Stephanie's Studio

All was going well, as well as it could for an underprivileged Negro living in the deep south during the 1940's. I'm talking about Earnestine's life. I was excited to share tidbits of her story with you, writing about her for the letter "E" of the A to Z Challenge. As I was saying, all was reasonably well, until Kyane came to town. Earnestine didn't know what to make of her. Was she black or white, rich or poor, human or not--who knew. She seemed around her age but so different from the other girls she knew. Quickly Kyane inserted herself into Earnestine's family life, cracking it wide open like an ornery walnut. From that time forward, she had her own name for Kyane, as derogatory as it was. This girl, that was part animal, woman and thing, was forever to be known as the Vixen to Earnestine, her mother, aunts, uncles and cousins. Her brother and sister, the twins, were much too young to grasp the full meaning of a vixen. The unpleasant name tripped aw...

"A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch" by Henrietta Brownne 1829-1901 (Google Art Project) The craft of writing is the impetus for my A to Z Challenge theme. I've been seemingly railing out against exclamation points but that's only to make a point. Really this is a conversation about nuance. I am attempting to crystallize thoughts that have arisen during the lengthy process of developing my books. One aspect central to my work, whether it's the nonfiction that has been published, or the fiction I'm working towards publishing, is storytelling. I love storytelling and that is the reason I've gravitated towards mythology and folklore. Universal themes on life and death, and everything delicious in between, can be found by gaining a deeper appreciation of mythic tales. Holy Fire Daces of Hirucan Tuva by Kent Dorsey 2003             www.centerforshamichealing.com  My novels take themes I've explored in my other published...

Manuscript page from James Joyce's Ulysses Photograph: PA Mistakes!  Who likes them? Do we need them to become better at what we do? I'd venture to say Theodore Roosevelt would answer yes, judging from this quote: "The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."                                                            -Theodore Roosevelt I've been going in circles about mistakes with my novel writing. As a process-orientated painter I celebrate 'happy accidents'. I wondered, could they serve the same function in my writing? The editor in me thinks not. The artist disagrees with the editor. We go 'round and 'round. The issue though is when you try to write in nonstandard English things quickly go haywire. Grammar Check thinks every line contains a mistake. Editors, if not clued in, demolis...

Earnestine is the main character and protagonist of my second novel, which is a W.I.P. I am very excited about Earnestine. I have spent many hours developing and refining her character. I would be the one guilty of wanting to put an exclamation point behind her name. With about a third of the first draft written, she is a character very much in development. Some days she is a blur and others, she's crystal clear. Recently, I had a breakthrough, wherein I could finally hear how she speaks. Her's is a difficult voice for me to hear and capture. She speaks quietly. The fact that her story takes place in 1947, in Mobile, Alabama and one of the Greek Islands, makes her all the more mysterious. Her diction, colloquialisms, and tone are not all familiar. I enjoy the process of seeing how her voice will come through as the novel develops. I am eager to see her show and tell me how to write her story. As is true of my first work of fiction No Barren Life  the novel  Out of the...

Recently, I surprised myself with the anxiety over submitting a manuscript excerpt to my writer's workshop. It all started rather normal but then took an odd twist into what I consider abnormal behavior. I always edit and revise. All writers do that. But this time was different. I edited the heck out of it. Maybe combing over it 15 times total and revising it each time, eventually nothing was left in my opinion accept for tweaking but tweak I did. This was to a work that had already been edited several times. I hope I haven't leached the life out of that excerpt. It is from my work-in-progress, "Out of the Blue." I am still filled with dread when I think about the upcoming evening of my critique, which takes place about a week from now. You know I've posted before about  Critique Anxiety . When I read over that post from last year, I see that the anxiety I blogged about arose because I was in a different workshop, about to present my work. I'm not this ...

Lately my head has been very full--full to the brim to be more descriptive. There is the new book deal for my novel, "No Barren Life,"  which I shared about a few posts ago. That is exciting but with an abundance of excitement I tend to get over-stimulated. There is so much to do, from the editing and revisions to marketing and then planning a book launch. Then there was the nonfiction book deal that I had to walk away from. With that, my mind goes back and forth. Mostly I know I did the right thing but then other opportunities have come over the horizon that lead to further questions. I had a second contract in hand last week but then that deal fizzled. Our ideas for the book and vision for it just didn't match up. Now, several new possibilities have presented themselves. Still, the future of "Mama Nature's Spiritual Guide to Weight Loss," remains uncertain. Then too, I have a critique of my second novel, "Out of the Blue," coming up in Jul...

As a painter I was never overly interested in realism. I liked a few realist artist’s works and was always sure to include them in my slide lectures, in case students in my class had a preference for working that way. My first love was impressionism, followed by post-impressionism and then the fauves and abstract expressionists. I prefer contemporary surrealism, where elements of the fantastic are allowed into the picture or even classical surrealism, such as the work of Magritte.                                                  (Magritte, Oil on Canvas - The Donor) As a writer my fiction novels have never been urban realism or any other type of straight forward narrative set in our world, as people generally understand it. I remember first being moved by the work of Carlos Castaneda in art school. He was a controversial figure, particularly prolific ...

Last year I finished the manuscript for my first novel. Through the process of writing it  I had several readers and hired an editor. Things didn't work out with the editor so I trudged onward on my own. I also workshopped the book several times in professional writer's groups. I read the manuscript and re-read it, editing all the while. Finally, I was ready to send out queries. I had read that if you don't query at least 100 places, whether that is agents or publishers that allow queries from authors, that you haven't really tried hard enough. So, query and query some more, is what I did. I had highs and lows. I had a very prestigious literary agent in New York immediately request to see the whole manuscript, after receiving the first chapter. I had several niche small publishers ask to read the whole manuscript. Two of which, took months to reply back after receiving it, raising my hopes. I got some nice rejections from that effort. Saying they loved the bo...

Hmm, I like the sound of that title--Budding Novelist. I have been very busy, immersed in my writing. Last year I finished my first novel, "No Barren Life." It is currently under consideration by several publishers. "No Barren Life," is about coming of age in the mid-1970s, healing from violence and trauma and transformation through shape shifting, shamanism and magick. Then I started "The Girl and the Goat." A story about a biracial heroine who lives in a small European village in the 1400s and still worships the Goddess. She saves her village from a massive dragon attack, only to find out that her aunt, who is a sorceress, conjured the dragons. Yes, it is designed for YA (young adults). Now I am busy again, writing a brand new novel. "The Girl and the Goat," is on the back burner for now, as I am kind of stuck in a rut with it. It has the beginning, middle and end but needs some meat on its bones. So I have started a new novel called "...