Ann Minnett, Author

A friend posted the following on Facebook: "Say what you will about the south... No one ever retires and moves up north." Wrong! We moved from a large city in Texas to NW Montana three years ago, and while we're a really long way from family and old friends, I never want to move back to the humidity, heat, and long allergy seasons. Still... last week we visited family (read: grandson) and had a wonderful time. The problem for a writer who breaks with routine is that no writing gets done. No  thinking about writing got done. I don't believe in coincidences. Montana Women Writers met in my absence, deciding to begin an email conversation about how we find time to write. I stewed for 2 days, unable to give the topic any meaningful attention. Its importance struck me while tapping my contribution on an iPad at the Salt Lake City Airport between flights home. What can a grandmother say about those days filled with a sweet 16 month-old's constant movement and c

Ernest Hemingway also said, "All first drafts are shit." I take heart. My critique group met last night at Marie Martin's house( http://mariefmartin.com ). They offered me feedback on a first draft that once depicted an eccentric woman who watched people and made up stories about them... you know, sort of like me. Ahem! Things have changed. My first draft has become epic and hardly resembles the simple story I set out to tell. The group reminded me that my original idea wasn't interesting.   Once the story expanded and I got more comfortable with the characters, then the narrative grew exponentially. So where does a writer find the balance between bad-writer-epic and riveting-simple-story? Experience shows that the third or fourth draft might reveal such a balance. But first I write half again too much content in the first draft, and my wonderful critique members suffer through with me. My favorite statement from last night's meeting: "You mean that

I love my mom. I love my children. This is where we all live. We weren't together on Mother's Day, but I had fun talking to all of them. Among other topics, they asked how the book was doing. Oh, you mean the novel about a crazy and abusive mother... Burden of Breath's Nina is one of the most troubled maternal characters ever written. The mother-daughter relationship featured in the story is... well, dysfunctional.  The main character, Hannah, succeeds in breaking that cycle, but the burden of her abuse haunts her life. So, in keeping with my increasingly shaky promotional skills, I released the novel in time for Mother's Day! Enjoy! Seriously now - we all know families who don't fit the 'suitable for framing' image of healthy family. Perhaps you suffered a difficult childhood. That's why I wrote Burden of Breath . No matter the circumstances, we survive, perhaps forgive, and move on. We have that choice.

My discomfort in personal exposure is another way of acknowledging a total preoccupation with me, my, and I in this publication process. And nothing good comes of that! The antidote? Physical labor, preferably outdoors, such as staining our gate, which isn't your average garden gate. The cross timber stands 18 feet high. Thank heavens Mike manned the tall ladder and left me to stain the lower posts. The next day I supervised while Mike and neighbor Cliff affixed the steel cap to the cross beam. Scary moments and a hundred trips up and down the ladders (for them), and we admired the newly coffee-colored gate and faux-copper cap. The thought of my former boss, old friends, or in-laws reading what I wrote didn't cross my mind, neck craned and scuttling around for drills and screws and footing the ladders. Nope. Those thoughts returned later, a little less daunting after a project well-done.

Thanks to all who downloaded Burden of Breath! I rushed into my first free download weekend without understanding the big picture, but in the spirit of It Will Be All Write ... I learned a lot about scheduling and placement for next time. That said, the most remarkable event during the book launch week was my feeling of total exposure. I'm by nature an introvert, quiet until I get to know you, and even then let's face it, not the most forthcoming. Although Burden of Breath is not a memoir, the emotions, language, and style reveal more about me than I'd like to admit, and people I've known for a long time will read the book with an intimate view of the author. The feeling of being published for the first time? I'm naked under a raincoat and walking along a city street when a gust of wind whooshes past, throwing open my cover for the world to see.

My new novel, Burden of Breath, is available as an eBook at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM90FQ  and will be free this weekend (May 4th and 5th). I read this morning that weekend days are the worst for offering free downloads because most books are sold then... which only confirms that just because I'm a writer, it doesn't mean that I know how to sell a book. As always, this writer has so much to learn.