Fan Mail

Today I opened my email and found not one, but THREE letters from young people who have been reading my books. Pasted below is one of them, but all three were equally wonderful.

hi.I am obsessed with your books. i just finished kats fall and it was the best book i have ever read. not many books keep me entertained through out the whole book but this one did. i loved it so much and now i am reading dancing naked and so far i love it. my mom and brother went to one of your workshop things and bought some of your books so when im done dancing naked i will read sun sighns. i just thought you should know that i loved you book and you should never ever stop writing because you have an amazing talent as a writer.from your #1 fan

I wish I could reach out and hug these girls. These letters mean SO much to me. As authors, we send our new books out into the world without any idea of how they will be received. Even in fiction we feel that we are exposing our souls to the world through our writing, and we wonder how the world will respond. There is always a long, painful 'nothingness' when they are first launched, and we think.... is anyone reading it? Do they hate it? And then the professional reviews start dribbling in. When they're good you want to scream Hallelujah! and dance naked in the moonlight. When they're bad you feel practically suicidal. There's nothing like waiting for reviews to expose your every insecurity. Anne Lamott describes the feeling perfectly in her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. It's a 'must read' for all new writers.

It wasn't until I took up writing myself that it ever occurred to me to write and tell an author what their book meant to me. I have now written about a dozen fan-mail type letters to authors. I should have written dozens more. The professional reviews tell us what professional critics think of our stories, but hearing from our actual targeted audience is SO much better. I have a binder full of letters similar to the one above, and on those days when the writing is not going well and I wonder why I even bother... I just have to pull out the binder, read the letters, and I find the inspiration to continue writing.

Let's not stop at just telling authors how much we enjoyed their books. Let's tell our neighbours how much we enjoy gazing at their gardens, or the check-out clerk at the grocery store how we always choose their aisle because of their great smile or a special teacher how they inspire us. So often we assume that other people know what their strengths are, but we all need reminders. Go on. Do it. Make someone's day.

Namaste

A True Story

The above photos were taken by my daughter, Cara. (Isn't she clever? The black background in the 2nd picture is simply a black t-shirt. Brilliant.) The top one is of a hemp bead bracelet that my publisher is distributing with review copies of my new book, Gotcha!. The bottom one is of the actual book. As I've said before in this blog, I am so pleased with this cover art. Orca Books could not have done a better job of packaging my story. Now I just have to worry about whether the story is worthy of the packaging.

That leads me into the true story part of this post.

An artist, a musician and a writer were relaxing over cups of coffee after their yoga class. They were discussing 'completed projects'.

The artist said, "When I look at my completed paintings, I always want to reach for a paintbrush and rework parts of the painting."

The writer said, "As I do readings from my books, I realize how stupid the story is, and how badly written!"

The musician said, "When I put out a CD, I have to perfom the songs on it over and over again. With each performance I can only hear all the mistakes and wish I could redo the original tracks."

Okay, I'm paraphrasing. But the conversation did go something like that.

I guess it's human nature. I have never hosted a dinner party where, after the guests have all gone home, I didn't dwell on the meal's shortcoming rather than on what was good about it. In my garden I can only see where something is lacking, rather than what looks fabulous. Even in my author presentations, when all is said and done, it's what I forgot to include in the presentation that haunts me, not what went well.

The exception to this rule is with my daughters. When I look at them I can only see their strengths. They are each so close to perfection that sometimes it takes my breath away. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, their messy bedrooms drive me CRAZY, the 'borrowing' of each others things borders on 'theft' but these things are minor in the big picture. They really are amazing young women.

There is a huge difference in being proud of our art and of our children. Our children are creating themselves. We can only guide them. In some ways that is true of our art. I'm sure that both my artist and musician friends would claim that their art guides them, just as my writing takes me to places I never expected. What we set out to paint, write, compose is not anything like the final product. However, I do believe we have more control over our artistic creations than we do our children. No, I don't think we do, I know we do.

I'm not even sure why I'm comparing the two. Maybe because it's Valentine's Day and public expressions of love are in order. I hope my girls each know how much they are cherished. I also hope that all my artist, musician and writer friends can learn to be satisfied and proud of their creations. I know I'm working on it.

Namaste

Celebrating Teachers

Last week I had the honour of speaking to two classes at Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver. What a treat it was!

I have done hundreds of presentations over the past 10 years and I have enjoyed them all, but some stand out as better than others. My presentation at Handsworth was one of my most enjoyable ever and I believe that was due to the prep work done by the Librarian and English teachers before my arrival. Many of the students had read my books and they all knew I was coming to the school. The librarian had gone to the extra trouble of making sure there were additional copies of my books available, borrowed from neighbouring schools. Many of the students came armed with great questions, and I knew immediately that their English teachers were exemplary.

At the end of my presentation a couple students stayed behind to chat with me about my books. I always appreciate speaking with students one on one. The last person to leave the room was a young man who told me he also attends the Unitarian Church. I could tell he'd been listening carefully because I'd only mentioned in passing my connection with that church, but I'm so glad he hung back to say hello to a fellow Unitarian.

As I walked away from the school at the end of my session, I realized that I'd forgotten to clarify to the students the point of my presentation. I know it's unlikely that many of them will pursue careers in writing, but I hope the message of perseverance came through loud and clear. My path to becoming a published author was often discouraging, filled with rejection letters, but I persevered, continuing to practise my craft until I finally found success. It's the same with any dream. If you chip away at it long enough, you, too, will find success.

The Handsworth group clearly had a great sense of humour, too. One student asked if I found it 'creepy' that his teacher had researched my books and stumbled across my blog. Just to reiterate, no, I don't think it's creepy. I think it's wonderful! And I haven't forgotten the promised dinner out, either. :)

Namaste

Shelley

* The picture of Sir Winston by Cara is dedicated to the Handworth students who liked the last picture of him.

Christmas Aftermath

(photo by Cara)

I've always wished that the spirit of generosity and goodwill that surrounds us at Christmas could somehow be harnessed and spread out over the whole year. I love the following poem.

The Work of Christmas


When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart

(Howard Thurman)

Finding joy in a Safeway lineup

The smallest things always bring me the greatest joy.

Today at Safeway I noticed that both the person in front of me AND the person behind me were each carrying their own shopping bags.

Then I looked at the check-out counters on either side of me and the customers there had also brought their own bags.

I know it sounds silly, but I felt a surge of happiness rush through me. A year ago I rarely saw anyone else with their own bags and many of the cashiers groaned when they saw mine as they are a little more difficult to pack. (They don't fit over the hooks that hold the plastic bags open.)

I have a long way to go to reach environmental sainthood, but it's nice to feel less alone in my efforts.

A few days ago I read of a New Year's Poll that was taken this year, asking people about their resolutions. The most common answer was that people were going to try to be more environmentally aware when shopping this year. This came BEFORE losing weight, quitting smoking, working out etc. The greatest percentage of people were looking outside themselves. Halleluah!

Earlier today I was at my mom's apartment, visiting. She told me she saw a story on the news that said if each person used one less paper napkin each day there would be a significant positive impact on our forests. I reminded her that I'd been harping on this for years. She knew that but thought I'd be interested to know that it was finally 'newsworthy'.

The picture above is of Winston, my dog, frollicking in the snow over Christmas. He finds joy in small things too.

Namaste

Cover Art - Yahoo!

Here's a sneak preview of the cover art for my spring book, Gotcha. Isn't it gorgeous??!! I didn't know it was even completed, but Kim Denman from my writing group accidentally stumbled across it when she was looking for something on the Orca Books website. What is especially exciting is that all three of us from our writing group have spring books coming out, and she discovered the cover art for each of them. It was exciting to see our new 'babies' at the same time. (For some reason I can't expand the size of the photo for this post but I'll post it again when I can.)

Seeing the cover art for my books is always such a thrill. The book suddenly becomes real. Until now it was just a story, a stack of manuscript pages, but now I can see that it really is going to become a book. And I especially like this cover. It is perfect. I have no input into what goes onto the covers of my book, so it's always a relief when I like them.

This feels like a good omen for 2008.

To all my friends ~ I you wish loving connections, creative inspiration and meaningful work for 2008.

Namaste.

Dancing in the Rain

I'm a quote junkie. Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time has probably figured that out. Quotes are sprinkled throughout my novels. I keep a journal filled with my favourite ones. How I admire those thoughtful people who can capture the essence of a wise idea in a pithy line or two.

A couple favourite quotes have helped me find direction in recent days.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain. (author unknown.)

My mother is dealing with difficult health issues right now and making decisions on how best to care for her has consumed all my waking hours for much of the past few months. I keep telling myself that I'll resume the rest of my life once this 'storm' has passed but it's now dawning on me that this situation isn't going to blow over like a storm does. It's here to stay, in one form or another. It's time for me to learn to dance in the rain, to care for my mother and continue with my own projects. Now that I have given myself permission to do that, I'm back to mulling over an idea I have for my next book. So far I have imagined the characters. I have imagined the problem they are facing, their 'internal conflict'. I even know (sort of) what the outcome of the story will be. What I have yet to decide is whose voice will tell the story and what external conflicts there will be, those events that run parallel to the internal struggles.

Here's a quote that describes this exact place that I'm at with this project.

"No one but an artist knows the peculiar delight of being summoned by a work which, as yet unborn, lies with all its potential undisclosed within the dormant darkness of the creating heart. (Mr. Golightly's Holiday)

I have yet to type one word of this book, but I am definitely being 'summoned' by it. It's an exciting place to be at. The hard work has yet to come.

And one last quote, which I think explains why so many of us forward on inspirational pieces via email, or, like me, forward our favourite quotes.

"If you find something good share it with anyone you can find. In that way the goodness will spread, no telling how far it will go." (Forest Carter, The Education of the Little Tree)

Namaste

Shelley

The photo above was taken from www.exploredance.com/fashion81003.php