I took one last look in the mirror, then touched up my lipstick, primped my hair, and brushed my teeth…again. Everything had to be perfect! After all, I was having dinner with an editor from a major CBA house and a well-known author, also with a major publisher. I whispered a prayer for direction and discernment. I should have prayed for bigger hands.
At the restaurant, we were quickly seated at our tiny table, Major CBA House Editor on my right and Successful Well-Known Author with Another Major House on my left. Within seconds, the cute, perky waitress took our drink orders. I really wanted a good ol' Southern sweet tea, but since I was in PA, I knew better than to ask. (Just for the record, unsweetened tea and packets of sugar do not sweet tea make!) So I ordered Coke. Better to be safe than sorry. Uh…yeah…right.
The waitress returned with our salads and drinks and placed the giant glass of Coke on my right, between Major CBA House Editor and me. The drink needed to be on my left. So I reached across my salad to grab it with my left hand. Have you ever heard people talk about how horrendous catastrophes play out in slow motion as they're happening before their very eyes? Well, I can tell you for a fact, it's true.
I watched in horror as my dreams of publishing with Major CBA House pirouetted to a funeral dirge across the table and fell, along with the oversized glass of Coke, right smack onto the blouse, into the lap, and then onto the tapestry purse of Major CBA House Editor. Now, we're not talking about a glass turning over and dripping its contents onto someone's pants. Nope. We're talking about a supersized glass the size of a watermelon, filled with syrupy sweet, almost-black Coke falling headlong onto said editor's entire body. I wanted to crawl under the table. I actually tried, but the floor was full of feet…and waiters with mops…and waitresses with napkins…and a soaking wet purse carrying the expensive electronic devices of Major CBA House Editor.
For this I brushed my teeth…twice.
I looked up from the floor, my small hands sticky with the evidence of my fall from grace, and forced an embarrassed laugh. "Well, there goes any chance of ever submitting a manuscript to you." I hated the whine in my voice.
Gentle Editor rose from her cola bath, gazed down at me sitting in all my soda splendor, and smiled. "Oh, you can submit it…as long as this scene is in it." She stepped over me and my mess and sloshed to the restroom.
Kind Successful Well-Known Author with Another Major House, still safely stationed to my left, leaned over the edge of the table and peered into my soppy space. "Uh…that went well."
It did! It really did! After all, Major CBA House Editor not only said she would look at my manuscript, she wanted to be IN IT! Now, I would never recommend this technique for approaching editors. Others may not all be as nice as this kind, gracious lady. And also, please note that she didn't say she'd BUY it, she just said she'd LOOK at it. Believe me, there's a huge difference.
But what she didn't know was that at that moment she answered an important question in my story arc. Even though the novel will be loosely based on my experience of caring for my terminally-ill sister, I had been struggling with whether or not to make the protagonist a writer and speaker. After all, I didn't want it to be too close to the truth and possibly stifle the creative process. But this scene is just too good to waste! Now I know the main character will have to be a writer and speaker. Cool!
So, what scenes from your life–or the lives of those around you–can you include in your book? If you've ever heard me teach on writing fiction you know that I use a lot of real life in my books. That doesn't mean the story is about me. The storyline itself may not have anything to do with our life experiences, but that doesn't mean we can't pull hilarious, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, frightening scenes from real life and plop them into the fabric of our books. We simply let those scenes happen to our characters instead of to us. And the good thing is, not only do we have instant access to the conflict, but we also have the emotional reaction that went with it. After all, we experienced first hand the joy, the heartache, the fear, the humor, the embarrassment. We know what it felt like!
Here are a few of the scenes that were taken from the pages of my life straight to the pages of my books:
- My daddy really did develop TanTone Suntan Lotion; he really did mix it up in baby bottles; and we really did go to Tybee Island, GA to test it by putting TanTone on our right side and Coppertone on our left.
- The cabin we stayed in on Tybee Island really had been the Officer's Latrine at Fort Screven.
- The bully getting his head caught in the porch rail on Amelia Island and Bitsy getting him out by smearing mayonnaise and butter all over his head, face, ear, neck, back, and shoulders? Yep. Happened to my brother. And that's exactly how I got him out.
- The dishwashing scene where Bitsy and her friends take the clean dishes the bully had just washed and dirty them again so they'd have to be rewashed…over…and over…and over. My cousins and I did that to my Aunt June.
- Bitsy's dad videotaping the baseball game for team review…and holding the camera backwards, creating scene after scene of his ear? My dad filmed an entire cross-country trip, including the Grand Canyon, with nothing to show for it but his ear.
There are many more, but that will give you an idea of how these scenes from real
life can be used. Of course, Seeing Through the Lies, my women's non-fiction, includes many stories openly taken from real life. After all, people relate to our stories first, then they're open to hearing the truth they need.
So what are you waiting for? Start now making your scene list. I still have my original folder of scenes I started way back in 1993 when I first decided I was going to write a book. Long before I ever sat down to create the story, I reviewed my life and wrote down every scene I could remember. And what a joy it is to pull from it today!
Over the next few months I'm going to be planning my first adult novel. And I can promise you, at some point in the story, the protagonist will have dinner with a major editor, and, well…you know what'll happen next.
And yeah, it'll go well.
(Computer photo courtesy of )
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Opportunities Postponed Due to Internet Failure
I'm so sorry, but as I'm writing this tonight, my Internet is down. That means I'm unable to make the links for the opportunities I usually list the third week of the month. But I promise you, they'll be included next week. 
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A Last-Minute Addition to the Schedule!
I want to let you know of an opportunity coming up soon. I'll be speaking at the Upstate SC American Christian Writers Meeting in Anderson, SC, Saturday, August 29 at 2:30 at the Anderson County Library. I'd love to see you there!
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And now, as we look back over the scenes of our lives, I hope this passage will encourage us all to be ready to share the Good News of what He's already done for us.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. I Peter 3:15
I pray God's blessing on the work of your hands and your hearts,
Vonda
