But I have an excuse! (I know, I’m a writer — we don’t get excuses! At least that’s what I tell my students.) You may have heard the news about my next novel, FRIENDSHIP BREAD. It sold at auction in mid-March to Ballantine Books for hard cover publication in 2011 and foreign rights have already been sold to Italy, Brazil, and Australia.

I wrote this book last year after my own daughter brought home a bag of Amish friendship bread starter. The truth? If she hadn’t been the one to give it to me, it would have gone straight into the trash! What a shame that would have been because days after receiving this fateful bag of starter, Julia Evarts, my protagonist, appeared.

Tracking my word count ...

I started writing and soon both the story and the words started to flow. “Gush” was more like it. And six weeks later, I had a new novel.

Do I normally write this fast? Yes and no. I don’t have a writing schedule or routine beyond grabbing whatever time I can between the kids and other family responsibilities. But the story started demanding more than the little snippets of time I could give so my husband offered to take the kids as much as possible until the book could be written (note that he was running his own business at the same time). I wrote like crazy and didn’t stop until I finished.

Between my agent’s client load (apparently she has other authors to represent — imagine that!) and more edits (if you heard teeth gnashing in the middle of the Pacific, that was me), it was almost a year before the manuscript went to auction. Talk about a lesson in patience! I dug up this image to share with you and realized that the day I started writing was one year to the week that we sold FRIENDSHIP BREAD to Ballantine! How crazy and wonderful is that?!

So what happens between now and the release of FRIENDSHIP BREAD? Lots of baking and recipe adapting, for starters. Meeting new readers and foodies, too. And of course, more edits. Instead of creating a book page I decided a kitchen was more up my alley, so behold the Friendship Bread Kitchen (www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com). We’re parked at Facebook for now but will be moving to our own home mid-year and I’d love for you to join the wonderful community that’s growing there.

I’m happy to share the synopsis of the novel with you:

Julia Evarts is still healing from the loss of her son when she and her five-year old daughter receive the equivalent of a culinary chain letter: a plate of Amish friendship bread along with a Ziploc filled with the gooey yeast starter. They’re instructed to feed the starter over a ten-day period then bake two loaves of bread and share the remaining starter with three other people. As the bread and its starter make its way through Julia’s small town (including into the home of her estranged sister whom Julia holds responsible for her son’s death), the residents of Avalon, IL find their lives inexplicably changed. Friendship Bread is a novel about life and loss, friendship and community, and what endures even when the unthinkable happens.

Will there be recipes in the book? Of course! The novel will include loads of Amish friendship bread recipes and tips. I’m amazed by how many variations there are to this otherwise simple recipe. This week we even came up with a vegan, gluten-free version at the Friendship Bread Kitchen: Pineapple-Papaya-Coconut Macaroon Friendship Bread Mini Muffins (Vegan) (Gluten-Free). Yum!

So I hope you’ll come and find me in one of the many places I tend to linger online. In the meantime, now that my blog post is done, I think it’s time to call my hairdresser. Aloha, everyone!

hugs,

Mia

PS. I’ll be in Honolulu next weekend, April 9-11, teaching a workshop on writing the memoir. The fabulous YA author, Lisa Yee, is the keynote. For information, please visit the National League of American Pen Women’s Biennial Writers Conference. I’ll also be stopping in to offer my congrats to fellow author Jane Porter and sweetie Ty Gurney as they celebrate the opening of Ty’s new surf shop in the Imperial of Waikiki Resort!

Farm fresh eggs from a neighbor.

Which brings me to shirred eggs.

Now, some of you may be wondering what on earth I’m talking about. Book revisions and shirred eggs? And what the heck is a shirred egg?

A shirred egg is basically a baked egg. This method of egg preparation is also known as oeufs en cocotte. The eggs can either be nestled in foods (like a casserole—use the back of a serving spoon to make an indentation before adding the egg) or prepared individually in a ramekin. You add a tablespoon of cream or milk to the top and that’s basically it. The end result is a firm egg white with a soft or runny yolk.

Sound easy enough?

Shirred eggs .. a work in progress ...

That’s what I thought. Turns out it’s easy to overcook these guys, which I did with the first two batches which were still delicious but the yolks were cooked through and dry. Third time was the charm, though, and I think I’ll do even better next time, which will probably be tomorrow morning.

Which brings me back to first drafts.

Here’s the thing about first drafts: you have to finish a draft to have a first draft. There are so many good writers that show me their manuscript in progress and ask me if I think it can be published. My answer is always, “Maybe, but you’re going to have to finish it first.” It’s pointless to talk about it until the work is done, because you just don’t know what you’re going to get until you’re finished. That’s the hard truth about writing a novel—you may think you know how it’s going to end, but until you actually write it and see how well it works, you just don’t know. And let me tell you, crossing that finish line isn’t easy. But you’ve got to do it if you want to get published, because until you do, you can’t get an agent who in turn can’t get you a publisher who in turn can’t get your book onto the shelves in your local bookstore. You have to have a manuscript first.

And even once you finish the manuscript, your work is far from done. Celebrate, then get back to work. First drafts are exactly that: first drafts. They are rarely ready to be seen by anyone, and this is coming from someone who writes very smooth, tight first drafts. Your drafts will need work. How much work? Until it doesn’t read like a draft anymore, but a polished manuscript that could go straight to the printers if need be. The publishing industry is looking for writers who know how to write, who know how to self-edit, who know how to find strong, critical readers to help them get their work ready for their agent and publisher. If you want to get published, this is the path. There are always exceptions, yes, but for the other 99% of us, this is how it’s done.

If I had to give you one tip for finishing your first draft, this would be it: don’t go backwards. Don’t go back and fix things unless it can be done via “Search and Replace” or will take you less than 10 minutes a day to address whatever it is that’s really bugging you. DON’T GO BACK. Go forward, people. Finish it.

Okay, it turns out I have a second tip: don’t show it to anybody yet. This is not the stage for feedback, however kind or well-intentioned. Finish your first draft, clean it up, and then clean it up again. Then show it to your reading group or designated readers. Writing groups are wonderful but if your goal is to get it done as quickly as possible (because, let’s face it, this can take as long as you want it to take), then just get it done. Over-massaging and re-working elements of an incomplete first draft is premature, especially if it’s holding you back from moving forward it. Trust that your story is there, and go with it.

Here is a basic recipe for shirred eggs—it certainly gave me sustenance to finish this leg of the relay:

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cream (whipping cream or heavy cream; half and half also works) or milk
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare two ramekins by spraying with cooking spray or butter.
2. Crack an egg into each ramekin.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of cream or milk to the tops of the eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the whites have set. Remove and let rest for 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Once you get the hang of it, you can add cheese, cooked spinach, chives, green onions (that’s what I used in the picture above) in the last couple of minutes or garnish once it’s removed from the oven.

Shirred Eggs Recipe Links:

• Shirred Eggs | Food Network | Recipe by Emeril Lagasse | http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/shirred-eggs-recipe/index.html
• Shirred Eggs with Sorrel | Food and Wine | Recipe by Chantal Leroux | http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shirred-eggs-with-sorrel
• Shirred Eggs | Sunset Magazine | http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1598614
• Shirred Eggs | Real Simple | http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=524080
• Shirred Eggs | Group Recipes | Recipe by Vainwi | http://www.grouprecipes.com/35458/shirred-eggs.html

Writing First Draft Links:

• Shitty First Drafts: An Excerpt from Bird by Bird (though I highly recommend and reading the book in its entirety—it’s absolutely excellent) | by Anne Lamott | http://tiny.cc/wS5qJ
• From First Draft to Finished Novel | Writer’s Digest | by Karen S. Weisner | http://www.writersdigest.com/article/first-draft-finish-novel
• Tips and Links for Writing a First Draft | http://www.helium.com/knowledge/187801-how-to-write-a-first-draft
• Writing the Novel: Approaching the First Draft | SF Gate | by Pia Chatterjee http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/chatterjee/detail?blogid=118&entry_id=45214

My publisher, Berkley/Penguin, just sent me an early copy of Table Manners. I love getting packages but of course this was especially exciting. I’ve been working on the book for over a year and have been looking at the cover art for what feels like forever, and yet it’s still incredible to actually see the real thing in front of me. Expect to see another post like this when I actually see the book on the shelves!

If you are an aspiring writer (well, I actually believe that if you write, you are already a writer, so I should probably change that to “If you are a writer who aspires to be published…”), I will not lie—writing a book is a lot of work. Even if you love writing as I do, it’s still work. And revisions? Boy. Tough stuff. Keep the tissues near by—you’ll need it. I couldn’t find mine today and I was a mess.

So while I am in the middle of some seriously hard work right now on book four, it was such a joy to hear that familiar beeping sound from Fedex and then find this on my doorstep. It’s officially in bookstores on August 4th (a Tuesday!) and I hope you’ll pick up a copy and let me know what you think!

I’ve had a few requests to talk a little more about memoir writing and why I teach it with such a passion when I am a fiction writer. Well, for starters I’ve been teaching creative writing for over fifteen years, long before I was ever a published author. My favorite form has always been the personal narrative, I think in part because I’ve kept a journal since I could write and, like many of you, felt that my life had a lot of stories worth telling.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to study with Judith Barrington, expert memoirist and author of Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, while I was still living on the mainland. And, as a writer, I am a reader first: I love a good memoir and read one whenever I can! I also think we are all drawn to strength and beauty and raw truth—I know I am. Honesty in writing is big for me, especially when it comes to memoir (although, to digress for a moment, a memoir does differ from an autobiography in that it is your memory of an experience and not a factual play-by-play of the event. So I’m referring less to the accuracy of every detail and more to the integrity of the author, to their emotions and personal revelations). If you want to learn more, get a good book on memoir writing (Judith’s is an excellent start), or better yet, take my class when I offer it next!

Here’s an article I wrote for our lovely local paper on writing the memoir. If you have a story to tell, this may be the narrative form for you. To read the article, click on the image (you can also see the huge ad for the 2009 Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union college scholarship recipients!).

If you’d like me to post some handouts from my memoir classes, just leave a comment below and if there’s enough interest, I’ll PDF and post what I can. In the meantime, here’s a reading list of some of my favorite memoirs (you’ll need Adobe Acrobat to view the file). Enjoy!

The Kohala Book Shop is the largest new and used book store in the state of Hawaii. Their inventory of over 30,000 books, including the largest collection of Hawaiiana in the United States, will continue to be sold on the internet starting on May 1.

“It’s been a wonderful 10 years,” says owner Jan Morgan. “But we decided that it is time to retire, once again, and call our life our own”. The Morgans retired and moved from Boston to Hawaii in 1995, then started the book store in 1998.

Frank and Jan are not only wonderful booksellers, but witty, intelligent and amazing people. My husband and I love them and all they’ve done for readers and writers, including us. Owning and running a bookstore is no easy task and I know it has truly been a labor of love for them.

If you’re on the Big Island before February 1, make a point of traveling up to Kapaau and visiting them (buy some books too, will ya?). After May 1, visit them online at kohalabooks.com.

I’m not talking about what happens with the end product, the completed manuscript which is getting primed for publication, but what happens in the beginning, when you’re just trying to get your thoughts on paper and hoping that it will all come together in a brilliant, cohesive sort of way. Coming up with a working title and finding inspiring stock images on Getty Images or Corbis does a lot for setting the tone of a book. I might tear out a picture from a magazine and stick it on my wall. It doesn’t matter if the art department comes up with something entirely different in the end. What matters is that you are sufficiently inspired to write, and to keep writing, until your book is done.

And you have to have a theme song. Something’s got to be playing in the background while you work, at least some of the time, and it may as well be something that dovetails with your book. Just ask yourself what your characters would be listening to. Or, if your book were to be made into a movie, what would be the opening song?

I just found the perfect title and cover image for book #4. The theme song is a tad trickier, which tells me that this manuscript may or may not make it. Why? Because if I don’t really know what kind of music fits with the tone of my book, then I don’t really know the tone of my book. I’m still in the discovery stage, which means that my ideas aren’t fully fleshed out, which means they may or may not work in the end. I know this might sound odd, but most writers will agree that finding a good idea or plot isn’t the hard part. Finishing the novel is.

Still, finding the perfect title is a good start. Even if the title changes in the end (always a possibility if you have a publisher), if it can push you across the finish line, then it’s more than done its job.

You write … you have a cup of tea … you write .. you buy groceries … you write … you eat dinner … you write … you give your kids a bath … you write … you sleep (if you’re lucky) … you write … you pay your rent … you write … you cry and lament about how hard this whole process is … and you write, you write, you write.

And, eventually, it happens. The book leaves the nest, flies to New York, and eventually makes its way out into the world.

OK, so maybe that’s being a bit dramatic. But I am honestly thrilled that today is the day that my second novel, SWEET LIFE (Berkley Books), officially hits bookstores everywhere. It’s the story of New Yorker Marissa Price, a corporate executive turned full-time mom who trades in her stilettos for sandals when the family moves to Hawaii in a seemingly impossible pursuit of paradise.

To help me celebrate the release of SWEET LIFE, Big Island Candies has partnered with me to create 25 generous “Life is Sweet” chocolate, cookie and signed books gift baskets valued at over $80 each!

WHAT’S INSIDE:

• one small gold box of Chocolate Dipped Original Shortbread Cookies
• one gold box of Kohala Brownie Assortment
• one petite box of Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Rocky Road
• one petite box of Combination (Dark and Milk) Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts
• three Dark Chocolate Dipped Original Shortbread cookies
• one Original Biscotti with Milk Chocolate waves
• one Original Biscotti with Dark Chocolate Waves
• one signed copy of GOOD THINGS
• one signed copy of SWEET LIFE
• an assortment of temporary hibiscus tattoos, tropical key chains, monogrammed GOOD THINGS and SWEET LIFE pens, and bookmarks

HOW TO ENTER (it’s easy!)

1. For one (1) contest entry – sign up for my newsletter on my website and leave a comment below telling me what makes your life sweet. I don’t spam or share lists and you can unsubscribe at any time. In addition, you will be automatically entered for all future giveaways and contests.
2. If you are already on my mailing list and your contact information is complete, you are automatically entered into this contest–just enter your email address and click “Go” to make sure your profile is up to date. If you joined my mailing list prior to September 8, 2008, you don’t need to leave a comment to be entered but don’t let that stop you from leaving one!
3. For three (3) contest entries – write a blog post about the giveaway and link back to this post. If your blog post does not appear under the “Pingbacks,” please leave a comment with a URL to the post. Add one (1) extra entry if you Stumble, Digg, Tweet, or post about the giveaway on message boards. Link back or leave a separate comment about it.
4. For five (5) contest entries – buy a copy of SWEET LIFE and email the receipt to bonus [at] miaking [dot] com. This offer expires September 27, 2008, so get your copy now and dramatically increase your chances to win! You can also buy SWEET LIFE at your local bookseller–just snail mail the receipt to the address on the contact page and make sure I receive it before September 27, 2008.

ELIGIBILITY AND THE UNFORTUNATE DISCLAIMERS

1. Twenty-five winners will be announced on September 27, 2008 (Mia’s 40th birthday). Winners will be notified via email within 15 business days will be drawn from this site as well as from the other print media and blogs hosting Mia’s giveaway (and yes, you can enter on those contests, too! Google to find them and follow their rules and guidelines).
2. Open to U.S. residents only. Must be 18 or older to participate.
3. Any prize or prize notification returned to Mia or Big Island Candies as undeliverable will result in the awarding of that prize to an alternate winner.
4. No purchase is necessary to win.
5. One prize per winner.
6. The gift baskets, books and promotional items are given in-kind and have no cash value.
7. Basket contents and style may vary slightly depending on availability.
8. This give-away contest is for fans and readers of Mia King, and is therefore offered in good faith and in the spirit of fun and aloha. Mia King, miaking.com, Big Island Candies and Penguin Group USA, Inc. assume no liability for damages associated with the gift basket or contents contained herein.

You can buy your copy of SWEET LIFE now by clicking on the bookseller of your choice: amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound. Thank you for helping me celebrate this special day!

Mia

We’ve released the site a little early in preparation for my new book, SWEET LIFE. We’ve updated the logo and gone pink, and I hope you’ll find it fresh and easy to navigate. Some new features include:

• All recipes from my books will be uploaded, including recipes that have a place in the storyline of the book but didn’t make the final cut (my publisher kindly pointed out that my books are novels, not cookbooks!)
• Extensive resources, links, and tips for writers, readers, moms and geeks (of which I am all four!)
• Contests and giveaways, usually involving books and chocolate
• Dynamic content via regular blog posts, videos, and your two cents whenever you leave a comment!

Bookmark my site, and/or subscribe to my RSS feed and please stop by often! Let me know what you think of the new site, and if you’ve got any suggestions, here’s the place to leave them!