Betty Underground

A watched pot never boils.

Betty Underground — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 10:30:02 +0000

Discipline looks different for everyone. What looks like screwing around could be creativity in motion. I manage a team of writers. Some of them adopting the trade for the first time, a few trained professionals, and at least one a member of the ‘look-a-that-shiny-thing-over-there’ generation. Anyone else would think he had A.D.D., mastering the art [...]

This Damn Book

Betty Underground — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 04:56:21 +0000

I wonder how many people think I'm full of shit about writing a novel. I think I am some days. Why would anyone get as far as I have and then stop. It just began to feel like this overwhelming task. Getting those 300 pages was a piece of cake, but now, the editing and re-reading stops me in my tracks.

I started my second book.

Considered taking up the banjo.

Shit I packed up my life and moved to London to bury myself in my job.

All distractions.

St. Christopher | Excerpt from Untitled Book Two

Betty Underground — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:27:54 +0000

The choice of footwear for international travel is key; you wear the heaviest or the most space consuming pair. A pair of 4" cork wedge slip-on sandals that many would deem impractical for walking let alone maneuvering around an airport. But she was a pro; years spent traipsing the streets of NYC in stilettos to elongate her legs. Feel sexy. It's what she was most comfortable in now, and required the wearing of at least one pair to have room in her suitcase for attire.

A man would wear sneakers; bulky and unforgiving when smashed in luggage, or boots; a space hog and heavy. His choice? Boots. Those boots. The same boots that poked from under the table to the side of her when they sat at breakfast in late January. The boots that made a delicious *thud* on the hardwood floor of that hotel room the night prior. Those boots; a light tan suede worn to the beginning stages of nubuck; when the fuzz of suede takes on a leather quality.

Creative Courage

Betty Underground — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 03:34:45 +0000

Have you ever written a letter and never sent it? Crafted an email and promptly deleted it? Would you write a love letter that no one would ever read? Would you write a love-story that should never be told?

Splashing Around

Betty Underground — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:32:03 +0000

For me, running and writing are like shoes and socks; one without the other only gets you so far. When my body is in motion my mind soars. My heart is pumps oxygen and clear thoughts through my veins.

My approach has been to sit on my experiences for a few years. It's fair to assume that I needed to disconnect from the emotion of them completely before I had a perspective that I felt I could write from. I'm an "in over my head" girl. A free-faller who waits until the last possible second to pull the ripcord. Jumping into the deep-end with both feet and worrying about how to get to safety only after I've exhausted myself. It looks reckless, but it's just living. I take risks and in return I get those breathless moments we should all measure our life by. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and the only way I've known to protect myself is to take them off and put them in a box on a shelf. I don't erase, or try to forget them, I just set them aside until I'm ready to remember them. Far away from the moments they happened in, and while still emotional, I'm able to do them justice having had time to process them. Filling in the blanks is the most fun; you sort of get to rewrite history and call it storytelling.

Chasing Inspiration

Betty Underground — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:06:54 +0000

Every writer has their approach. Maybe it's a discipline, an outline, a deadline, a loosely woven story, or completely shooting from the hip. I have a mild case of OCD, type A personality and all, which would stand to reason that I'd be an outline writer and deadline setter; even scheduling time to put words to paper. I'm not. I'm more of the Oscar to my everyday Felix. One-liners scribbled on pieces of paper, shoved in my purse, my wallet, the pocket of my car door. Blog entries with a single paragraph. Journals with 1/4 of a page filled. Notes spattered about the various iPhone apps I have to help keep me organized. Then I wait for the inspiration to hit. Nothing structured about that approach. Occasionally, I'm asked for advice about how to write.

Editing Your Past

Betty Underground — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:59:01 +0000

Henry Miller once said “The best way to get over a woman, is to turn her into literature,” and granted few people knew he said this until it was a line in the movie (500) Days of Summer, but it resonates with some truth. I interpret it not so much as a way to get [...]