Just what I didn't know I needed

I'm at Operation Awesome today talking about the things only a writer's spouse/best friend can understand, the hidden meanings behind the words we say about our writing. It's definitely a special relationship when you find someone who understands and supports your writing.

In fact, it was probably one of those deal-breakers for me, even though I didn't know it when I first met my husband. I wasn't actively writing at all. He read some of my journals, something we shared when we were getting to know each other. He said I had a unique way to write (voice), and he felt like he was reading a story. After that, he encouraged me to write, told me he believed I could get published. Sometimes I wonder if he regrets that encouragement just a little bit now. ;) But he still offers encouraging words, six years later, when I feel like I want to give up on my writing goals.

Like I said, I didn't know at the time how important it was for me to marry someone who supported my desire to write. The magic is that Bill encouraged it even when it wasn't something I was actively pursuing, wasn't something I wore on my sleeve. He reached into my soul, saw a writer there, and coaxed her out.

When our kids get to dating age, my advice to them will be this: find people who care enough to see your talents even when you're not showing them off. And find people who encourage you to go all-in, follow your dreams, and do what makes you happy.

Being married to any kind of artist has to be a challenge, but I'm grateful to my husband for taking a chance on me and investing so much of his love (and patience) to help me grow into a better version of myself. I hope I can reciprocate that at every turn, help him live out his dreams, too. Even if we never get our loftiest dreams, I know the journey has already been well worth it.

Happy Writing, everyone!

Dreams and Bestsellers

I have weird dreams. I'm not worried. As far as I know, all of you have weird dreams, too. Which makes weird normal, in this case. Last week I dreamed about being part of a literary agent team. It was awesome. My kids were in the dream, of course, because any dream where I go back into the workforce would have to take them into account. I left them happily with a caregiver and went to an exciting meeting with a group of other literary agents. We had a book we couldn't wait to sell.

It was an awesome dream.

The next night, I dreamed about Alan Tudyk, or as I know him from recently finishing Joss Whedon's DOLLHOUSE, Alpha. But in my dream, Alpha wasn't scary at all. He was just a little crazy and sad. My dream character (because it definitely wasn't me) found herself fighting against some invisible organization that wanted us all dead. My partner in crime was some tall brown-haired guy I've never seen in my life. I'm going to assume he represented my husband (tall, dark-haired, and handsome). :)

Being a writer, I woke from each dream with book ideas. Maybe this happens to you, too.

You just can't ignore a dream that could give you THE IDEA, like Stephenie Meyer and her sparkling vampire dream about why Edward wanted to eat Bella but just plain couldn't.

So I woke up and scribbled out an outline in chapter titles and 2,000 words of intro. Good idea? Probably not, considering I'm only 15-20k away from finishing my current work in progress (or maybe I should say I'm all of 15-20k away). Sometimes it seems I'll be done with this book tomorrow. Other days, it seems I could take another whole month.

But the dream was so shiny and fresh, I just had to record the feel of it!

What do you think? Odds of your dreams becoming bestsellers? How often do dreams derail your WIP progress?

Dreaming of rejection...

Last month, I was catching up on my favorite agent blogs when I came across a funny story about an aspiring author actually dreaming about her dream agent. I thought, You know you're in too deep when you're dreaming about agents offering representation.

Imagine my surprise when I woke this morning with a vague memory of this: I dreamed I stumbled into an agent in my apartment complex parking lot. Two other agents appeared next to her and they started commiserating over "these clumsy authors." lol. Come to find out, one of them lives two doors down in my building! (not true, btw, just a dream) My dream-self giddily plotted another accidental run-in to fix the terrible first impression.

Then my seven-month-old's crying woke me from bizzarro-world, thank goodness.

Even in my dreams, I'm working through rejection. The funny thing is that I'm not actually submitting right now. A fresh look at my work made me realize it needs extensive revision. That, and I'm knee-deep in a writing project I like better. So why am I dreaming of rejection? All I can think is that my brain is trying to process all the snarky and benevolent publishing advice I'm reading on the blogosphere.

I just hope tomorrow night's processing at least ends in an offer of representation.