How gardening is helping me write
News
New website alert!
As it turns out, it's quite useful to have a husband who's spent years working in IT for web hosting. :D Rebeccawmartin.com is up and running now, and includes links to everywhere I write and the organizations I'm a part of. Thanks Carl! <3
Recent articles
Pen the Truth: Learn about comp titles and why market research matters when you're positioning your book. Read more
CatholicMom: I reflect on the gift of intercessory prayer in my life and in my weekly virtual prayer group. Read more
Catholic Writers Guild: Discover how writers get paid (important info for both writers and book-buyers!) with my explanation of royalties and advances. Read more
Another book! (Or two?)
I'm in the contract process for the sequel to Meet Sister Mary Margaret! Meet Father Stephen will introduce kids to the life of priests. The titular character is named after the three good and holy Father Stephens who have had an impact on my life. I'm so excited to start marketing my first children's book this summer, and to have the second waiting in the wings!
Food for Thought
After a year in our new home, I got really excited about spring. One thing turned into another, and Project Curb Appeal now includes a newly-painted front door, new and newly-painted planters and flowers, American flag for the existing bracket, the (intentional) destruction of three blighted boxwood bushes and five broken arborvitae, and a repaired sprinkler system.
Eventually, Project Curb Appeal will also encompass a new roof, newly-painted garage door, flower garden in place of the awful boxwoods, gravel in place of the awful arborvitae, and the (also intentional) destruction of a cherry tree that is eating the foundation.
Does this have anything to do with writing? Yes, yes it does. Gardening, I've discovered, involves a whole lot more than just planting pretty flowers and keeping them alive. It takes planning, incremental and sustained effort, pruning and occasionally severe destruction, cooperation and support, and — well, basically all the things writing also involved.
More than anything, both writing and gardening involve teachability. As with any craft — and both of these are crafts — there are skills that must be learned and improved upon. When I potted the flowers in my five big planters, I started with guidance from my gardening mentor, Margaret. Once I got hands on, I tried it one way the first time; figured out what didn't work, tried another way, and eventually by the fifth planter did a decent job the first time without having to go back and fill in all the gaps with dirt.
Likewise with writing. I can look back over the last few years and see how my writing has improved. I started with guidance from programs, teachers, and my parents. I wrote short papers and long papers, blog posts and poems, trying out different techniques. Now, I've hit my stride and found my voice, but I have so much left to learn.
I'm hoping to learn a lot this coming week. Margaret and I are traveling with another friend to the Catholic Writers Conference Live, where for the first time I get to go as an author as well as an editor! More next month as I report back from Chicago.
Good Books
Given that most of Project Curb Appeal is the result of many conversations and trips to the hardware store and greenhouse with Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB, I would be remiss if I didn't mention her book: A Garden Catechism: 100 Plants in Christian Tradition and How to Grow Them. It's beautiful, it's chock-full of very useful information, and basically it's like having a personal consultation with Margaret.
Chrism book release
Congratulations to Emily Hanlon on the release of Who Am I to Judge?, a delightful mystery full of parish intrigue and quirky characters!
OSV book releases
A few more of my projects have come to fruition with recent or upcoming releases. Highly recommend all of these!
The Road to Hope: Responding to the Crisis of Addiction by Keaton Douglas and Lindsay Schlegel
The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours by Barb Szyszkiewicz
And — drumroll, because this was a big one to work on and turned out absolutely beautifully thanks to our epic design team — How the Saints Shaped History by Randall Petrides
All opinions are my own, and are not endorsed by Our Sunday Visitor, Chrism Press, the Order of Preachers, NaNoWriMo, or the Catholic Writers Guild.