Hey San Diego friends, next week I’ll be at my hometown National City Library where Dori met Meg in LOST IN THE LIGHT!
Books available for purchase and signing. Proceeds benefit the National City Library!
Entrances
The hardest part of a story to write is the first line. Speaking from my experience as a reader (e.g. what pulls me into a story) and a writer (what has sold my work), a character has to make an entrance. Or, if told in the first person, a statement. I don’t mean just having someone walk through a door, or wake up in bed and most definitely not stare at herself in the mirror over the bathroom sink. Characters arrive. They have a presence that makes you turn to the next page and the next until the end when you (hopefully) wish the book hadn’t ended so soon.
When I think of great entrances, I remember the night I watched The Seven Year Itch on the big screen in downtown LA. When Marilyn’s fan cord stuck in the doorway, three hundred of us gasped in the dark. We held our breath at the palpable energy that radiated from her 50 years after she’d shot that scene.
Right now, or rather right before I began this blog, I arrived at the phase of my WIP when it’s time to write the first line. Some lines appear just like that. Some take a few drafts or they hide from me until I realize that the first 20 pages I wrote don’t belong in the book. The only way I know that I have the first line is when (a) it no longer bugs me in the middle of the night, and (b) when it makes me sit up and shout, “Whoa!”
So here I go into territory unknown and still no first line in sight. But I figure it’ll show up sooner or later.
And speaking of signs…
When I logged into my Facebook page last night, Selina McLemore left me a little present that Latina Magazine choose Names I Call My Sister and In Between Men for their Top 10 Summer Reads!
No way! WAY!!!
So back to last night … Just when I was about to shake my groove thing, the Little Dude peed all over the bathroom floor. You know what I did? I let Daddy clean it up while I basked in my glory.
(Singing)
Shake you groove thing, shake your groove thing oh yeah!
Show ’em how you do it now
And now its back to work but with a smile on my face.
Thanks Selina! And MUCHAS GRACIAS Latina Magazine!
Beginner’s Mind
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.
-Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
This week I began a page one rewrite of my mariachi book. I know, I know. I’ve been working on this book for three years. The writing experts would’ve told me to give up and move on to more profitable pastures. Actually, three years ago I would’ve told myself the same thing.
But the last eight weeks (and being dumped by my agent) have shown me the number one reason why this book has yet to fly. It’s not the fault of my agents or readers. It’s not because the market sucks or Mercury in retrograde. It’s because I worked on it with the mind that I knew what I was doing.
I’m not saying that this journey has been wrong. I’m not blaming anyone or anything or labeling my decisions as mistakes. In fact, I’m beginning to waver on the concept of right versus wrong and adopting the idea of “what is.” (Note to Karen Maezen Miller: you’re rubbing off on me, comadre!) For us Westerners, specifically for us writers striving to become published/acknowledged/adored, the idea of “it is what it is” is wrong and scary and exclusive to authors with a lot of money and mileage on the best-seller lists.
Through all of May and June I wrote a pilot script, a series treatment and then a spec script. I began those projects never having taken a TV writing course or having written a script for TV. (Although I’d taken screenwriting courses in university, that was 15 years ago and I’d lost those class notes!) How did I do it? Well, I did it by pinching my nose and jumping in. This journey turned everything I had believed in as a writer upside down. I believed in business plans, outlines, the three-act structure and 10,000 hours of practice. I believed that I had to get away from my beginner’s status as quickly and efficiently as possible. I even believed that my producer should have hired an experienced screenwriter instead of a beginner like me.
But then I remembered what Nora Roberts had said in one her chat sessions back in 1994. Someone asked if she ever got over the fear of writing a new book. Nora, who has written something like 120+ books in her career, replied, “No. Starting a new book is like starting all over again.”
At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about. I thought it was nice of Nora to say that to all us beginners, but now I know what she meant and it freed me to write the pilot, spec and treatment. No matter how many books or screenplays I may end up writing, I will always be a beginner. It’s not scary or discouraging. A beginner’s mind isn’t hemmed in by business plans, right vs. wrong, plot-driven or character-driven or the three-act structure. A beginner’s mind damns the consequences and is open to spontaniety and “what if.” Isn’t that what we writers do?
Update
After my last post, many of you wrote and asked me not to give up book writing. Not to worry. I’ll never stop writing books. They’re just going to take longer than usual. Today I turned in a pilot script and series treatment and on Monday I’ll start writing a spec script that is due at the end of June. In July I plan to go back to Aracely and whip her into shape for the fall. That’s the plan and I’m stickin’ to it.
In other news, I did an awesome interview with Chef Daisy Martinez last week. It will appear in the July/August issue of Latino Future magazine. Typically my interviews with celebrities are pretty cut and dry. But Daisy was special. She’s one of those women who’s done it all. She’s sustained a loving marriage, raised a family of four, acted in commercials, matriculated from the French Culinary Institute and is now a Food Network chef, magazine columnist and author.
Some pretty amazing opportunities have come my way recently (hard to believe after my last post but its true). Being me, I was freaking out because of the huge changes these opportunities would bring to my family. I mean, I’d die if my son ever had to call my assistant to schedule himself on my calendar. But then I talked to Daisy, who in spite of all that she does, puts her family first. When I asked how she does it all, she said the following which I printed and stuck it above my computer:
“I’m one of those girls that shows up, you know? When I have a job to do, I get it done.”
Every day since that interview, I step into my office and tell myself: I’m showing up, doing the work and then when I’m done, I’m walking out of here to do what I gotta do with my family. I can’t tell you how amazing that kind of attitude has been. My output is off the charts and while I know it won’t last forever – these things ebb and flow as they should – I’m really enjoying the flow! So if she’s reading this, thank you Daisy!
I hope y’all have a rockin’ weekend.
Cheers,
Mary
Thought of the day
Today Lenny Kravitz leaked a nekkid photo of himself. Last week, Rhianna photos appeared online. In 1952, Marilyn scored big when her topless photos launched Playboy. Apparently when a reporter asked what she had on during the photo shoot, she replied, “The radio.” From that moment on, Marilyn became a bona fide star.
Celebrties and their nakedness is nothing new. The photos appear out of nowhere, “experts” appear on TV and in newspapers to wonder outloud if the photos will ruin the celebrity in question and then before you know it, the naked girl or guy’s new movie or TV show or CD is for sale.
Nudity seems to turn a red hot career into a white hot career which leads to my thought of the day: would my books sell better if I leaked a nude photo of myself?
Today is Cinco de Mayo?
I’m a bad Mexican. I forgot that today is the day Mexicans won the Battle of Puebla. I think.
In celebration, I have this video to post in honor of my favorite Mexicana warrior:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVLJcBsD__E&hl=en&fs=1]
Makes you wanna go kick some ass, huh?
Family Ties
Growing up, my family hung out with the V’s; short for my parents’ compadres, Auntie Betty, Uncle Mario and my three cousins. Crammed in my Uncle Mario’s VW bus (which we called, “URK”) we’d drive to Coronado for bonfires, Presidio Park for picnics and memorably up to L.A.
I vaguely remember the day we spent at Universal Studios. But I can vividly recall the drive we took in URK to Boyle Heights and Echo Park. My Auntie Betty pointed out the house that her parents had bought after her father ended his service with the U.S. Army. The house is still there but sadly most of the Victorian mansions and Arts and Crafts bungalows – and in the case of Chavez Ravine, an entire community – have given way to the post-war development of L.A.
My Auntie Betty’s niece has co-curated “Lost to Progress: The Modernization of Los Angeles” at Heritage Square . Opening tomorrow, May 2nd and running till June 28th, the exhibit coincides with National Preservation Month. This important exhibit explores the controversial evolution of Los Angeles through the examination of and the significant changes that led to the eventual destruction three lost Los Angeles Communities: Chinatown, Bunker Hill and Palo Verde (Chavez Ravine).
Heritage Square is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Regular admission applies; free for museum members. Click here for more information.
How do you mother yourself?
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Subtext
This is probably somewhat illegal but what the hell. Anyway, have you ever talked to someone who repeats how happy/smart/humble they are? When that happens, I always wonder if they’re saying it to convince me, or themselves and then of course, my imagination conjures all sorts of lurid possibilities as to why. Unlike most four year-olds, a writer never grows out of the “why’s”.
This scene from Breakfast at Tiffany’s is pitch perfect in conveying subtext. It helps if you’ve seen the film in its entirety to appreciate Holly’s subterfuge, but Audrey Hepburn’s performance does a lot of the work for you.
Check it out and then have yourself a great weekend!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eFvDlWDHMU&hl=en&fs=1]