Saturday, October 20, 2007

Back in the Saddle—Robin

It’s been a whirlwind week here in Mermaid-land…there was the release of Jay’s book, then I had many talks with my agent about the status of my book (still in progress!), then dentist appointments and school carnivals and huge piles of laundry and Stephen Colbert announcing he’s running for president. It’s enough to make a girl go nutty!

So it’s time to get back in the saddle and get back to writing. Sometimes when things are hectic, I find it hard to settle into a quiet groove and get back into my little story. Does anyone else have this problem?

But kind of like jogging, once I force myself into starting, it feels great. (I just have to keep finding new ways to force myself into starting!)

This week, I decided to jumpstart myself by reading books that might inspire me. I’m in the middle of ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOT by David LaRochelle. And it is positively great! His writing is so precise, as if he put care into every word. I find that I have a smile on my face the entire time I’m reading it. Which makes the story so satisfying.

So I’m going to get back in the saddle and start writing, thanks to inspiration from David! With my new motto: Put. Care. Into. Every. Word.

Oh, and my other motto: Go. Do. Laundry.

--Robin

8 comments:

Wild About Words said...

I'm a big fan of David LaRochelle's. Met him at a conference last year. Not only is he an absolutely, positively hilarious writer, he's a genuinely nice guy.

And Jay, a world of congrats. Can't wait to read 13 Reasons Why. What a triumph!

Lots more successes, I'm sure, are in all of your futures.

Regards,
Donna

Anonymous said...

I love that book!

Disco Mermaids said...

Hi Robin,

I love APN, too!

I've said it before... I don't know how you juggle a job (stressful one at that), a child, a husband, and manage to crank out more writing than I ever could! You're my hero.

I'm back in the saddle too, big time...getting a seriously sore, flat butt in the process.

Let's promise to take a break and do a girls' day and/or night out this week, K?

xoxo
Eve

Anonymous said...

Talk about inspiration, Robin! You've just made my day, in fact my entire weekend, with your kind words about ABSOLUTELY!

I wish I had a time machine so I could go back to the years when I was struggling with this novel and was thoroughly convinced that I could never pull off writing a book for teenagers. I would tell myself, "Yes, David, someday you will actually finish this book, it will get published, and the Disco Mermaids will enjoy it!" Maybe then the struggle wouldn't have been so tough.

Good luck getting back in the saddle, and I look forward to writing my positive reactions to your book when it is published in the near future.

David LaRochelle
www.davidlarochelle.net

P.S. And how very exciting that I can go to my corner independent bookstore and order Jay's book now! I'm going to write myself a reminder note right now to order the book in the morning! Big, big congratulations, Jay!

Katie said...

Oh aren't you sooo right! my writing buddy Sarah Frances and I just left our regional conference and our heads are exploding with all of the new things we need to do. And I too, have so much laundry I don't know where to start?! yikes!!!

AND.....while at the conference, I won the super fantastic door prize!! which was free website design or marketing plan etc.....so now I need to think about writing even more and then that makes me nervous and crazy.....yada, yada, yada

SO - I can relate. great post and very timely :o)

p.s. I sold Jay's book to a teen and his mom in a BN in Alabama while at the conference and there were only 3 left in the store - so it seems to be literally flying off the shelves!

Heather said...

Ach, it's so funny that I would read this as I am here (procrastinating no less) lamenting my utter LACK of self-discipline! I continually get distracted by other projects and writing always seems to be the most painful of any craft I do.

And the laundy? Let's not even go there....

Disco Mermaids said...

I'm happy to make your day, David! Seriously, your book is SO well done, it surprises me you ever struggled at all. It seems so natural! Can't wait to read what comes next.

And Katie and Heather, I'm glad I'm not the only one too busy and distracted to get the writing done!

Eve, yes, we must do a girls' day/night out. Soon! Soon!
-Robin

CJ Omololu said...

On the flip side, when the suck monster is pulling me down and I'm having trouble getting into the groove, I read a book that I DON'T think is particularly well done. If I can hold an actual book that got published by a real company and think "Someone actually said 'yes' to this," it always makes me feel like less of a loser.

Does that make me a bad person?