Tag Archives: Helping Each Other

Our Road West Hits A Sharp Turn

Grandma and Grandpa Go West, , , , , , , , ,

Our Road West Hits a Sharp Turn. What we thought was the whole truth turns out to be part truth or no truth at all. The bright light of new knowledge reveals secrets. Everything changes. Unfortunately for the worse. The stakes soar. I am a fiction writer. A plot twist like this enlivens a novel. A twist like this is much less enjoyable in real life. And we were plot twisted for sure.

First Shock – the Unreliable Narrator. People we trust tell us a story. We base our journey on that narrative. Eventually we learn they have not told the story accurately. They were either lying or somehow lacked the knowledge needed to tell the truth. We have been misled. Everything we previously believed is suddenly rendered unbelievable. Our entire enterprise is cast into doubt

We must Figure Out What is True and What is Not True. We had believed these people to be our friends. We were convinced they had our best interests at heart. Maybe that was the case. Maybe it was not. We can no longer be certain of anything. Up to and including this moment of revelation we had no reason to doubt the story we were told. Now we are totally bewildered.

Next Shock – the Red Herring. Our attention was drawn away from the truth. Our gaze was directed to glowing photos of our destination. We were dazzled by impressive websites of the projects we would participate in there. In reality – the place turned out to be a dump. The projects did not exist. Not in offline life anyway. Our Road West Hits a Sharp Turn.

Red Herrings Work Well in Suspense Novels. Truth is revealed.  Readers are surprised. They smack their foreheads and exclaim, “I should have seen that coming. Why didn’t I figure that out myself?” The surprise is nonetheless enjoyable. That red herring is a device in a fiction story. In real life there is no enjoyment. There is disillusionment and a rude awakening. A very rude awakening.

Another Shock – the Epiphany. Our long-time friends always portrayed themselves as reliable. Information to the contrary has now been revealed. A bright light is trained upon a dark corner. We are forced to experience an epiphany about those friendships. In a novel such a twist is fortunate for the storytelling. In our actual lives it was only unsettling. Very unsettling.

We must Re-Examine Our Journey for Missteps. What did we do wrong? Why were we so readily led astray by what is now so obviously false? We are intelligent people. How could we be so easily duped? Exploited? Maybe even scammed. We look back. We see clear clues we ignored. We realize we should not have done that. Did we simply want too desperately to believe? We must take responsibility for that – for all of it. Our Road West Hits a Sharp Turn.

One Possible Consolation is Poetic Justice. The exploited are saved by their virtues. A satisfying ending occurs. God is in His heaven. All’s right with the world. In our lives we were exploited but not faultless. God gifts us with a crucial virtue anyway. We are guided to truths we need to know. This time we respond from sadder but wiser hearts. We must now save ourselves.

You May Have Your Own Similar Stories. Tell your stories – if only to yourself.

  • A Moment of Need to Believe. Was there ever a time in your life when you wanted very badly for your circumstances to change? A time when you were presented with an opportunity for that change to happen and needed that promise to be true? When in your life did this occur? What was the promise? What drew you to it so strongly?
  • Choice amidst Possible Risk. Were there foreseeable dangers in grasping this possible opportunity? Could the outcome be something other than what you hoped for or were promised? What advice were you given by family and friends? Did you listen?
  • Doing It Anyway. Was there ever a time when you disregarded whatever warnings there might be and made the risky choice anyway? What did you do? What happened? If you have never done such a thing, imagine doing so. What happens and how does it feel?

Lesson Learned – Fall down seven times. Get up eight.

We Make a Shame-Faced Admission of Misplaced Trust. We allowed our need to believe to undermine our common sense. A fresh direction is required. We can turn around and go back east where we long belonged. Or move on. What will we do? Further choices and adventures await. Surprises too. Maybe even another chapter where Our Road West Hits a Sharp Turn.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Thrill Yourself with Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

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Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your questions as a Comment following this post.

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Write Whenever Wherever

Writing Advice, ,

 

Write Whenever Wherever. A day in the life of a writer can be a frenzied time. There are these things called deadlines. Do you know why they are called deadlines? Because guess what an author will be if she misses one.

 

How Can We Possibly Get Everything Done? Marketing. Social media. Keeping up with email. And, oh yes, I almost forgot. Writing. As publishing writers we are concerned about productivity on the page. How many words must you write today to be on track toward your  deadline? Whether that deadline is set by an agent or an editor or yourself.

 

This is Not a New Problem for Me. When I first became a book editor – back in a previous incarnation – I was still under contract with my own publisher and had a tight deadline to fulfill. The publisher I worked for and the publisher I wrote for were pulling me hard in two different directions. I was in the middle about to lose my mind.

 

Then Something Wonderful Happened. I was speaking on a conference panel with Nora Roberts. Always an amazing experience. She was the queen of productivity then just like she is the queen of productivity now. So I had a wild thought. Maybe she could help me with my own productivity dilemma.

 

I Found Nora in the Hotel Lobby and Explained My Predicament. She settled into a comfortable sofa and invited me to do the same. This was our first meeting. She did not know me but she listened patiently all the same. Then she gave me the simple yet profound advice that carried me through the deadline I was facing then and many more since.

 

“You have to Learn to Write Wherever You Are,” she said. I had always confined my writing to orderly places and set blocks of time. Nora freed me from that. I also always carried 5×8 inch index cards with me everywhere. From that moment in the hotel lobby on I used them for writing – any time any place I had minutes to spare I would Write Whenever Wherever.

 

Modes of Transportation became Favorite Writing Spaces. Subway cars. Taxis. Airplanes. I hunched over my index cards and wrote furiously. Between subway stops. On my way to meetings. In airport lounges. Nobody ever interrupted me. Probably because I looked a bit intense and maybe a bit insane too. I didn’t care. I needed to make my deadlines. And I did.

 

How to Put Your Writer Psyche on Your Side - www.aliceorrbooks.com

I Never Forgot Nora Roberts’ Wise Advice. I write a lot online now. Magazine articles and columns. These blog posts. They all have deadlines and my days are still packed with other obligations as well. Fortunately I have this author paragon’s voice to remind me. “You have to write wherever you are.” I pass my version of that voice on to you. At deadline time or any time. Write Whenever Wherever.

 

Alice Orr Says – You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

 

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask your question in the Comments section at the end of this post.

 

Alice Orr has published 14 novels, 3 novellas and a memoir so far. She wrote her nonfiction book No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community she loves. Her novel – A Year of Summer Shadows – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 2 – is available HERE.

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Praise for A Year of Summer Shadows: “Alice keeps you wanting to read faster, then when you finish the last page, you want more.” “Orr’s characters come alive on the page.” “A Year of Summer Shadows has moved up to one of my favorite books.”

 

All of Alice’s Books are HERE.

 

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Writers Conference Kickstart Time

Writers Life, ,

Writers Conference Kickstart Time. Spring into summer is conference time. Small retreats and huge gatherings punctuate this period of the year for many of us. We pack up our notebooks and our hopes and head for a convocation of scribes.

Most of us want to find a kickstart to getting our work published or better published. But I do not believe that is the most important thing we gain from these gatherings, whether they take place in a grand hotel or a modest cabin or somewhere in between.

The most important thing we find is each other. We make the most of a writers’ conference by maximizing that discovery. We writers are natural allies. That is so deeply true because we understand one another from inside our own writers’ lives and souls.

We understand… what it’s like to labor in the formidable publishing marketplace… what a struggle it is to get our work published and keep it published… how it feels to suffer rejection and disappointment… and the joy of our accomplishments, whether they be large or small.

Every writer needs support in these hard struggles we have chosen. We know this because we need the same support ourselves. With this knowledge comes the obligation to reach out and offer encouragement to our writer friends, the old friends we reunion with at these gatherings, and the about-to-become new friend in the hotel lobby chair next to ours.

A few sentences of kindness can be another kind of kickstart. They can be exactly what a writer colleague requires at a downbeat moment of her career, while requiring little more on our part than a few upbeat moments of being nice.

Our success dreams make us nice to the max to attending agents, editors and instructors. We line up to pitch our projects. We take copious, almost worshipful notes at their presentations. We long to recruit them as our allies on the inside of the publishing world.

In the meantime, we mustn’t forget to nurture our allies inside the writing world. Give what you can. A word of advice, an attentive ear, a shared laugh, a hug. As you scurry to workshops and appointments, take a moment to touch an author ally with a bit of being nice. My guess is you will experience a lot of feeling good in return. That good feeling is the true essence of Writers Conference Kickstart Time.

Note: The photos in this post are from conferences I was blessed to attend 1994 – 2018.  Alice Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com

A Wrong Way Home – Alice Orr’s Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 1 – is a FREE eBook HERE. Enjoy!

A Wrong Way Home

Alice’s latest novel – A Time of Fear & Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5 – is available HERE.

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving: “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “The best one yet!” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.”

Find all of Alice’s books HERE.

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