Distractions

Patty here…

I’m working on the fourth book in the Tucker Sinclair series, and I’m finding that the more I write, the better I get at distracting myself from writing.

I have other responsibilities, as well, so I constantly struggle to find balance in my life, which mostly turns out to be just another distraction. Still, I don’t want to shirk those other high-priority tasks, so I keep a things-to-do list on my desk. Otherwise, I might not get anything done. Right now “buy vacuum cleaner bags” and “vacuum refrigerator grates” have both been on the list for a while. I suppose if I bought the bags I could clean the grates. The whole distraction would take an hour or so. On the other hand, just adding those items to the list serves as a distraction.

When I’ve completed all the obvious things on my list, i.e., rake leaves in the back yard, pay bills, and organize my stand-and-throw closet, I’m forced to become more creative. Otherwise I’d have to write. Here are some of my favorite distractions. Feel free to borrow at will.

1. Organize saved emails into tidy little folders with labels like “Friends,” “Acquaintances,” and “Friends who no longer speak to you because they feel neglected.”

2. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer, especially for things that you have no time to do.

3. Read favorite passages from your already-published books just to remind yourself that you’ve done it before and you can do it again.

4. Here’s my personal favorite: Reread high school English essays to see what in the heck you were thinking back then. Trust me. This one is truly awesome!

This week Michael Connelly’s book trailer distracted me. Technically, it's not a book trailer. Terrill Lee Landford calls it "a cinematic representation of the first chapter." There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the ten-minute film he made to promote Connelly's latest novel, Echo Park. Here’s the link to the YouTube site if haven’t yet seen it. Connelly claims that it was an effective promotional tool because Echo Park had higher sales numbers than any of his previous novels. And the whole thing only cost ten grand. Hey! Sign me up.

I’m a big Harry Bosch fan, but even so this teaser trailer left me feeling strangely unsettled. First, it distracted me for only ten minutes. Second, I was forced to ask myself if this is our future. Will we no longer feel the tactile pleasure of an embossed cover, smell the aroma of new paper and hear the gentle creak of the binding as we open a tome for the first time? No more prickles on the backs of our necks when we read the first paragraph and realize that we’re in the presence of truly fine writing. In the future will we be previewing novels on a bookstore’s computer screen? Is this a good idea?

That sent me off into a whole new distraction: cinematically envisioning Chapter One of my fourth novel.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA—PRESENT DAY

Exterior. City Street—Night

Sheets of rain sweep across the windshield of TUCKER SINCLAIR’S Porsche Boxster as she pulls into the dark alley behind…

As it turned out, that one little ole cinematic representation mushroomed into a truly fine distraction. Thanks MC.

ANOTHER DISTRACTION: This week my editor sent me the cover for my next book. TAH DAH!!!!



Happy Monday!