Category: Uncategorized

My daughter was worn out last weekend from being out late the night before. She was about to have another late evening, due to a friend’s party. Since she’s eight years old, I decided it would be a good idea for her to have a little quiet time. At this age, getting tired means getting our feelings hurt and crying—not a fun thing to do at a party.

“I need you to go upstairs and lie down,” I said. I was really very stern.

She nodded, pigtails bouncing.

Twenty minutes later, she brings a pair of scissors downstairs and puts them in the craft drawer. She puts a water glass in the sink and heads back to the stairs.

“I thought,” I said with what I felt was admirable control, “that I asked you to go lie down.”

“You did. But I decided it would be a good time to clean my room. It really needed it.”

It did. And her room looked absolutely immaculate.

She had not followed directions. But I was pleased with the results and so I let it go.

Editors have rules, too. There are things they’d rather not see a lot of. Many of them I agree with—I’ve no desire to see a big back story dump in a book. I don’t like pages filled up with no white spaces (which indicates a lack of dialogue.) I don’t enjoy reading a bunch of passive voice.

But some rules are made to be broken. I’m a fan of prologues. Especially campy prologues. I had absolutely no problem submitting my last couple of books with big old prologues at the beginning. No problem at all.

The editors? Well, they knew I wasn’t following directions. But they were pleased with the results and let it go.

Do you disregard different writing ‘rules’ when you write or submit? Which ones?

I’ve recently been to a couple of parties where things got lively with alcohol.

This was unusual for me.

First of all, I’m rarely invited to grown-up parties. My good friends know I don’t really enjoy them and they thoughtfully spare me.

Secondly, the parties I do attend are usually child-centered and the drinking is either non-existent or very light (since everyone is driving their children back home again.)

But these parties were different. One was a house party where everyone was staying put. The other was a party that primarily consisted of neighbors, who could walk to their houses. So, there was no driving.

I do definitely enjoy my wine and beer, but I was happier to be the slow sipper at these events. It’s nice to be the most sober person at a party. And then observe the antics.

I thought that alcohol has a very interesting effect on different people and I wondered how to apply these effects to my characters, if I chose to put them in a situation where people needed to misbehave (and, naturally, a murder needed to happen.)

Quiet people can become loud. And rather obnoxious. A good opportunity for someone to get insulted or silly rivalries to start.

Loud people can become quiet and sleepy. And be successfully taken out of the action of the scene so that other plot devices can be put into motion.

Although I knew no one but the hostess for a Halloween party, it didn’t matter as the evening went on. The reserve that had been present at the beginning of the party quickly disappeared and people came right up to chat with me about the most unusual things.

Occasionally people get belligerent. Excellent for adding conflict to a scene.

People get flirty. For a mystery writer, this kind of a situation, taken a bit further, could result in murder.

People get sloppy. I saw several spills and someone who missed his chair. Nice distraction if you’re a mystery writer and need to have everyone’s attention focused somewhere else.

People talk too much. And they’re indiscrete. Secret spilling time.

If you disapprove of alcohol in general or as a matter of principle, you could use a drunken scene as a statement or a warning (without, naturally, getting very preachy about it.)

If you need your character to act out of character or make a huge mistake, alcohol might provide you with the opportunity.

If you need a scene with a good deal of conflict or unveiled secrets, consider a well-oiled party.

As for me? I got lots of material. :)

In the middle of the chaos that passed for my life last week, I screwed something up royally.

I have the absolute worst memory of anyone I know. I can blame it both on genetics (thanks Daddy) and the writing fog that permeates my brain most of the day.

I write everything down. The dog’s heartworm pill. The items I need at the store. What I like to put in my children’s lunchboxes (I could forget, over the course of a long weekend.) I even make step-by-step reminders for things: RSVP for the birthday party, buy gift, buy card, wrap gift, Mapquest directions….

But last Monday, in the midst of Doctor Mom duty, I didn’t look at my appointment book. See, that’s the inherent problem with lists. You must look at the list to remember what you’re supposed to do.

So I stood my daughter’s teacher up. It was parent conference day and she waited for me to come to the school and talk with her about my child for our 20 minute spot. Yes, she stayed after school was out, when she could have been on her way home or doing other things.

ARGH! It was a horrible screw up and I felt terrible. My daughter’s teacher was very nice, though, and we rescheduled for another day.

Isn’t it awful when we do things like that?

Do our characters do things like that?

I have one series where my protagonist, Myrtle Clover, messes up all the time. She burns dinners, forgets things, creates awkward moments in conversations…the works. My other series has a protagonist, Lulu Taylor, who hasn’t actually made any mistakes. She’s dealt admirably with what she’s confronted with. She makes good decisions. She’s cautious.

I think I’m going to have to mess with Lulu a little bit.

I don’t have to make Lulu as mistake-prone as poor Myrtle, but I’m ready for her to make an error in judgment. Or forget an appointment. She’s definitely wasn’t this perfect person in my first book, but she was very well-behaved. This may change a little in book two.

Do your protagonists make mistakes, either accidentally or by using poor judgment? What’s the right balance for successes and screw-ups, or is there one?

I’m a huge fan of art in all its forms, although I try to keep my little obsession under control on the blog. Okay, I do like to post these great paintings online. But other than that, I’m not usually going off into spacey artist territory. But I love all of it—drama, visual, musical, written. To me, it’s a celebration of the human spirit—art sets us apart from the rest of the creatures.

One thing I keep running into lately (and I don’t think it’s because I’m looking for it) is poetry. Yes, poetry. I’ve been noticing it lately in unusual places—snippets in commercials, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Spongebob Squarepants. I’ve read it in the newspaper, even. The NewsHour on PBS now has a recurring segment on poetry and features poets reading their work.

Hmm!

I love poetry, but I wouldn’t have said there were many non-writers who share that view.

Poetry—could it be making a comeback?

I love the fact that I’m reading poetry on social media. That tells me that people are saying, “This is relevant to the 21st century. These aren’t archaic sonnets or iambic pentameter verses. This is modern and relevant to today.”

One of my favorite modern poets is Billy Collins. He has a website, from which you can listen to him read some of his poems. He’s made the change to the modern day—he’s networking on a computer, instead of being cooped up in a writer’s garret like the poets of yore. His poetry is relevant and he’s accessible. And…he seems to be making money. From poetry!

I figure, if poetry can survive (despite the fact that not many of us are out there buying chapbooks), then the rest of us have more than a shot at it. Heck, we’re a shoo-in for longevity, despite market shake-ups.

We hear dire predictions. I think, though, if we work on staying relevant by embracing social media, ebooks, networking, and the rest of the changes coming down the pike, we’ll do a lot toward ensuring our survival.

Think about it—haven’t books been making a splash in the media lately? People have been talking about books. There are big name authors releasing big releases, there are price wars at big stores—books are in the news. They’re relevant.

Maybe poets, considering the challenges poetry faces, have to work harder and more consciously for relevancy. Poetry could have ended up being something our kids read about in English class—at the same point they’re reading about obscure literary forms like kennings. Instead, the art form seems poised and ready for the 21st century. Are we?

******************************************************

And now, since I really can’t help myself, I’ll put a couple of links to some poems I’ve enjoyed lately. :) And a snippet from Billy Collin’s poem, Forgetfulness:

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Summons—Robert Francis
On Turning Ten—Billy Collins

It was one of my wild mornings last week. Sick child at home and I needed some groceries. It was right after 9:00 in the morning when I arrived at the store, hair completely out of control, no makeup, and wearing an outfit I pulled together in the closet without even turning on the light.

At first I didn’t really notice her, this blonde woman. I was having a conversation with some elderly ladies about the best types of trick or treat candy when I first caught a glimpse of her. She was peering intently at me, but not meeting my eyes.

I was deep inside a freezer, reaching for some frozen pasta when I turned around and saw her again. Again she was studying me closely. Hmm.

The third time was at the cash register. I was really ready to get out of there by this time. I was at the grocery store very early, my child had coughed up a lung all night, I looked like hell, and I had this woman staring at me as though I’ve just escaped from a coven.

I ran a hand through my crazy hair. “Oh!” she said. “You’re not wearing earrings at all. I was looking for someone that might have just one earring in….I found one on the floor. Your hair is so long that I couldn’t tell what you were wearing.”

Well, for heaven’s sake. I wish she’d just told me that back at the trick or treating candy. And here I was feeling all self-conscious and icky. It would have been nice to know what her intention was.

When I’m reading the book, I feel the same way. What is the writer’s intent? For me, as a reader, I’d better be able to tell the direction they’re trying to go in pretty early.

I’ve probably already read the back cover copy and likely a blogger review, too. I know what should be happening, plot-wise, in the book.

But if the author seems to be dillydallying around, they’re going to lose me.

It’s a mystery. It’s been billed as a mystery. It’s been promoted as a mystery. Where is the body? Who is going to be the victim? I’m at chapter six and there’s no body? How much set up is really necessary—I’m ready to start figuring out the puzzle.

Or—it’s a fantasy. It’s meant to be a fantasy and I was told it was a fantasy. Why are we still in a modern day, ordinary, urban setting in chapter four? Where’s my fantastical escape? I want to be transported!

Yes, I’m a demanding reader. :)

Editors like authors to start right in the middle of the action, or for us to have action soon afterwards. If I don’t have a body at the very beginning, I’m going to allude to the fact through some foreshadowing that there is a body to come! If the reader just holds on, then I’m going to completely satisfy their expectations.

How about you? If you don’t put your action or introduce your main plot at the beginning of your book, how do you keep the reader’s interest—Humor? Tension? Foreshadowing?