On Writing Crossovers

How long does it take to write a novel? A month? A year? 

Sometime in the mid1990s an image of a boy with an infectious grin, standing victorious on the podium of a skating competition, started me writing.  I had to know who he was and how he got there.  I thought about him; I scratched notes; and eventually I borrowed a book about how to write and publish fiction, writing  practice exercises that were scenes from Ben’s life.  But that’s what it was—practice writing.  The 200-page manuscript sat in a drawer while I wrote The Wooden Ox and Between Two Worlds  As I was finishing Glastonbury Tor, I began to realize what was the real story within those pages of fantasy skating scenes. I sent GT to my agent and sat down and wrote Crossovers in a month, but it had already been ten years in the making.

Ben Bradley is also responsible for my addiction to skating. I had to do research, didn’t I?  I checked a book on figure skating out of the library and propped it on a snowdrift beside the flooded middle school playground while I practiced stroking and crossovers.  By then I was hooked.  I went on to group lessons and then private.  The first time I competed, I took notes so I would remember what Ben would experience and how he might feel.  I have now passed my Adult Bronze level tests and even won a bronze medal for my age and skill group at Adult Nationals.