Talking about my book

When I go to a public speaking place and they want me to talk about my book, Wooffer, I have no idea what to say. I wrote it. I imagined the stories, I hope someone will read them. I am not good at talking about how to write a book. I could go on and on about writing Wooffer, how my mind just flowed and watched and put it down and how the characters developed in my mind. How Old Agnes showed up one day and looked at me in the rain and how Margaret kicked the poop out of the Brutus, the mean dog over the road.

If there is one thing I have learned about writing it is to calm yourself enough to see. I do not mean that just for little animal stories that I write, but the stories out of your brain you put into words. Calm yourself enough to see your thought. It is not so important to put it all down on paper in one minute. Think a bit, look around. Calm yourself enough to write what you see in your mind. Then, word the words so well they know what you see.

Love.,
Betty

Beautiful! I will remember this one. "Calm yourself enough to see your thought."

Betty, you truly write from your heart.

Ann

Dear Ann,
Often at night I write stuff on this message board and come around a couple of weeks later and am surprised that I sat and wrote those words. I may be possessed.

Something comes over me at night when all is quiet in this house and all the chores are done and I have had a couple of libations. My spirit is sort of set free from the day. Off I go into God knows what.
Like this post, I know I wrote it, but it must have been my unconscious mind typing. In the bright light of day, I am never so clever.

Love,
Betty

Betty, if you have not yet, take a look at a source I first learned about from our own Malcolm: The Voice of the Muse by Mark David Gerson.

Or, maybe remember our old PAMB discussions about Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

That is the secret: get out of the way and let your muse (soul) do the writing.

Ann

Betty,
I think that happens to many of us. We write something and then look at it later and are surprised at the word we used and/or the thoughts expressed. We live in the moment and write what we feel. Sometimes our conscious mind gets in the way of the subconscious.

If you were a fan of the show, "Frazier" you saw how he could never maintain a realtionship caused by constant analysis. He let his head get in the way of his heart.

I can really related to what you are saying, Betty. I actually have hard a very hard time promoting my book because the reality is that book readings are one of the best ways possible to promote a book, and after my first reading I just couldn't bring myself to do it again. It was just toooo stressful.

It sounds like you are finding ways to find the words within you. If you can take the next step and make the situation happen to convey them, bingo! Good luck.

Betty Fasig wrote:

Dear Ann,
Often at night I write stuff on this message board and come around a couple of weeks later and am surprised that I sat and wrote those words. I may be possessed.

Something comes over me at night when all is quiet in this house and all the chores are done and I have had a couple of libations. My spirit is sort of set free from the day. Off I go into God knows what.
Like this post, I know I wrote it, but it must have been my unconscious mind typing. In the bright light of day, I am never so clever.

Love,
Betty

LOL...I wonder if we are all possessed? LOL...you are funny. You are a great writer, but I think you missed your calling. You should write Comedy....still laughing.

Dear Dom,
Perhaps I am possessed by the spirits! I think you are a very talented and possessed writer, by the way.

Love,
Betty

Dear Write4,

I do not know why I am so backward! I found a solution, though. If I ever have a book reading, I bring a reader....that would be my daughter. She loves that stuff. I just sit there and smile! I do talk to the children after. But that is not so scary.

Love,
Betty

Betty,

Of course you are possessed. By the angels. If our eyes are the window to our soul, then our keyboard is its voice. That's what's so special about being a writer. Or a piano player.

One of these days I'm going to take the 2 hour drive to Duette and meet you.

Al

I guess that's why I am not very prolific. I write by inspiration. I also read by inspiration. I am reading eight books and stories right now at the request of people for whom I want to provide some critique, etc.; yet, I have trouble sticking with any one to the finish. Some of them are from people who were kind enough to review my work, and I feel badly for not getting back to them with my comments!

I am writing three novels: Virgins; Southern and Forever. I can't get them beyond the first third.

It's funny; as soon as people know I am an author, they hand me their favorite books to read. Not certain what that means...but I feel obligated to add them to my stack.

Dear Al,
How very nice you are. I would be glad to meet you. I would take you to the swamp. The music there is perfect for the piano. Well, you may need your sax too.
Love,
Betty

Dear Diane,
You are the best. Never doubt yourself. I wish I were prolific like you are, knew all the stuff you know, had a little bit of your courage. You are a beautiful mind. I mean that with all my heart.

Love,
Betty

Betty - I have a table again at the Naples Press Club Authors and Books Festival Saturday April 9 2011 from 3-6 p.m. at 663 5th Avenue South (Royalty and Hollywood Jewelry) --- it's been three years since we almost shared a table...

Three years ago I published Arirang: The Bamboo Connection; two years later, Ghost Orchid and in between, contributions to Killer Recipes, Forever Travels, Romance of My Dreams and Romance of My Dreams 2, The World Outside The Window and more; but I'm due for another novel...

I personally put Ghost Orchid in the hands of Marlo Thoma, Whoopie Goldberg, Rob Reiner, Stedman Graham, and more....with zero responses. However, a friend quoted Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford as saying they held promising ideas for many years before pulling them out because the time was right to put them into the spotlight.

Prolific authors write dozens of books in one year....

Us three Floridians ought to plan a hang.

Love bugs are coming out. I wish they'd go take a flying --

April 09? It's a Saturday and the whole weekend is the conference; the book signing is just on Saturday; but there's other stuff.

http://authorsandbooksfestival.org/ Naples Press Club Authors and Books Festival April 9-11, Naples, FL

I can't make the 9th. I'm playing a benefit for the Humane Society that day.

Dear DK,
Thank you for the invitation. I would love to be there, not for Wooffer, but to cheer you on.

We are still in limbo with family matters.

I do love Bonita Springs. I am sorry Al has other obligations, too. He would be a hoot and we could have a good "hang" as he put it. You could show us the Corkscrew Swamp and your Ghost Orchid. I feel that I am there standing beside you when you write of the Corkscrew and the orchid. I can smell it. Lovely!

Love,
Betty

I haven't been there much this year - it's not due to bloom until late June or early July though last year it bloomed in late March - and I'm hoping for the same this year. Maybe we can have a "Ghost Orchid" meet up when it blooms - and I'll try to get us a bit of press....

Maybe Al could get a Florida gig. Al, if you are religious, my church, Unity of Bonita Springs, gives artists a chance if they have a Unity message in their act. It's a "love offering" for attendees....and the church gets a small cut.

The Unity message is the power of the Christ spirit within; we all have that power and were born to goodness, not evil; we believe in positive affirmation to affirm our belief that God is always with us and all things work together as they should; we believe we only have control over our own reaction to life, not someone elses; and we believe that love is the strongest force in the universe where all things and peoples are connected; we believe in peace and seeking our inner voice through prayer and meditation; every thought is a prayer. Well, I might have botched it up a bit. The fundamentalist Christians consider us heretics; but we have a lot of fallen away Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists anyway.

Mostly, we believe that each person seeks their own spiritual relationship and our little church is a tool for that search.

Thanks, DK, for the heads up. My beliefs, including in Jesus, are unconventional and not suited to the evangelical route. From a few comments Ann made here, I think she and I might be on a similar track.

I traveled for a time in the big band of evangelist Phil Driscoll. His Learjet was paid for with love offerings. Then he got into some trouble with the IRS and the gig was over.