Have you ever watched the ocean and wondered what lies beneath? I have. I watched and thought “Wouldn’t it be great if the top was a giant sheet of glass that you could walk on and see everything below? That’s how The Waters of Turtle Cay was born.
I’m known to have a very vivid imagination and dream whenever I’m asleep. I have not been known to write, but at 63 I decided I wanted to write a book. Didn’t think I could and for sure didn’t think I would finish, but once started, I was hooked. I have discovered a love of writing and imagination. I wish I had discovered this thirty years ago. Let’s be honest...forty years ago. I would be much better at it now, but that’s ok. I have found my happy place.
Starting Turtle cay was a work in progress. I started experimenting with an app called speechy. I thought it would work to talk into the microphone and tell the story but soon found out that was not going to work. Once I started typing in my words, it worked much better. Trouble was, it was on my phone and I didn't know how to stop and start on something else sooooooooo, the entire book was written on my phone. I’m not kidding. It’s still there. I did get it transferred on to a computer later. Let me just say, I am very proficient at text messaging now.
Some things surprised me. Things that I would love to talk to another writer about. One thing is how attached you get to your characters. Possessive even. Even about their names and I will talk about that later. I remember driving into town on the island of Kauai. A trip to town to do normal things like a Costco run. As I was driving I was thinking about my story and something that was coming up. I hadn’t written it yet but I knew it was coming. I literally broke down crying and had to pull over. Doesn’t sound too stable but that is really how you attach to a character or an event. I still cry when I read it. Also a character that was going to be a bad guy became so likable to me, I took him from the naughty list to the nice list.
Anyway, that is the start to my crazy new hobby. Now to learn how to navigate my web page. You are never too old to learn.
Computer Crash..Ugh
So, I have a story to tell. I have discovered something about me. I love to write but, I will never write a memoir. My life is interesting but not that interesting. I will never write a historical fiction, although I love to read historical fiction. I will never write a non fiction. (Never, say never.) I am a fiction writer and I enjoy that lane. However, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I was compelled to write about it, but in a fiction genre. My brain went there. So this book was born from intense feelings about the war and an imagination about the people in the midst of it.
My story centers around Polly, an only child who’s father taught her to fish, although she would only catch and release. To hunt, but she would only target shoot because she couldn’t kill anything. Basically she is a pacifist with skills. This is a story about how the war changes her. What happens to her family flips a switch in her. What happens to one of her twins, breaks her. It’s pretty gut wrenching but hopefully she will triumph. Honestly, not sure yet.
But here is the story. Months into this writing, (twenty five thousand words, to be exact. That is how a writer gages their progress,) my computer started to get hot. Now come on, it’s a hot story but is the computer suppose to heat up? Apparently not. My computer crashed. Yes, I know you are wondering. ‘Did I freak?’ Yes, I freaked. My sweet husband felt ill. He had witnessed my labor, my emotions. Not to worry, there was an apple store on Kauai so I immediately ran into town and told the nice man that I didn’t care about anything but the book. He asked if I backed it up to the cloud. “I don’t know! How do you do that?'“ I asked. The look he gave me was not encouraging.
The computer was toast, the story was not backed up and I was devastated. I bought a new computer on the spot and I started writing where I left off. I will fill in the beginning when I am done. A good lesson was learned. Back everything up. If you don’t know how, ask. Anyway, still into this book and Polly is now in Moscow…Just sayin’
Here’s an update. I don’t know why I would admit to this but here goes…I felt compelled to fill in the part that was lost. I worked on it for several days and many hours. I was proud of it because I think it was written better…then I started working on this website and one thing led to another…I lost it again. UGH! So here I go once again. I need to take some computer classes.
The Waters of Turtle Cay Revision
I revised my first book and I think it reads better. Editing is a strange thing. It’s like a painting. You get to a point where you have to walk away and be done. You can tweak and retweak….(Is that a word?) all day long. I don’t care how many times I go through a manuscript, I will keep tweaking.
Finding Fia
It all begins with an idea.
I started Finding Fia immediately after finishing The Waters of Turtle Cay. I wasn’t done with the story and to be honest, I’m still not. Finding Fia deals with Love, Loss, and the limits of what we will do for love. Love for your parents. Love for a spouse. Love for your siblings. Mostly, love for your children. Sometimes real love means letting go, holding on, stepping back, stepping forward. Sometimes the hardest is letting go. Navigating relationships is sometimes hard. It should be mostly easy. Just sayin’
Writing this novel on my new laptop proved to be more efficient and easier on the thumbs. I’m getting better with technology but still have a long way to go. After about 50,000 words into the book, my son, Nick looked and could see it was not backed up anywhere. Can I just say, I don’t know if I could have started over if I had lost it. Thank Goodness for a younger generation to look after their aging parents. Also, a shout out to Nick for helping me with the book covers for Waters and Finding Fia.
The start of Book three, yet untitled.
It all begins with an idea.
I started book three of the series shortly after finishing Finding Fia. I at first started it fifteen years later with Fia as a teenager, but soon discovered that I had more to say before that. I wanted to explore Jilly’s journey a while longer. So, Book three started with a book four in the wings. the thing is, My brain had other ideas. On a particularly sleepless night, a story, completely unrelated started swirling, further delaying my return to sleep. Between the hours of three AM and five AM I had completely outlined a story. I slept for an hour, woke, grabbed a cup of coffee and wrote down my outline. It had to be told so I put aside book three of The Waters of Turtle Cay and began “Until we find her.”
I think I am most proud of this one. It is a story about Cassandra and her total commitment to saving herself for her husband. There is a reason why this is important and I would love to talk about that at some point. The choices she makes lead her down a path that completely upends her life and drives her in a way that a different choice would not have. It is about love, loss, forgiveness, or the lack of. It is a story of persistence, and the depths of what a mother will do for her child. Hmmm, seems to be a common theme for me.
This one has not been published yet but getting closer. I need a cover and to pull the trigger and send it in.
Revision
It all begins with an idea.
To revise or not to revise. I feel like I have learned so much since Waters. There are things I would like to change, little changes. I think before I start another novel, I will fine tune book one and then finish the series. Thank you to all my family and friends who have been supportive and tolerant of me. It is a good example of doing what brings you joy at any phase of life you are in. I wonder how I didn't realize my joy of writing. I suppose I was busy. Working, getting married, raising kids, just enjoying life really.