In The Beginning


Pamela Tracy here…

The first story I ever penned…. really was by pen.

It was junior high and I was in love with either Dan Decker or Scott Chadwick.  My friend Debra felt the exact same way.  If I took Dan (fictionally of course), she took Scott and vice versa.

I think I learned plotting with Debra.  We'd get on the phone (a teen line) and we'd make up stories.  I'd tell the story for about three minutes and then she'd tell the story for about three minutes.  I, unfortunately, do not remember any of those stories except one had to do with being on a yacht.  Something two landlocked Nebraska girls knew nothing about.

Most of the stories never got to the happily ever after because either her mother or mine would provide the black moment ending words thus not allowing us to get to the conclusion: "Get off the phone NOW."

Eventually I started writing alone, in a spiral notebook with a pen.  I call those my David Cassidy stories, because yes, neither Dan nor Scott could compete with David.  The only one who could was Bobby Sherman.

Eventually, I wrote my first fictional hero.  

By then, I had no teen line, had long forgotten Scott and Dan, had outgrown David Cassidy (who had been followed by Peter Frampton and then Dwight Yaokim), and was in college.

I'd also given up romances for Sci Fi and was a Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut kind of girl.

My first novel was Sci Fi and I never finished it.  It was half-written on a machine much like the one above.

Because I was, by heart, a romance reader and writer who sometimes played in different neighborhoods (I loved horror back then, too.)     

My June Romance, Small-Town Secrets, was typed on a computer (so much easier, no white out!)
It has a happily ever after (although I'd gladly change the ending just to hear my my mother shout "Get off the phone NOW" one more time).

The hero wasn't David Cassidy but patterned after Tim Daly (his Wings days) and Sandra Bullock (the bus movie girl).

First line in the book:  There were two thing Yolanda Sanchez didn't want to see in her somewhat restored Queen Anne Victorian, whose ground floor now housed the Twice Told Tales used bookstore.

Last line in the book :  Yolanda didn't care as long as Adam kissed her again.   

Can you think of two things you wouldn't want to see in your bookstore were you the owner?




Comments

  1. Yes, spiders and/or a patron with a gun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well played, Roz. I second your answer

      Delete
    2. LOL, and I'm wondering the order of your fears… spider first? gun second?

      Delete
  2. Oh, your post brought back memories. My girlfriend and I invented a pair of families in Kentucky horse country (we were horse mad then) with fictional romances thrown in and could entertain ourselves for hours plotting the next steps in their stories. Quite the soap opera. I also got started like you writing on a typewriter. My first book was so full of white correction strips that it filled two ream boxes! What wouldn't I like to see in a bookstore if I owned one? People shunning the romance section. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all need a friend to write teen fiction with!
      Oh, let's home the people shunning the romance section get chased by a BIG spider.

      Delete
  3. Oh, I love this...and Tim Daly--now, thank you very much. I used the notebooks and pens for years, and transcribed to typewriter. I think it's safe to say I'd never have become published if the computer hadn't come into being.

    What wouldn't I want to see in a bookstore? More like hear, because there must be no loud music in a bookstore. Ever. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The computer definitely made things easier.
      I don't like loud music, either.
      Unless it's Peter Frampton or Dwight Yoakim

      Delete
    2. Lol. I like loud music--just not in a bookstore.

      Delete
  4. Two worst things? Probably mildew and termites.

    We must be about the same age, because I thought David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman were sooooo cute. The story sounds great. My copy is in the mail. Can't wait.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Beth,
      I actually saw David Cassidy in concern about 15 years ago. Wish Bobby would go on tour. Hope you entire Small-Town Secrets!

      Delete
  5. Fire or excess water. Not good in a bookstore.

    Ah....David and Bobby. Those were the days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, did you read my book. Those were the two things mentioned.

      Delete
  6. I was married by the time David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman were popular. I used to be madly in love with Richard Widmark (those blue eyes!) and John Wayne. I wouldn't want to see a water leak in a bookstore, or - harking back to 'Funny Face' - a camera crew. I'd love to hear my mom yell at me one more time - "Do you work for the Electric Company? Turn off the light!"

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was married by the time David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman were popular. I used to be madly in love with Richard Widmark (those blue eyes!) and John Wayne. I wouldn't want to see a water leak in a bookstore, or - harking back to 'Funny Face' - a camera crew. I'd love to hear my mom yell at me one more time - "Do you work for the Electric Company? Turn off the light!"

    ReplyDelete
  8. I.Cannot.Imagine.Writing.A.Book. on a manual typewriter. I wrote my first short story on one and when it sold, I bought an electric. Can't even imagine typing a book on an electric typewriter. lol
    If I owned a bookstore I'd hate to see the Johnson twins come in. It could only be worse if there was glassware in the bookstore. Talk about bulls in china shops. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to make money writing term papers on the old electric typewriters, a dollar a page.

      Delete
    2. Those old manual typewriters are probably the reason I've never had carpel tunnel in either wrist: Pounding out short stories and articles (and novels that are still locked up in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet) made for some oober-manly muscles! LOL

      Delete
  9. LOVE that typewriter, Pam! I had one just like it, only it was an off-white color. Lost two keys and wore the strike-plate down on the E and O keys! Ahh...memories.... :-)

    If I owned a bookstore, I'd hate seeing people in the aisles, dog-earing pages while they read books for free! Arrgh!

    Can't wait to read Small Town Secrets! Have a wonderful rest of the week! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Loree, that is sooooo funny. My very first book, a Heartsong, was about a librarian. She had an elderly man who would check out books and rip the pages out so he could read them. I'd forgotten that detail. I took it from a librarian friend.

      Delete
    2. You know, I think during my 'writing for Heartsong days', I read your Heartsong, because I remember that old man! What was the title? :-)

      Delete
  10. I had that portable typewriter! I, too, started writing in grammar school, a sequel to “Gone With the Wind” that included two brothers in Kentucky who wanted to make out with the heroine named “Marianne.” Each fellow chose a different side, one joining the north, the other the south. One of my biggest scenes was when a frog got caught in her petticoats. My last attempt to write an historical.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think you should post the frog scene next time it's your turn to blog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A rat or some crazed person who refused to leave!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment