Grow Big Dreams

This is a wall hanging (paint on a wood canvas) that
my good friends Sarah, Karen & Joyce gave to me last
week. I love it!

by Marilyn Brant

Last month, a longstanding writing dream of mine finally came true, and the outpouring of cheers and support from fellow authors, reviewers, book bloggers, and readers was absolutely amazing to me. Also, in celebration, some of the dearest people in my life (my nearby friends and family) surprised me with treats to mark the special occasion and, really, just to show me how much they care.

The gifts themselves were lovely -- and I've included pictures of some of them in this post -- but the biggest present was the fact that all of these wonderful people, who'd shared this milestone with me, knew how long and hard I'd worked toward this dream...and they'd been there from the beginning.

My son, now fifteen, doesn't even remember a time before I was a writer. I've been at it for fourteen years of his life, and he's tolerated sharing my attention with his "electronic sibling" (i.e., my laptop) ever since babyhood. When he was eight, the manuscript that eventually became my debut novel was up for RWA's Golden Heart Award, and he gave me his "lucky quarter" from his coin collection to take with me to Dallas for the conference/award ceremony. I think he squealed louder than I did when I told him over the phone that According to Jane had won.

My son made me a "Celebration Candy
Cake" -- complete with M&Ms, Milk
Duds, and Reese's Pieces on top -- a
chocolate lover's fantasy dessert.

My high-school-teaching husband, who'd married me over twenty years ago and thought I'd always be a teacher, too, didn't skip a beat in encouraging me to completely change career paths and follow my passion for fiction, if that was where my heart was... In fact, he was the one who'd insisted I go to my first local romance-writer meeting in Chicago, and he urged me to take a leap of faith and attend the 2003 RWA National Conference in NYC, just so I could find out for sure if this was really the journey I wanted to take. He's read almost every manuscript I've ever written -- over a dozen of them now, the poor guy -- and, as someone with a master's degree in English Lit who'd once been a professional proofreader, he even volunteered his excellent proofing skills for many of my stories. Yes, I know he's awesome.

And my wonderful girlfriends who live in town with me -- Sarah, Joyce, and Karen -- have been there to celebrate everything from my first publishing contract (over six years ago) to every local book signing and library presentation to various book club visits and a ton of unusual events in between. Sometimes this even involved taking overnight trips across state lines. They are, in a word, remarkable, and I was so damn lucky to meet them a decade ago.

Flowers my husband brought home for me,
right after I told him the exciting news.

It's one thing to have a big dream -- and mine was to finally hit the New York Times Best-Seller List -- but to have people in your life who are willing to share each step in your crazy writing adventure, celebrate with you when things are going well, and listen to you weep in your hazelnut coffee when the challenges seem to outweigh the delights...that's priceless. Dreaming big dreams may be an individual thing, but achieving big dreams, well, that takes a village. Sometimes, a metropolis.

So, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to every person -- both in the writing world and outside of it -- who gave me a smile, good advice, or an encouraging word to help me keep my spirits up during those times of struggle. There were many, and there will be more in the years ahead. This profession is such a roller-coaster ride, I know... And thanks, too, to those same people who danced with me (virtually or in person -- perhaps only stopping for chocolate/dessert breaks) when there was a reason for joy. I'm hoping there will be more days like that ahead as well.

I wish all of you the BIGGEST of dreams and, just as much, I wish you the supportive people who'll be there for you on your journey toward reaching them. When you get there, be sure to tell them thanks :) .

Who are some of the people in your life who have been most supportive of you??
___

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women's fiction, romantic comedy and mystery. She was named Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She loves all things Jane Austen, as well as Sherlock Holmes stories, traveling, music, chocolate & gelato. Her latest romantic comedy is Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet (July 2014), and look for the expanded women's fiction edition of The Road to You, entitled The Road and Beyond, coming in September!

Somebody to Lean On

by Marilyn Brant

I hope the title makes you all start swaying and singing, too, because friends don't let friends do karaoke alone. C'mon, I wanna hear ya now, "We all need, somebody to lean on..."

This writing gig is a tough journey. 

I tend to be pretty independent but, after more than a decade of writing and publishing, it's been proven to me again and again that this isn't a career path I'd want to travel without a support system. That support system doesn't have to traipse around with me constantly in my daily life. Virtual pals are great, too, although it's nice to have both. What it does have to be is genuine. I think we've all experienced the sting of thinking someone is a friend because they act nice on the surface, only to find they've been talking about us behind our backs, feeling resentful when things are going our way or, even worse, gleeful when things aren't. But when you find someone who is truly supportive, I don't think even the best writing tools on the planet are more effective than such a friend at helping us work through those rough patches.

When I first began taking fiction writing seriously, my only support system was my family, specifically my husband. (My son was too little back then to do anything other than shred my manuscript pages or, occasionally, chew on one.) I didn't know ANY professional writers of any kind and didn't have a clue about the process. So, until I'd finished writing my first draft, I didn't tell my parents, my husband's parents, or even my brother that I was working on a novel. Once they knew, they were tremendously supportive, especially my husband's mom, who must have earned several heavenly medals in the mother-in-law sainthood category after reading and giving me feedback on THREE different drafts of my first dreadful, deservedly unpublished manuscript. (And then the dear woman read my second manuscript. And my third. And my fourth. And most of what became my debut novel, According to Jane. She was incredible...) 

My brother, who couldn't be more of a macho-cool guy and a fan of bloody thrillers, surprised me by asking to read a number of my early romance, chick-lit, and women's fiction efforts. My son, who's still a bit young to be reading most of my books, learned to give Mommy time to write uninterrupted and, when that failed, my very sweet husband learned that an evening of bonding with his son (out of the house) was right up there chocolate, roses, and whispered sweet nothings.

But strong support on the home front, while priceless, wasn't the only kind I knew I needed. I somehow lucked into getting involved with my local RWA chapter (Chicago-North), and this helped me branch out into meeting other aspiring writers online and, eventually, at conferences and in person, from all around the world. I know I wouldn't have become a published author without the insight, encouragement, and astute feedback of my critique partners. More than that, I wouldn't have survived years of rejections or the whirlwind of release days and promotional events without the friends in my life -- online and off -- who've been there to talk me out of torching a problematic scene in the fireplace, to distract me from reading negative reviews with the promise of Almond Joy martinis, and/or to email me links to helpful articles when they know it'll give me valuable information.

What about you? Who do you call on when, um, you need a hand? (Cue the music again...start swaying and clapping to the song...) Who can you lean on? Please share!

*A version of this post appeared on Magical Musings in October 2010.*

Marilyn Brant is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women's fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. Her novels have won awards such as RWA's Golden Heart and the Booksellers' Best, and they've been featured in the Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, BOMC, and the Rhapsody Book Club. She loves music, chocolate, travel, and all things Jane Austen, and she was named the 2013 Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. 

Visit her website at www.marilynbrant.com or check out her latest novel -- a coming-of-age romantic mystery called The Road to You.

Happy 200th Birthday, Pride and Prejudice!

The 1894 "Peacock Edition"
of Pride and Prejudice

By Marilyn Brant

Maybe it's not this way for everyone (I'm well aware my personal circle of friends is inhabited by insatiable readers and dedicated writers), but I'm pretty sure just about everyone I know has one of these...and I'd be willing to bet most of you do, too: The Novel That Changed Your Life.

Oh, no, be assured, I'm not saying there can be only one such novel -- not for us bibliophiles -- but I think you'll know right away the very specific and remarkable kind of book I mean. The one from your childhood or young adulthood that's responsible for you knowing (perhaps even as you were reading it) that you'd stumbled upon a story that would spin your worldview forevermore in a different direction. The first time when you were actually aware that the prose of another writer -- living or dead -- had changed you. The author's words had pushed your mind outward and, like an idea whose time had come, kept your brain stretched so far that it could never return to its original dimensions.

Do you know your book? I think you do...

Mine is Pride and Prejudice. I knew really early on while reading the story that I was in the hands of a literary genius. By the time I'd reached the midpoint of the novel, that crafty Jane Austen had gotten me to look at every single person in my life with fresh eyes. She made me ponder just how similar each of them were to the memorable and masterfully drawn characters in P&P. Made me study their behavior with clearer vision. Made me think about the point of view and motivations of others long before I ever became a novelist.



Debut Novel: According to Jane,
October 2009

Even more cleverly, Austen left me little choice but to turn a more critical eye on myself and to ask, in the silent reaches of my fourteen-year-old mind, "Am I being blinded by either pride or prejudice, like Elizabeth and Darcy were, when it comes to this particular situation?" Or "Is this guy I'm talking to just trying to flatter me so I can serve as one of his social puppets, like Wickham might do?" Or, more painfully, "Could my piano playing really be as dreadful as Mary Bennet's?" These were weighty questions indeed for a high school freshman.

No matter how many times I've reread that brilliant novel in the decades since, I'll never forget -- nor will I ever stop being grateful for -- the way Austen's insights into the foibles of human behavior left its mark on my adolescent worldview and made me just a little more aware of the people surrounding me.

There was something so powerful about P&P that it almost haunted me as I left my teen years behind and became a working adult... I could very nearly hear Jane Austen's voice telling me to pay greater attention to her lessons on fairness, common sense, compassion and civility toward all. So much was I influenced by her work that I finally wrote a manuscript called According to Jane, which turned out to be my debut women's fiction book (Kensington). It's a story about a woman who has the ghost of Austen in her head, giving her dating advice.

New Release: Pride, Prejudice and the
Perfect Match, January 2013

And now, six books later, I'm returning to my writing origins with my seventh novel, just out today -- a new contemporary romance that is a digital nod to our dear Jane: Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match. It's a light, modern love story between an ER doc and a single mom, both of whom have ulterior motives for meeting on an internet dating site (Lady Catherine's Love Match Website, for those of you might appreciate the joke ;).

Why release this particular story right now? Ahhh...because The Novel That Changed My Life turns 200 years old this month (on January 28th, who else is breaking open something sparkly in Austen's honor, hmm?) and I wanted to mark the bicentennial of P&P with a special story. It's my way of celebrating the joy and wisdom my favorite author brought to me. I hope some of you will join me in raising a glass of your favorite beverage (it doesn't have to be a Regency-era drink, LOL) to the legacy Jane Austen left behind two centuries ago. Here's to Jane!!

Who else out there is an Austen fan? And, if you'd like to share, I'd love to know one of the novels that changed your life, too...

Book Review: Switch -- How to Change Things When Change is Hard

By Marilyn Brant

Normally, I'd jump at the chance to share with you all one of the, ohh, five hundred and forty-two thousand novels in my office (only a slight exaggeration) for my first Girlfriends book review.

But, while I do have several impressive stacks of great fiction scattered about, the book I've been reading lately (and, in fact, rereading in numerous spots) is actually a nonfiction project called SWITCH: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. Any of you already familiar with it?

The reason I wanted to share it here is because I know many of our blog readers are aspiring or published authors. And, seriously, this book couldn't be geared more toward those of us trying to find a place in the publishing world...especially during the insane month of NaNo when there's such a focus on writing more prolifically than ever and, yet, we have other obligations pulling at us. As I was reading through the 300+ pages of text, I kept thinking, "Novelists can draw some great career advice from this! And, hey, maybe it'll also help me stick to my exercise program a little better, too..." LOL.

This is what the publisher, Broadway Books/Crown, had to say about SWITCH:

Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?

The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.

In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people—employees and managers, parents and nurses—have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:
● The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients.
● The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping.
● The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service

In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

 

One of the many things I appreciated about the Heath brothers' theory is that it focused on three easy-to-understand avenues for change: the Rider (our thoughts), the Elephant (our emotions)  and the Path (our environment). If we're able to "Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant and Shape the Path," we're able to significantly alter our course. I found their examples to be clear and logical, regardless of what areas in life a person wishes to create change.

But the segment that really reminded me of the long journey to publication (and all of those roadblocks and rejections we face) and struck me as an insight particularly helpful for writers was a passage I found on page 169. The Heath brothers were talking about "creating the expectation of failure" and how, counterintuitively, warning workers/team members in a company that they should EXPECT to meet with hardship and frustration as they worked on their projects was, ultimately, an act of optimism.

They wrote (and the italics are theirs), "That's the paradox of the growth mindset. Although it seems to draw attention to failure, and in fact encourages us to seek out failure, it is unflaggingly optimistic. We will struggle, we will fail, we will be knocked down -- but throughout, we'll get better, and we'll succeed in the end. The growth mindset, then, is a buffer against defeatism. It reframes failure as a natural part of the change process. And that's critical, because people will persevere only if they perceive falling down as learning rather than as failing."

All I could do in response to that was to nod, nod again, and say, "Yeah..."
---
Marilyn Brant writes award-winning women's fiction and romantic comedy. Her debut novel, According to Jane, won RWA's Golden Heart Award for Best Mainstream Novel, the Booksellers' Best Award and the Aspen Gold, among other honors. It was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time," (she takes great delight in reminding her not-always-so-romantic husband about that), and the trade paperback edition is on special sale at Amazon right now. Her latest novel is A Summer in Europe, which was a Literary Guild, BOMC2 and Rhapsody Book Club pick.

Learning to Follow a Passion

I wasn't supposed to be a writer. I was supposed to be a scientist. That was the occupation my parents and extended family members had agreed upon for me from about 3rd grade on. They took a long, practical and rather somber look at what I good at in school (science and math = yes, sports of any kind = no) and immediately started suggesting a career path that would lead to my becoming their favorite kind of scientist: a doctor.

Thankfully, they were somewhat flexible on this. When I turned out to be squimish about things like blood...and needles...and medical procedures of all varieties, they were just fine with me channeling my academic efforts toward the bloodless sciences of geology, physics, astronomy or botany. My father, as I recall, was especially keen on the idea of pharmacy as my future occupation for a time, and I had to admit I was initially taken with the notion of grinding up tablets with a mortar and pestle and mixing chemicals every day like some kind of mad scientist -- never mind that most pharmacists don't actually do a lot of that. (I was geeky enough in the '80s to think the white lab coats were pretty cool from a fashion standpoint, too.) There were tons of possibilities, almost all of which would have made my parents happy.

But, see, I had a secret.

Although I really liked and respected the sciences, I loved the arts. All of the arts. Passionately and with my whole geeky heart. I did not dream of becoming Gen X's answer to Marie Curie. I dreamed of becoming Pat Benatar. I wanted to sing, write poetry and lyrics, play my electronic piano, be in a stageplay or two, paint huge canvases with watercolors and oils, and dance, dance, dance -- tap numbers and jitterbug and the occasional samba. (Don't laugh, Latin styles are fun.) More than anything, I wanted to do something artsy and creative every single day. Something that had meaning for me. Something where I could try to make sense of this crazy little thing called life.

But making a career in the arts requires more than dreams or hopes or passions...it also requires courage, and I didn't have a lot of that at 16 or even at 26. Part way through college, I changed majors from biochemistry to teaching -- working with 2nd and 3rd graders would be both creative and meaningful, IMO -- but I knew there was still an important element missing for me.

After eight years, when I was expecting my son, I took a leave of absence from the school district. I'd already gotten a master's degree in educational psychology (where I'd spent my grad years studying other people's creative efforts...), and I'd been working on adding an art certification so I could teach that subject, too. But a very strange thing happened during my time away. The courage that had elluded me for decades on my own was present in full force -- possibly doubled, even tripled -- when I held this new little being. I felt overpoweringly protective of him. Conscious of my need to do for him what I never would have done just for myself: To be the daily example of someone who put aside her fears long enough to follow her true passions.

I knew how easy it was for parents to get caught up in having their children fulfill their dreams for them. I'd seen it. Lived it. Didn't want to make the mistake of pressuring my kid into becoming a painter or a writer or a musician (if, say, he was wild about the sciences and dreamed of being a doctor instead...) just because I'd wanted those arts opportunities and had been too afraid to take them.

So, I started by writing poetry, articles and essays and sending them in to magazines. Some of them -- to my shock and delight -- even got accepted and published. I wrote my first women's fiction manuscript by hand on lined paper when my son and husband slept, having never read at that time so much as a single book on the craft of writing fiction (yeah, it showed), but then I wrote a second, third and fourth manuscript with the tremendous support and advice of Chicago-North RWA and my family behind me. And when I wrote the fifth one, According to Jane, I not only got an agent for my efforts, but that book went on to win the Golden Heart Award for "Best Mainstream Novel with Strong Romantic Elements," sold to Kensington and was released in October 2009.

Since then, I've sold two more novels. Friday Mornings at Nine, just came out three months ago and was chosen as a Doubleday Book Club and Book-of-the-Month Club featured alternate selection. And my third book, A Summer of Europe, will be out this year in late November.

Beyond that, though, I don't know.

I'm working on a fourth and a fifth novel -- and I'd love to sell them, of course -- but I'm taking it one story at a time. The writer's path is an interesting one and I'm curious to see where it leads. As for my son, he's now 12 and really fond of stargazing, coin collecting, Blackhawks hockey games, playing clarinet and his Nintendo Dsi. I have no idea what this motley assortment of passions might mean for him career-wise or what skills he's building toward exactly. (He swears his videogame playing is educational -- LOL.) But that's for him to decide, not me.

What I'm proud of most is knowing he's been a firsthand witness to my writing journey for as long as he can remember, and that he's come to understand that following a dream takes thousands of hours of time, a relentless work ethic and enormous levels of courage. I'm so glad I was able to give him the gift of this insight. It was very hard won. And for all those writers out there -- both published and aspiring -- putting endless hours of work into drafting, revising and submitting your stories, without knowing what the outcome will be and wondering constantly if it's all worth it...stay the course if you can. Because, yes, I think it is.

Question: Did you always know what your career would be? If not, what were some of the occupations you considered on the path to where you are now? Any career you still hope to try? (I'm still working on that Pat Benatar thing. ;) I'll give away one signed copy of Friday Mornings at Nine to one commenter -- I'll draw on Friday morning (not a coincidence!) and post the winner's name in the comment section. xo Marilyn

The Flavor of Fall

A few years ago, on another fall day, my brother and I went to dinner at a restaurant in Chicago's Italian Village and he ordered something for us called "chestnut ravioli." It was a savory version, kind of like this. Well, I was so taken with it, that I wanted to incorporated it somehow into the book I was writing at the time...a book that later turned out to be the novel I have coming out today, Friday Mornings at Nine.

In this story, there are three women who get together for coffee every week (bet you can guess from the title when that is), and they talk about the things many of us talk about with our friends: the men in our lives, our work, our kids, the people from our past... But, one September morning, one of the women admits she's been getting emails from her college ex, a guy she hasn't seen in 18 years. Given her marital ups and downs, it sets her wondering whether she chose the right man after all. It also makes her friends reconsider their relationships and question their choices, too.

One of those women is a character I named Bridget, and I lovingly gave her all of the cooking skills I don't personally possess. This woman can make anything. (Whereas I can only microwave stuff and, on occasion, stir-fry packaged foods. I think I need to take classes at Melissa Senate's Love Goddess' Cooking School. :) Well, I knew if anybody could figure out how to make this delicious ravioli, it would be Bridget.

But Bridget has a sweet tooth and, in researching recipes for her, I came across this gorgeous, sweet version of chestnut ravioli by About.com's Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. I read through it longingly, imagining myself getting to taste it...making only a couple of changes to the original in my fantasies of fixing it: Instead of deep frying it, I suspected health-conscious Bridget would keep it very tender -- lightly browning the raviolis in butter, perhaps, so they would be sweet pasta pillows filled with chestnut puree, almonds, candied orange peel, grated bittersweet chocolate, amaretto liqueur, cinnamon, honey and more...sigh.

This combination of flavors seemed to encapsulate the autumn season for me. I'd need only pumpkin muffins and, maybe, apple crisp with whipped cream on top and nutmeg sprinkles to complete the wheel of fall flavors. To go with them and add the crowning touch, I'd make a hot spiced chai tea like this one and revel in the scents of clove and cardamom, too.

Oh, I love fall and the bounty of its offerings! Everywhere I go, it seems, there are gifts awaiting us: the breathtaking colors of the changing leaves, the flavors and aromas of the season and a focus on celebrating the harvest at hand by sharing our gifts and giving thanks. And on that note, I have one other treat to share with you all -- a non-edible one this time:

In celebration of the release of Friday Mornings at Nine, my publisher -- Kensington Books -- is giving away FREE e-book downloads of my debut novel, According to Jane (the story of a woman who has the ghost of Jane Austen in her head giving her dating advice). For four days, starting Wednesday (9/29) and going through Saturday (10/2), if you have access to any of these e-reader formats -- Kindle, Apple, Sony, B&N, Kobo or Diesel -- feel free to enjoy a copy! Also, I'll give one randomly chosen commenter on this post an autographed final copy of my new novel (in trade paperback), so you can read about the chestnut ravioli in context!

What are some of your favorite fall recipes? What tastes like autumn to you?


Marilyn Brant is a chocolate lover and music junkie who lives in the Chicago area with her husband, son and very paranoid guinea pig. She's the award-winning women's fiction author of According to Jane (Kensington, 2009) and Friday Mornings at Nine (out this week!). She can't cook, but she spends a lot of time online. Visit her at: www.marilynbrant.com.