Elizabeth Wrenn

Official site of the author of the novels Around the Next Corner, a.k.a. Second Chance

I sent off the final ms. for LAST KNOWN ADDRESS a few days ago and the exhaustion took no time at all to overtake me.  I slept for nearly 11 hours each night.  I took naps during the day.  The final push drained me.  But in a good way.  I'm so proud of this book.  A few nights I went on a little get-away with my sister, just overnight to a cabin in the mountains just 40 minutes away.  It was great to be out of the house (I am truly grateful that I am able to work at home, but it does make it hard to get away from the office!)  It was even better to be in the mountains; there really is a completely different air up there.  As my friends and family (and most readers know) I am mum about a work in progress till it's done.  But I was newly freed from that lip-zipping.  So as my sister and I talked into the night about a huge range of subjects, I found myself periodically saying "That's in my book!"  What did we talk about?  What women talk about.  EVERYTHING!  How friendship among women is a huge force, often larger than the individual women.  How siblings often end up being more different from one another than complete strangers are.  And why that might be so.  How we are all connected, sometimes in miraculous ways.  How women support one another, even save one another, even complete strangers.  How love is necessary, the food of our souls, yet is so often irrational and ill-defined.  How we grow up, over and over again.  How our personal spiritual quests change over the course of our lives, loop back, explode forward, settle in, then begin again. How the art of writing real letters, on real paper, with a pen--probably a lost art--can deepen and illuminate a relationship in a way email, phone and texting simply can't. And, how communication exists in unseen realms, far beyond speech and the written word.

It's all in there.  I'm so excited for this novel to be out in the world.  It's going to be a while yet, especially in the US.  But I'll be busy.

I'll be catching up on sleep.

I'm baaaaack!  And blogging!  Not sure about this, since I think my novels say best what I have to say about most things.  But there may be something to be said a tad more briefly than in a few hundred pages.  Not to mention doing it in real life and real time.  But since real life and real time are squishy concepts for a fiction writer, this is a bit of an experiment for me.

  (This is me in my office.  Jr. Birdwriter.  i.e. incognito) 

You see, I, like many novelists, more or less go into hiding while I'm writing.  Prior to my first novel, I wasn't one of those writers, and I didn't think I would be, since I am mostly a very social person.  But when I switched from writing for children to a novel for adults, I went much deeper into my writing.  I found a deeper voice, I found deeper characters.  And suddenly, I found myself deep into their world.  Alice down the rabbit hole.  I found my own world (a.k.a. "reality") somewhat--okay, very!--distracting.  When I am in the creative writing of a novel (as opposed to the revising part of writing), I find I need to be alone in the world I'm creating.  I like to not even be reminded that another world exists.  Normally, I quite like being me.  But when I'm in the early drafts, I don't like to be me; I like to be them--my characters.  I need to be them.  I don't just screen calls, I unplug the phone.  I don't just ignore emails, I unplug the broadband line, checking only at night, after dinner.  My darling husband is about the only one who sees me with any regularity when I'm writing the first drafts, and even he has come to expect a different me during those times.  It can be difficult.  I can be difficult.  Moody.  Distant.  First celebrating completing a chapter, then bemoaning that I simply can't write, that it's all for naught.  From my conversations with other writers, this is pretty standard stuff.  If writers are married, we tend to be married to very stable individuals.  Rocks of Gibraltar. Saints.

So where am I now in the process?  Well, you've probably surmised that if I'm blogging, that means I've finished the writing of my second novel.  Yes!!  I'm currently in the final stages of revision with my editor, and, I must say, I'm very excited.  My agent and editor are both very excited too, which makes me more excited!  I had the unique (to me) sensation as I was writing the end of my second book, of wishing I could read it.  I had come to love the characters so much, that I wanted to read them as a reader would, meet them fully formed.  But of course I never can.

So, what's it about?  My next blog will drop some hints, via a little puzzle.  I will get word out asap about publication dates, locations, etc.  Deals are still in the works so, for now, mum's the word and fingers crossed!

To all my loyal readers: Thank you! Thank you for reading and spreading the word about Around the Next Corner/Second Chance.  Thank you for emailing to tell me how it moved you, made you laugh and cry out loud!  (And special thanks to those of you who did so on the beach/airplane/train/subway etc. to the point where someone asked you what you were reading!)  Thank you for writing to ask me how I got so many details about your personal life into Deena's character, and/or each and every behavior of your dog into the character of Heloise (or your cat into Harry).  Supreme compliments all, and I'm truly honored by your support.  So, I have decided to reveal that I do indeed have miniature spy-skypes in all your homes, and this is how I get all those details.  Where are they?  Attached, of course, to your dogs' and cats' collars so that I get their view of you, beamed right into my computer.  (Frightening thought, eh?)

You comments or questions on my book, my blog, etc. are always appreciated!

Warm regards to all,

Elizabeth