When things go wrong, do you get hot under the collar? That’s baking.

When things go wrong, do you try to figure out how to do it better or prevent it the next time? That’s basking.

When you bake, it just gets hotter. Basking is defined as “Derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in” (WordWeb Online)

How can you take pleasure in things going wrong? (notice I haven’t used the F word – fail) By figuring out  how to do it better. Sitting down and looking for improvement areas. I’m not talking about the type of “I got a rejection letter. My writing sucks!” type of self-evaluation. I’m talking about the type where you say, “That rejection was only a form letter. One reason publishers send those out is that the submission doesn’t meet their guidelines. I’ll try using a checklist so I know I met all their guidelines.”

In other words, don’t focus on the problem. Focus on the solution.

Here are a few great quotes to keep in mind regarding how to react to performance that is less than … ahem … your best.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
~ Thomas Alva Edison

“All my successes have been built on my failures.”
~ Benjamin Disraeli

 ”Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
~ Sir Winston Churchill

My favorite…

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
~ Michael Jordan

It is not whether you will fail, it’s whether you will come back. Will you bake? Or bask?

Since many of you reading this are writers, I decided to write about plotting today. And if you’re merely a reader (and I say merely with much reverence and respect and love because boy, do us writer types love and need you!!), I’m hoping you might enjoy a little inside info on what makes us writer-types tick )

Whether you are well into a career, have a manuscript or two under our belt but haven’t cracked that ‘publication’ hurdle yet or are still in the ‘thinking about writing a book’ stage, we all harbor dreams of writing that perfect book. And to write that perfect book, we need to have the perfect plot. Or at least we have to have A plot – someone, probably an editor – will notice if we don’t )

How to plot is the million dollar issue. And for my money, plotting is the most single difficult issue. My writing friends often ask me – how do you plot? How do you get all those pieces working together in a seamless, cohesive story?

Now I love my writing friends. And I want to help them in any way I can. So I always answer them truthfully: I DON’T KNOW!!!

How can that be? But I really don’t know. It’s humiliating and embarrassing and ego busting. I mean really. I’ve been fortunate enough to have sold over 40 books, and currently have a publisher who is anxiously awaiting delivery of yet one more. Shouldn’t I know what I’m doing by now? Well, shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I be able to sit down each morning to write, full of confidence as I merrily charge through plot point after plot point, guided by my carefully crafted blueprint that will lead me effortlessly to a stunning and brilliant conclusion? Shouldn’t I be able to write ten to twenty pages a day without batting an eye?

Well, I bat my eyes. A lot. Ticks develop. It ain’t pretty. And it’s demoralizing to look up from the PC that I sat down in front of at 8:00 am, realize it’s 2:30 pm and I’ve written all of two – count ‘em TWO – paragraphs.

So ALL days are not like that but more than I’d like to count – or admit to – are. And the really weird thing – given all of this turmoil, I still manage to get my books written, turn them in on time and make my publisher happy.

Is there a point to all of this? Well, actually, yeah. I’m a deeply disturbed writer – but that’s not the point today. The point is, we all struggle in this crazy business – with plot, with characterization, with carrying on. And because I know I’m not alone, I want to share some that I hope will help. NO, sorry, it’s not how I plot – that was just a ruse to get you reading. What I want to share are some affirmations that a dear friend shared with me and that have helped me through those two paragraph days so that I can get on to the ten to twenty page days and whip that elusive plot into shape.

I suspect, also, that many of these affirmations will be very helpful in everyday life as well.

Here goes:
AFFIRMATIONS FOR WRITERS
* Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.
* I like and respect myself. I know I am a worthy, capable and valuable person.
* I guide my own destiny, and I’m accountable for the results of my decisions and actions.
* I reinforce my successes and correct for errors.
* I easily anticipate and experience events in my imagination before they actually happen.
* I am my own expert, and I am not affected by the negative attitudes and opinions of others.
* I easily balance the needs of my family with my own need to write.
* Creativity flows through me easily and effortlessly.
* I am a talented writer.
* I have a positive expectancy of big success, and I take temporary setbacks easily.
* I am a creative person and develop my plots with confidence and imagination.
* Images and words come easily when I sit down to write.
* I have unlimited potential; I have unlimited creativity.
* I happily accept the joys and responsibilities of being published and welcome success.
* I write daily with excitement, enthusiasm, and confidence.
* I am well-organized and have a vivid picture of my goals.
* I don’t wait for inspiration. Work inspires inspiration. If I succeed, I keep working. If I fail, I keep working. Whether I feel interested or bored, energized or tired, encouraged or discouraged, I keep working.
* I have the craftsmanship and creativity to successfully finish this book.
And yet a few more self-affirmations from Shad Helmstetter: (THE SELF-TALK SOLUTION)
* I have talents and skills and abilities. I even have talents and skills that I don’t know about yet. And I am discovering new talents inside myself all the time.
* I invest my time and energies where I choose. My time and energy are gifts which I guard and give by my choice – - but never by the demands, dictates, or the expectations of others.
* I am a winner. I am absolutely determined to achieve my aims. I am steadfast and persistent in the pursuit of my goals, and I will not give up.
* Each day my confidence in my self-expression grows stronger and even more positive. I express myself easily, without fear or uncertainty.
* Each day I consciously remove from my mind the imaginary bindings of self-doubt and the unnecessary limitations of uncertainty and fear.
* I am never afraid to try.
* I was not created to fail; I was created to succeed. Success is a part of who I am and a part of everything about me.
Okay people. These things only work if you use them. My advice – print them out, place them where you can access them at any time and READ THEM OUT LOUD until you start believing them.
Does anyone else have ‘props’ they use to help them through those tough writing days? Have you relied on affirmations before and have they been helpful? Am I the only one out here who doesn’t know what she’s doing???? Let’s hear it. Disturbed minds want to know.
Side note: If you’re not following Michael Yon’s account of the current surge in Afghanistan, you might want to tune in. He’s amazing – but even more than that, our troops are amazing as they put it all on the line!

I’m in the process of editing my second novel with Sapphire Blue Publishing and I love the process. It isn’t as much fun as writing the first draft but it is exciting to see the rough edges smoothed and polished.

While I’m editing, I’m updating my Twitter, Facebook and Myspace status with the number of “Editor Love Notes” I have left.

My publisher and a few other writers got the joke and got quite a kick out of it.
Others just scratch their heads and say “Oh, that’s Lisa. She’s just crazy.”

Crazy like only an Air Force Cop can be but I digress.

I don’t like saying I have 300 edits to make to a manuscript because that implies errors and they aren’t. They’re opportunities to improve the story.

If there is one thing that trips my trigger, it is improving the story!

So I call them “Editor Love Notes”.

My hope is that my editor and I can love on this manuscript enough that readers will love the final draft that becomes “A Taste of Liberty”.

Until that time, feel free to follow my progress.

Lisa Thibault Pietsch | Create Your Badge

So I was on my way home from Iraq and I figured I’d go ahead and throw the manuscript into a contest. I mean, the book had gotten me an agent and it was in waaay worse shape then than it is now. What the hell, it couldn’t hurt, right?

Wrong.

Well, I just got those contest entries back today and, well, I got hammered. Badly. Like beaten soundly around the head neck and shoulders with a blunt object beaten. Which, of course, has me wondering what the hell is going on.

So, between the contest comments and the agent comments, I’ve got a problem, right?

You betcha.

Now what?

Well, I could sit in a corner and lick my wounds, whining about how everyone is being mean to me and it’s really a gem if only the right person would pick it up but I won’t. I’m also not inclined to dig into this manuscript right now, either. But I’m going to. I’m letting all these comments swirl around my brain and fester. I’ve got ideas of things I can change. Plot points, characters.

Basically, I’ve got my work cut out for me if I ever want to see this book in print.

I’ll be honest. I’m tired of the damn thing. I’ve been working on it for two years and I can’t tell you how many times I rewrote the thing in Iraq. So, the fatigue is an issue for me. I’m letting it sit for a while so that when I do finally dig back into it, I’ll be able to do so with a fresh perspective.

How do you take comments from contests? Do you send in to contests at all? Why or why not?

I love a book, movie or television show that makes the military look good. Sometimes, it’s too good, like NCIS. The Navy’s equivalent to the FBI only wishes they had access to the equipment shown on this popular show.

Then there’s Chuck, where agents from the CIA and NSC take commands from an Air Force brigadier general. That’s a bit off—the military directing spies. But what really gets my knickers in a bunch is the uniform the general wears. Seriously? Service dress to talk to underlings? Not going to happen. We’re at war, folks. Try a battle-dress uniform.

Authors tend to stick to the facts a bit better, maybe because readers have more time to nitpick over the details. That means it’s even more important to get your facts straight. After all, you don’t want some blogger blasting your lack of research.

So if you’re going to include military facts in your efforts, do a little research. And to make it easier for you, I’ve found the places you need to go to.

Start locally. Your nearest large military facility, whether it’s Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines or Coast Guard, will have a public affairs office. If it’s a small unit, someone will be designated as the public affairs representative. Call the installation operator and ask for public affairs or whoever answers requests from the public. If they can’t answer a list of questions, try asking for a base tour or a speaker to talk to your group.

The National Guard, aligned with the Army and the Air Force, are similar, but under the command of the state government. Though the units can be mobilized and fall under active-duty forces, they tend to be more available then the active forces and more open to community interaction. After all, these folks live around you and many have jobs in your town. They also have public affairs offices, but they aren’t always manned. You may be talking to whoever is on duty. Explain what you’re looking for and the Guard may be able to help.

Another place you can go for information is your local recruiting office. Recruiters generally take the assignment as a career-broadening experience. Since these military members often operate from one-deep offices, they are very accessible and would be able to answer general questions. They will also have access to demographic information, and career fields and what they do.

Below is contact information for each of the Armed Forces. All the armed services fall under the Department of Defense, except the Coast Guard, which comes under the Department of Homeland Security.

Army: Most willing Defense Department agency to work with uncontracted authors. New York Army Public Affairs director: Harry Sarles, Harrison.sarles <at> us.army.mil, 212-784-0111.

Air Force: New York Public Affairs Office handles author requests, though you must be contracted. Main number is 212-784-0147; email requests to bookrequest <at> mcguire.af.mil. Explain what you’re looking for and they will send a book request form. You’ll need to return it with a contract or letter of commitment.

Navy: Call the Navy’s New York office only if you have a contract. Fill out the online request form. Main phone: 212-784-0130. Current director is Lt. Cmdr. Suzanna Brugler, 212-784-0131. For base tours or general public requests, use the list of Navy Public Affairs Offices at: http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/paodir/address.txt.

Marine Corps: No central office. For Recruiting and Public Affairs Offices, go to: http://www.marines.mil/usmc/Pages/Contact.aspx. If desperate, email ontherecord <at> usmc.mil. This address is normally for credentialed media, but they may be able to refer you to another number.

Coast Guard: Requires a letter of intent or at least a letter of interest from a publisher. However, in some instances they do arrange interviews or other limited research support for authors who are earlier in the process. The support they provide will vary based on operational demands and what kind of access/support the author is seeking. Contact Angela Hirsch, Co-Chief, Community Relations Division, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Public Affairs, 202-372-4642 or angela.h.hirsch <at> uscg.mil.

When my “Johnny” comes marching home, he’ll have me to come home to, for better or worse. Each deployment has been greater than six months and this is our fifth. As if that weren’t enough, there have been separations for annual training, schools, TDY, and ill-fated PCS timing. How many days, exactly: I know I’m not alone when I say, “I can’t count that high” or “I’ve stopped counting.” But each time we rolled out the red carpet upon his return.

We’ll give him a hearty welcome then, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
That joyful day when Johnny comes marching home
Twill be so good to have ‘em home
They’ve been so far and gone so long
What a joyful day when Johnny comes marching home

“So far and gone so long”: Yes, the other side of the country and for days, into months, and years. Our HEA (happy ever after) is stuff dreams are made of, books and songs and poems are written about. It’s been a true military romance that adds a chapter with each passionate good-bye and returning embrace. But it’s one story, one military couple, and one tough, gritty lifestyle that has been paid for with tears, sweat, and bended knee again and again, and sooner or later, again. Furthermore, it’s only one way to write the story.

I’ve been around enough to know that’s only half the stories. In fact, more personally, that only accounts for half my husband’s romancing or his story as it were. Rumor has it that he was a recipient of a “Dear John” letter that broke his heart during his very first time away from home. An Army girlfriend turned and did a “Savannah” on him. In years since, we’ve witnessed girlfriends and wives fall by the wayside for other soldiers. DH has signed leave paperwork knowing full well the turmoil a soldier was going to have to endure on his R&R. Some fellows of his have gotten more than “Dear John” letters on deployment; they’ve gotten divorce papers. That’s the cold, hard, ugly truth. It happens.

Knowing this, it was with intent (on seeing the motivation behind the letter writers) that I picked up Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John in paperback a few months ago. For me, I viewed it as a case study. I’m not a natural fiction reader. (And I’ve only recently learned of military romance as a category). I prefer non-fiction, but the military scenario hooked me and with the reality of “Dear John”s being on my heart, I cracked the cover. The story of John and Savannah did not disappoint me. (I had no basis or expectation for HEA.) I was swept away, enthralled, heart-broken, and floored.

It read like Real Life. In this case: Ugly and Cold but Untrue. (I double checked: 1. Soldiers—Fiction. 2. Long-distance relationships—Fiction.) I won’t go into specifics. I fear I’ve spoiled it already for those who haven’t read it, but not any more than the given title I hope. My experiences lent themselves to seeing how Savannah and John couldn’t make it work and even understanding it. It did not anger me as it did one Amazon reviewer who felt they wasted their time. It saddened me to know that this fiction book played out a non-fictitious theme still being played out centuries after the first “Dear John” letter.

Not all the ladies turn out. A salute isn’t always rendered for a job well done. Some take themselves out of the mix for a myriad of reasons. The sacrifice of time and youth is too much. It doesn’t make them all wrong. Some “Savannah”s go on to other good causes and grow up and “show up” for different relationships, ones that are in a whole other romance category. That is the lesson that I came away with.

A friend that I lent the book to had her own take. She, being the lover and wife of an airman, was angry. She’s also a hopeless (sorry) romantic who’s betting Hollywood will save the day and John and Savannah will make this a true military romance and not just another bad news story, a casualty of 9/11. I pray not. Life is messy. Military life is messier. And I’d be lying if I didn’t end by saying that once or twice I’ve contemplated a more simple life, one of a teacher or a grocer’s wife. As a couple, we’ve even fantasized about a “Dear Army, We’re moving to Canada” life.
So, while I didn’t expect it to be a controversial book when I shared it with my friend and others, upon further thought, it makes sense. Dear John is a controversial fiction book whose story hits real close to the non-fiction dealings of a controversial life. I have no want, basis or expectation for the movie to be any different.

Star Henderson is a National Guard Army wife. Her journey with the military began writing daily letters to a friend at Basic Training in 1990. She joined the Army in 1993, and later married that “friend” in 1995. Her husband is David, and they have two children: Thomas and Tara. Their family is part of the 48th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia National Guard. Star is co-founder of ArmyWifeNetwork.com, which is now parent to their ever popular weekly call-in live radio show Army Wife Talk Radio and their q&a column for the military, Field Problems™. Committed to sharing their stories, knowledge, and providing real answers, co-founders Tara and Star work hard to identify and solve the issues of today’s military families. Real-life stories can be found on their Loving A Soldier blog that is home to more than 20 military spouses, girlfriends and family members.

I know what it says at the beginning of the book. All the characters and events are purely fiction, blah, blah, blah.

As I was tweeting with an ex Navy friend the other day, we realized we both had the same problem:

Nobody believes the true stories and we have no choice but to fictionalize them!

Let me let you in on a little secret: I’ve met so many characters in my nineteen years (eight active duty and eleven as a military wife) that I just have to put some of them into books.

How can I not?

There was that corporal in the Royal Air Force, that Buck Sergeant from South Carolina, the good old boy from Virginia, the trust fund baby from Texas, the Fratalian from Maine, the farm boy from Kansas, the cowboy from South Dakota…and that’s just the first four years!

The fact is, we’ve met more characters than we can count – and likely had just as many adventures with those characters.

When we put the characters and adventures on the page with a plot, a few hooks and some tension, they make for great fiction but we can never share the truth.

My story “The Path to Freedom” was reviewed once by a reviewer who found only one aspect of the story completely unbelievable – the idea of a good looking woman getting a free drink from a Las Vegas bartender just to sit at the bar. The premise of the overweight cop being sent to a top secret CIA training camp in the Nevada desert wasn’t questionable at all. It was that free margarita that made the reviewer call “bulls***”.

They also had a bit of a problem with so many good looking guys in the story but I chalk that up to their never being posted on a fire team with three Air Force cops with good haircuts who run with forty plus pounds of gear and guns all day.

This is why I have to write fiction – nobody believes the truth.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to romance the characters I’ve met?