Friday Fiction: Letters from Skye

This story unfolds as if the book were a suitcase of treasured letters.

Letters from Skye is organized around the letters of two women, mother and daughter -- and those they love. Elspeth, a poet, isolated on the Island of Skye, and perhaps not in love with her husband, begins to exchange letters with an American fan during World War I. As we read these letters from this time, we also are introduced to a mystery as the book shifts to letters written by Elspeth's daughter, Margaret, in Edinburgh during World War II, for Elspeth has disappeared.

The story is compelling, for these letters reveal the passion and uncertainty we rarely show outsiders.

The plot twists are delicious. Just when I think I've figured out what will inevitably happen next, the story turns, the characters behave unexpectedly (and are able to explain their actions later), and the question of how we honor commitments to those we love is answered. 

I was entranced by these characters, Elspeth and her Davey, and by how skillfully Jessica Brockmole creates the mood and settings of these two times, from the very rural and isolated Island of Skye, to Edinburgh and London.

When I spent two months in Scotland, doing research for Standing Stones, there wasn't enough time to visit Skye. Instead, I now remember the people and places of the Orkneys, Inverness, and Edinburgh, one of the key settings of Letters from Skye. 

Definitely a memorable read. 4.5 stars.

Read more about Jessica Brockmole here.

A Poet's Necessary

Necessary, a noun, meaning something indispensible. 

One pair of watchful eyes, trained to observe
One half sense of history
One half sense of nature
A love of words unmeasured
One full willingness to say what only the heart knows
Sprinkling of humor, especially at self
Dash of bitters and commitment

Mix all at odd moments.

Let rest.

Revise.

Read aloud and revise again.

Tuck away in a journal or
serve with joy to all those who love poetry.
Repeat as you are moved to write.
Feeds a multitude.

River Ness near Inverness, Scotland (Camp 2009)

Morgan Dragonwillow's recent post, Recipe for a Poet, made me wonder what my own recipe would be. And what would your recipe include?

Friday Fiction: When Pigs Fly . . .

Summer time. Some years all those fantasies come true. Endless blue skies. Beach blanket with book.

Not this year.

But I did find a fine summer read: When Pigs Fly by Bob Sanchez.

Imagine John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces goes to the Southwest.

An amazing mix of ribald, raucous and raunchy characters -- including a javelina and one bad guy nicknamed Diet Cola -- pursue the American dream, while our hero, retired police officer Mack Durgin, complete with dotty and doting parents, tries to honor the ashes of a dear friend.

Mack's quest truly begins at The Snake in the Grass, a cheap bar, where Mack confronts his melancholy over his wife's death by drinking himself to oblivion and awakening with a missing wallet, a hammering headache, and a memory of a woman with unbelievable breasts.

If the plot were only funny and fantastical, that would be enough. But Sanchez, with his vivid description, brings an astonishing diverse cast of characters to life, each character endearing in his or her very unique way. It's also clear that Sanchez loves the desert. His skill in crafting description leads to sheer reading pleasure. One example as two shady types case a small bungalow: "Its gray shingles were all curled up and covered with pine needles, and its gray cupboard siding looked like somebody hit it with a hammer in eleventy-two places."

When Pigs Fly
available at Amazon

No plot spoilers here. Sanchez gives us a story that entertains as we follow the whimsical adventures of characters who seemingly have nothing in common. As his engaging crew of characters gather at the overlook to the Grand Canyon after a cross-country romp, Sanchez redefines a comic misadventure with sympathy and authentic caring for the dreams we share about love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

When Pigs Fly.   Perfect for the beach.

Star rating:  4.5 out of 5.

Writing with one hand behind my back . . .

Two strategies to share today for those (like me) with not enough time and not enough stamina to keep that writing project moving ahead:

Kim Switzer's journal cover
for her work in progress

1. Writer's Journal. I've often kept a travel journal for drawing and notes when we're on the road and access to a computer is difficult. But my attempts to start a journal to support a writing project have been less successful. Along comes Kim Switzer this morning with a lovely blog post (with pictures) on keeping a journal for your novel -- complete with character.

2. Formula writing. I no long want to look down on writing by using a formula. I just want to get some words on the page every day. So this morning's read comes from Facebook and a link to
Cynnara Tregarth's blog. She talks about the messy process of writing scenes out of which I mined this:

Book à Chapters. 

Chapters à Scenes. 

Scenes à Micro-scene.

Something happens in the micro-scene (cause), that leads to a series of effects (reactions) -- the character feels something, has a reflexive reaction, a rational action, and then speech.

Thanks to several others on ROW80 (A round of words in 80 days -- "the writing challenge that knows you have a life!"), I feel encouraged to write (even with very limited time and energy), that is to write at least 5 sentences every day and/or for 15 minutes, whichever comes first.

For the last several days, I've been able to write 350 words a day.

That's real progress. 

What do you do when you want to write but the words don't easily fall onto that paper?

I should save this one for Mother's Day but . . .

My mother thinks her hands are ugly-

knobby & arthritic

each finger points in a different direction.

 

I remember her hands:

making bread

grading papers

running through my hair.

 

Her hands share secrets with Frida Kahlo

they write early in the morning like Sylvia Plath.

 

My daughter's hands are chubby & perfect-

she takes my hand in hers

such a strong little grip.

 

I hope my daughter's hands become

Beautiful-

like my mother's.

I found this poem in my inbox this morning, written by my dear daughter, Rachel.

With all else swirling around us, she found time to write this beautiful affirmation of mothers everywhere.

That's my girl:
Rachel, 1980

On the hunt for water . . .

In Years of Stone, two characters gather by a water pump.

But were there water pumps in common use in Hobart Town in the 1840s?

I've read newspaper reports that linked yellow fever to standing water in Hobart Town at this time. But I can't find anything about how the average person got water home. In a bucket from a town well? From a nearby stream? That necessarily would be polluted because of the numbers of people living in Hobart Town at that time.Where would 'honey buckets' be dumped? How did people do their laundry? Go to the bathroom? Find water for cooking? Wash their hands?

What I've found so far:

William Buelow Gould
(Source: Wikipedia)

• Lynn Coleman's "Historical Tidbits" focuses on the 19th Century and makes fascinating reading.
• A wonderful guest blog by award-winning Gary Schanbacher (author, Crossing Purgatory), on the difference between a historical novel and a novel set in a historical time on Reading the Past (more about this below).
• A commitment to reading other novels set in Van Diemen's Land. I now have Australian writer Richard Flanagan's Gould's Book of Fish on my to-read pile. Surely I shall find water somewhere in this book that has accolades and awards, including the book itself being recognized by UNESCO as a document of world significance. 

Finally, got the idea to search for water in the National Library of Australia's TROVE, a searchable database of digitized newspapers (and other reference materials).

First step: need to find the right key words, so 1840 + water brought ship movements, postings seeking persons who would carry people by boat, a continuing report on ships arriving at the Brisbane Water (I'm guessing from several entries, including birth announcements, that this is a neighborhood); the establishment of water police, and laments about the scarcity of water in Sydney.

Narrow search terms: trying again with 1840 + water + Van Diemen's Land: Found Legislative Council in June 1840 on the search for 'pure water' in Hobart Town and Port, common punishments of 'bread and water'. 

Nothing retrieved from 'clean water' or 'potable water' but 'drinking water' found this fascinating tidbit set near Melbourne, but still interesting for showing problems related to drinking water.

"In January, 1844, the baths on the Yarra, opposite the Customs House were opened. Quaint by-laws appear in the council's books - to prohibit bathing in the Yarra in the portion whence the town's drinking water was dawn; 'to rid the town of the nuisance of the mangy (sic) dogs which follow in the Train of the Aborigines'; and to 'prevent the carting of Rubbish, Filth, and Dead Animals from one part of the town to another.' " (Source: "Melbourne's First Mayor": The Argus, Melbourne, Vic. 1848 - 1957) 7 Jan 1933: 6. Web. 21 Jul 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4518153>.

The articles found in this thread show a compelling concern over "clean and wholesome" drinking water.

At a certain point, perhaps I should just rewrite the scene in Years of Stone so that my two characters are doing something other than drawing water from a pump or a well or a nearby stream. But this gets me back to Schanbacher's essay: What is realistic for this time? Even in such a small detail, what are the authentic concerns of my characters, especially given the outbreak of yellow fever?

Aha! Back to TROVE with new research terms!

Oh, dear. I found a horrible little story, reported in the Victorian-based Portland Guardian, in January 1901, and based on a telegram from Paris. Apparently a Madam Bobin, traveling by steamer from Senegal to Panillac, died of yellow fever. But the nurse expressed doubts that this was the cause of her death, based on her observations of the body. The family had the body exhumed to discover an infant in the coffin, and that Madam Bobin died of asphyxiation.  A grim little tale I never would have found if not for this search for water.

So back to 'yellow fever' as the search term. . . . 

If you write historical fiction, how do you track down those elusive bits?

Summer phone call . . .

Sure, I’ll make the salsa:

Two green onions, chopped fine.

Three ripe tomatoes,

I picked them this morning,

diced and pulped just a little.

Half a cup of cilantro.

A bud of garlic, minced, salt, 

a smidge of red pepper flakes.

The last ingredient, a squeezed lime.

Oh, how I wish for a ripe mango

fresh from the market,

diced and mixed in.

Bring some Rosarita’s and a few bottles

of beer. Yes, Dos Equis, Amber.

We’ll sit out back on the patio

as the afternoon fades to dusk

and watch the deer come out to graze.

A little summer poem . . .

Robins and starlings

have found their way to the cherry tree

outside my bedroom window.

They balance, screeching and picking,

an ecstasy of summer, truly hot days,

the sky above, an endless vault of blue,

spirit home.

Well grounded by bird chatter,

I see and don't see

a yellow leaf or two 

among the green. 

Robin and Cherries (Source: Flicker)

Should I throw my writing under the lawnmower?

As summer heats up, I've been working hard on revision.

Today's screensaver presents a neat flowchart to help a writer decide whether she should throw her manuscript under the lawnmower. That made me smile. Partly because I can hear lawnmowers outside my window.

And partly because revision can be s-l-o-w, very slow. Excruciatingly slow.

So I went Google-searching to find the cartoon to share and found this article, "8 Signs It's Time to Scrap Your Writing Project." Fortunately none of the 8 signs fit my project, so I started feeling a little better.

Today's newspaper came to the rescue with a neat quote from Leonardo da Vinci:

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

I'm not even close to abandoning this project. 

The opening chapter is finally completely revised for as much dramatic impact I could imagine. Sections 1-3 have been read and reread. The conclusion resolves the essential questions. Maybe a few plot holes need fixing, but I'm getting closer every day. Maybe I could find a few "there are" or "to be verbs" or extra verbiage that needs cutting. That's why I'll persevere. Through the summer.

When do you know when it's time to let go? To stop revision? Or even, to stop work?

Lion sleeping in a tree
Serengheti National Preserve, Tanzania (Camp 2012)

Summer Poem

Now the sweet, green leaves of summer

greet me each day. In this country,

the wind blows clouds to the far horizon,

and the sun shines every day.

Those fat, full heads of peonies droop

down to the ground, and marigolds and poppies

flourish. Clematis vines flower like spreading hands,

their purple and white equally intense

in their last gasp before the heat

of full summer, remind me

of the turn of seasons,

of the end of days.

I'm always surprised by poetry -- as if the only time I do write poetry is during April, National Poetry Month. But last year, I noticed I was forgetting the details of the turn of seasons, when one type of flower finished its bloom, and the next flourished, when the birds came, and when they left.

Yesterday, I helped my dear daughter and son-in-law with a garage sale. She wanted to let go of clutter, to simplify. Leda is now one-year-old, just before that first step when she walks, her words a jumble of sound that makes sense to her and only sometimes to us.

Yesterday Allen took me to a fabric sale where thousands of bolts of fabric were being sold at $2/yard. Two very large rooms at the County Fairgrounds were full of tables, bolts lined against the wall, with hundreds of quilters shopping. On the first day of the sale, the lines stretched out about half a mile, and shoppers waited about two hours to pay for their finds. Today was quiet, but so many choices. I cannot imagine ever possessing this much fabric, even though I love quilting and have far too many projects awaiting my attention. And yet I brought home some lovely new fabrics, bright tropical fishes, Native American themes, and 144 9-patch squares all in blue  (I'll try to post a pic later). I now have 4 charity quilts at the planning stage and those blue squares will grace my bed at some point . . . 

Yesterday also, I had what was so lovingly described in My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a 'bibopsy'. Just a small removal of a mole. Nothing serious expected, but it was a little sign. I've downsized once. I'm not sure I'm ready to downsize again.

Morning Lion (Camp 2012)

A gift . . .and a story of a young girl captured by the Sioux

Mary Schwandt, about 1862
Source: Find-A-Grave

I have been given a gift. Books. Doc Metcalf generously lent me eleven books dealing with the history of the Pacific Northwest around the period that I'm studying -- the 1840s.

What a treat. I'm reading the shortest first so I can return them reasonably efficiently. The slimmest book (about 30 pages) revealed the story of Mary Schwandt, who was captured by the Sioux in 1862 in Wisconsin.

OK, that's not the Pacific Northwest and the time period is a little past my period, but her memoir gives a fascinating glimpse of what happened between native communities and the settlers in the wilds of Wisconsin.

Mary Schwandt was a restless 14-year-old who persuaded her family to let her go out to work as a girl-of-all-work at a different settlement. Shortly after she left home, the Sioux went on a rampage. Her family (except for her younger brother) was killed, and she was taken captive.

After reading her story, I'm thinking about her reactions -- after she was rescued. First, would she have been hounded for information about all the details of her capture. She did testify before several commissions beginning in 1863 and was persuaded to write down her recollections in a very short memoir. But, her memoir glosses over exactly what happened before Snana's grandmother 'purchased' Mary with a pony. Her horror at seeing people she knew simply killed in front of her, the death of one of the other women she had worked with come through clearly. Whispers would have followed her everywhere that people knew of her history. Yet she married, had children and lived in Chicago for many years.

The death of Mary Anderson, a young Swedish girl who worked with Mary Schwandt, is told matter-of-factly. Mary Anderson had been shot in the back, the ball 'lodging itself near her groin'. Mary Schwandt says some shot passed through her own dress and reveals the homely details of what the captives did to ease the young woman's passing. As if Mary writes these smaller details, we do not have to read about the anguish of the girl's suffering or consider what she thought. That deeper horror of watching someone die, fearful every moment, unable to do more than the simplest of palliative care, is revealed most simply. The women feared their captors and couldn't understand those few who later seemed to accept and enjoy their new living conditions. Was that really how Mary felt? Yet she was rescued/returned to the soldiers in under a year.

Snana (Maggie), about 1860
Source: http://www.usdakotawar.org/

Snana's even briefer recollections were also included. She tells of being raised as a Christian and having nearly four years of education at a native school. Snana, whose name means 'ringing sound', also known as Maggie, could speak English, read in a book of prayer, and considered herself "a white Christian lady." At 23, she lost her seven-year-old daughter and asked her uncles to bring her a replacement if they could when they went on the war hunt. She reveals this casually, as if such adoptions were common. For some in the native community, Mary was never accepted.

Snana protected Mary, even though, as she says, Mary was much larger than expected. Snana treated Mary as if she were a daughter, dressing her in native attire, not allowing her to travel out by herself anywhere in camp, and hiding her when animosity arose against the whites.

Snana and Mary, about 1894
Source: http://www.usdakotawar.org/

She also mentions that when Mary was rescued, the two did not meet again for many years until she visited them in 1894 in St. Paul, where Snana felt as if she had been treated with respect. A very formal picture remains of this visit, both women posed stiffly, facing the camera, Snana standing, Mary sitting, perhaps because of the conventions of the photograph at that time. Their hands are nearly touching in this photo.

Snana says she felt as if she visited family. Mary wrote in her memoir: "“I want you to know that the little captive German girl you so often befriended and shielded from harm loves you still for your kindness and care.”

These memoirs, short as they are, suggest that the white community was pretty much unaware they had done anything wrong. They were taking the land of the natives. Once a white family settled and built a farm holding with the government's permission, they considered the land theirs. The nearby natives were considered petty nuisances -- until they 'broke out' and went on a rampage. I'm less sure what the natives thought.

Two additional people of interest are mentioned: Joseph Campbell, a half-breed prisoner (of the Sioux? Mary's account doesn't say), helped Mary with the burial of the Swedish Mary. Godfry, a black man, drove one of the wagons when Mary was taken to the native camps. It's not clear if Godfry was 'freed' by the natives or if he was part of the tribe, though when Mary asked him where they were going, Godfry replies he didn't know but they were looking out for "our women". Mary describes him as wearing a string of watches around his waist, and as a 'wretch' who later lived at the Santee Agency in Nebraska, but this is understandable IF he was one with the natives. Though I wonder how she knew this.

WHERE I AM NOW: Even if I'm currently working the revisions for Years of Stone, I at least can begin reading for the next book in the series, Rivers of Stone. At this point, I have more questions about the story set in the Pacific Northwest than answers, but that's the beauty of writing historical fiction.

Here's my working bibliography from Doc Metcalf's books:

Applegate, Jesse A. [1811-1888] A Day with the Cow Column in 1843. Ye Galleon Press, 1990.

Chief Joseph's Own Story. Ye Galleon Press, 1984.

Clayson, Edward. Historical Narratives of Puget Sound, Hood's Canal, 1865-1885. Ye Galleon Press, 1998. 

Dall, William H. A Critical Review of Bering's First Expedition, 1725-30. Ye Galleon Press, 2000.

Dowmen, Lula Laney. Covered Wagon Days in the Palouse Country. Ye Galleon Press, 1999.

Highberg, Kathryn Treffrey Highberg. Orchard Prairie: The First Hundred Years 1879-1979. Ye Galleon Press, 1998.

Lenox, Edward Henry. Overland to Oregon. Ye Galleon Press, 1993.

Sager, Catherine. The Whitman Massacre of 1847: Catherine, Elizabeth & Matilda Sager. Ye Galleon Press, 1981.

The Captivity of Mary Schwandt, Ye Galleon Press, 1999.

The Overland Journals of William and Charles Frush. Ye Galleon Press, 2000.

Ware, Joseph E. The Emigrants' Guide to California: 1849. Ye Galleon Press, 1999.

Ye Galleon Press, now discontinued, Fairfield, Washington. I know only a little about Glen Adams, a man who retired as postmaster of Fairfield in June 1972. By 1998, Ye Galleon Press had printed 697 different titles (from letter to Dr. Metcalf dated June 9, 1998). At least now I have the books sorted and can begin to read. What a lovely trove of goodies here!  

And here are the new books (actually second-hand), I found at the bookstore:

Johansen, Doirothy O. Empire of the Columbia: A History of the Pacific Northwest. 2^nd ed.  New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Malin, Edward. Totem Poles of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Portland: Timber Press, 1994.

North, Dick. The Lost Patrol. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing, 1978. This book is set in 1911 and tells of the search by Royal North-West Mounted Police from Dawson City in the Yukon Territory to Fort McPherson.

Palmer, Joel. Journal of Travels: Over the Oregon Trail in 1845. Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1993.

Frida as Mermaid . . .

Frida Kahlo (Wikipedia)

Frida Kahlo swims

in the ocean, a mermaid,

her hair braided into 

a crown, festooned 

with red hibiscus flowers

and pink sea shells,

her cheeks pale,

her brows like dark islands,

her eyes two midnight stars.

She swims 

on the edge of my imagination.

Lighter than water, 

lighter than air.

She floats 

atop the calm, green waters,

Does she paint the sea?

Transform it 

as she transformed herself?

Between the waves,

she dives into herself.

Only one red hibiscus remains,

floating and drifting out to the sea.

In with a Lamb and Out with the Lion . . .

Just so you know, I'm starting the third year of editing Years of Stone and getting very, very close to publishing.

Source: Wikipedia

Oh, cowardly writer! Writing and editing Standing Stones, the first in the MacDonnell series, took about three years. Since writing Book 2, Years of Stone,  some things have changed. I may need as much as 2 or 3 months to revise Standing Stones (the ship doesn't sink the same way or in the same locale in SS as it does in YOS). The timing may be off historically by a half-year or so. I don't know how much will need to be changed until I really look, but I'm afraid to look to see how much work remains. I feel like the cowardly Lion (and that's the second reference to the Wizard this week!). 

Here comes Kristen Lamb to the rescue. In straight, writerly  advice she says IF you follow her suggestions, you can avoid being one of those writers who agonizes over every word (that would be me), every plot hole, every mistake in concept or execution, every failure of imagination. These writers take years to publish, and they may have other wonderful stories to tell.  

1. Know the story problem. Be able to tell the story in 2-3 sentences. If you know where the story's going, you don't have to wallow in plot holes. 
2. Know the character arc. If you know how and why your hero/heroine will change by the end of the story, you will know instantly when he or she says or does something out of character.
3. R-TUTE! Resist the urge to edit. Finish the story. 

Since I WANT to move on, her post rang bells for me. 

Read her article, "Writing is Best When We Get Out Of Our Own Way" at Kristen Lamb's Blog. 

And that brings me to my goal. All I've read suggests that you build both audience and sales more if you offer more than one book for buyers. MY GOAL: Publish Standing Stones and Years of Stone THIS year. 

Write on!

If you would like to know when Standing Stones and Years of Stone are published, click here to send me an e-mail at bluebethley@yahoo.com

Hey, Sunshine: Good and Talented?

Maria Popov's review of Samuel R. Delany's new book, is well worth a read -- even though my inner critic leaps out of my forehead to say, "You'll never be done. You'll never be done!"

In About Writing: 7 Essays, 4 Letters and 5 Articles, intransigent Delany says, "Good writing is clear. Talented writing is energetic. Good writing avoids errors. Talented writing makes things happen in the reader’s mind — vividly, forcefully — that good writing, which stops with clarity and logic, doesn’t."

Well, Delany, a nine-time Nebula Award winner, does live in New York. 

So I'll click my heels three times out here in the boondocks, and continue researching yellow fever in the 19th Century. Found a great book to read (already ordered it) this morning:  The Sooterkin by Tom Gilling. I think this guy may be a 'talented writer'. He moved to Australia in 1983 and writes with precision and grace.

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

On the bright side, my blog got the Sunshine Award. Now, for the 10 questions the award requires and my nominations of 10 outstanding blogs: 

10 Random things about you:
What inspired you to start blogging?
I started blogging in 2004 as a way to share my travel adventures. When I began writing my novels, I started blogging to have a place to talk about writing. The results have been much more than I expected as I’ve met wonderful writers from everywhere. We may never be famous, but we share a passion for writing, revising, publishing, and even the dreaded marketing.  Then along came A-to-Z Challenge and A Round of Words in 80 Days. Now I’m a committed blogger!

How did you come up with the name of your blog?
The travel blog’s title, “On the Road Again,” came right from our daughter. Her exasperated cry (“You’re on the road, again?”), met with our excitement of leaving (latest trip October 2012 to Africa for three weeks). My writing blog carries just my name. Still working on that marketing thing.

What is your favorite blog to read?
I do read many blogs, partly for ROW80 and the A-to-Z Challenge, but KM Huber’s blog is the one I turn to again and again for her reflections on simply being.

Tell us about your dream job.

My dream job is where I am now – retired. When I think about all those hours I worked in a corporate setting and then a classroom, I’m very grateful for what I learned and contributed. But now is good. Now I have time for my first love, writing.

Is your glass half-full or half-empty?
In the mornings, my glass is half-full. In the afternoons, if I don’t watch what I eat, I suffer the slough of despair. By evening, that darn glass is half-full again! I don’t quite have the energy to do as much I once did, so I miss volunteer work, but I’m still very grateful for this life, these glasses (the ones I can see out of), and a positive way of seeing tomorrow.

If you could go anywhere for a week's vacation, where would you go?
Hah! It wouldn’t be for one week. I’d love to spend two months with my hubby in Tasmania (where my current novel is set). Next – Paris for a month. I’m remembering a small town in Greece and another in Turkey, along the Mediterranean, where life is sunny and slow.

What food can you positively not eat?
Except for pepper, I’m omnivorous, a survivor, a follower of the ‘see-food’ diet, and an experimental cook.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Chocolate in any form, the drink of royalty, supposedly helpful in communing with the gods. Count me in, especially ice cream, my current temptation.

How much time do you spend blogging?
Although the writing comes first, I strive for twice a week on all my blogs. Each entry takes 1-2 hours. Reading blogs is so integrated into reading e-mails, I can’t count the time. But I would suffer from computer withdrawal if the power went out.

Do you watch TV and if so, what are your favorite shows?
I have three shows I watch regularly  – The Big Bang, Smash, and Person of Interest.  DVR means I can fast forward right through all those commercials.

Delany’s voice is in my head: 

This is NOT talented writing. 

Nobody cares. But I care about the next 

10 bloggers I nominate for the SUNSHINE AWARD:

KM Huber’s blog http://www.kmhubersblog.com for the sheer beauty of her photographs, writing and and reflections on Zen and the Buddha.

Sarah Corbett Morgan’s A Gringuita in Costa Rica http://www.scmorgan.com/  Wonderful writing from an expatriat.

Dawn Goldsmith’s Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles http://www.subversivestitch.blogspot.com/ takes me to those links between women, textiles and creativity.

Katherine Lowrly Logan’s Notes from Tabor Lane http://www.katherinelowrylogan.com Writing advice on so many different levels – always inspirational, always helpful.

“A Round of Words in Eighty Days” http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/ “The writing challenge that knows you have a life.” This blog helps with setting writing goals and makes participants accountable. We post our progress 2x a week!

“Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge” http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com Each April, participants write a blog entry a day, challenging but ultimately satisfying.

The “Ultimate Blog Challenge” http://ultimateblogchallenge.com/ offers a writing challenge each January, April, July, and October.

Jessica Page Morrell’s The Writing Life Too http://thewritinglifetoo.blogspot.com/  another Oregon writer who writes on writing. Morrell says, “If you’re reading this, you’re not writing!”

Karen Woodward at http://blog.karenwoodward.org for practical how-to writing advice.

Rachel Abbott at http://rachelabbottwriter.wordpress.com/ who guides indie authors through the publishing process.

Thank you, Jai, for the nomination and the chance to recognize these great blogs!

I think I'm in love . . . with Oskar

The last two days I've been working on a PowerPoint intro to The Mermaid Quilt & Other Tales just to see what this might look like and how it might work online. So far, the sad fact is I haven't yet learned how to post the PPT so it shows up as a slide show. Aha! Two hours later . . . Maybe. Oh the joys of PowerPoint.

But in the process of relearning PowerPoint with all the gnashing of teeth that entails, I discovered this wonderfully creative German pianist, Oskar Schuster, who integrates sounds from typing and cameras into his piano music. It would have been a wonderful addition to my PPT as Herr Schuster posts his music under a Creative Commons license. 

Enjoy this video of Sneeuwland.  Listen for the sounds of the typing!




And here’s my PowerPoint slide show. 

Enjoy the images that inspired me to write about mermaids. And CLICK on the small box on the far right of the Scribd menu bar below to view the slide show full screen.

  Introducing The Mermaid Quilt &amp; Other Tales by Beth Camp

Women Writers -- Just for Fun

Well, before getting started this morning, I got sidetracked by a Twitter from Mike Wells. He posted this short and somewhat humorous survey. 

So IF you are a female author, why not take this little quiz. It's fun. I get nothing from it . . . except a reveal at the bottom of this post. You get to find out which author I am! I was surprised. The questions were interesting. Thanks, Mike.

Now it's truly time to get to work. 

I made absolutely fabulous progress last night on my Marketing Plan. My goal is simple: When I publish, I want to know exactly what to do to promote my book that works for me. People can be so snarky about what is needed -- You MUST use an editor. You MUST use a professional cover designer.  And that's before deciding how many promo copies are needed, when the book should be launched, what's the best venue for the launch, and many, many other questions. Well, that shoe doesn't fit this princess!

So much information is available online and elsewhere that, at times, designing a realistic marketing plan seems daunting.

What was my breakthrough? The trick for me is to simply DRAFT a list using all the sources I've gathered. Don't worry about which ones I'll actually do. Just put ideas in a list. It's DRAFT first, then REVISE. I could knock myself on the head. Of course, I know how to do that!!!!

PS. I'm Harper Lee.

There will be blood . . . but how much?

Yesterday I was reading about convict life in Van Diemen's Land and was reminded again of the use of floggings in prisons and aboard ship for what may well seem to modern readers as mild infractions. 

So in my stories, how much blood? One account had a poor fellow sentenced to 300 lashes (a fairly common sentence). After 100 lashes, the authorities decided his back couldn't take any more punishment, so they switched to his buttocks. After another 100 lashes, they finished the sentence on the backs of his legs. The writer said more than likely the prisoner was sentenced to further flogging when he couldn't work to quota in the following days. One beta reader told me she knew these things happened, but she couldn't bring herself to read about them. 

So in historical fiction, while action drives the story, how much 'true to life' does the writer include? Does violence advance the story?

Writers are advised to write what we know. I'm not a violent person, haven't been in fights, nor do I want to. But I was knocked around as a kid. I remember being 6 or 7, and my mother joking that when she lifted her hand, we kids ducked. That detail could be worked in. 

I was hit once when I was a teenager for mouthing off. One minute I was talking; the next, my head buzzed. I couldn't figure out what had happened. Everything hurt. My lip puffed out, and everyone screamed. I got an ice pack and an apology, but now I realize it was because she didn't want anyone to know.

Years later, on my way home from work, I was attacked. A young man came up behind me just as I was putting my key into the door. I turned to face him, and just as quickly, we scrabbled on the ground. His face inches away from mine, I yelled obscenities at him (at a time I didn't swear at all), and he ran away. Within minutes, I was shaking so hard, I could barely speak. Hours later, I felt every bump and bruise. 

So adrenaline in the moment of a fight could block pain, but the shock of being hit or hitting generates an immediate survival response. And there's always the aftermath where the person takes account of what happened, why, and what possibly could be done -- revenge or flight. In prison, running away would not be possible.

I've also been thinking about simple animosity. 

Various accounts of male and female prisoners reveal both class awareness, a rough pecking order, and discrimination based on nationality. English prisoners, male and female, were assigned out as servants and workers first. Scottish and Irish prisoners were harder to place. Add to this mix the animosity and distrust between those who came from a convict background, colonists, and those who emigrated or who comprised the upper class.

A TV reality shows shocked me with the depth of such disdain. The storyline was about conflicts between 19th Century English nobility and a slew of servants on an isolated estate. The actors had gathered to 'play their roles', and the nobility treated servants with chilling disregard for any modern sense of justice or fairness. One 'lady' admonished her son not to play with that sort. She was dead serious. 

Prejudice is insidious. Is it any surprise that the Australian 'convict stain' has taken generations to heal? 

Morning thoughts. If you write, what role does class awareness or violence play in your story-telling?

May: Plot Hole Month

This may well be the toughest month for me. 

Plot Hole Month. I'm picking through Years of Stone just one last time. The whole story resonates complete. I just want to doublecheck that my characters really are the feisty characters they say they are. That they aren't fighting their way out of a paper bag. That they really do cliff hang to achieve their goals.

I'm using James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure to guide my work.

By Sunday, I want to identify 3 scenes that need rewriting in Section 1. As Deidre follows Mac to 19th Century Van Diemen's Land, is she a woman who faints or fights? How exactly does she make friends in places high and low? As Mac is pulled into the prison system, does his temper again place his survival at risk?

Have I sacrificed internal conflicts (which we all have) for obvious, external obstacles? Do these conflicts and obstacles really challenge my characters?

Are any characters or scenes superfluous?

I also want to draft a MARKETING PLAN that cuts through the conflicting advice online and lets me know exactly what I need to do by when. 

Some say the first step is in setting up a PRODUCTION PLAN (final book editing, cover design, target audience, print plan, distribution plan) with target dates. This Production Plan supports and drives all other promotion which can then be divided into a pre-launch phase, actual launch, and a post-launch phase. Each one of these phases can have many steps. Some writers launch without a plan at all.

But coming up with a good production/marketing plan is the business side of being a writer. I've heard groans, gnashing of teeth, and sighs. Who wouldn't simply tell stories? I can't speak truly to what impels anyone to write. I only know that so begins the morning. Younger writers may be cautioned to go the traditional route. But I'm an older-than-average writer. And I'd like some readers to read my work. Each novel takes me about three years from idea to finished story.  It's time to let these first two books venture out in the world.

If you're a writer, what are your preoccupations for this first and lovely real month of Spring? What essential steps would you include in a Production/Marketing Plan?

My work space (Camp 2013)

May Day poem . . .

Now the green leaves vie

with little white apple blossoms, 

and the trees sprout 

tiny parachutes of green and pink.

Even the pine trees 

offer the smallest of cones

at the tips of branches, new growth.

The red-winged blackbirds have returned,

their call half-chirp, half-melodic trill. 

I wander by the wetlands,

yesterday’s snow forgotten.

Hoping for a glimpse of a shy killdeer,

I find a yellow-beaked mallard standing guard

as his brown-feathered hen rests

in a cup-like nest among the reeds,

and I am content.

Mallards by Carl Friedrich Deiker (1875) (Wikipedia)

National Poetry Month has ended, as has my effort to write a poem a day. Yet spring has truly begun. What better way to celebrate the beginning of May than with another poem? May the sun shine and the rain fall in the proper round of seasons, bringing you joy and peace.

ROW80: Guest Post Up and Running . . .

Do you ever wonder what pushes you to write? 

Check out my guest post over at the ROW80 Blog and comment, if you would like, for I'm wondering what impels YOU to write!

And we have a WINNER for my Rafflecopter give-away of The Mermaid Quilt & Other Tales. 

Congratulations, Karen Rice. I'll be contacting you by e-mail for directions on how to send you your copy of The Mermaid Quilt.