When Characters Write Themselves

Yesterday I reread the last scene I had recently written, which is a practice I always do before moving the story on, and then I previewed my notes for an upcoming scene.  My character Samuel was just sitting there feeling lost and sorry for himself due to a couple of pretty significant events.  I didn't know exactly what to do with him, but then he did something wonderful -- he got up, walked over to the end table, pulled open the drawer, and  . . . . . wrote his own scene!  Perhaps this will sound a bit odd to some of you, but I just love when a character writes his own scene.  You see, sometimes you have an idea where you want the story to go and write exactly what you had planned, but then sometimes your character just does it for you.  Love this!  It's unexpected and truly a mystery to me where they are going until they do it.  Will that scene make the final cut?  Don't know, but I think Samuel came up with something pretty good.  Thanks Samuel!

Defining My Genre

So what do I write?  This question is asked of me whenever someone hears that I'm writing a book.  I've dabbled in several different areas with my flash fiction, but in answer to my book?  Well, when someone asks me what I write, of course I say fiction.  After all, just about everyone knows that there is fiction and there is non-fiction.  However, what type of fiction do I write?  Ah, now that has been a little bit of a challenge until recently.  I think.  I'll explain.

First off, I need to know my genre.  This is extremely important when I finally wrap up this thing and start pitching it to agents.  I must know what genre my book falls under.  I have to put this in my agent query letter. So when I started trying to define this some time ago my head started to spin like a scene out of the Exorcist.  Why?  Well, you think there are two main types of fiction, commercial (larger audience) and literary (smaller audience).  But then you hear terms such as mainstream fiction (broad audience appealing to many), upmarket fiction (a combination of commercial and literary), genre fiction (western, romance, historical, horror, thriller, mystery, science-fiction, etc.).  Oh, but it doesn't stop there.  Take for example Romance.  Simple enough, right?  Nope.  Under romance you have sub-genres such as paranormal romance, historical romance, erotic romance, adventure romance, regency romance, fantasy romance, Gothic romance, contemporary romance . . . enough?  Okay you get my point.   So after screwing my head back on I calmly pulled out the laptop and started doing some serious research.  And what did I finally come up with?  Upmarket Fiction.  Yep, that's it.  And perhaps to take it one step further, Upmarket Woman's Fiction.  Think, for example, Water for Elephants, Memoirs of a Geisha, and authors such as Jodi Picoult, Anita Shreve, Sue Monk Kidd and other book club type authors.  It's actually quite a wide variety.   So since I am writing this book with multiple POVs (points of view) in the style of such authors as Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve, and since I think my style of writing is a combination of commercial and literary, that is how I came to this conclusion.

So there you have it, my genre defined.  Uh, maybe.  You see, things change by the minute in the literary world.  In additional to YA (young adult) I recently just found out we now have NA (new adult).  But I'm going with Upmarket Woman's Fiction.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  (At least until an agent tells me I have it all wrong.)

Cheers!

Quote of the Day

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” 
― Edgar Degas

"The Collector" Just Went Live

Check out my newest flash fiction piece, "The Collector", which just went live on The Story Shack today. The illustration was done by the talented James Brown.

Seriously?

Did anyone else catch this on 60 Minutes last night?  This story is so outrageous.  How can these people sleep at night knowing that their practices are killing people?  Shameful and disgusting.  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50152765n

National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day!

So you were wondering what to do with all of your zucchini?  Well, you're in luck.  Today, August 8th, is National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day!  Yep, now is your opportunity to ditch some of those green squashes that have been taking up space on your kitchen counter onto an unsuspecting neighbor.  A word of warning, however, don't be surprised if some of those emerald gourds end up back your front porch too.

Quote of the Day

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” 

― G.K. Chesterton

Update: Illustration Received for "The Collector"

Hi everyone,

I received the illustration today for my next piece on The Story Shack, "The Collector", and once again James Brown did a wonderful job.  You might remember that he also provided the illustration for my story "Saving Sylvia" earlier this year.  Look for "The Collector" on August 21st.

Have a great weekend!

How Long Should A Novel Really Be?

Now that I'm in the full thralls to my book, I've recently been doing a lot of research on how long a novel should be, and am finding that word count appears to be a very confusing yet highly important topic.

There a numerous guidelines out there on this subject.  One source will tell you that anything over 40,000 words is considered a novel, yet others advise that you to have 50,000, 80,000, 100,000 and more.   No wonder new writers are perplexed!  And you can't simply ignore this issue either.  National Novel Writing Month requires that a novel be at least 50,000 words.  Yet some agents/publishers won't even read your work if it's not a certain word length (70,000-80,000 for example).  I actually can understand the theory behind this, knowing that once you are lucky enough to start going through the editing phase with a publisher, a huge chunk of your work is going to end up on the cutting room floor.  So where on earth do you begin, and more importantly where do you end?

Well, I found many examples that both support and contradict the above word count statements.  According to Indefeasible, a blogger who has done quite extensive research on the the topic, some of the greats tally in on the low end such as:  Fahrenheit 451 (46,118 words), Slaughterhouse-Five (49,459 words), The Color Purple (66,556 words), and The Sun Also Rises (67,707 words).  Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum you have Lonesome Dove (365,712 words), Atlas Shrugged (561,996), and of course I'd be remiss not to mention War and Peace (587,287 words).

So in looking at all of these mind-blowing figures I have come to the final conclusion that I will just write my book and see where it ends up.  Having just recently surpassed the 55,000 word mark, and knowing that I still have a little more story in me to go, I'm pretty confident that I'll end up with at least the minimum amount of words.  Then, once I am finished, I will go back and polish until I am satisfied that it is indeed "done".  I'm going to go with the theory that too much is better than too little.  While I'm not going to add a bunch of fluff just for the sake of word count, if there is something I feel I can add that might enhance the story, then I will add it.  It can always be cut later.

So off I go again, pounding out those words and ideas in the early morning hours before work and in the evening hours if I have anything left in me.  If at anytime you'd like to track my progress, I have added a word count progress bar on the right side of my blog with a loosely estimated "target" of 70,000 words.

Happy writing fellow authors and thank you for your support future readers!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm -- The Barber Pole

Okay, I learned something very interesting the other day.  "What might that be?" you ask.  Well, I've been reading this book entitled "The Inheritor's Powder:  A Tale of Arsenic, Murder and the New Forensic Science", and although I'm only 50 pages into it, I'm already finding out some interesting tidbits, so I wanted to share some information that surprised me.  Anyway, you know how a barber pole is red and white (sometimes red, white and blue too), well do you know what those red and white colors stand for?  Ready?  Blood and bandages.  "What?" you say.  Well, it's not from getting a nick from a shave.  You see, a long, long time ago, back in the 15th century, apparently surgeons and barbers had a fabulous idea to come together and form a company.  With this new pairing, they did everything from give you a haircut to minor surgical procedures such as bloodletting.  (Bloodletting by the way, is when they drained your blood to rid you of disease.)  I know, hard to believe.  Can you imagine -- "Uh, yes, I'd like to schedule a surgical procedure next week and while you're at it, can you give me a trim?"  Aah!  And we think people now days are crazy?  Just look at some of our ancestors.  Fortunately at some point in time, this coupling of professions split and went their separate ways.  Whew.

Now, I wonder what little treasures I'll find out next. . . .

Writing Update - Hit 51,000 Words!

In an attempt to keep myself accountable and propelling forward, I am happy to post that I hit 51,000 words on my book this weekend.  Hope to keep up this momentum.

Book Review Time - Can't Buy Me Love

I received this book free through a Goodreads giveaway and regret to give it only 2.5 stars.  It's a quick read coming in at 267 pages and while it did have some nice aspects about it, I unfortunately just didn't love this book.  It's a unique idea to use the Freegan lifestyle as part of the story, and has enlightened me on the subject.  But to give some constructive criticism, I thought for this size book there were far too many characters.  I had a hard time remembering who was who.  What added to this frustration for me was the use of similar names.  For example, Perla and Percy, who were in the same woman's group.  Their names being so similar I would have to pause to remember who each one was.  Likewise, Ma and Mom (the one character's two mothers).  I thought it would have helped if she used distinctive nicknames for them.  Another thing that I personally struggled with was the numerous foreign words and phrases.  Not knowing the language, I unfortunately felt as though I was missing parts of the story and thereby disrupting its flow.  The book also felt overly busy mentioning so many underlying topics and viewpoints that I believe it took away from the truly charming part of the story.  I felt that it was almost there, but fell slightly short.

I hope that the author takes this review in the spirit it has been given, because I commend and congratulate her for being published and acknowledge the time and effort she put forth in telling this story.

Quote of the Day

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 

― Albert Einstein

Publishing Date - "The Collector"

I'm happy to announce that August 21st will be the publishing date of my next story, "The Collector".  I am honored to once again be paired with the talented James Brown who illustrated my story, "Saving Sylvia" earlier this year.

Finally, A New Scene!

So, for the first time since we moved this winter, I was finally able to pound out a new scene for my book, and I can't begin to tell you how good this feels!  I'm elated.  It has given me a new energy that I desperately needed.  Did I have a case of writer's block you ask?  Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it that, because I was able to continue writing flash fiction pieces, but what I think happened instead, is that I just got out of my groove.  Like any habit, good or bad, it can be broken.  With all of the selling and moving across the country, it was very hard for me to focus on the big project, so I elected to keep my imagination fresh with the smaller projects.  Make sense?   Anyway, I really, really, really want to finish my book this year, and I am posting this to try to make myself accountable.  So now I just need to redevelop my good writing habits and forge ahead!  Wish me luck . . . .

Here Fishy Fishy

So I was watching the news this morning, the announcer proclaimed that yesterday was "Fish are Friends Not Food Day".  Ironically, today is "National Catfish Day", so a reprieve for the fishy yesterday, but today . . . . well, how do you like your catfish, blackened, deep fried, broiled?

P.S. In checking the Internet, it appears that this entire week is "Fish are Friends Not Food Week".  

Quote of the Day

“Candy is nature's way of making up for Mondays." 

~Unknown Author

Super Moon 2013 - A Little Trivia

In honor of tonight's Super Moon, I thought I'd repost my loony moon trivia post from January 2012:

Today's Mindless Trivia - Nature's Nightlight

Last night my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching TV, when we noticed a stunning sliver of light coming in from the sliding door and casting a gentle glow on the tile floor – nature’s nightlight was in full bloom.  I got up and walked over to the door and looked out.  The full moon was large and rising over the eastern mountain range.  It would soon appear to get smaller as it rose, so we both took a moment to marvel at its beauty and awesomeness.  I know there are some people who find a full moon eerie, but on the contrary I find it and the glow it casts gorgeous and even comforting.  Occurring once a month, nature’s nightlight always amazes me.  Something I once never gave much thought to, I now welcome, like an old friend.

Now there are negative stories of the moon’s effect on people and animals, and likewise there are positive stories as well.  You might even hear a bit of folklore including everything from migratory patterns of animals, to lunacy and birthing rates.  There is also folklore regarding a crescent moon: seen over the right shoulder it is lucky, but the opposite is true if seen over the left shoulder.

Following are some fun facts about the moon that you can save for your next Jeopardy appearance. (I’m just going to give you some of the English names for each of these moons.  The Native Americans had other names for some and there are other variations for all.) 

January – Old Moon

February – Wolf Moon (when wolf packs howled because they were hungry)

March – Lenten Moon

April – Egg Moon

May – Milk Moon

June – Flower Moon (because in most areas flowers are abundant now)

July – Hay Moon

August – Grain Moon

September – Fruit Moon (time to harvest the fruit)

October – Harvest Moon

November – Hunter’s Moon

December – Oak Moon

What about the Blue Moon you ask?  Well there is quite a bit of misinformation about a blue moon, but the version that appears correct states that a blue moon occurs an average of every 2.7 years.  We usually have 12 full moons per year, but every once in a while there is an extra moon, which we call the Blue Moon.  This occurs because the solar calendar differs from our own. 

And now that you have all of this loony information (yes, pun intended), go ahead and dazzle your trivia buff friends at your next party!

Quote of the Day

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” 

― Maya Angelou

Embracing Criticism

The following is an unedited version of an article I wrote that will be appearing in my employer's newsletter this month:

Embracing Criticism 

A few years ago I excitedly attended an evening college course on fiction writing.  Having not stepped foot on a worn checkered tiled school floor in more years than I’d like to reveal to you, I admit to being a bit nervous, yet gleefully happy.  I passed corridors of youngsters that day until I finally came upon my destination.  Once inside, I soon became a little more at ease when I saw a diverse group of individuals, of varying ages, filtering into the classroom.  I can tell you that I learned quite a bit from this course, but one of the most unexpected lessons I learned during that four-week writing class was how to embrace criticism. 

                                                     

Constructive criticism is something that should never be ignored.  Now this may sound like a stale request, but I urge you to look at constructive criticism with an open mind.  It should not be feared or shrugged off.  Nor should this type of criticism be viewed as a negative personal attack, but instead remember that you are being given this criticism to help you grow as an individual.  How thoughtful is it that someone cares enough to point out areas where we can improve?  Trust me, hearing that parts of my story were weak or not coming across to my audience as intended was horribly disheartening at first.  But then as I stepped away from the class and refocused my misguided energy and slighted ego on the goal – to write well – I gained new insight into this personal endeavor and chose to apply it to my paying career as well.

Is criticism easy to take?  No, not at all.  Why?  Well, it forces us to look at ourselves and our business practices in another light, from the viewpoint of an observer, imperfections and all.  If, for example, someone suggests to you that perhaps you are handling an issue with a colleague or client the wrong way, instead of getting mad and dismissing their comment, try looking at your situation with a new set of eyes.  Ask your friend why they feel you are handling this situation poorly?  How would they suggest that you handle this incident differently?  Now, that well-meaning friend may or may not be correct with their advice, but what I learned from my writing course was to look at these varying opinions and offerings of advice, and ask myself what can I do to make this piece better, stronger and convey what it is that I am really intending my story to convey.  If we can examine these criticisms more closely and find areas to improve upon, then that criticism can be golden.

So how do we go about embracing criticism and applying it to our daily business practices?  I would suggest the following:

·      First and foremost, keep an open mind and try not to immediately go on the defense.  It probably isn't easy for the person giving you the advice to point out a deficiency, but your supervisors and colleagues are there to help you improve.  Listen carefully to what they are telling you.  This feedback might provide you with a stepping stone towards more positive client relationships, or more successful collection results, for example.

·      To use a proverb, put yourself in the other person’s shoes to examine your imperfections.  Pretend you are looking into a mirror.  What is your reflection revealing?  What are others seeing from your actions?  Are you not fully communicating to a client your company’s services?  Are you coming across too brusque?  Is your work area unorganized causing you to make needless mistakes?

·      Use criticism as a launching point for self improvement by seeking suggestions from others.  If you’re a reader, read and do research.  If you like lectures, attend one.  If you have a mentor or person you admire, query them.

In our careers and life in general we all fall into a comfort zone of doing things a certain way.  “If it ain't broke, don’t fix it”, right?  Well, yes and no.  It doesn't hurt to take the advice of that colleague and mull it around a bit.  Perhaps, just maybe, there is a thread of information there that you could use to improve yourself, your career and your overall well-being.  Embrace criticism I say!  You may not like it very much, but in time you can learn to use it to your benefit and to grow as an individual.  

New Story to be Published in August

Just a quick word to mention that a new story, "The Collector", is slated for August publication with The Story Shack.  As always, stay tuned!

Book Review Time - The Next Time You See Me

Okay, I'm struggling with how to rate this.  First, let me tell you that I received this book free through Goodreads' First Reads program and their scale is between 1-5 stars.  I'm giving it 4 for the captivating writing style even though the story fell a little short for me at the end, which might more accurately entitle this to 3.5 stars.  Let me explain.

I was very excited to immerse myself into this book's pages, and once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down.  The characters were rich and complex, and Jones's writing style keep me turning pages.  I'd say all in all it was a very good read . . . except for the ending.  You see, the suspect in the murder was presented to you fairly quickly, and I kept expecting the "twist" to come up until the very end, but it didn't.    Now this is not necessarily the author's fault.  I think we've become so used to complex murder mysteries that we expect a twist, a whodunit, when the beauty in this read is the straight-forwardness in which the murderer is presented to you and the gradual unveiling of its cause and effect to these colorful characters from a small town.  You learn throughout the story about these characters and their flaws, and I noted that many reviewers stated that this book is more of a character study than a murder mystery, and I'd agree.  So if you're expecting a really good murder mystery, you'll probably be disappointed.  If you like character studies, you'll be rewarded.

Given all that, my problem came with the ending.  I felt that there were just a few too many unanswered questions.  A little too many loose strings.  This is not to say that we can't be left questioning and wondering.  I don't think that things need to be explained in minute detail, however, I do believe a little more needed to be resolved to bring this book to a successful conclusion.  I won't spoil this review with the specifics, but would be interested to see if you feel the same way I do after reading this book.  It left me just a little let down.  For a first novel though, I thought it was a great start and an interesting read.

It's Here -- "Under" Shackcast Just Went Live!

These guys did a really awesome job bringing my story to life!  A huge thank you to Martin, Jeff and Yero!

Check it out:  http://thestoryshack.com/2013/06/05/shackcast-under/

Reminder - "Under" Shackcast on Wednesday

In March I told you about the new monthly podcast that The Story Shack has started, and I wanted to give you a quick reminder that my story "Under" will be ready for download on Wednesday.  With the narration by Jeff Mash (actor from the movie Zero Dark 30) and soundscapes by the talented Yero Pharah, I'm very excited to hear the outcome.  This podcast will be available free through iTunes, YouTube, Soundcloud, and of course The Story Shack!

Consumer Alert Concerning Vectra 3D!

I'll throw a quick disclaimer out there first.  This is only my experience and although many people have had similar reactions with this product and their pets, many have not.  That being said, our 14 year old cocker has had a severe reaction to Vectra 3D.  We applied it to both dogs on Sunday.  This product is applied differently than other flea and tick meds as you apply it from the tail up to collar.  We were surprised by the amount of liquid that was in each tube, but followed the directions.  By Monday night, our older dog was pacing, drinking excessive amount of water and itching uncontrollably.  He was agitated and unable to calm down.  Suspecting it was the medication, I quickly did an Internet search and found that other pet owners had had the same problem, some with very serious results (chemical burns, seizures, etc.).  We immediately washed him, shampooing twice with a special sensitive skin shampoo we have for our younger sensitive dog.  Many people suggest using Dawn dishwashing liquid but we didn't have any on hand.  Then we gave him a Benadryl which our vet has prescribed for allergies in the past. Our poor boy was up the entire night pacing, itching and fidgeting.  The Benadryl didn't really work.  My husband and I both took turns trying to calm him down, but it wasn't until approximately 4:00 am that he finally got a little sleep.  (Don't know whether or not this was just from exhaustion.)  This morning he is still having issues albeit a little less severe.  From what I've read, it seems like this may take a little time to wear off.  We will be washing our 10 yr. old today to prevent him from having a similar reaction.

Much of the information I found was on a WebMD forum:  http://forums.webmd.com/3/pet-health-exchange/forum/2443

Our well-meaning vet had recommended this product to us because many people are finding that Frontline isn't working for them anymore.  Apparently the pests are becoming immune to Frontline.  We will be calling our vet and the manufacturer today to report the incident and obviously will be discontinuing use of this product.

By the way, you should know that this product is deadly to cats and should not come in contact with them.

What a nightmare this has been.  I only hope that our boy feels better quickly and that the other one doesn't have the same reaction, and just maybe this information can help someone else.

UPDATE:  We had to get a prescription for Prednisone for our 14 yr. old because he wasn't getting any better.  After several days on the Prednisone it finally brought him relief.  Our vet refunded us for the unused portion of the Vectra and after two attempts at contacting the manufacturer we did speak with someone and they promptly issued an additional refund through our vet for the balance.  In order to be refunded for the Prednisone we would have had to submit a year's worth of vet records to them.  For $9.00, we decided to skip the hassle of  it and chose to move on.

Book Review Time - The Weird Sisters

Okay, so the cover design and the jacket description looked and sounded interesting, which is why I chose to read this book.  However, I didn't really care for this one very much and this is why.

First of all, the voice/narration is written in a seldom used style that few people like, first person plural.  That is, one voice from all three sisters.  This was very confusing at first because you never understood who was talking.  It took me about 40-50 pages to get comfortable with this style.

The second issue I had was the constant Shakespearean quotes and references throughout the entire novel.  I know this was done to make a point and is part of the family story, which I get, but unfortunately I found this to be annoying.  If you're a Shakespeare fan, then you may enjoy this.

And third, the characters tended to be unlikable.  While I totally enjoy and appreciate multi-layered colorful characters that you both love and hate, these characters lacked endearing qualities which would have made you want to cheer for them.  Because this was missing, I wasn't as vested in these characters as I should have been.

I really, really wanted to like this book more than and I did.  But unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me.  The beginning was slow, it picked up, but then only plateaued.  I am glad that I am finished and can now move on to another, hopefully better, read.

My grade:  Regretfully, thumbs down.

Quote of the Day

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 

― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

My Soapbox Moment -- Think Before You Tweet!

So perhaps you have heard the recent news story were a certain professional athlete spontaneously Tweeted his thoughts about another professional athlete not once but twice, and then deleted said Tweets and re-Tweeted a different edited comment to correct what he meant to say.  My thoughts on this?  Well, I don’t want to discuss on the actual content of this Tweet specifically, because the actual comment is not my point, but what I have is a more general observation . . . .  People, think before you Tweet!  Some thoughts should be kept to yourself.  Words are powerful and can hurt.  We now live in a society that uses social media as a voice.  The problem with this huge voice that we have all been given is that instead of a comment that you casually say to a friend or group of friends, you are now commenting to an entire world of listeners (same goes here for posting photos).  With this privilege comes responsibility.  (And yes, I do believe it is a privilege.  Take a hard look at how some other countries live and then tell me that it is not.)  You have certainly heard the saying “Think before you act”, well I implore you to please think before you act, Tweet, Facebook, Blog, email, Pin, or whatever other public avenue you use to get your point across.  You might just say something you really didn't mean to.  Who here hasn't said something they instantly regretted because it did not come out right and represent what they really meant to say? 

To quote the immortal Poo Bear, “Think, Think, Think!”

"Constellations" Went Live

Here it is!  "Constellations" went live on The Story Shack this morning.

"Constellations" Goes Live Today!

Friends,

My next story, "Constellations" goes live today on The Story Shack.  As soon as it appears, I will put a direct link on my blog so that everyone may access it.

Thanks for reading!

Christina