Overlooking the Obvious

The membership of the Southern Indiana Writers Group has changed over the twenty or so years we've been together. Some of us have been there the whole time. Others have left, and new members have joined. So, when I began the rewrite on the book formerly known as Eel's Reverence (first published as Eel's Revenge), I decided I couldn't do better than to take it and read it to the group, a chapter at a time.

I knew that the chances were good that the new members would catch things we missed in our earlier days. Sure enough, one of our long-time members caught something and one of our new members caught something else.

As the title implies, what we had all overlooked (chiefly, of course, me, since it's my little world) were obvious. Things that, once pointed out, made me slap my forehead and go, "Duh!"

The main character is a woman, a priest of Micah, a holy man of legend. The main conflict is between her and the priests of a section of coastline called The Eel, who are mercenary hypocrites. Her spiritual stance and behavior are central to the action. And what did I forget?

She's hidden by a family who had prepared a secret room, certain that a "true" priest would come to them, eventually. And I forgot to have them put an altar in the room.

Although she's always saying to others or thinking to herself about what a priest of Micah would do, she never has an inner dialog with Micah, the way Christians pray to God the Father, Jesus, Mary, or a saint. I could pretend I decided priests of Micah don't do that, but that would be a lie. I just left it out. Didn't think of it. Missed the obvious.

I know why I did it: I was thinking about other parts of the story construction. But that's what rewrites are for, and that's especially what getting new eyes on something is for: reminding us of the obvious things we overlooked in writing and editing and rewriting and revising and reworking. And I still missed the obvious!

Marian Allen, Author Lady
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

Thinking about Thanksgiving

It sounds kind of cheesy, I know, to stop and take note of all that I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. But the thing is that being thankful means being grateful, and gratitude is a healthy thing, especially in an increasingly turbulent and uncertain world. It’s a time when I’m not thinking about what I want or desire to accomplish, but what I have, and when it comes right down to it I have much to be thankful for, personally and professionally.

Of course I’m grateful for my family and my home and my health, and the food on our table. As a person who has sponsored children through the Christian Children’s Fund and reads every Union Gospel Mission newsletter (one of my favorite charities), I’m well aware how many people are going without the essentials on this planet. This fact is constantly with me.

After over thirty years of writing and having my first traditionally published book arrive just six months ago, my gratitude has soared on the writing front. I’m thankful for all of the people in my critique group who’ve come and gone over the years. Everyone one of them has contributed to my life and helped me become a better writer. I’m thankful for my publisher and for the terrific editors I’ve worked with.

I’m thankful for social networking and for the opportunity to let people around the world know that I exist; that I have something to say and want to hear what they have to say. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be able to write full time and to experience the challenges of life as a working, professional writer. I’m thankful to Cheryl Tardif for encouraging me to try blogging about three years ago. 394 blogs later, I’m still enjoying it. And I’m thankful to readers who use their limited and precious time to read and support myself and others. For me, writing has never been about competing, but about supporting one another. And for that I truly am grateful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, now out on paperback at http://tinyurl.com/30dlx64
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Meet Some Talented Friends

If you’re lucky enough to find a supportive and helpful critique group, you’re well ahead of the publishing game. The writers in this photo represent about a third of the members of our Kyle Centre Critique group and everyone is this photo has published a new book this year, from April to September alone! It’s been great fun to watch these works develop over the months, and even years in some cases, or to hear snippets of work brought in simply to read during our windup at the end of each season.

From left to right, these writers are: Julie Ferguson author of Book Magic: Turning Writers into Published Authors; Eileen Kernaghan (this is her 8th book!), author of Wild Talent: a Novel of the Supernatural, Marja Bergen, author of A Firm Place to Stand (a helpful nonfiction work about being bi-polar while maintaining her Christian faith. Yours truly is next, and on my left is Casey Wolf who’s releasing her first collection of short stories called Finding Creatures & Other Stories, and is already receiving terrific reviews. Their books are available on amazon.com.

Congratulations to everyone, and let's keep going!

For excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death visit: http://www.debrapurdykong.com/