The first draft of Camp Fundament is finished and sent off to the editor. It’s rough but ready. (Wasn’t there a TV show with a dog and a cat? Mists of memory so this must be a long way back. Let me check.... Yup. That's them. ) And what do we do now? Many of you know from your own experience. Many others can guess. For those who are still in the dark, the answer is: we wait. That’s what we’ve been doing for a week or two now. And we’re still doing it. Of course waiting is not a comprehensive activity. While you’re waiting, you’re working on other projects. I am dealing with last minute to and ..read more

It’s done. By which I mean, ‘It’s off our desks.’ By which I mean, ‘It’s off our desks for now.’ Mel and I have finished the first draft of our takedown of fundamentalist religion. Our editor, the charming and hopeful Erin, will deal with it over the coming weeks. Unless she freaks out at the first chapters and we have to have an emergency meeting. (I don’t know why I mention that possibility. You’d think I was superstitious – touch wood.) By ‘takedown’ I mean snarky commentary. Fundamentalism is nowhere near being taken down. The right-wing church establishment will not be worried by our boo ..read more

I’ve sent off my second last chapter. I think. The standard plot graph looks like a jagged mountain with the peak way off to the right. There’s a short falling away from the peak, and that’s the end. Think of Mallory summiting Everest (you know, I don’t think I’ve ever used that verb before. Wow. I feel all blushy and virginal) and dying shortly afterwards on the way down. The crisis has happened. Melanie and I have summited successfully (there it is again! I’m feeling a little more experienced and confident now) and are on that short downward section. There are two big problems to avoid in t ..read more

We’re down to the short strokes now. A few chapters to go in the Camp FUNdament book. I just handed off to Melanie in the middle of the big scene, giving her hero a chance to blow our version of organized cultish fundamentalism out of the water, or maybe to run away and leave my guy looking sheepish. Just as an aside, does anyone know what the term ‘short strokes’ refers to? Sport? Art? Sex? Medical health? (That’s one cold ER doc commenting on grandma’s condition.) At this stage in the story, I find myself plotting generously – recklessly even. In the first few chapters, I’m stingy, measurin ..read more

I feel more OKAY! than WHEW! about my last chapter. It helps that we’re getting close to the end. And it’s fun introducing an interesting character.  This is the Originator of our cult, a creepy charismatic Kenneth Copeland type.  Whom these folks see as, well, God. And when God shows up in person (I can say that, right? Old Testament is a voice and a burning bush but New Testament is a person) there are places to go. Extreme reactions from folks are fun to depict. The Originator provokes fainting, ranting, adoration, dead silence ... and he has a cigar-smoking, eye-on-the-profits ..read more

Whew is the word. I had a lot of info to get across in the last chapter. The decision tree had a number of options. I tried branch after branch that didn’t take me far enough, so I had to get back to the trunk and try again. And as a writer (also as a tree climber) I resemble the slow loris, perhaps my favorite nocturnal strepsirrhine primate. I finally chose a branch that was sturdy and long and not rotten. Whew.  I even found a nice moment at the end of the chapter, working in the trope of the minister asking if anyone in the crowd has any reason to object …. and guess what ..read more

I never know all that’s going to happen in my story before I started writing. I have a general idea of plot, and a main character with a voice (very important, that voice) and I start in. Slowly. If the novel is a roller-coaster ride, this part of the writing is uphill. I clank along, considering various possibilities. What about this or that or the other? What about him or her or them? What about here or there or elsewhere?   I get ideas, make choices, surprise myself, and eventually … clank, clank, clank … come to a point where I know all I need to know in order to finish the book. Thi ..read more

My latest chapter is one of those ‘artist at work’ sequences, where we see Kyle actually fashioning a short video from B roll. Hard to make this kind of thing interesting. Artists are more fun when they’re behaving badly with models or bottles or knives. Actually, anyone is more fun to read about when they’re behaving badly. I did my best for Kyle, adding jargon and mistakes and physical comedy. It’s fine. The original plan for this chapter had Kyle and Adele in trouble, hauled before the camp authorities for demonic possession. Think ‘The Exorcist,’ only with more jokes and less vomit. But i ..read more

I am not good at dealing with good news. Something mildly nice happened to Autumn Bird And The Runaway, and everyone associated with the book went, ‘OMG this is great!’ and ‘Way to go!’ and like that. I contributed a snarky ‘Ho Hum, we privileged white guys are used to it’ kind of response. And now I wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Why couldn’t I just hop on the happy train with everyone else? Because I’m not pooh-poohing their reaction. In fact, I agree. But it seems that I can’t just say so. There is a stupid stubborn independent (did I say stupid?) part of me that (stupidly) nee ..read more

My latest chapter has taken me longer than usual to write. I had a road map. I knew where the story was going, more or less. But the words wouldn’t come. Or they’d come but they weren’t quite the ones I wanted. Something was missing. I pondered this problem for a couple of hours last night over dinner, a crime novel, a puzzle, and the news from Iowa, and I arrived at an answer. Missing from the writing process was…. Surprise. Literary discussion often refers to planners and pantsers, as if writers were one or other. It’s not a simple binary. (Is it ever?) I like a story plan, but I also like ..read more