Jane Latta

Hello? Is this thing on?

2011-11-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

It's day one of NaNoWriMo and I have zippo.

For many months - nay, a few years, now - I have fantasized about writing. Death, divorce, and a reluctance to let go of said fantasies have kept me at a safe distance from actual creativity. Since 2008, I have done nothing more than pick up long-ignored works in progress and, at the first sign of a challenge, cast them aside a few days later. All it would take was a bad day or even a bad sentence and my manuscript would end up back in the box with the other misfits. Having been hurled there from across the room.

It's obvious: I have been too scared to write.

No, I don't fear failure, because I'm not functioning anywhere near that level yet. I don't have any grand plans for my stories at the moment. What I fear is not knowing what will emerge when I tap into my creativity. I can't even sort through my myriad of emotions these days, so how will I get any emotion on the page? If I manage to get inside a character's head, what will it feel like to do that? I don't know, but it seems pretty obvious to me that it needs to be done.

While I would love to pound out 50,000 words this NaNo, my goal is, instead, humble and simple: write.

Self-publishing vs traditional

2011-03-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

All I have to say about the new self-publishing wave versus traditional publishing and the fact that cheap downloads are selling like crazy is, "Thank you, e-reader manufacturers, for getting people to READ again!"

Here I Am, Baby

2011-03-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

I just discovered that I lost the electronic versions of my short stories. Every single one, and there were about 40.

Ouch.

Still undecided whether this is a moment of freedom or if I want to take a hammer to my laptop (or my head).

Regardless, I'm working on a rewrite of My Dearest Julianne which will be about 20,000 words, give or take a few thousand. My friend Madison Leigh inspired me by revamping one of her stories and igniting my muse.

I find that I am so far out of the habit that the "what if" phase is progressing with a limp. Hoping to work the kinks out with a little more familiarity.

One page per day

2010-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

My writing friends are all so encouraging. They haven't given up on me or stopped believing in me. They haven't taken me off the email loop or kicked me out of the online group. I've spent a good long time wanting to be back doing what they are doing - writing, polishing and submitting -and feeling like an impostor because I haven't written anything in forever.

My friend, Melanie, knows what a struggle it's been for me to be away from my writing for so long. A career change, some major "life" events, getting used to working full time again, health problems, relationship issues, and remodeling my home have all added up to a necessary sacrifice on my part. But...I'm not happy when I'm not writing. So Mel challenged me to write just one sh*tty page today. Fifteen minutes of my time. Free-write, whatever, so long as I was writing something.

I did and it was awful -- but I loved it :)

Can it be done? One page per day, good or bad? Just trying to fit it in gives me fits of anxiety because, at the end of the day, I already have so much weighing on my mind that I should have done but just couldn't find the time to do. However, we hear all the time that it's important to carve time out of our schedules to nurture the soul, right? Maybe lunch hour.... I wonder, though, if it will be worth it, writing a page of crap. Reasonably, the act of writing will eventually effect an improvement, I would hope. I seem to have forgotten so much about my stories. Maybe it would be better to start with a short story, and work my way up to writing a page a day on a novel.

It all seems so big and overwhelming, but one page a day, now that sounds possible.

It can't hurt to try.

Wow, really?

2010-08-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

March 7th was my last post?? I have a bit of updating to do!

I'm doing it again, that hopping from story to story thing, and changing up my stories. I'm learning something about the way I need to write: start a story, play with it, let it sit. Let it evolve from one concept to another until I find the right ingredients for the characters. I simply cannot make my characters fit into the first outline I write; it must be the other way around. But once I know, I know. Everything clicks into place, and I can't STOP my characters from telling me their story.

The YA Driving Lessons is still a work in progress. I adore those characters, but they needed some time to simmer. I wasn't happy with the way one of the characters was coming across on the page, or rather NOT coming across. He isn't what I want him to be. Yet. It's fun and easy to write the other characters, though, so I hope to get back to Sarah and her friends real soon. The exciting thing about them is they leap off the page, straight to your heart. That story will be so satisfying to finish.

While Driving Lessons is simmering, I'm toying with my mystery again and loving it. Remember Rebecca and Erik in Err Apparent, previously known as Art of Deception? That story has been simmering on a back burner for 2 years because it was missing something. I wrote it twice, but both times stopped at the black moment. I let my mind wander one day and suddenly there was this Really Big Idea. I'm adding this new ingredient and stirring the pot :) It's so exciting!

Since my last post, I've found a new job. It was necessary for me to work full time, and the bank - despite the fact that I enjoyed the work and the people I worked with - didn't pay enough to support my family, so I'm back to my pre-kids career of accounting. I found the best job I've ever had! The company I work for is family-friendly, and in the two months I've worked there, everyone I've met has been warm, caring, and supportive. I absolutely love my job. And the pay :)

My husband is working again, too, after almost 2 years of unemployment. I probably don't need to explain to you that having a stable income alleviates a lot of that creativity-stifling pressure.

In other news, we got a new puppy and the kids dubbed him D.O.G. (pronounced dee-oh-gee), Hannah got braces, Sean is driving (eek!), and we're resuming work on the remodel.

So, back to writing. And back to my stories. My goal is to have a complete story by November, so that I can spend January editing, and spend February shopping it out.

First things first: Err Apparent needs a new title. Something to fit that Really Big Idea.

Driving Lessons Excerpt

2010-03-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

Austen Update: Book three, Mansfield Park. Love Fanny Price.

Just ran across this passage in my work in progress and I had one of those, “LIKE!” moments where I’m surprised that my character really filled the page like she does in my head. Wish I had more of these moments :)

From Chapter 2 of a very rough draft:

I remember with perfect clarity the moment Owen walked into the hospital room the day after Willie was born, carrying a big brown teddy bear in a t-shirt that read, “It’s a BOY!” Owen was wearing a smile and what Dad called his “civvies.” I had a picture of Owen in uniform on my dresser at home, but I’d know him anywhere because for as long as I could remember, he was my Owen.

When I was eight and he was getting ready to ship out, I told everyone I would grow up while he was gone and he would come home and marry me. When I was ten and Owen was stationed overseas and I heard he’d married Terry, I cried and vowed never to speak to him again. He came home a year later with his new wife and scooped me up in his arms and declared that I looked just like my mom when she was my age and that’s when he’d fallen in love with her, but Dad had won the battle and the fair maiden and he’d had to go slay dragons in another port and the rest was history. He told me to hold out my hand, and I did, and he placed in it a fluffy little dragon with fierce red eyes and I’d forgiven him even though my heart was broken.

I’d last seen Owen two years ago. A lot of growing up can happen to a girl in two years, so when he walked through the door, I wasn’t sure what I would feel. He winked at me and waved the teddy bear, and I smiled back, and I realized that I was almost sixteen and he was just one of Dad’s friends now, not my Owen any longer. It made my heart feel a tiny bit heavier.

Reading and writing through Jane Austen

2010-02-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

Karen Joy Fowler must have been inspired by it, right? She had to have read through the Austens and thought, "That Jane Austen really had a gift for characterization." She must have analyzed what worked so well. Perhaps she plunged into the Austens one day because she was struggling with her writing.

Or maybe she just loved Jane Austen. Like me. Her characters became like friends. I feel as if I've sadly neglected them these past ten years or so. It's been a long time since I've actually read an Austen.

So when a friend of mine asked at book club if anyone was interested in reading through the Austens, I quickly raised my hand. Of course I've read them all before, but lately I've only read works inspired by her (Bridget Jones' Diary, Becoming Jane, Lost in Austen, Jane Austen Book Club, to name a few). (Interesting note: all of those examples were made into movies and I've seen them all, too.) (And let's not mention how many times I've watched P&P, the A&E version.)

At Barnes & Noble the other day, I spied a display of novels that continue where Pride and Prejudice left off (amusing), Austen books featuring zombies and sea monsters (weird), and one particular gem which I plan to savor after I've completed the Austens: Sandition, the unfinished novel by Jane Austen, finished by Juliette Shapiro.

We read Emma last month, and this month's selection is Sense and Sensibility.

It is safe to say that I am in no danger of becoming one of those copycat writers, emulators, or plagiarists crowding the bookshelves, but I do find the model of her work inspiring. She is often dismissed by modern readers as too far removed from our hurry-up world with its lack of polite society. They don't think they can identify with the world of Jane Austen's books. However, I am finding upon this reading, much of her writing still rings true today. She wrote about families and friends, and how they interact; how we can be taken in by charm and appearance, but one's true nature wills out in the end.

She is providing a good lesson for this writer.

My kiddos

2010-01-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Not the best photo, but it shows Sean and Hannah at their best: hanging out and having fun.

I did it! I did it!

2010-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

I wrote a short story for the Writer's Weekly 24 hour short story contest yesterday! Maybe this doesn't sound like a Big Deal, but it was. I look at all the things I should be doing and skip what I want to be doing. Setting aside time yesterday was a present to myself.

Yay me.

Happy 2010

2009-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

How many bloggers make a resolution to blog more often? I don't imagine any resolve to blog less.

Since I'm not a typical blogger, I can't make a typical blogger's resolution, but...I can resolve to one thing for sure: I'm here now, blogging. When the mood strikes and I have something to say, I'll be back.

The rights for two of my short stories (Hear The Wind Blow and Devil's Breath, both published by Echelon Press under the pseudonym Janelle Dakota) have reverted back to me. Although I'm focused on noveling right now, I'm drawn to writing short stories. They fascinate me, those little vignettes. I love the expediency of character and plot, how the reader is dropped right into the action and then just as quickly whisked away without any explanation. Maybe someday I'll have enough short stories that I can gather them into a collection and self-publish.

My YA novel is still developing when it gets the chance. L-I-F-E has been a big hindrance to my creativity. I once read that a writer, to be successful, simply needs to write. 2008 and 2009 were my object lessons, and I now have no doubts on the Butt In Chair theory. My stories do not write themselves.

Passages

2009-12-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

Here is my grandmother's original oil: (Bernice Dorothy Hackett Green)

And my recreation in colored pencil, just because I'm so intrigued with passageways:

Writing and drawing have some similarities, but I like them for their differences.

Guest blogger!

2009-08-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hi!
This is Jane's daughter Hannah.
I'm just writing to tell you that the reason that Jane hasn't been blogging lately, is that she has a new job, she works at a bank. She hasn't been writing either. Though she has read some books. We are thinking about on one of moms days off reading the same book (lets take Twilight for example) and see who can read more of it by the end of the day. Breaking only for the bathroom or to eat. A nice way to spend one of our record-breaking, heat-wave days. Well that's enough for now. Maybe Jane will be on again soon!
Hannah

Fitting writing into life

2009-04-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

Or would that be fitting life into writing? I'm not sure. For this writer, the line isn't clearly defined. Example:

I haven't written for two weeks because I'm adjusting. New schedule, new responsibilities. So it's no surprise that my characters have to adjust, since they are part of my life like anything else. Obviously, I can't spend any time with them at work except perhaps on my lunch hour. This forces me to derail story thoughts with a mental promise to explore said ideas in the evening, only to come home to furious demands (errands, homework, chores) after which I fall into bed, drifting off to sleep uttering more mental promises to my characters.

What do you think I would do with my days off? Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning house and running errands. This morning, I turned the computer on with no small amount of trepidation. I'm woefully behind in correspondence. 3 weeks since my last blog post. Group sites are clogged full of messages I have yet to read.

And I'm heading for Driving Lessons.

I got a job!

2009-03-23T20:34:00.001-07:00

Good news! I found a GREAT day job. (I'm just not into that starving-for-the-sake-of-my-art thing.) Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to meet most of my new co-workers at a BBQ and I'm very lucky to have found some of the nicest people to work with. We played cards and video games, ate some good food, and laughed a lot.

The bad news is I just found out today, on the eve of my first day at my new job, that I have a stress fracture on my left tibia. I worked my way up to 5 miles of walking, 3 days a week, and decided to toss in a little jogging. Apparently this is a common injury for people walking or running on asphalt.

I sure know how to make a lasting first impression :)

I've been working on a fun story for my daughter, just something to email to her once a week. Right now I'm calling it Driving Lessons. It's fun, and it reminds me why I started writing in the first place. What If is simmering, waiting for me to settle into the new routine, but I wrote a few notes on an idea I had for a scene.

Except for the pain in my left leg and the fact that I can't walk for a while, all is well.

Connections

2009-03-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

My sisters and I spent the weekend with our relatives in San Jose. It was the first time I'd seen some of my cousins since I was in grade school. Both of my parents grew up in California, but after marrying and moving around a bit, they settled down in Washington state. Before my parents divorced, we spent a few weeks every couple of summers driving down Highway 101 to go see the family, but I was only seven when they divorced so my memories are a bit fuzzy.

From my aunt and uncle's loving welcome to the endless laughter and great food, we made memories and reconnected. It was awesome.

By both choice and fortune, my siblings and I live close enough to get together for dinner several times a month. My son spends darn near every weekend with his cousin of the same age! I wish my siblings and I had been able to share that proximity with our San Jose cousins; what we had instead was a connection through our parents - a mention here or there about what our cousins were up to. In the days since the trip, I've wondered what life would have been like if we'd grown up close together. We probably would have attended each other's graduations and weddings, things like that. I think we would have had fun.

So Monday I'm out on my 3 mile walk and I can't help but feel a bit sad that my parents moved away from the rest of the family.

Here it is Wednesday already, and on my 3 mile today I realized that I hadn't posted this message yet! Job hunting takes time :)

Job hunting

2009-02-26T23:43:00.000-08:00

Yowza! Where did February go?

If you have a job right now, be very thankful…and mind your manners. There are literally thousands of us hoping you’ll slip up. I’m not gunning for your job, specifically. I just need a cash flow.

My morning starts off with a scan of the job postings on my favorite sites and my evening ends with one last look. In desperation the other night, I applied for a job I wasn’t qualified for, not even in the slightest (apparently an interest in bio-fuels and a comfortable level of intelligence doesn’t count for much these days). But for the majority of applications I’ve made, I’m over-qualified, which is worse than having poor social skills. I’m tempted to dumb down my résumé since the jobs I’m applying for are clerical. Yes, they are beneath my potential, but what’s wrong with an honest day’s work in a relatively uncomplicated job? Right now, I need uncomplicated.

Which brings me to my topic.

I’m noticing a national trend toward simplicity. Has anyone else noticed it, too? I am happiest in an uncluttered environment (*cough*OCD*cough*). Making the most of what we have, being conscientious consumers, and living within our means is sort of a hobby of mine. But suddenly it’s what everyone is talking about: economizing instead of supersizing. “Simple” is the buzz-word of the day.

It’s kind of cool, I think.

I’ve been applying my “hobby” to all areas of my life lately. The kids’ rooms, the closets, the junk drawer…and if you think it feels great to make space in your closets, imagine what it feels like to get rid of emotional baggage! Following my mother’s death, a friend sent me this message: “May your heart choose wisely as you look back over a lifetime of memories.” Viewed through that perspective, it’s easy to see what needs to go. Making the choice to deal with it puts the power back in my hands. And not only do I have the power to simplify my emotional life as well as my physical one, I believe it’s my obligation.

Boy, do I need to find a job.

Everyone's a critic

2009-02-09T23:24:00.000-08:00

Saw this comic in my Sunday paper and recognized myself in Bucky.

That's a scary thought.

Click on the comic to view the entire strip.

The Playlist

2009-02-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

As I write, I need to tune out the everyday noises and demands. I have to turn off or ignore the cell phone, for instance, and like any other "job" I lose ground when I'm interrupted. In the past, I've simply plugged a CD into the drive or listened randomly to whatever struck my fancy. This time, however, to allow me to slip into my characters' world, I created a playlist on my iTunes.

Some writers cannot write with rock music blaring in their ears. It's taken me years to figure out that I need music in order to be productive. It energizes me, and, I've discovered, it has to be rock. Rock-n-roll is at the heart of me, and I can't write from my heart without it.

Without further ado, here is the shuffled playlist for my new story, What If.

Without Expression – John Mellencamp
Foolin’ – Def Leppard
Dreamboat Annie – Heart
Realize – Colbie Caillat
Something To Believe In – Poison
I’m The Only One – Melissa Ethridge
When I First Kissed You – Extreme
Love Song – Sarah Bareilles
Closer to the Heart – Rush
Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield
Black Velvet – Alannah Miles
Have I Told You Lately – Rod Stewart
Ain’t Even Done With The Night – John Mellencamp
Patience – Guns N’ Roses
Peace In Our Time – Eddie Money
Here With Me – Dido
Wonder – Natalie Merchant
The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
Love Story – Taylor Swift
More Than Words – Extreme
Hair of the Dog – Nazareth
Why Can’t I? – Liz Phair
Every Rose Has Its Thorn – Poison
Another Day That Time Forgot – Neil Diamond & Natalie Maines
Cherry Bomb – John Mellencamp
Can’t Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon
I Bruise Easily – Natasha Bedingfield
Fly Me To The Moon – Frank Sinatra
Sweet Darlin’ – Heart
My Favorite Mistake – Sheryl Crow
The Trees – Rush
Think I’m In Love – Eddie Money
New Soul – Yael Naim
Can’t Cry Anymore – Sheryl Crow
One Thing – Finger Eleven
Hold On Hold Out – Jackson Browne
Come To My Window – Melissa Ethridge

37 songs, each one evoking a different mood or character aspect.

Gotta run - the music's playing and the muse is calling!

The New Perch

2009-02-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome!

If you've just arrived from my Janelle Dakota blog, it's great to have you here. What do you think of the new place? Drop me a comment!

If you're meeting me for the first time, here's a little bit of history outside of my bio:

I've been blogging at http://janelledakota.blogspot.com and writing under the name Janelle Dakota for 2 years. You can purchase 2 of my short stories, "Hear the Wind Blow" and "Devil's Breath" from Echelon Press at http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/janelledakotaebooks.htm.

I've had so much fun as Janelle Dakota: short story contests, web classes, online buddies, two novels - each revised thrice. So many great scenes and wonderful characters! I've had publications with Echelon Press and an honorable mention from Lunch Hour Stories. All very much fun, and the bonus is these experiences provided the necessary professional growth.

But...

My muse threw me a curve ball and it made me stop and think. When a voice in your head screams, "Yoohoo! Wrong genre!" you tend to listen, or at least give the declaration a few minutes' consideration. Which is why I'm switching to YA.

Viewed in the YA light, I can see the element that was dangling just out of reach in my two novels, and this excites me. I can't begin to tell you how many hundreds of pages I've written with these characters, trying to make them fit the wrong mold!

That was step one. Step two involved a bit of emotional healing and personal growth. I lost both of my parents in 2008. They were proud of my writing and they believed in me. It is in honor of them that I renounce my pseudonym and embrace my given name.

So, c'mon! Join me on my new journey. I'll post about the writing process, plus of course you'll hear all about the stories, the characters, and the worlds I'm creating.

It's great to have you here with me.