I may not be the most prolific blogger during this season of my life, but I’m still writing. For now, my priority as a writer has shifted to freelance work. However, I hope to be able to write more personal pieces in the coming years. If you’re curious about my current projects, check out my freelance tab, and don’t be shy about getting in touch!
oliviaobryon
Writer. Teacher. Occasional Traveler.
Tag Archives: Authors
Middle-grade fiction? I’ve got that!
Nice to have finished Little Bird in time for this spirited little person’s first birthday!
Excited to share the completion of my first middle-grade fiction manuscript, Little Bird & the Graveyard (23,000 words). While everything is a work-in-progress, from the title to the pitch below, it is exciting to be on the road to publication, (traditional or otherwise). I get a lot of questions about what my story is about– below is a peek:
Eleven-year-old Indie has a lot of questions. Not only is she on a mission to find a ghost in the graveyard across the street from her house so she can ask what happens after we die, but she also wants to know why her mom left her and her brother with their dad a few months earlier. She figures if she understands why her mom is gone, then maybe she can stop feeling so upset.
To find answers, Indie will have to be brave. She needs to befriend the family of caretakers who live at the graveyard, which means coming face-to-face with the old man who hates her dog and dealing with a boy who is a year older and clearly does not want her around. Her quest will also push her to snoop through the creepy apartment downstairs and visit the graveyard with her brother at night. While none of these adventures will keep Indie out of trouble, they will lead to life-changing revelations, including the realization a ghost has something to do with her mom’s absence.
***
I was inspired to write middle-grade fiction while working as a classroom teacher with fourth and fifth grade students. During our read alouds, I noticed certain themes resonated more than others, like growing up in dysfunctional families and chasing ghosts. While on maternity leave, I began writing Little Bird and finished in time to dedicate the book to my daughter for her first birthday. Indie embodies the independent spirit I hope to instill in my children and students alike. And, of course, I am also hopeful she will reappear in many more books to come!
Living my Bohemian Writer Fantasy (a Couple Months at a Time)
A cross-over post from my other blog as I embrace life as a mom and writer. The scariest part of this decision? I have zero excuse not to write!
The sale-pending sign hangs outside our house. This leap is getting real!
Our house is in escrow. Half-packed boxes are scattered in every room. By all appearances, we are moving. Five years in one house is the longest I have lived anywhere. Ever.
It feels good to go through everything and make piles. Keep and give away. We own so much we never use. Going through it all is a good reflection on what matters.
I like stuff. Dresses, jackets, shoes, woven wraps. But I have more stuff than I use. More stuff than I stop to appreciate. More stuff than matters.
My favorite part of moving is finding the person who could use what we don’t. Baby swings, strollers, clothes. The list goes on. For most everything, there is a person in our life or sphere who will put the item to better use. It is like a puzzle.
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Writing While Pregnant
One of my biggest fears about motherhood was I would lose my writing identity. Sure, I follow plenty of women writers who find ways to make it work, but I also heard story after story of how motherhood changes you. No time, little rest, more important priorities.
While true motherhood is at least a few months away, I already feel these shifts I dreaded, as writing has taken a backseat to other activities, such as napping, cleaning, preparing, resting some more. What I did not expect, however, is a calm to come with these changes. Instead of lamenting my lost writing time, I feel more present, still, and content. Time has already gained a sort of elastic quality, where less occurs in more time, as though the minutes are stretched, the actions slowed, hours somehow disappearing with little done.
Other things have fallen by the wayside, too. Yoga now means a few minutes of stretching and breathing at various points in the day, instead of my before-treasured blocks of hours. Again, there is a peace in this. Instead of panicking over a loss in identity, I feel a reassurance that these pieces of myself will return in time, or perhaps just exist in more fragmented but highly-treasured moments.
I realized recently, I write to escape and create a space of contentment. With pregnancy, my urge to escape has diminished, my ability to be content in simple moments has improved. Likewise, my thoughts I used to share so freely suddenly feel much more private, more difficult to share. Even so, I love that feeling of progress, as pages of writing become clean and stronger, blog posts emerge out of thin air, and connections are made across this electronic universe. Today I write to say I am still here, just a little quieter than before.
For those of you haven’t heard, we’re excited to welcome a little (human) girl to our family this March.
Playing the Part: Fake it ’til you make it!
Fake it ’til you make it is a common piece of advice for anything you want to achieve in life. While on the surface, it might sound a bit disingenuous, there is a lot of truth to this statement. As a teacher, I had to fake it until I knew what I doing. Had I not, the kids (and their parents) would have eaten me alive. Likewise, when it comes to writing, platform creation is the current buzz.
However, for all of us yet-to-be-published authors out there, we know platform creation comes with a little faking. After all, we have to create the image of the author (and an audience) before our books even have real spines. I knew I had achieved some success in this endeavor when a friend introduced me at a party as a “real writer” again and again. While I protested a bit at first, she was adamant I had earned this title. At that moment I realized I had successfully played the part.
So, now it’s time to take this adage to the next level as I prepare to query (last round) and possibly self-publish Expecting Happiness. Some of the most common advice in platform creation is to make sure you present a professional and unified picture of yourself across all of your pages, (blog, Facebook, Twitter, Gravatar etc.). It’s important to make sure you pick just one or two photos as many readers will not know you well enough to identify you in different settings without these cues.
As such, I enlisted the help of a local blog friend and talented photographer to take some head shots to help me polish my presentation. While I’m going to hold off on picking which photo (or two) to use until after I get back from my trip, I wanted to give her a shout out for her photographic talent. If you live in the Sacramento area and need photos for any occasion, head over to Urke Photography’s blog. Likewise, Ashley also runs her own blog empire over at Domestic Fashionista (and has been my delightful inspiration for Thankfulness Thursdays). Stop by, say hi, tell her I sent you!
And, most importantly– keep on playing the part until it becomes a part of you! Any secrets you want to share on how you’ve faked it to make it?
Photo credit: Urke Photography
A call for beta readers… Want to read my book?
I have to decide what to do with my novel… I’m leaning toward one last round of queries and then self-publishing, but there is always the option to shelve it as well. I haven’t lost faith, I’ve just hit the point where I’m done working on it and need some fresh perspectives.
That’s where you come in…
If you’re interested in reading, I would ask the following:
1. Be available to begin reading mid-July when I get back from my trip.
2. Read like you downloaded off Amazon for a maximum of $5, (if I self-publish, it will likely be priced lower). When you finish, I want to know if you would feel satisfied if you had paid to read.
3. Note any typos.
4. If you get stuck and lose the momentum to finish, tell me where. If it feels like a chore, I need to know. No obligation to read the whole thing.
5. Be honest, but kind. Everyone has different tastes, (many of the books I read fall in the three star category on Goodreads even though others love them). I won’t be offended if it’s not your favorite book ever, I just need to know if it’s readable.
What you can expect:
1. Think Revolutionary Road meets One Day meets Shopgirl. If you have read any of those titles, might help gauge your interest. Think simple story about a young couple who feels frustrated and leaves everything behind to travel and find themselves, separately. I am looking for readers who read regularly and have an interest in mainstream fiction that crosses over to chick lit.
2. Gratitude. While I can’t pay you, I can thank you a thousand times.
If you’re interested, please either comment below with the title of the last book(s) you read or email me privately. Only volunteer if the premise interests you. I need a few more readers and will resort to names in a hat if necessary. I will contact you privately to let you know and appreciate the support given, even if it’s just a high-five for reaching this point!
oliviaobryon 