What Next?

My novel CHILDREN OF LIGHT has received a lot of positive feedback and placed well in Amazon.com's international competition earlier this year, but the truth is that I haven't found a place for it in today's market.

Medieval novels are hard to place--especially in the Christian market, which CHILDREN is well-suited for. So I'm wondering what to do next.

Keep plugging along with it?

Shelve it until a more opportune time?

Serialize it on it's own blog, and let people read it for free, building a fan base?

I don't know, but in the meantime, I keep working on the next novel. I mean, it's only one story, right? I have dozens to tell.

Touching Them: Zimbabwe

Dusty gravel crunched beneath my sandaled feet when I stepped out of the truck at the Rukweza orphan feeding station in the heart of Zimbabwe, but I hardly noticed for the pounding of my heart. Joy and deep compassion crowded around me along with 117 children who, one-by-one, offered their hands in greeting. It was my first visit to a feeding center.

And it took my breath away ...

ACTION! newsletter published an excerpt of my article--Touching Them: Zimbabwe--in their September issue. To read the full story, visit http://caronguillo.blogspot.com/

Style Manuals

As a novelist, I've learned to consult my thick copy of Chicago Manual of Style, but now that I'm writing for New Christian Voices--and doing a bit of editing online as well--I'm diving into AP style.

Wow! There are a lot of minute differences between the two, so I'm having to stay alert.

But that's okay, because I'm committed to being a professional. And professionals aren't stubborn or sloppy.

What are you doing to pursue professionalism in your writing? (And can you tell which style I'm using in this blog?)

Back to It

Well, it's been a brutal summer--in fact, it seemed like no summer at all--but God faithfully saw me through, and now I'm hitting my stride again.

A middle school math teacher by day, I'm back at it with some 120 students and three different preps.

But on the writing side, I'm continuing with my weekly BAD MOM column, with a plan to mix in a little editing work from time to time. I also have a new essay on NCV, so hop over and take a look.

Last week I joined a new critique group, which will help discipline me to keep working on that novel I'm 80+ pages into. During the regular school year, I try to be at my computer by 5:30 am for an hour of writing before work.

I'd love to hear from you. What kinds of dreams are you pursuing in the midst of your everyday life?

The Glamorous Life of Writing

I've always been a bit puzzled by authors who prefer to write in the middle of a busy cafe, or some such nonsense. Not me. I need alone time, and lots of it.

Which is kind of funny when you consider that my life offers very little in the way of solitude. The best I can do is get up early, though I really don't like to do that either. Nevertheless, at least during the school year, I can wedge in an hour in the a.m., but at sixty minutes, I'm only getting started.

Lately, however, it doesn't seem to matter when or where I try to write. There have been so many serious and real-life thoughts occupying my mind that there's not much room for creativity.

I did have an interesting insight today, though. Sometimes I can find solitude at unexpected times--say, when I'm grilling chicken for dinner. And when it's difficult to still my mind for some focused writing, maybe I just need to do something else for a little while instead of staring at the computer screen. Something that lets my mind wander, but keeps my body active--like vacuuming.

Rats. Sounds like I should be doing more chores. That is not the glamorous writer's lifestyle I meant to sign up for. ;-)

Never, Never, Never Give Up

I don't know what it is about writing that makes us want to give up on it so easily.

I guess for me it's that life is busy and full, but writing takes time and solitude.

And then there's always the critique, the rejections, the subjective judgments of my work. Leanna Ellis once told me, "It occurred to me the other day that I don't go to my friends' or families' work places to see what they're doing and what kind of work they've produced. But when they read my books, that's what they're doing."

Yep, we writers have to have the guts of a Spartan warrior, the heart of a Greek poet, and the determination of a little bulldog of a man like Winston Churchill.

My friend, novelist Jodi Thomas, is an inspiration to me. She's published nearly thirty books and been on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists multiple times. She's won three RITA awards and been inducted into the Romance Writer's Hall of Fame. On her website she writes,

It surprises me sometimes when people come to visit and say, “Oh, you’re so lucky to be gifted. I wish I had such a talent.”

They have no idea. I’m not gifted at all, or lucky. I stumbled hundreds of times. For every award there are a dozen contests where I didn’t place. For every book that sees daylight, there are at least four drafts still hiding in the dark.

Like Jodi, for whatever reason, I can't give up. Sometimes I wish I could.

But not really.

So, what keeps you writing?

BAD MOM Column Debut

My new humorous BAD MOM column has gone live at New Christian Voices! NCV is a non-denominational Christian humor and lifestyle website. It's not your typical conservative Christian website. Yes, we're clean. Yes, we're Christian. But our goal is to help our readers to both laugh and stretch outside their comfort zone as they learn more about themselves and their faith.

The site is still being tweaked in advance of an official launch, but my friend and editor Joanne Brokaw said I could send readers that way.

Look for BAD MOM on the columns sidebar. Right now my columns are being published on Mondays. I'm also writing the occasional feature article. "Pregnant Man Confuses the Issue" can be found under "Features" then "Society."

I'd love to see a comment from you at NCV! http://www.newchristianvoices.com (or click on the title of this post to go directly to the site)

The First Line I Wrote Today

"Put me in the sunshine and I’ll burn, blister, and peel, but the only lasting result I get is a crop of freckles on a field of pure-white snow."

It's part of the editing I'm doing on a humorous article about learning to trust that God made us exactly the way he wants us--and that he calls us to do exactly what he wants us to do.

More info on where you can find this article later.

Now, back to work. I have a column to write. I love saying that. :)

An Ambitious Endeavor

As you most likely know, I recently competed in Amazon.com’s international writer’s competition. I placed well, and that’s good news, but something even more exciting has come out of it. Throughout the contest period, many of us formed a very unique community of writers. From that, several of us have decided to create a cutting edge publishing company called Totga (long “o”) for “The Ones That Got Away.” The talented authors and business professionals that form our core leadership team live all over the US and in the UK.

We’ve selected a board of directors (I’m treasurer), conduct our business meetings via email and conference call, and are building our website, exploring incorporation issues, and setting up editorial policies, marketing strategies, and all sorts of other things you’d expect publishers to do. All very exciting.

I’ll keep you posted on Totga Books as things progress, but I'd love to hear your initial thoughts. I mean, seriously, how many folks do you know that form businesses with a bunch of strangers they met on the Internet? :)

Parenting Columnist

Hey, friends! I'm signing on to write a weekly parenting column for a new Christian lifestyle/humor online magazine. More details as they come, but I'm very excited about the site, the crew, and the possibilities. Shoot, it's a paying gig! What's not to like? :)

The column will be about the silly things that cause women to worry they're bad moms. You can help me fine-tune the column title in my poll on the right side-bar. Please help me out!

Novelists Strike

No one notices. ;-)

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/novelists_strike_fails_to_affect

Who We Are Inside

By opening our literary veins and spilling something akin to blood on paper, we are able to somehow be the people we really are inside.--Jeff Fielder, fellow Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist

Why do you write? Not for the money, surely, as there isn't much in it for most of us.

Is it your love of language? I don't know about you, but there's something about a well-turned phrase that tickles my inner thesaurus. Nevertheless, I've come across writers who can't seem to put two words together in a logical sequence, but still, they write.

Is writing your one-man/woman-crusade to correct bad grammar, poor spelling, and sloppy punctuation? Some of us are hopelessly picky about such things. I once corrected the spelling on a hastily scrawled note my friend left for her family. She was cheeky enough to laugh at me, but right is right.

Are you a good story-teller? I love stories. I believe in their power to inform, transform, reform. And there's always the good old-fashioned entertainment factor.

Maybe you're the kind of person who can't help but describe what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel with intense accuracy, because you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things intensely. It just happens. I remember walking into a reeking bat exhibit at the Memphis Zoo and exclaiming, "Ew. It smells like a diaper that's been in the pail three days too long." My sister-in-law shook her head at me. "You can tell you're a writer," she said. "Anyone else would have just said, 'It stinks in here.'"

Is it the challenge of expressing your thoughts--your very heart--in a way that stirs the soul of another human being? Ah, now perhaps we're getting somewhere.

Or is it simply that God put words in you that clamor to get out? Truths that itch to be etched across a sheet of paper or a computer screen.

Whatever it is, I think Jeff Fielder pegged it. For me at least.

Why do I write?

Because it's who I really am inside.

The First Thing I Published

The first thing I published was a short story in a mid-size magazine a dozen years or so ago. The bimonthly ran a fiction contest, and the winning entry would be published in the January issue, prize enough for an aspiring author.

I worked and worked on my submission, mailed it off with great hopes, and never heard a word. Ever the optimist, I figured the editor wanted to surprise me so I waited patiently for the first issue of the year.

At last it arrived! I turned to page fifteen and stared, dumbstruck, at the winning story with its beautiful illustrations. I should have been proud. But it wasn’t mine.

Cruelly rebuffed, I gave into a massive dose of chocolate, but not even that helped. How could I have lost the contest? My story was brilliant. Pure art. Literary genius.

In a depressed funk, I swore off writing (it wouldn’t be the last time), wondering why I’d subjected myself to such public humiliation (also, not the last time). The fact that probably no more than two editorial underlings had read my story didn’t matter. Okay, one, maybe.

The next day I headed to the library to check out a book or two on crafting stories, having ditched my resolve never to write again. My swearing off rarely lasts more than six hours. I thought maybe—just maybe—I could pick up a thing or two. Or a dozen things. Two dozen. Turns out I’d made every amateurish mistake in the book. So I read another book. And another. Then I took that little story and re-wrote it. Re-submitted it. Never heard a word from the editor.

I traipsed out to the mailbox one day in April, pulled out a couple of bills, a piece or two of junk mail, and the next issue of the magazine. It had lemons on the cover. I stood there at the curb and wondered if, by some miracle, my story might be in it. Gingerly, I turned to the table of contents. Ran my finger down the first column of listings. Nothing. The second column. Nada. Oh, wait. I backed up. Yes! There. “Important Things” by Caron Guillo. My heart pounded. My vision blurred. I blinked. YES!!!

I wanted to do a happy dance right there in the street, but, instead, reined myself in and headed for the front door. For the record, I did not do a happy dance inside my house. I simply squealed and jumped up and down like a caffeinated kindergartener on a pogo stick. Four seconds of that, and my ankle gave way, dropping me to the floor faster than you can say, “reality stinks.” I crawled to the couch boasting a ridiculous smile considering the circumstances. The limp only lasted a couple of days; the euphoria longer.

Maybe I’ll dig out that story sometime and publish it here. Or maybe I’ve learned a thing or two since then and wouldn’t dare put it online.

Yep. The last one. :)

So, What's It About?

I'm currently writing a humorous novel entitled A WORK IN PROGRESS.

Somewhere along the way, Becca Jacobson has gotten lost in her own life. Widowed twenty-two months ago, she's determined to compile, edit, and publish a collection of her husband's articles on baseball legends, but navigating the approaching teenage years of her son, Tyler, doesn't leave her much time or energy to do so. And a male co-worker--the self-absorbed P.E. teacher at Thomas Edison Elementary School--has set his unwelcome affections on her. Add to that, she's forced to take a second job when the alternator goes out on her 1993 Honda dubbed "Old Blue," she has an imprudent relationship with Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, and she doesn't remember how to dream. But with help from an American Idol wanna-be and a female adventurer from the past, Becca finds the courage to rediscover and redefine herself.

Why I Wrote CHILDREN OF LIGHT

(Click on the title of this post to link to a free downloadable excerpt of CHILDREN OF LIGHT)

Several years ago I read an intriguing novel about the crusades which sent me to the encyclopedia in search of more information on the topic. At the end of the World Book article, I came across a few lines about a children's crusade that ended in tragedy, most of the participants either dying prematurely in the Alps or being betrayed and sold into slavery in Africa.

I actually gasped and re-read the paragraph three or four times. What in the world would possess children to set off on such a misadventure or their parents to allow it?

Sometime later when I had the tools and time to research the subject properly, I discovered that at the forefront of the so-called children's crusade was a charismatic and egotistical young commoner named Nicholas, that most of the "crusaders" were young adults, and that parents were generally terrified of the movement, seeking to protect their children from a disastrous end.

I couldn't let the story go. Why would unarmed, untrained, unfinanced peasants think they could accomplish what professional armies had not? How desperate or deluded must an individual be to join such an ill-fated mission? And what about all those young people sold into slavery? How did they live with the consequences of their mistakes?

I began to envision a young woman who would do anything to win freedom from her past. A young man who dreams of rising above his lowly status to change the world. A would-be warrior looking for a fight, and perhaps a bit of fortune.

And so began my exploration into the lives of three young commoners who thought they had nothing left to lose.

A Work in Progress

A WORK IN PROGRESS is not only the name of my new writing blog, but the title of the novel I'm currently working on, and an accurate description of my writing journey.

I hope you'll check in often for updates, excerpts, behind-the-scenes glimpses into my stories and characters, thoughts on writing, and "First line I wrote today" posts.

Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you whether you're an established writer, a beginner, an avid reader, one of my cheerleaders, or simply a curious bystander.

Thanks for stopping by!