First Paragraph -- Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
Maeve Binchy has taken me to Ireland so many times. Finding this posthumously published book thrilled me Chestnut Street. Here's the intro.

so I could take one more trip. I'm currently lost in her many working class stories in the book

It was all the harder because her mother had been so beautiful. If only Dolly's mother had been a round, bunlike woman, or a small wrinkled person, it might have been easier for Dolly, this business of growing up. But no, there were no consolations on that score. Mother was tall and willowy and had a smile that made other people smile too and a laugh that caused strangers to look up with pleasure. Mother always knew what to say and said it; Mother wore long lilac silk scarves so elegantly they seemed to flow with her when she walked. If dolly tried to wear a scarf, either it looked like a bandage or else she got mistaken for a football fan. If you were square and solid and without color or grace, it was sometimes easy to hate Mother. 

 This book is a series of short stories all connected to Chestnut Street. Sometimes the characters appear in each other's stories, but most the time they stand alone.

Writing

I am a writer. At least that's what I say. I have two finished (yet unsold) novels to prove it. And I am 60,000 words into my third novel, thinking "this is the one."
Yet, during this two week break from classes, I have written very little.
I'm kind of stuck. I'm not sure I really believe in writer's block. I know what I want to happen in the book but I've just been unsure how to get there. I tried jumping ahead to write the scenes I know, but they were falling flat.
This book, The Summer of France, started out as women's fiction. A woman with twin teenagers wants to build a close family before they leave for college and careers. She, her husband, and the twins go to France to run a bed and breakfast for her uncle who married a French woman after World War II. So, it sounds like the book will be all about feelings and rebellious teenagers and marriage angst in a foreign country. Then suddenly I find my characters in the middle of intrigue as the main character discovers that her uncle has a famous painting that went missing in World War II. Black market art dealers are trying to get their hands on the painting and the police can't be far behind. What should she do with the painting and how can she save her uncle and his reputation?

I'm in the middle of a chase scene and I have no idea how to write a chase scene. After two weeks of dithering, I happened upon a writing book at the library. It's a book by Maeve Binchy called The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club. I opened it yesterday afternoon and read the first few chapters on the front porch with a thunderstorm blowing through. Earl sat on the porch reading his own book and was willing to put down his book when I wanted to talk through the stuck parts in my novel.
Amazingly, we fleshed out some scenes to get me through the hard spot and increase the intrigue. Sometimes, just reading about writing or talking about writing can break through that barrier.
This morning, I wrote nearly 2000 words and I have set the calendar on my phone to wake me every morning at 5 a.m. so I can write until 7 a.m.
Thank you, Maeve Binchy, for reminding me that I can find the time to write and I need to be consistent about using that time.
I like Maeve Binchy's books. They're set in Ireland and I love to travel so peeking into the Irish culture is fun. Her books always have intriguing characters, so I enjoy travelling with them. I don't think you have to love the author to learn from their writing books.
Stephen King has a great book called On Writing. I don't read horror books, but his writing book was very helpful when I read it a few years ago. I probably needed to pick it up again to be inspired.
Anne Lamott also has a writing book called Bird by Bird. Lamott has such a wry, witty sense of herself that it is always a joy to read her books, evening something that could be as dry as a writing book.
If I stay on my writing schedule, I could be finished with my book by the end of July. As a matter of fact, there's no reason I can't be finished. I hope someone will hold me to that.
Being a writer though, that's between me and my computer, me and my conscience.
How about you? Do you have a favorite book on writing? If you aren't a writer, do you ever get stuck when you're trying to finish something, whether it's making a quilt or training for a marathon? What do you do to energize yourself and get back on track?
(These book covers come from www.amazon.com. If you click on them, you can't actually look inside, but you can go to Amazon and do that.)