Dear Friend,
Wanna feel old quickly?
Have someone ask you about “classics.”
Classics, as in old model cars: Do you get excited about cars from the ‘50s, like a Yellow ’57 Chevy Belair? or
A classic from the ‘90s, the Mazda MX-5 Miata, with pop-up headlights and rear wheel drive handling?
OR
Does your mind immediately bounce to “classics,” as in books that were from ‘way before anyone now alive knew how to read? Authored by: Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, A.A. Milne, Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), Barbara Cartland or
A more modern “classic” like works by Jack Finney, Michael Crichton, Nora Roberts, Dr. Seuss, or Harper Lee?
OR
Do you love listening to the “oldies,” classics from the ’60s–like The Beatles, Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors? or
Recent popular artists like Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift?
Whatever your preferences, I’m sure some of your enjoyment comes from what was happening in your life at the time you heard the song. Does it make you feel young again, or very old? It’s all in how you decide to remember it.
One memory I have from my earlier life was sitting in a car, instead of being at the dance I’d supposedly come for. The dance, sparsely attended, was boring. We sat in that car talking about everything, and nothing. A Moody Blues song filters in my head, a slow, sad song, “Go Now,” which set the tone for the whole evening. We were bored and wanted to go now, but it was much earlier than we asked our rides to arrive to take us home. So, we waited. (There were no cell phones back then.) Years later, I heard The Moody Blues in concert and the song hit me with visceral memories, crammed in a car with five other people, the car running with the heater on, since it was a chilly night. The melancholy feeling came back to me many years later!
Since I’ve been writing books, and in all my writing, I strive to be evocative, using words that create memories. I’ve been working on Randy’s Dilemma, which was going to be easy! A short piece about the younger brother of my main female character. But Randy turned out to be a complex person who took over the book. And just getting close to the absolute final chapter, I woke up today with a twist that needed to be included that would involve all the main characters and change the story’s ending dramatically! I resisted. I told my husband about the new ending, and he encouraged me not to go in that direction.
“Finish the book he said!”
“I need to include this, but I’ll try to go the original way.”
But at some point, I found myself in the middle of a paragraph, and it was leading my story to the twist with the new ending. Honestly, I could not stop what I was writing.
I needed to write the new ending because it was truthful, dramatic, and a little scary. In the end, I see it as showing how my best characters work together, even though they had other things to do, lived in different places, and weren’t sure if it might lead to trouble. Ultimately, it will bring our new couple together in a way even a wedding would not have done.
And I hope you’ll stay with me as I work through the last section of Randy’s Dilemma. It will be worth the wait−I promise!
The one downside is with this added length, I may not have this ready for your reading pleasure by the end of this month. It takes time to edit, proof, format, and get the cover and all the front and back matter–which includes two great recipes–completed.
Bear with me! This is going to be a classic that you will want to keep. Sacrifice (not the ugly grotesque kind–just people selflessly giving up something they really wanted), caring, love, commitment, reunions, and romance, I’ll have tied up in a gorgeous bow (something I’m not good at accomplishing for gift wrapping, but in this instance, it all comes together beautifully.)
This also reminds me, that if you need a speaker for a group or an inspiring podcast guest, I’d be happy to discuss that.
Contact me: Shelley@ShelleySommers.com
Next week, I hope to have the book completely written, edited, and proofed. Then I’ll accomplish the formatting, so I can provide the page count for the cover designer who needs it to know how wide the paperback book’s spine should be. (Math formula. . . math in real life!) Then, when the cover’s done, I do one final review, so the book is as perfect as it needs to be. It’s an arduous process, especially if you’re mostly doing it yourself.
Tune in next week to learn about my progress!
May all your projects get completed on time and as perfectly as possible,
Hugs,
Shelley
PS I usually end with a “Reader’s Question.” Did I make you laugh, remind you of great memories, etc.? Send me comments on this blog to: Shelley@ShelleySommers.com
