the one word

The hallmark of good writing is the one word that dispenses with the need for many. -Martin, Writing Historical Fiction

The galleys are done! Sometimes I think I should be writing more about writing on this blog but life is about so much more than writing. Besides, friends and relatives who read these posts would be bored silly:) If they aren't already, that is.

We're coming up on '09 which will be a wild ride for me writing-wise, I think. Lots of unexpecteds ahead. And I tend to be a "likes everything neat and tidy" type person but publishing is not like that. There is the wild card of marketing/sales which is a mystery to me. Recently I typed in The Frontiersman's Daughter on google and found the book is being advertised in Germany on a German booksite, sans English, among other places. Are Germans really interested in Daniel Boone type tales, I asked myself?

I'm still at the stage where I have to pinch myself to believe it's happening at all. But then I realize writers never really "arrive" unless maybe they win the Pulitzer Prize or something like that. As for me, I'm in the 41st year of a writing apprenticeship, no kidding, with a great deal yet to learn. If I could write like anyone at all, I would choose James Alexander Thom. He is a brilliant writer, which I am not. Francine Rivers is another. Her novel, Redeeming Love, is an inspired book and it's still selling very well years later. I also love Janice Holt Giles for her Kentucky tales. She made the frontier so real.

But I really like books that have an air of unreality about them. And no, I'm not talking about vampire novels! There has to be more of a romantic than realistic feel to them as I like to escape in a novel, rise above this old fallen world for a spell. I'll never understand why depressing books sell.

Anyway, we're off to a violin lesson if we can get out of our snowy driveway. I have four more Amazon books coming and am thrilled! For Christmas, my Mom gave me a very interesting book on Henry Clay's family entitled Kentucky Clay by Katherine Bateman. And my cousin, Leslie, in Lexington, gave me the best Kentucky cookbook put out by the Kentucky Monthly called Another Serving. Hope you received some wonderful books for the holidays as well. Happy Monday:)