New Website

I put up a website with Wordpress:  pamstebbins.wordpress.com where you can buy my book through paypal. Wordpress is easy to use--they say. And it would be if I didn't have to translate terms from computer nerd to real-person-got-a-life speak. Remember in computerland the start button shuts off the computer. Now I will not say my age, but I didn't grow up chasing Mario. Back then computers existed in Asimov's books and in big basement rooms doing things only the computer whizzes understood. My college computer class for English majors was a bust as it met in a big lecture  hall on late afternoon M,W, F. Friday afternoons you could hear a pin drop. But if we did the labs which meant attempting to program computers with logic and math type thinking, they gave us fuzzy-thinking, storytelling people a B. Personally, I have enough trouble with with the English language. Talking to computers is way beyond me. I really do appreciate all the ready-made programs we work with today, only there still is that divide between the programmers and us (okay, me). It's the left side of the  brain versus the right. I'm in the group that carries a book for when I get lost.

Writing is an all the time occupation. Even on vacation, asleep, and while waiting in line you're working on your latest project. A stray conversation, an odd dream, a meeting with an interesting person can give you the element you're missing in your novel. Waiting in line or at the doctor's office allows you time to live inside your novel. Personally I don't know how other people behave so well without escaping to another world. Do the old magazines telling about a celebrity marriage that has already ended in divorce really grab their attention? Didn't they notice the couple fighting in the bar? How about that woman wearing the big orange hat?

I'm afraid I'm a writer first. While I want you to buy and to read my book, "JustMe:" I have to write the next novel. The real world is not enough for someone who straddles the world they live in and the one they have create through their writing.

High heels and writing are not for the timid.

Writing means exposing your thoughts, past embarrassments, faults--whatever it takes to make your characters come alive. Saying this, I'm not admitting to everything that is true in my book. You can guess.

The next hurtle--editing--means chipping and shaping your raw story into a diamond. Or so you think until your friends and fellow writers find more carbon than carats. With a deep breath and courage--found somewhere near the base of your spine--you polish the manuscript until it's ready for general viewing.

Then you send it out to agents who "regret to say", "it's not for us", "I just didn't love it." Your name is now "Dear Author". Your courage slips and it's like you've falling off your high heels.

Luckily there's a secret to dancing in high heeled shoes--- two glasses of wine.

Back to Writing

When a writer doesn't write, well, a writer isn't a writer.

It's back to writing for me. (Yes, I'm still selling my book "JustMe:".) 

The Anit-Valentine

I can't say I love Valentine's Day. If you have no one -you feel bad. If your sweetie doesn't live up to the romantic ideal as advertised on television - you feel bad. And why would anyone buy chocolates at full price when one day later they are fifty per cent off? And what is it about stuffed animals as gifts to women? If you have a sweetie you don't need a teddy bear to hug. And where does a grown woman put a stuffed animal-- does a pink bear match your decor? Fight against this card company induced holiday, ignore the the florists' sales pitch, and have fun with your sweetie anyway you want. If you haven't got anyone at the moment, treat yourself. May I suggest JustMe:. No one has more difficulty than Elizabeth in snagging a sweetie. So know you're in good company. Fight against Valentine's Day, treat yourself, and buy your chocolates at half price. You're a sweetie just the way you are.

Stray Thoughts

Don't check the date on your hot fudge sauce after you've poured it on your sundae.

What an Eizabeth thing to think. Writing JustMe: and being in Elizabeth's head was great fun. I wrote every funny stray thought that came to me without worrying about being polite, politically correct, or hurtful. Then I published JustMe: and started to worry. Elizabeth isn't all sweetness. Would readers like her? Would they get her sense of humor?

According to Elizabeth:

"I've learned I can't get by with my charm. My father would probably charge me rent."
"Women talk to think. it's how we understand what we're thinking-- we have to hear it said."
"My mother has been complaining of her so-called invisibility for years, if she was quieter Dad and I might have chance at ignoring her into nonexistence."
"Civility is easier to achieve if you eat first."

Why read JustMe:?

For the characters.
While JustMe: is Elizabeth's story, she is surrounded by people as quirky (and more so) than your own friends and family. So who do readers like best?
No surprise to Melanie and me, Jessie is getting the majority of the votes. We love Jessie too. Jessie, a hermaphrodite, is first a work acquantance of Elizabeth's and then a friend and for a short time, an apartment mate. Like Elizabeth she tries to fit in by being what people expect her to be, but this means hiding who she is. She tries on different guises -- a woman, a lesbian, an homosexual, a cross-dresser, a man. But as she says she doesn't belong to any team.  Like Elizabeth, she is searching for who she is. Jessie's caring and sensitive nature has won readers's hearts. And we root for her.

By the way, the picture is from the 2010 Blobfest.

Merry Christmas

Yes, I have a tree decorated to match my book. After thirty or so trees, I do start running out of themes and color schemes. I like to decorate trees as much as I like to write. But since Christmas comes but once a year, isn't it lucky I have more than one passion. Also great has been the comments I've been getting from people who have read my book. Usually they laugh, repeat a line from the book, and tell me how true it is. It seems we all have the same wicked thoughts we're too polite to speak aloud.

Who is Elizabeth?

I wrote JustMe: thinking that Elizabeth was like my daughter Melanie--not the same but of like mind. The mom in the book was based on me. Readers who know me say Elizabeth's not so sweet, but hopefully humorous asides sound more like me. But believe me, I'm far from my twenties and Elizabeth's energy and urgent dreams. Melanie has assured me that she could (sometimes) see herself in Elizabeth but it was through the author's (mine) filter. That would make Elizabeth Melanie with an overlay of Pam. Yikes! According to Melanie the mom in the book is nicer than me. For me she is like looking in a rear view mirror. The image is recognizable but not quite right. How do people write autobiograghies? At least fiction is truthful about being a set of lies.



The Orginal Shoes

This was the first idea for the cover. The original shoes were red so the color had to be changed. Then I found the pink shoes. Happy coincidence! The writing process is full of such coincidences. Just as a character needs defining you notice someone at the mall with a distinctive walk or hair style. Stray comments overheard, half remembered stories, and even jokes can fuel a scene. The trick is to keep open to possibilities. Perhaps that's the trick to life too.

Food for thought

Food can be an important part of a book--or not. Some book groups like to cater their meetings with foods from the month's selection. Forget that with JustMe:! Canned cream of mushroom soup casseroles (green bean casserole may be a must for Thanksgiving, but not as a staple), stale mall cookies (they are good microwaved--for about a minute) and bacteria laden egg salad -- now food poisoning is just not fun. So I suggest cookies with pink and green frosting when serving up JustMe:.It's what I'm bringing to my book signing. You could add Elizabeth's favorite drink of cranberry and vodka to the party. It matches the cookies well.

Book Signing Dec. 10th At Kennett Resale Book Shoppe

*My first Book Signing is Sat., Dec. 10, 11 am-3 pm at the Kennett Resale Book Shoppe, 113 South Union, Kennett Square, PA.

I dressed up my book and flyer with a coordinated Christmas tree. Again is there anything better than a custom color scheme? A well known fact --I love Christmas trees. I'll be putting pictures of my other ( 30 or so) trees on Facebook. About the Kennett Resale Book Shoppe--it's a used book store manned by volunteers. The store's profits go to the Kennett Square Area Senior Center. For the past four years I've been a volunteer. My title is "Queen of SciFi, Horror, and Fantasy" as those are the areas I'm responsible. My family may find me a horror at times, and I've been known to live in a fantasy world, but I'm most interested in Science Fiction. (I have and will wear Star Trek uniforms.) My book signing is a perfect excuse to visit this gem of a used book store. It's large collection is well organized and reasonably priced. Parking is free on Saturdays. And everyone is always glad to help customers--we love fellow readers!

Why a green cover?

Green goes well with pink. Lime green is a hot color now. --Good reasons, sure but the real reason is that I love the color green. For me lime green is neutral. What doesn't go with a bright green purse? Or hat? Or shoes? Perhaps I'm becoming obessive about shades of green of a yellow hue.

Why pink?

In my first conversation with Melanie about the book we thought an aversion to pink would be funny. For years Melanie would not wear pink. I only wear fuchsia and bright pink. We just aren't pastel people. In JustMe: I kept throwing pink at Elizabeth--pink work shirts, a pink dog, pink bridesmaid dresses, pink boots until she gives in and buys pink shoes. The original title for the book was "How I Learned to Live, Love, and Wear the Color Pink." It was decided by my first readers and other writers that the title was perhaps too long. The title does describe the book. Which title do you like?

JustMe cover

Wow look at that!

Seeing the book printed makes it real. But the cover means I have a color scheme. And for someone who color codes her towels to each bathroom (yes, I'm like the mom in the book--at least in that detail. She's nicer than me.) knowing my colors reassures me that I can market the book. So yes I'll be the crazy woman dressed in lime and pink selling her book. Hint: There will be no avoiding me! 

                 The Perfect Shoes

JustMe:
by Pam Stebbins with Melanie Stebbins

Don't you love these shoes? I'm close to finishing the process of putting a book "JustMe:"on Amazon and the cover needed a pink shoe, a great high heeled shoe. These are perfection, I can wear them without falling over and they are ruffled--a detail I had imagined but not dared to put on the page.  The shoes have to be be an omen, right? My book cover is going to be as great as it is inside. See I am learning about marketing in between trying on shoes and crossing my fingers.  

The original shoes were red. They were described by a friend over 60 as F**me shoes. A term my mother and I had heard before, but not my daughter Melanie.

Writing advice from Humpty Dumpty by way of the "Through the Looking Glass."

"When I use a word." Humpty Dumpy said, in a rather a scornful tone," it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less"

Writers they can use words inventively and even make up words, but only if they have command over their prose. Wrangling words means knowing their current means, how context can change meaning, (think-gay) as well how they sound so that reading flows. Although science fiction and fantasy writers often make up words, they still have to worry about how they sound and fit in the worlds they create.

Humpty Dumpty on about words: "They've a temper, some of them - particularly verbs: they're proudly - adjectives you can anything with,but not verbs-however I can manage the whole lot of them!"

Yes, verbs are exacting, that is the action ones. Passive verbs should be left in first drafts and replaced. Action verbs (are you walking, running, skipping?) puts the reader into the story. Reliance on easy adjectives and especially adverbs puts flab on your writing. Instead look past the easy to find the unique phasing that will make your writing memorable.

Lately I've been reading children's books. Besides all the Oz books that come my way, I found Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle on the Moon. As a child I wanted to read the book but my library didn't have it. And yes, I enjoyed it. And no, I'm not saying how long I've waited to read to the book.

Why read children's books?

Besides being fast, fun reads, children's books remind writers what clear, streamlined writing is and sweeps away the clutter of convoluted sentences and overcomplicated plots. Secondly books from twenty, fifty, ninety years are more than nostalgic jaunts, they are insights into the society and time of the author. Lastly juvenile nonfiction is a quick and painless way to get an overview of a topic. So pick up Alice in Wonderland, settle in with Lemony Snicket or build a cathedral with David Macaulay. Being an adult doesn't mean you can't have fun or that you have to do research the hard way.

Remember silver trees and Jetson cartoons?

They were so modern.

Now?--not so much.

I love old science fiction. While the stories are set in the future, they are written with the sensibilities of the writer's time. Golly Gee.

It's like straddling two time lines. How cool is that?

The Pink Tree
******
Not every tree is green,
some are pink with a
mermaid!!
Not every book is great literature, some are for the beach. There's a place for both on my book shelve.
All books are divisible into two classes: the books of the hour and the books of all Time.
John Ruskin