Beth M. Howard, author photo by Kathryn Gamble
guest post by Beth M. Howard
I get asked all the time how long it took to write my book, and my answer is “Three months.” But the fact is I’ve been writing my book over a period of nearly two years. In real time. On my blog.
Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie came about in part because of my blog, The World Needs More Pie. The theme of my blog was about how pie can make the world a better place, how making a pie by hand represents nostalgia and simpler times. In my essays I evangelized about how pie was an antidote to the high-tech world we live in, a way to nurture our overworked souls. In fact, it was an antidote to my own overworked soul. I had had a dot-com job where I spent 16 hours a day in front of a computer. I finally said, “Enough!” The money—all six figures of it—wasn’t worth the stress. I quit and got a job baking pie. And started a blog.
My pie blog entries were charming and light, which was all well and good, but my blog didn’t become important to me—or popular with others—until I started blogging about something else, and nothing to do with pie: my 43-year-old husband Marcus’s death. Because I couldn’t find anyone willing to talk about the love I had lost, I used my blog to vent my feelings, my sadness, my very acute and complicated grief. And then people started writing me emails thanking me for being so open and honest, telling me that my stories about my struggles were helping them. So I kept writing. I kept sharing. I kept blogging.
When people ask “How did you get your book published?” I always tell them that they should start a blog. It’s free. You will get instant gratification seeing your work live in a public forum. Blogging will encourage you to keep looking for story ideas. You will hone your writing skills (hopefully!). You will home in on your theme. You will get feedback from your readers. You will be motivated to keep writing. And then, one day, you’ll realize that you’re ready. Ready to chain yourself to your desk for three months, not bothering to get dressed or comb your hair. Ready to turn down dinner invitations and weekend road trips. Ready to sit at your desk and wrestle with words and sentences and story structure. Ready to commit and realize your dream of becoming a published author.
Beth M. Howard is the author of Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie.
What a very special story! I don’t know Beth, or her blog but am interested because I blog too, & I can see how the interest spread. Thanks for telling about this & best wishes to Beth in her new book!
SLJ CHOOSE, LIFE LOVE AND DEATH, AS 1 IN 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2010. IT IS THE STORY OF THE AUTHOR’S MOTHER’S VERY HARD LIFE. BORN OF A HALF CHEROKEE MOTHER AND A FULL CHEROKEE GRANDMOTHER WAS NOT EXCEPTED IN THE EARLY 1900′S, AND THEN FRAN’S MOTHER DIES AT THE AGE OF 33, LEAVING THREE CHILDREN TO LIVE OR DIE. FRAN AGE 10 HAD TO RAISE HERSELF AND HER 6 YEAR OLD BROTHER, HAD TO GO FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE BEGGING FOR WORK IN RETURN FOR A PLACE TO SLEEP FOR HER LITTLE BROTHER AND HERSELF. THIS IS BACK IN THE MOUNTAINS AROUND COPPERHILL, TENN.
FRAN HAD TO LEARN TO COOK AND CLEAN WHILE HER MOTHER LAY DIEING. JUST IMMAGINE TWO CHILDREN AGE 10 AND 6 BEING PUT OUT OF THEIR HOME TO THE MERCY OF THE WORLD. SOME HOMES WERE ALRIGHT AND MOST OF THE HOMES WERE HELL FOR THEM TO HAVE TO STAY IN.
PLEASE READ MY BOOKS ABOUT MY MOTHER’S LIFE AND YOU WILL SEE WHY I WANTED TO WRITE THESE BOOKS IN HONOR OF MY MOM AND ALL SHE WENT THROUGH TO SURVIVE AND THEN TO RAISE HER CHILDREN WITH NO HELP FROM MY FATHER, WHO WAS VERY ABUSIVE AND DRUNK AND GAMBLED ALL HIS PAY AWAY EVERY WEEK WITHOUT A THOUGHT ABOUT
FOOD OR ANYTHING FOR HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN. MOVING EVERY MONTH AND SOMETIME EVERY WEEK, JUST BECAUSE HE COULD NOT SETTLE DOWN. HE WOULD BE GONE FOR WEEKS AND MONTHS AT A TIME. THAT’S WHY I LOVE MY MOTHER SO MUCH, REMEMBERING ALL THE NIGHTS SHE HAD TO STAY UP WHEN HER CHILDREN WERE SICK, AND DOCTOR THEM THE BEST SHE COULD WITH GOD AS HER ONLY HOPE AND STRENGTH. READ AND SEE JUST A PART OF WHAT SHE WENT THROUGH. A MUST READ FOR ANYONE AND A LESSON TO ALL.
MARY F TUCKER
Great story. I just got a book deal out of my blog and I’m of course thrilled! I’ve been writing my blog for over 3 years. Recently I put together a first draft of a manuscript, write a proposal, and now Random House New Zealand is going to publish my book in June 2013. I’m thrilled!