02.06.10
In the Zone
I thought being in the zone was an appropriate topic since it’s Superbowl weekend and everyone is thinking about End Zones.
While I’m not quite in the end zone of Waterlily, the second book in my Maple Valley trilogy, I’m deep into revisions, writing new scenes, getting to know my characters better and making great progress – in the zone.
A writer I greatly admire from my just Cherry Writers critique group, Robin LaFevers, once led an online workshop where she asked us to identify our character’s greatest fears. What is he or she afraid of? Then, what is he or she really afraid of. Then, what is he or she REALLY, REALLY afraid of? Discovering these often hidden truths about your characters speaks to their motivation, helps you understand what they might do or how they might respond to situations, and can lead to the black moment, when they come face to face with their biggest fear. (Forgive me, Robin, if I’m misquoting you.)
This morning, while laying in bed thinking, then later, talking to my husband, I finally put my finger on what Michelle’s greatest fear is. Now, I hope to make the black moment reflect her deepest insecurity. Waterlily will be a better book because of it.
I also wrote a scene last night that I think is one of my best ever – clear protagonist, antagonist, goals, value change – it meets all the criterion, and it’s funny, too. I read it out loud to my husband last night and we were both cracking up so hard I couldn’t continue.
Is writing seasonal, like winter, spring, summer and fall – like football, baseball, or basketball seasons? Are there times when the words flow, when a flood of new ideas washes over you, and conversely, are there times when the well seems completely dry?
Whatever the triggers might be for me (I’m not sure I fully know or understand why this varies so much for me), I’m certainly glad I’m in THE ZONE. And for what it’s worth, I’ll probably be typing the whole time the Superbowl is on TV.
Here’s hoping your team wins!
01.29.10
Stormy Weather Contest
Stormy Weather Contest – Check It Out!
1. Sherrie worries about her sex scenes being too steamy because she:
A. is an old-fashioned girl at heart.
B. is married to a pastor and is afraid of what the church ladies will say.
C. has Baptist relatives who frown upon such things.
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above. Why worry? Be happy.
2. Sherrie’s response to the question, “Have any of the scenes in your books really happened?” would most likely be:
A. “Yes, but I’ll never tell which ones.”
B. “My books are works of fiction in their entirety. Any similarities to real people, situations, or events are purely coincidental.”
C. “Of course not. If I really had gone skinny-dipping, do you think I’d actually tell anyone about it?”
D. All of the above – depends on whether or not her mother is in the room.
3. Sherrie has lived in all of the following places except:
A. Bar Harbor, Maine
B. Lawton, Oklahoma
C. Colorado Springs, Colorado
D. Albert Lea, Minnesota
E. Wheaton, Illinois
F. Augsburg, Germany
4. When traveling to castles in Scotland, the beach in California, and a cabin in northern Minnesota, Sherrie takes along __________ so she can write whenever the mood hits her.
A. her AlphaSmart
B. a moleskin journal given to her by a dear friend
C. a plain steno notepad and a sharp pencil
D. a cute notepad with cherubs on top and a quill pen
E. a state of the art MacBook Pro.
5. Sherrie belongs to a great writing / critique group called:
A. Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Alpha Writers.
B. just Cherry Writers. (formerly known as Jenny’s Cherry Writers)
C. Romance Writer’s of America Elite Critique Group.
D. Very Berry Writers.
E. Juicy Romance Novelists, Inc.
F. The Rainbow Connection at gather.com
6. Sherrie can hardly wait until the next book in the __________ series comes out.
A. Diana Gabaldon Outlander
B. J.K. Rowling Harry Potter
C. Debbie Macomber Blossom Street
D. Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum
E. Sue Grafton Alphabet
7. Sherrie has read every book ever written by all of the following authors except:
A. LaVyrle Spencer
B. Jennifer Crusie
C. Sandra Brown
D. Pamela Morsi
E. Jill Marie Landis
F. Susan Elizabeth Phillips
8. In addition to writing, Sherrie keeps busy doing all of the following except:
A. playing the piano at church.
B. running a bed and breakfast and tea house, the Blue Belle Inn.
C. fishing at her cabin on the lake.
D. taking her two young nieces on weekly adventures .
E. planning her next European vacation.
F. watching the latest episode of Big Break on the Golf Channel.
9. Night and Day, the title of Sherrie’s first book, refers to:
A. Midnight in Milwaukee and Daybreak in Delaware.
B. a romance between a night watchman and the host of an early morning talk show whose paths cross for a few seconds each morning.
C. Midnight in Minnesota and Daybreak in Denmark.
D. a romantic dance to Frank Sinatra’s hit song, “Night and Day”.
E. Midnight in Manhattan and Daybreak in New Delhi.
10. In Stormy Weather, Sherrie’s new release, one of the main characters is:
A. a well-known meteorologist.
B. a reckless storm chaser who fears nothing.
C. terrified of tornadoes.
D. haunted by childhood memories of a blizzard that claimed the life of her mother and father.
E. a cute young weathergirl who does the evening news for the local television station.
01.27.10
Stormy Weather – Flash Flood? – Heat Wave?
My latest release, Stormy Weather, is the first in a trilogy about three sisters – Rachael, Michelle, and Tracy Jones. I am heavy into revisions on the second in the series – Waterlily, and hope it will be released in June of this year. Tracy’s book, Merry Go Round, will hopefully be ready by the end of 2010.
While there is no single plot that weaves the three books together (a la Nora Roberts) or unresolved cliffhangers left dangling from book to book (a la Debbie Macomber), there are repeat appearances by the sisters, their parents, and a few, key secondary characters in each of the books, and character arcs that span the entire series. While each book stands alone, my hope is that once people become invested in the Jones family, they will want to read all three books.
Writing a trilogy has been fun – I know the family well by now. It’s easier to get into the characters since many of them were introduced in the first book. On the down side, I’ve needed to look up all kinds of names and other little details to be sure they are the same from book to book (which I expected). Aside from that, character consistency has been my biggest challenge – does Rae’s voice sound the same in Waterlily as it did in Stormy Weather? Her role in the family and status in life has changed a great deal by the time Waterlily opens. (I don’t want to give away the ending, should you not have read Stormy Weather.) But I wonder, should her voice reflect those changes? Is she more cynical now? Softer? More content? Less snarky than she was at the beginning of her book?
The other thing that has really started to bother me is that the names of my three books are totally unrelated. My plan has always been to have the covers of the books be linked by their style: a photo on top, and a quilt block on the bottom. Stormy Weather has a photo of a rainbow in a stormy sky on top and a rainbow quilt block on the bottom. I’ve got a wonderful photo of a water lily to use on the top of Waterlily’s cover, and I plan to make a quilt block with a pink waterlily blossoming in a pond of watercolor hues for the bottom. I just found the perfect photo for the top of Merry Go Round – an old-fashioned carousel horse, taken by one of my friends from Gather. (Thank you, Rose!) The quilt on the bottom will be some sort of a spinning pin wheel design in rich pastels to match the horse’s finery.
So, if I have a common theme in the design of the book covers, do you think the names of the books still need to be related? I’m curious to see if you think this is a problem.
I love the way Nora Roberts weaves together the titles of her trilogies – my favorite of her trios are titled Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, and Heart of the Sea. Some of her series are even more obviously linked – Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame, or Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, Key of Valor.
In Lyn Cote’s Women of Ivy Manor series, each book is named – simply and elegantly – after the main character: Bette, Chloe, Leigh, and Carly.
In Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cover series, each book is named after the street address of the main character, with each sequential book having a house number one number higher. (16 Lighthouse Road, 204 …, 311…, 44…, 50…, 6…, 74…, 8…, 92 Pacific Boulevard.) Then there are the Dakota series, and the Blossom Street series, also cleverly named to alert the reader that these books are continuations of a series.
Since it’s too late for me to change the name of Stormy Weather to Rachael, if I want the titles of my trilogy to be in sync, I’m left with the option of somehow tying the names of the remaining two books to something weather related.
I refuse to do something so obvious as Stormy Weather, Cold Weather, and Hot Weather, so…
The imagery in waterlily is tied to water (Michelle has a lily pond, Jake is a championship swimmer, Michelle is too self-conscious to be seen in a swimming suit, a pivotal scene occurs in the water, under the camouflage of a new moon). The book could conceivably be called Starry, Starry Night, Trace of Moisture, Rainy Days and Mondays, Scattered Showers, Summer Solstice, Moon Shadow, Misty in the Moonlight…
In Merry Go Round, Tracy’s entire world is turned on end (an atmospheric inversion?) when her husband, a pastor, and the father of their three children, leaves her for another man. I can think of a few weather-related terms that might work for a title in this case, too: Total Eclipse of the Heart (yes, I’m sensing a theme here – I like the names of songs) , Unstable Air, Updraft, Wind Shift, Whirlwind, Heat Wave…
Since I’m still working on both the second and third book in the trilogy, I could weave in the needed imagery to make any of these new names work.
Thoughts? Ideas? Leave well-enough alone? What are your expectations as a reader when you begin a trilogy?
If you’re a writer – have you ever had to change the title of your book at the last minute? If so, how did it impact your work?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
01.22.10
California Dreamin’, On Such A Winter’s Day…
Two days ago (it seems like an eternity), my husband and I returned from a wonderful vacation to California. Not quite two weeks ago, we left northern Iowa a day early to narrowly escape a good, old-fashioned blizzard (22 below zero temperatures, 50 below zero wind chills, zero visibility due to 45 mph wind gusts) The day we flew out of the northern tundra otherwise know as Minneapolis, we peered out frosted-over hotel windows and could barely see across the parking lot. Our shuttle slipped and careened on the snow-covered interstate on the short trip to the airport.
A few hours later, we were walking around in short-sleeved shirts and sandals. Our jackets, wool scarves and mittens were shed, and instead of crunching along on white, snow-covered sidewalks, we found ourselves in a green citrus grove plucking fresh oranges, tangerines and lemons from the trees, peeling them, and popping them into our mouths. A couple of days later, we were on the beach, walking barefoot along the shoreline and picking up shells while the sun set over the Pacific.
Thanks to the fast speed of today’s airplanes, and the severity of our winter as contrasting the balmy temperatures out West, the change from Minnesota to California was so abrupt I almost felt like I was on an episode of Star Trek, Next Generation, where the crew regularly visited a holodeck, or simulated reality facility, for recreational purposes, to experience a different culture or period of history, or even to fulfill a fantasy.
Whether a brief escapade in the holodeck or a week or two at the beach, a good vacation can pick you up from one place and set you down in another, relieving stress, providing laughter and relaxation, and giving you a much need change of scenery.
So can a good book.
When I was young, my family took some wonderful vacations – to Florida, The Black Hills, Lake Superior, and the Rocky Mountains. But most of the many things and places I knew about at the young age of nine or ten, I had learned of not from seeing them with my own eyes, but from reading books.
One of the compliments about my books (Night and Day, and Stormy Weather, Second Wind Publishing) that pleases me most is hearing that my readers were so engrossed while reading that they felt like they were right there, in the book, living and feeling whatever the characters were experiencing.
Although the current trend in writing is not to write lengthy descriptions, I love a book where I can picture the characters and surroundings in such detail that I feel like I’m magically transported to their corner of the universe, feeling what they feel, seeing the world, whether it be Victorian, modern, or futuristic, through their eyes… a vacation from my own troubles without the frustration of lengthy waits at airports, lost suitcases, and expensive room reservations.
Is there a writer whose words have such a strong impact on your senses that you literally feel like you’re transported to another time and place when you’re reading their books? If so, what is it about their style of writing that makes the fictional world in their books seem so real?
01.06.10
Stormy Weather… the Latest Forecast
Once again, Stormy Weather is impacting my life. Last week, a winter storm (ice, sleet, freezing rain, snow, winds) almost kept my husband and I apart on Christmas. This week, another is threatening our long lusted after vacation.
We’ve had this trip planned – a visit to Visalia, Cayucos, and Glendora California to see friends and family – for months. We checked out the extended forecast a week ago and breathed a sigh of relief when the weather sounded passable for the day we were scheduled to fly from Minneapolis to Bakersfield. We asked my parents to drive us to the airport. Everything was a go – we couldn’t wait to escape the frigid, 50 below zero windchills and two feet of snow that has inundated northern Iowa this winter.
- My B&B – the place we are trying to escape.
You can imagine our dismay when well-meaning friends informed us that the revised forecast features a winter storm warning – 5 to0 8 inches of fresh snow, winds in excess of 25 mph, near white-out conditions, blowing and drifting snow with blizzard-like periods expected – starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing on until Thursday night. We are supposed to fly out of St. Paul Thursday afternoon, right in the middle of the fray. The airport is two hours from our home – a nice, mellow drive in good weather – a nightmare in near white-out conditions.
So… What possessed me to write a book called Stormy Weather in the first place, I have started to wonder of late… ever since this book came out, my life has been nothing but. A cruel twist of fate? Is Mother Nature mad at me for speaking out about things best left alone? Is God mad at me for making the sex scenes too steamy, something a good girl / pastor’s wife like me really ought not do?
If you have the answer, let me know!
In the meantime… what to do about all this Stormy Weather? Adapt, I guess… we are leaving for the airport a day early, tomorrow morning, in hopes of beating the storm. The plan is to book a room in St. Paul where we can leave our car while we’re gone, and hoping our flight is on schedule the next day so we don’t end up stranded in Minnesota, where the forecast is continued sub-zero temperatures.
We’ve been California Dreaming for months… sandy beaches, warm ocean breezes, barefoot in the sand, Catalina Island romance, tropical paradise type weather… you get the picture. We need this break from the lung-searing cold, frozen tundra, snow and ice everywhere Midwest.
Assuming we get there, we hope to encounter no Stormy Weather in California. (Did you hear that, God?)
- A California sunset I witnessed from a friend’s deck while visiting last year.
We really need a rest from all this turbulence… a little smooth sailing would be nice. Red skies at night, sailor’s delight… Please??? I’m taking my Alpha Smart. My husband is dragging the laptop along so I can work on Waterlily. Smooth-petaled, tucked in still waters, sunshine-drenched waterlilies… ah, yes… no ice, no snow. waterlilies… Coming soon if I get my way…
12.27.09
Blessings and the Blues
In this year’s Christmas letter, I said, “I am now a published author of two books, Night and Day, and Stormy Weather – a most wonderful happening, squeezed in between daily stresses that do not go away simply because something extraordinary has happened.”
Being published is certainly a dream come true for me. I’ve signed more than 800 copies of Night and Day – To dreams come true, Sherrie Hansen (with a flourish under my name).
So why is it, when our dreams finally come true… when we finally find the pot of gold at the rainbow… the experience often isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?
As a single woman, I was convinced that when I met Mr. Right, all my problems would mysteriously vanish. I would lose all the weight that I had gained over the years because I had no one to hold me, no one to be with. My financial woes would disappear, my sorrows would simply go away, and my frustrations would evaporate, so wrought with great joy and extraordinary sex my life would be.
As all of you old married couples tried to tell me, being part of a couple comes with its own set of challenges, and that’s not even taking step-children into account!
When the economy is in a down cycle, I console myself with dreams that this or that politician or promise or occurrence or happening will make everything all better again. My troubles will all fly-away, and I’ll be in the money again. Then, everything will be wonderful.
As a yet-to-be published author, I told myself much the same little white lies. Being published was all I needed to make me happy. If I only had the affirmation of knowing my work was worthy of publication, I would be satisfied. All I needed is to hear is that someone likes my book, and then everything would be okay.
Don’t get me wrong – being published is a wonderful feeling. Hearing from readers who like my books and can’t wait to read more is a joyful, unparalleled thing.
So why is it that this year, of all years, I have a royal case of the holiday blues?
Perhaps it is because my back is out, I’m estranged from my 19 year old step-son, and I’m still faced with frustrating circumstances on a near daily basis as I struggle to juggle a time-consuming business, family, friends, husband, church, and now, a blossoming writing career with it’s own set of demands. Perhaps it’s because I’m in my 50’s and my body, both physically and emotionally, is changing, falling apart, failing me.
Perhaps it’s because I’m still deluding myself, thinking that any one occurrence can make me happy.
Perhaps its because I keep forgetting to count my many blessings, name them one by one… Perhaps it’s because I am a blue belle living in a blue house, when I should be out painting the town pink, or green or yellow or even purple, looking up, seeing rainbows.
The pot of gold may be ever elusive, but the rainbows, ah, the rainbows… the rainbows always keep me looking up.
What about you? Have you ever achieved a goal, then found it less than satisfying? Are you singing the blues this Christmas or swinging from a chandelier as you ring in the New Year? Have you found the secret of happiness? Contentment in any circumstance? I’d love to hear your thoughts…
The author is in, and signing copies of her latest release. Keep looking up! Sherrie Hansen (with a flourish under my name.)
11.28.09
Sunshine and Joy After Rain
In my newly released book, Stormy Weather, several pivotal storms wreak havoc in the lives of the main characters, Rae, Luke, and Mac, both literally and figuratively. Stormy Weather is a romance, so it will come as no surprise that it has a happy ending – the sunshine and joy after the rain, to quote the words of an old song, or if you prefer, the rainbow after the storm.
Anyone who saw “The Wizard of Oz” knows that “somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue.” Had it not been for the tornado that hit Dorothy’s drab, Kansas world, she never would have traveled to the wonderful land of Oz, nor learned to appreciate her precious Auntie Em’s love, or that there’s “no place like home.”
Like everyone, my life has had many bittersweet moments. The very day my first book, Night and Day, was released, I had surgery to remove a recurrence of skin cancer and ended up with a 4″ scar on my neck that left my head cocked to one side for about three weeks. One of the proudest and most exciting moments of my life; and I looked and felt so terrible that I wasn’t able to celebrate or promote the book until some time later. On top of that, the recession had finally come to the Midwest, and I was tense and worried about the repercussions to my business and those of friends and family.
Two other times in my life come to mind as well… on my wedding day, almost 6 years ago, my back was out, and I was so stiff and sore that my friend had to lift my feet into the car to drive me to the church. Due to another medical condition, I was in excruciating pain during much of our dream vacation to Scotland 3 years ago. The term “grin and bear” it took on a whole new meaning.
These incidents are nothing compared to the heartbreak many of you have endured or are going though right now.
Yet, much as these temporary storms may have marred or impeded my enjoyment of some of the most precious and pleasurable days of my life, as always, clouds do dissipate, sunshine reappears, and joy is to be found on the other side of the rainbow. My husband, the pastor, is quick to add that a house built of the solid rock of Jesus Christ will withstand the worst of storms.
Is there a time in your life that you’ve experience joy in the midst of a storm? Sunshine after the rain? A rainbow so unexpected and lovely that you find yourself thinking the fray was almost worth it just to have experience that one blessed moment in time?
You’ll have to read Stormy Weather to experience the moment when Rae’s worst nightmare coincides with an event so profound that it will change her entire life.
I hope, as you read about what happens to Rae, that your faith will be restored – that you will be able to see through the wind and rain and sleet and snow that’s pommeling you to the blue skies on the other side of the rainbow, to experience the sunshine and joy awaiting you.
I hope to see you there!
11.27.09
Second Wind Publishing Writer’s Retreat
I finally downloaded my photos from the past two months and found a great photo of the authors and writers that attended the Writers Retreat we hosted at the Blue Belle Inn in October. Best of all, I’m not in the photo! Looking at it brings back fond memories of a wonderful weekend in which I was privileged to meet fellow Second Wind authors Christine Husom, Norm Brown, and Amy DeTrempe.
We had a great time learning more about writing, and watching a murder mystery, Next of Kin, by Haley productions.
11.06.09
Stormy Weather – How Do You React When A Storm is Headed Your Way?
On my birthday, when I was 10 years old, my parents let me invite 6 girlfriends over for a bunking party. My friends rode home with me on the school bus that cold, February afternoon, not knowing that a blizzard was bearing down on southern Minnesota, or that it would be almost four days before we would be plowed out and able to get the girls home. By the end of the four days, three of the girls had decided they didn’t like me, and preferred to be friends with my younger sister, Becky. The other three stayed loyal to me – the battles we had must have driven my parents crazy.
After that, it didn’t matter whether or not the buses were running on the country roads or how deep the drifts in the driveway were – my Dad would put us all in the pick-up and barrel down the road to town – whatever it took to get us out of the house and into town for school. If there was any way to avoid it, there was no way he and my mother were going to be stranded at home with four cranky, overly-energetic kids, ever again.
That was my first memorable experience with Stormy Weather, and the havoc it can wreak.
Since then, I’ve had to drive in sleet, through white-outs, and on sheets of glare ice. I’ve experienced floods, straight winds, and hail storms.
I’ve been on a mountain during a lightning storm, and headed to the basement with the tornado sirens blaring too many times to count.
In my soon-to-be-published, second book, Stormy Weather, Rachael Jones is caught up in a maelstrom of wild weather that acts as a catalyst for everything that’s good and bad and uncertain in her life. Focusing on Stormy Weather, and how different people react to it, has made me think about the rough patches in my own life, and how I’ve dealt with them.
When a tornado threatens your world, do you cower in the basement with your arms over your head until the storm has passed, or do you head out with the storm chasers in hopes that you’ll get some good photos of the phenomenon?
In my husband’s sermon a couple of weeks ago, Paul gave thanks for the storm that left them shipwrecked on the Island of Malta, where he was able to share the Good News with the islanders who rescued them.
When your life is beset by a rash of stormy weather, do you become bitter and cynical, even blame God, like Rachael does, or like Mac, do you believe that everything unfolds the way it’s meant to, that all things work together for good, that golden opportunities – even rainbows – are born out of even the most adverse situations…?
Does Stormy Weather terrify or excite you? How do you cope when the sky unleashes it’s fury on your little corner of the world?
“A storm is brewing, and as usual, Rachael Jones is in the middle of the fray. If the local banker succeeds in bulldozing the Victorian houses she’s trying to save, she’s in for yet another rough time before the skies clear. The only bright spots on the horizon are her friendship with Luke… and her secret rendezvous with Mac… Is Rachael meant to weather the storm with Luke, who touches her heart and soul so intimately, or with Mac, who knows each sweet secret of her body? STORMY WEATHER… Stay tuned for the latest forecast!”
12.18.09
Timeless Romance – I’m in the Spotlight!
Posted in Marketing, Night and Day, Romance, Selling yourself, Stormy Weather, Writing, second wind publishing, sherrie hansen tagged books, comments, free book, give away, just published, new release, Night and Day, reading, second wind publishing, Stormy Weather at 8:31 pm by Sherrie Hansen
Just wanted to let you know that I’m in the spotlight at Amy De Trempe’s blog, Timeless Romance, today. If you make a comment sometime between now and Saturday night, you could win a copy of my new book, Stormy Weather.
(Just want to make sure everyone understands that to be entered in the contest for the free copy of Stormy Weather, you must leave a comment on Amy DeTrempe’s Timeless Romance blog.)
I love seeing your comments here, too, but also hope to see you there!
You can also buy both Night and Day and Stormy Weather as a paperback, an e-book, or in Kindle version at www.amazon.com, Second Wind Publishing, or by calling me at the Blue Belle Inn (641-713-3113).
Thanks to all of you who have purchased and read Night and Day – I appreciate your good comments, and hope you like Stormy Weather just as well!
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