. But I do procrastinate!! I am way too addicted to news these days, so am planning a "news diet." And I check on Facebook, and make lists, and look at recipes, and clean. To my credit, I've managed to resist daytime televsion, but why is it so hard for writers to sit down and WRITE????

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I love quizzes, and am  tempted to do all of them. But not after I saw they get your email and contacts list. So--I don't.  Daytime TV, never. Laundry! Closet organization! Cleaning the refrigerator. Stuff I would NEVER otherwise be interested in doing suddenly becomes a necessity.  But just in the past few days, I've been intensely wanting to write. I mean, I can't wait. So weird! And I'm sure that will pass.  But usually I am so easily distracted that I literally set a timer, and agree with myself not to do anything else--, not email,  not Facebook, not getting a diet coke, not anything--until I do my hour. Works for me. And I'm not as addicted to Facebook as I used to be. We should talk about that sometime.

INGRID THOFT: I've never done the quizzes, probably because having a software developer husband has caused me to be highly skeptical about such things.  I do peruse Facebook more than I should, and I also find that household chores call my name when the going gets tough on the writing front.  One of my favorite forms of procrastination is reading the articles on longform.org.  It's an aggregation of the best long form articles on the web, and the content is terrific.  I tell myself this form of procrastination isn't so terrible; I'm learning all kinds of things and even possibly doing research!  And Rhys, I'm a total sucker for baby animals.  Seriously, nothing makes me happier than a picture of a tea cup pig in a tea cup!

JENN: Quiz girl here! It started with the Cosmo quizzes when I was a teen and I'm still an addict. How else can I find out which  Greek goddess I am or who my celebrity husband is? LOL. I am less of an FB addict than I used to be - politics has curbed it for me. Because I have multiple deadlines and I do get sucked into the Internet wormhole, I had to install a babysitter on my Mac Book called Waste No Time. I set how many minutes I'm allowed on certain sites and then it blocks them. Period. Because my life is like Julia's - so many gigs of the Hub and the hooligans to coordinate - making the time to write is critical to getting it done. But, like Ingrid and Rhys, I'm a sucker for the cute animals pics. How can you resist a duckling in a raincoat?

RHYS: Waste No Time. Jenn, I am getting it today! I could live with just one baby animal a day, I am sure.
So.... dear readers, time for confession. Who else does all the Facebook quizzes? Who is not even on Facebook?

Would you rather be productive or creative?

HALLIE EPHRON: A few weeks ago I found a new word: pre-crastinate. I discovered it while not writing my book – in other words, roaming the Internet. AKA PROcrastinating.

The Scientific American blog talked about pre-crastinators (turns out most of us are) who are likely to hurry and get something done so we can cross it off our mental to-do list, even if the rush ends up being wasteful.

You’re a pre-crastinator if you need to…

• Deal with emails as soon as they come in
• Write thank you notes the week you get the gift
• Return phone calls the same day
• Get to the airport at least an hour before you know you need to be there
• Pack the night before
• Start and finish assigned work long before it’s due

Guilty as charged, your honor. As long as what needs doing is a relatively easy task to knock off. The low hanging fruits of a busy life. And it FEELS like I’m being so productive as I check them off my to-do list.

But the ugly truth: I do them in order to put off writing. I do the easy stuff in order to put off doing the hard stuff. 

In other words, for me pre-crastinating can be a form of PROcrasinating. (Like right now I’m dashing off this blog instead of chipping away at my novel.)

Fortunately (for me), though procrastinating is lethal for productivity, it turns out to be something of a boon for creativity.That's according to Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at the Wharton School. (Another article I read while I was NOT writing my book.) 

Procrastinating isn’t such a bad idea if you’re involved in a creative endeavor. And you're in good company. Steve Jobs was a procrastinator. Ditto Bill Clinton and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Writing is a creative endeavor, right?

I can relate to this, because my first ideas are rarely my best. When I hit a fork in the road, which is every other day in the course of writing a book, the options need to incubate. Gestate. Stew in my brain while I’m knocking off my email and blog and updating my web page. Until voila, what I hope is a golden egg pops out. Hopefully not weeks or months after my manuscript is due. 

What about you? In writing and in life, pre-crastinator or procrastinator, or "it all depends"? 

It's in the Cards. Really. Soon.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Here’s an idea.  A modest proposal, if you will.

How about if we extend the holiday card season through, say mid-January? So you can send Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, solstice, New Years, Boxing day, whatever cards. Without anyone saying—oh, duh,  she’s procrastinating

Because I love getting real card-cards, in the actual mail. I even like sending them. Kind of. When I get in the mood. It’s fun to look a the the list of names, and remember the people, and have a pang of happiness, or nostalgia, or love. And it's extra fun when you are finished.

But yikes. I can NEVER  get them done in time. NEVER.  Just about the time I can say, "Well, okay, then, time to do the cards," it’s like, the day after Christmas. And I’m too late.

But listen.  There’s that whole weird week before New Years where you kind of have a moment to breathe. Why don’t we make THAT card-starting week?

So, yeah, all that is to say I’m getting started now, which means—finding the cards. Forgive me okay? They’re coming. Probably. It’s all in the works.

How do you handle holiday cards? 

LUCY BURDETTE: OH you mean that week between Christmas and New Year's isn't for cards?? I love getting cards, and sending news to folks we haven't seen, but it is a big job. Last year we whacked our list in half and still had a hundred to send.

And sadly, we are label-challenged. that would make it so much easier--to have them all printed out and be able to stick them to the envelopes, no muss no fuss. Another problem--figuring out what's going on the cards. We used to send out a letter and a card. Cut that back to a photo card with a short note already printed inside. But what to say? No one wants to be pinned as the people who brag. But just a signature? what's the point?

Mine are supposed to be on the way too:). Oh wait, special delivery, here they are. Please enjoy the lighthouse growing out of John's head.  And then hope you will consider yourself carded! Have a lovely holiday, Reds! 

HANK:  Too funny!  Love this...

HALLIE EPHRON: Lucy, you're you're "down to" a hundred??? I'm down to about eight. Mailed cards, that is. I channel the guilt I feel about not sending cards into an email writing binge. Same week I do all my charitable giving. Not a form letter or an e-card but an actual message to the individuals whom YES I do miss seeing and want to catch up with. But I love Love LOVE getting cards. My daughter and her husband send one with my granddaughter Franny on it which I adore. My nephew and his wife sent a beautiful photo card - the best part is the calligraphed note and address. No labels for her. All take pride of place on my fireplace mantle.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I don't do cards. In the household division of labor, Noel does the holiday cards. Which turn into New Year cards most years, I think? I dunno — I have to say cards are my least favorite part of the season and a few years I gave up on them -- too much stress. So now I just sign whatever Noel puts in front of me. I know it sounds kind of "Bah, humbug," but I really do love other things (lights, carols, cookies) and just don't have time anymore for the other things. Plus, everyone's online now! I do use a great online card company — Jacquie Lawson. http://www.jacquielawson.com She does adorable cards with animation and music — love them and recipients seem to, as well!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I ping-pong around the Christmas card universe: there have been years when we've done a photo card and sent it out to every friend, family member, bookstore owner and librarian we know; years when I've done e-cards (they're so pretty, but it still feels like cheating), years when we send out eight, like Hallie, and years when I get overwhelmed and nothing goes to anyone. I agree with Hank, I love to get real mail, but in some ways, it does seem superfluous in the age of Facebook.

There clearly needs to be a movement to make New Years cards the big thing. It makes more sense - non-sectarian, affects everyone, and best of all, those of us who are always a day late can get them written in the quiet days after Christmas!

RHYS BOWEN: Oh, I do cards. We have so many friends and relatives who live abroad that Christmas is sometimes the only time we hear from them. I usually write and address my foreign cards in November, while I watch TV or listen to music. We used to send over 100 but alas the number dwindles each year as older friends and cousins are no more. I used to write a long message inside each card. Now we do an email newsletter to go with them, which makes the job a lot simpler.   And I've become a big fan of Jacquie Lawson cards because they are so pretty and you get music as well (and I can send them at the last minute without a guilty conscience).

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We've made our own cards for nearly twenty years. First, it was hand-carved, hand-stamped woodcuts. Then it was photos, with a long printed note. Then, a couple of years ago, we looked at the price of double-fold, really nice cards with envelopes and a list that approached a couple of hundred (quite a few out of the US) and said, "ACK."  So we started sending e-cards, but we still do the photos ourselves. And we get later and later. Last year we sent them on the 19th. This year, it's--oh, wait, it can't really be that late, can it? 

We spent hours last night trying to wrangle the dogs--or the cats, if they were handy--into a suitable pose. Do you know how hard it is to get two dogs, both looking at the camera, in front of the Christmas tree? Don't ask. I think we will have one dog on our card...

But we LOVE getting cards, and notes, and even the infamous Christmas letter. 

And I send Jacqui Lawson cards, too. What's nice about those, and about the e-cards we send, is the option to reply. So that way we keep in touch with friends that we don't see often.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So Reds and readers—how are you doing? Writing cards like mad? Wincing when you get the mail and see how organized your friends are?  (They are SO much fun to open!) What do you think about ecards? Do you notice your cards are dwindling?  Will you give us until the first week of January?  Tell us what’s in the cards for you…

************

AND CONGRATULATIONS to the winner from Saturday of Connie Mayo's THE ISLAND OF LOST BOYS is Kait Carson! Please email megan "at" sparkpointstudio "dot" com and let her know where to send your book.

The cards are in the mail! Really. They are.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The thought process goes something like this:

Breaking news! they just arrived!

November 1: I'm gonna find the BEST holiday cards anyone has ever seen. It's gonna be great, I'm going to send them EVERYWHERE and it's a good thing. Plenty of time.

November 10: Plenty of time.

November 20: Plenty of time.

November 25: Thanksgiving! Where did the time go?

I have these..these are good...

Dec 1: Okay, really, I'd better get on this. I'm gonna find the BEST holiday cards EVER.

Dec 5: I can't find any in stores. Hmm. Where did all the good cards go? 

Dec 10: NO CARDS! But still kind of plenty of time.

Dec 15: You know, they probably don't have to be the BEST CARDS EVER. An "okay" card is fine. "Pretty nice" will do. It's the thought that counts. It would be nicer to have great ones, though. I'll keep looking. Plenty of time.

These are good...

Dec 16: Everyone else's cards are arriving. WHEN did they have time to do this?

Dec 17: Internet! Buy cards on the INTERNET! WHY didn't I think of this earlier??

Dec 18: Click, click, click. Here's a great one! Rats, no longer in stock. Here's one! Sold out. Here's one! "Available Dec 26." What good will that do me? CLick click click. Tick tick tock.

Dec 19: Last year's cards! I bet I have some left from last year. The ones I didn't send...

Dec 22: New Year's Cards! I'm gonna send the BEST ONES EVER!

Dec 23: Okay, Reds. How YOU doin'?

I liked these, too..

 RHYS BOWEN: We have so many friends and relatives scattered across the world that Christmas cards are a must. Sometimes it's the only communication we have all year. We used to send well over 100 but sadly our older friends become fewer and fewer each year. These days we send out a newsletter separately and I send e-cards to people I know will enjoy the Jacquie Lawson scenes of the English countryside.

I love receiving cards and putting them up all over the house.

HALLIE EPHRON: I love getting cards. Real cards. E-cards, not so much. But hey, it's better than not getting. I love to just get an email from an old friend who's been out of touch, just because the holidays are upon us and we miss each other. Especially I love silly photograph cards (thanks, Dean and Andrew!)

And I usually send cards but it's harder and harder to find nice ones. That's my excuse, anyway, and I'm sticking to it. Because this year it does not seem to be happening.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Holiday cards are just too much for me most years, so I let my husband take care of them. In the last few years, to save paper and postage, we've been sending New Year cards online. There are sites with amazing design capabilities and you can add photographs, too. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We've made our own cards for almost twenty years. At first it was things like gold hand-stamped pears from a woodblock we made ourselves (how did I ever find time to do that????) Then we went to photo cards--not the "family in silly hats" kind, but really pretty personal photos (Rick's a very good photographer)--the house or the tree or dogs or cats. But sending 150 top-quality cards--with postage!--got to be overwhelming, and a couple of years ago we started sending e-cards.

We use a company called Paperless Post. We put in our own photo, design the text and pick the envelope, which opens like a real card. And people have an option to reply by email to the card, so we hear from a lot of friends. Maybe one day we'll go back to sending real cards... or maybe not. Here's the pic that's going on this year's card, starring fifteen-month-old Dax, posing on our deck in the recent Texas ice storm.

ROBERTA ISLEIB: I have the cards. (and here they are!)  It's a small matter of sending them out.  We are always traumatized by trying to figure out labels...this year no exception!

HANK: Me, too, Roberta! Why are labels so difficult? (I use Paperless Post for invitations...Good? Or end the world as we know it? But that's another blog..)  And I am a big fan of holiday letters...and applaud anyone who takes the time! Anyway, Reds, how about you?