Hi GUTTAA pals. I do eventually get around to the questions. I just have to say hello to my regular readers first – I’ve neglected them terribly over the summer.

I’ve never been happier to wave goodbye to August. Don’t get me wrong, I like summertime fun just as much as the next girl, but I am more than ready for fall.
Boots. Sweaters. Apple cider. Pumpkin patches… Dreamy.
I’ve missed homeschooling and our happy little routine.
I’ve missed Newt; she’s been gone a lot, having one adventure after another.
I’ve missed rain. Don’t believe me? I’m listening to this right now. It’s my new favorite writing soundtrack.
You know what else I’ve missed?
You, dear readers.
I’m hoping to build a bit more time in my routine for regular blogging now that I am not spending all my time driving Newt to activities and back.
Let’s catch up a bit shall we?
[pours you a cup of herbal tea]
The chickens are getting really big. They went from this:

To this:

in less than two months.
Also, Billina appears to be oh-so-rudely turning into a Bill. So far, no crowing, but once he finds his little rooster voice, he’s back to the farm. We plan to add to our flock in the next couple of weeks so Abeline (renamed by Newt as Sarah-Jane) will not be alone.
What else? Oh yes, I started querying agents for Hook’s Revenge and have gotten a fairly good response. The full manuscript has been requested a few times. No big deal. [Squee!]
I’ve also started a new project. I had forgotten how hard starting is. My characters and I are sort of like kids at a junior high dance, definitely aware of each other, but not quite sure how to cross the gym and get things started. We have begun making eye-contact though, so there is hope.

Speaking of writing and agents, if you are here for the Gearing Up To Get an Agent Meet & Greet, you’d probably like me to quit yapping and get on with it welcome. I’m glad you stopped in.
Gearing Up To Get an Agent (GUTGAA) is an opportunity for writers that are uh, gearing up to get an agent, to help each other polish their pitches, network, and possibly get noticed by a fabulous agent.
Today, I’m answering some questions about my procrastinating writing habits.

Where do you write?
Usually in the studio/schoolroom. It has great lighting, comfortable chairs (more so than they look), a window for daydreaming, and a great library. It’s also generally cleaner than in the following photos (we were doing some back to school organizing today and not everything got put back where it belongs).

Why yes, there is a large tent in my backyard. Thanks for noticing.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
A box of junk items to take to Goodwill.
[Adds item to to-do list: Don’t forget to drop junk off at Goodwill]

Favorite time to write?
I write any time I can, though I work best in the morning before Newt gets up. Since she is a late sleeper, this generally works well.

Drink of choice while writing?
I’m a water girl. Boring, I know, but I love it. Besides, it has no calories. I’m having enough trouble with writer-butt.
Is it a bit more exotic if I tell you my favorite glass is a pint sized mason jar? Something about the way it balances in my hand…

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
It depends. Sometimes music will motivate me, other times it distracts me. I’m really into those rain sounds right now but in a few weeks, when the real Oregon rain settles in, I’ll be over it.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
I had the idea for Hook’s Revenge several years ago. I was sick – the bad kind – with respiratory and digestive distress. Newt was not old enough to be very self-sufficient, so I pulled out the sofa bed and told her she could watch some movies while I slept. She watched the 2003 live version of Peter Pan first (if you have not seen that, you should – it’s so charming) and then put on Hook (with Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, and Robin Williams). Those were not surprising choices; we have always loved Peter Pan.
Newt pretended to be Peter for two whole years – he was her alter-ego from ages two to four. The original version by J. M. Barrie was the first non-picture book I ever read her, at age not-quite-three. I would read at bedtime while she played quietly in her bed, not seeming to pay any attention to me. The next day “Peter” would act out the adventures I had read aloud the night before, and I could be sure that Newt had been listening very intently.
Anyway, I was in an illness and cold-medicine educed fog while she watched her movies. When I woke up, there was a girl in my head. I knew she was Captain Hook’s daughter and she had a story to tell, though I wasn’t clear on many details. I wrote bits of her adventure as it came to me, but didn’t really get serious until the end of last year.
In a way, I’m half I didn’t dive right in. I feel like I needed that time to learn how to write Jocelyn’s story well, and how to develop my own voice – which to a large degree blogging has done for me. I also moved cross-country, began homeschooling, and supported my husband and his mother through the illness and death of his father. The time wasn’t right for Jocelyn, but when it was, I threw myself into her world. I’m quite proud of what I have created.
Read a bit of Hook’s Revenge here.

What’s your most valuable writing tip?
First off – finish. No matter how long it takes.
Then, be brave.
Writing is very personal. It takes courage to share with your critique partners and beta readers, hoping they like it, but that they also can help you make it better – even if that means ripping parts of it to shreds. Once you get somewhat comfortable (hee!) with that process, and you have edited and rewritten until you have made your manuscript the best that you can, you must take the next plunge and submit your work to agents and/or editors. This puts you in a very vulnerable place. There will be rejection. You may even receive three form rejections on your birthday and sit at your laptop and sob into your hands, or so I’ve heard, but in order to be successful you have to wipe away the tears and keep trying. That’s what I’m doing.
Writing is not for the faint of heart. Be brave.

Thats it for the questions. I’m going to go organize my fall sweaters now, and maybe pick some apples.

Stop in later this week. I’ll be sharing a yummy new recipe.