Hop, Sally, H O P!

I have been nominated by Jennifer Chow to be part of the “Writers Tell All blog hop. I feel honored. Thanks to Jennifer!

Participants are asked to answer three questions and then nominate three others.  Why is it that nominating three others is easier than answering three questions?

What are you working on? Trying to figure out what I am doing most of the time… Seriously, I am s l o w l y writing an ebook on “The Diabetic Foot”. (That will turn some heads, huh?) I am also working on some poetry and fiction pieces. The three blogs I write tend to keep me busy. I really love it – except when I am totally overwhelmed by the feeling that I have no idea what I am doing. I combat that feeling by making myself write something. Okay, the truth is that when overwhelmed, I usually think that having a coke will solve most of my problems. It doesn’t work and I talk myself out of it but it is my first response.  Then I write.

How does your writing process work? Uh, not well? Let me start again. My writing process starts first thing in the morning with my “morning pages.” As suggested by Julia Cameron in her famous book, The Artist Way, I sit and write three pages in long hand.  The pages are about whatever is on my mind. They can be  lists of what I need to do, many lines on  how much I don’t want to write the three pages and sometimes ideas will just arrive on the page.  I go to my office and start. Since I have a job outside of writing, I spend some time deciding that I should write rather than spend time on the other work. The other work is easier than writing, so it wins part of the time. When I am writing, I usually have to do some research as a first step. I do that and then start writing. I have paper everywhere and I constantly go back and forth. I am sure that there is an easier, more collected way but so far I am doing okay.  I am much better at producing really bad first drafts than I am at editing them. This is why my fiction and poetry haven’t seen the light of day. I have promised myself I will improve. After all, it is hard to win accolades from the masses if no one ever sees your work.

Who are authors you most admire? This is hard to answer. I admire anyone who was able to put together a story, get it out there and have it published. It is an amazing thing to have done. I read Anne Lamott like she will never write another book and it has to be slurped up before it evaporates. Madeline L’Engle wrote some of my all-time favorite books and I feel that much of her wonderful work is unknown. It makes me happy when Deborah Combie, Donna Leon, and Jacqueline Winspear have new books out. Jeanne Webster wrote a book, Strays, which really got me to work on my writing and I thought that Charles Duhigg’s, The Power of Habit was really good.  I have found Dinty Moore lately and like his work. (not the stew, the author) I could go on forever but I will stop here knowing I forgot to mention someone whose work  that I love.

And now for the three people that I will add to the Writers Tell All blog hop.

Bolton Carley – http://boltoncarley.wordpress.com/   Bolton makes me laugh. She has a wicked sense of humor and a great take on life. I bet she got “talks too much” on her report cards.

Khara House – http://www.kharahouse.com/  I think Khara is a phenomenally talented artist. I am always blown away by her. I could sit at her feet to assemble the pearls that drop out of her mouth.  Then again, she watches too many movies and television shows and doesn’t seem to sleep. If only she seemed to drink more…

J. Lynn Sheridan – http://writingonthesun.wordpress.com/  Janice is a poet with a great sense of humor. We share Midwest roots and I appreciate her sharing nature.

I am very grateful to Jennifer for nominating me. I will unabashedly admit that I am tickled that she thought of me!