by Keri Rozansky | Aug 14, 2024 | Blog
There are thoughts out there that our characters are an extension of ourselves. When I sit down to write, I don’t think “what would I do?” or “what would I want?” or “how do I make this character more like me?” These are simply things that never cross my mind. But that doesn’t mean they don’t leak out onto the page.
When you read my upcoming novel, about a 17 year old boy and a 30-something police detective, you may wonder how I relate to either of these things. When I first started writing this story on a whim when my son was three, and left it for years (he’s now 17 himself), I had no clue about 17 year old boys. I also had no clue about being a police officer or detective other than what I’d learned about my dad’s job as I grew up. That information is of course, very outdated since he was an officer in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
Other characters in the book are modeled, consciously or subconsciously, like friends and family. So where does the inspiration person end and the character begin? Or where does the inspiration person begin and the character end? The two are such a part of one another, it’s hard to tell.
If you ask my opinion about which character I’m most like, I’ll tell you none of them. Because there’s not a single one that I identify with wholly or some even just a little. But they do stem from my life experiences.
by Keri Rozansky | Aug 7, 2024 | Blog
I’ve always had the dream of writing a novel. That dream is slowly coming throughout the year with an intended debut in early 2025. But dreams take time, and as they say life gets in the way. I’ve had to put the dream off to the side while I work full time to make money to get by. My noveling gets done in the middle of the night and on the weekends. Slowly, over the years, the ideas developed and I’ve finally been in a place where I can execute it properly.
As I said last month, I parted ways with one of my biggest writing clients I’ve ever had. It was a great relationship that lasted many years but changes were on the horizon. I walked away on great terms, and took a breather. I stepped from one job to another fairly easily, and have been able to devote even more time to my novel.
I’ve found more time during the day to get things related to my novel done. I’m in talks with an editor for the next step in making my book ready to present to you all. But old habits die hard. I find I’m most productive between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. I pound out sometimes thousands of words of the novel, edit multiple pages, or write some of these blog posts. All while my family sleeps.
I’m used to the night owl life. I’ve worked multiple jobs on the 10 p.m. – 6 a.m. shift. It’s easy for me. While the rest of the world sleeps, I work.
Others “novel” on the weekends, some during the days, others in whatever moments in time they can snatch, like lunch breaks or in the hour between other activities. However each writer plans their day, they plan it for their schedules and their best times to write.
So while you sleep, I write. While you work, I sleep.
What is your schedule like? Does your creativity come during the daylight hours? Or are you more comfortable sitting with your passion at 3 a.m.?
Let’s keep the conversation going on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 31, 2024 | Blog
My upcoming novel (available Q1 2025!) takes place in the fictional Midwest town of Glass. You’ll meet an interesting cast of characters from teenage boys being teenage boys to lawyers and not-so-clueless dads. I want to take the time to direct you to my Substack, where you can learn more about the town, its residents, and some other little behind-the-scenes details that so far only live inside my head.
It’s a new and constantly growing site, and with your help I’d love to add to it. Please go subscribe, and start getting weekly emails that keep you up to date on the goings on. Paid subscribers will get access to other fun, subscriber-only features, too.
We can continue to chat about Glass, writing, and other topics on Facebook, too. However you’d like to get your news, there’s a way.
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 24, 2024 | Blog
I have many hobbies. Writing has been one for a long time, as has reading. I love to golf and swim, and volunteer with my son’s school and Boy Scout troop. About eight years ago or so I added cooking and baking to that list. I started out with some basic recipes I found online, along with ones my mom gave me for dishes I devoured during childhood.
From this I’ve expanded. I make my own pizza and breadstick dough, as well as pasta dough. I have a number of recipes to prepare all different types of meat. I have a variety of desserts I can whip up whenever my guys want something sweet. I make my own chocolate now, although the recipe still needs perfecting.
My latest kitchen adventure, however, was for a basic ingredient that many chefs and bakers, whether amateur home creators or those in five-star restaurants, rely on. Butter. I posted the results of this adventure on my personal Facebook page. One friend commented that she didn’t realize butter was something that could be made at home. Honestly, I never thought of it as an at-home project either, but now that I’ve tasted the result, it’s going to be very difficult to want to reach for the package of stick butter at the store.
The very basic recipe isn’t really a recipe at all. Just put heavy whipping cream in a cold bowl and whip until you see the cream separate and the butter form. It took about 20 minutes. It’s even easy to add salt and other flavoring, as well as make it spreadable.
My next attempt will be yogurt in my pressure cooker. It will be a simple as dumping whole milk into the pressure cooker and hitting a button. We’ll see. It’s a little odd and very freeing to know I can make basic cooking and baking needs right at home, without fancy ingredients or tools outside of what I already have in my kitchen.
What is something you now make at home that you used to buy at the store? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 17, 2024 | Blog
I love to write. I have worlds upon worlds and dozens of characters and situations flowing through my creative mind. Sometimes it’s too much to write everything down and flesh each one out into a full story. The elite few that do make it to the status of WIP and eventually full story, need more than just writing. They need editing, too. From making sure “to” doesn’t become “too” or “two” or a wandering sentence doesn’t become a giant run-on paragraph, to making sure the main character’s name and hair and eye color stay the same throughout the story, there are a myriad of things to keep in check. These checks are all maintained through editing.
I love writing the story, imagining characters and places and all the rest. When it comes to the tedium of editing though, I’d much rather not. I’m a professional editor myself, and have edited non-fiction books, news articles, and more. These are all factual documents, where all I’m looking for is the difference between two and too and weather or not the name of the politician being interviewed is spelled correctly.
After months of work, and even a month of just letting it sit, I’m combing through one last time before I put my baby in the hands of someone who can truly make sure everything is as it should be. I am simultaneously jumping for joy and cowering in fear. Joyous that I have reached this step after so long, yet fearful of the potential judgment an editor will have of my work. No one has read this manuscript in its entirety since I finally decided to call it finished. It’s overwhelming to know that it will be seen, in full, by someone else’s eyes for the first time. Will they take one look at it and say ‘I can’t work with this, you’ll need to start from scratch’ or will they rave over it being the best thing they’ve read in the genre in years?
It’s a big step, but one I think I’m ready for.
Tell me about a time you took a big step toward something you weren’t certain about. Let’s talk on Facebook!
