Expert Advice on Writing

I have a confession to make. I’m no expert. On writing, or anything else, for that matter. But I love reading all the how-to books and articles on writing. I’ll read the expert advice, thinking, oh, I could do that. Or, that makes sense, I’ll try it.

In fact, I typically have a book on writing craft open all the time. Currently, I’m reading through Fiction Writer’s Workshop, by Josip Novakovich. Some of my all time favorites are On Writing, by Stephen King and Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg. I think it might be time to reread both of them.

There are a lot of books and articles offering advice on how to write. Besides the books and the magazines, there are countless blogs offering all sorts of writing tips, from the basic how-to’s of fiction to why writers should embrace their mistakes. And if I’ve learned nothing else, I’ve learned there are as many ways to write as there are writers.

It can be all too easy to get caught up in all the learning. I’m guilty of this myself. Not that there’s anything wrong with all those books and blogs. I’ll go on reading them. There does, however, come a point when reading all the advice and how-to’s needs to become something more.

My “expert” advice then, is to go ahead, read all the books. Read the blogs. Read them again. But don’t stop there. Act on it. Learn from it. Find out if it works for you. Or why it doesn’t work for you.

Alternately, you could scrap the whole lot of it. Don’t read any more advice on writing. Step out and forge your own path. Don’t worry, someone’s been there before too.

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
– Ernest Hemingway

Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story – A Review

For the 2016 Reading Challenge, I was tasked with reading a book chosen for me by my spouse, partner, sibling, child or BFF. I decided to ask my younger sister to choose one for me. I chose her because of all those listed, I knew her reading choices would be the most unlike my own.

My sister and I share some similar views, but in many ways we differ in our approach to life. I have a great deal of respect for my sister’s intelligence, strength and courage, and I love that we can gracefully disagree – now that we are adults.

All that to say, I knew that whatever book she chose for me to read would challenge me somehow. It would stretch me, and force me outside my normal experience. And I was not wrong. The book she chose for me did all that and more. She chose Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story, a memoir by Sibel Edmonds.

This book documents the story of Turkish-American immigrant, Sibel Edmonds, who shortly after 9/11 began working for the FBI as a translator. During her tenure with the FBI she encountered sloppy investigations, abuse of government power and resources, blatant cover-ups and security breaches.

When she attempted to report these things to her supervisors, she was repeatedly shut down. Not satisfied with the answers she was getting regarding the potential national security risk she’d uncovered, she pressed up the chain of command even when it became obvious there were bigger forces at work that wanted the situation to simply disappear.

Ms. Edmonds writes with a compelling intensity, documenting her surreal tale of retaliation and injustice. This book reads in parts like a suspense novel, fast-paced and incredibly intense. The problem is, it isn’t fiction.

After being fired from the FBI, Ms. Edmonds continued to fight to have her story heard. She faced stall tactics, shut doors, and even outright threats. She was shut down by the “State Secrets Privilege”. Eventually, her case was presented to the Supreme Court of the United States, only to be once more turned away.

Over the course of nearly a decade, Ms. Edmonds has fought continuously to be heard, to bring to light the corruption and breaches within the American system. Despite her own personal losses – or perhaps because of them – she formed the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition in order to help others facing similar situations. In 2006 she was awarded the PEN Newman First Amendment Award for her efforts in defending the first amendment rights of all Americans. She continues to work toward getting truth out to the public on her website, Boiling Frogs Post.

I would challenge every American to read this book. It’s more than a little disturbing to face a story such as this one, but I think it’s an important one to read, to bear witness to the truth.

Miniature Love

My grandmother was a pretty amazing lady. And famous within her circles for some things, like cinnamon rolls, amazing pie crusts and peanut brittle. Her home was always filled with yummy smells from the kitchen.

I didn’t manage to get half her skills with cooking or baking. I can’t make cinnamon rolls or a pie crust to save my life, and my house never has that crazy delicious smell of a roast in the oven. But I can make a decent cheesecake.

She also kept a beautiful and tidy flower bed filled with happy colors, and houseplants thrived under her care. I on the other hand, couldn’t keep a cactus alive in a desert. And my yard? Well, let’s just say I’m happy to be able to keep the dandelions trimmed.

There is one thing, however, that I do share with my grandmother. I like to think I inherited my love of teddy bears from my grandmother. She had a remarkable collection of the cuddly little critters. She would shift them around throughout the year, something for every season and every occasion.

I’ve collected teddy bears as well for many years, nearly as long as I can remember. I’d venture to say my collection might even rival my grandmother’s. I have some bears that once belonged to her, and I cherish them especially.

One other thing I think I shared with my grandmother. She had a love for hand crafts. Quilting, sewing, fun little crafty projects. She gave me my first embroidery and cross-stitch kits, sparking a lifelong love for needle crafts.

Several years ago these two interests merged when I discovered a book on how to make miniature teddy bears. I began collecting plush fabrics – velvets, felts, scraps in all colors. I went into a bit of a frenzy creating these adorable little minis.

I haven’t created any new teddy bears in the last several years, not since I got married, moved to a new city and started a family. I still have a rather extensive collection of fuzzy fabric, and I do hope to one day begin turning it again into tiny teddy bears.

American Privilege and the Global Experience

As Americans we are not encouraged to be globally minded. We are taught in school how America is such an important nation in the world, and how great we are as a country because of our unique democratic government. But are we truly as great as we claim?

I had the privilege during my university years of becoming friends with a woman from India. Having attended a British boarding school in India during her early years, her English was probably better than mine. Besides English, she could speak at least two Indian languages and perhaps others as well. The same age as me, she had already traveled to a number of countries before coming to the United States to attend university.

My own experience to that point was so vastly different. Born and raised an American citizen, fifth generation born in my home state, I was taught to believe I was privileged beyond that of other people living in other countries. I had never once stepped foot outside my own country before I went to college. Not for lack of interest necessarily, but certainly a lack of means. And I had experienced only a tiny fraction of my own country even, having been to only four of the fifty states.

I spoke only English. In my small home town, I had the opportunity to learn to speak French, and I chose not to do so. In college I started to learn Spanish, though I never came near to reaching fluency.

I remember there being a number of foreign exchange students in my high school, though regrettably, I never got to know any of them very well. It seems to me also, that this program was presented as a great opportunity for foreign students to come and experience the greatness of America. I don’t remember it being presented as an opportunity for country-bound citizens like myself to experience the richness of other cultures.

During my university years I did manage to step across the border once into Canada, and on another occasion into Mexico. I visited another three western states, broadening my domestic experience to an entire tenth of my nation. I had the privilege to travel to Nicaragua with some of my peers on a mission trip where I was just another ignorant white American who believed I was there to make life better for those less fortunate.

Curious now as to whether my experience was unique due to my self-imposed “shyness” as a child? Or was it a result of being part of the American middle-class, having the means to get by, but not enough for things like international travel? Or is it that the American people are actively discouraged from traveling abroad? I decided a little investigating was in order.

I learned that the United States lands second on the Top 10 Countries That Travel The Most. And not just once, but on this list as well. However, Americans are far more likely to travel within our own country than travel abroad, preferring “to explore their own country more than understanding the world outside.”

Our employment practices discourage travel. I found that “the United States is the only nation among advanced economies that does not provide a legal guarantee of paid leave.” Passports are expensive to obtain. Travel abroad is considered dangerous. We are cautioned against theft, bad water, violence and disease.

Then I ran across this great article on why Americans don’t travel internationally, by Natasha Alden, which seemed to confirm much of what I was already thinking. The one reason given by the author I find the most tragic is that Americans are “just plain old ignorant.” She goes on to say:

There is a serious lack of information about the world affairs in the United States. We seem to be in an isolated bubble, where Americans are afraid of the unknown, or even worse, just don’t care.

We claim greatness for our nation. But the only ones listening to our claims are other Americans. How great can our country be if we never encourage our children to leave it? To go and experience the realities of other world views?

I believe the United States is a great country. But not the only great country. I regret my own lack of global experiences, and I hope to encourage more curiosity about the world beyond our borders in my own children.

What is your global experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Summertime, Ghosts, Campfires & Stories

Today’s word prompt, ghost, was a timely one for me for a couple of reasons. One, I’ve been trying to write up a couple of ghost stories to be included in my middle grade novel, The Curse of the Anne Venture. And secondly, I’m preparing for a summer adventure that could involve some ghost stories.

Ghost Stories

My novel, The Curse of the Anne Venture begins with my three adventurers exchanging ghost stories with three girls. It becomes a sort of boy vs. girl contest as they each try to out do the other. I’ve struggled with writing these stories because I’ve never been one to listen to or tell ghost stories. Today, however, I made a little progress.

Because of the nature of the overall story, one of the ghost stories involves a ghost ship. I’ve based this story on the “Flying Dutchman” tale. I’ve done a little research trying to learn more about this story and the characters involved. I learned that there are two real life ship captains from the Dutch East India Company, Bernard Fokke and Hendrik Van der Decken, either of whom could have been the original inspiration for this ghostly legend.

The Flying Dutchman is a fascinating little tale filled with mysterious references to, and sightings of, the ghost ship. My task now is to retell this story as an eleven year old boy might tell it.

My second ghost story is to be told by an eleven year old girl. I went looking for a story she might tell and I decided to try and find one with a local attachment. My adventure novels are based out of a small town not far from where I live, so I began my search there. And I found bits of a story centering around an old, historical building which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of an old man. I’m still looking into the particulars of this story, but I’m hoping to turn it into something interesting.

Summertime Campfires

The second reason this ghost prompt feels so relevant to me is that I’m preparing at this moment to take my family on a summer adventure. My boys are all excited to go camping, sleep in a tent, swim in a lake, and roast marshmallows over a campfire.

Ghost stories are a campfire tradition for many people, though I suspect there might be more singing around ours than storytelling. But idea of a little spookiness before snuggling into the sleeping bag is a fun one. My children are still quite young, therefore any ghost stories would need to be mild indeed.

I had hoped this morning when I learned of the daily prompt, to be able to actually share my completed ghost stories. I didn’t get them finished, nor did I get much done in the way of preparing for my own family adventure.

However, I did have some fun researching the stories, and I finally feel like I have a real sense of what to write.

Do you have a favorite ghost story? How about a favorite childhood memory of campfire stories? I’d love to hear about it!

D is for Deadbeat, by Sue Grafton: A Review

This is one of those books I picked up from a random collection available at my workplace intended to be shared and enjoyed by many. I knew about Sue Grafton and her alphabet series of detective novels featuring private investigator, Kinsey Millhone. I had read her first one, A is for Alibi, and liked the book just fine, but wasn’t overly excited about it. Considering how popular these books are in the general fiction market, I remember being vaguely disappointed.

Still, her books remain wildly popular, and she is now up to the letter X. I decided to give the series another chance and picked this one up.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Grafton writes from the first person perspective of her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator. The story opens when Kinsey is hired by a man to find someone and deliver a sizable check. When her retainer fee bounces, and she goes looking for the man who hired her, he turns up dead.

A considerable number of suspects emerge as Kinsey investigates the death of this man, all of whom are plausible. The story had me guessing all the way through, and still, I was surprised by the ending. I feel like I actually put the pieces together along with the investigator, her doubts and misgivings mirrored my own.

In all, an enjoyable read. And I will not be so hesitant in the future to pick up more by this author. In fact, I believe I picked up another at the same time I found this one…

Anne Frank – Her Story Lives On

I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and express all that’s inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that’s a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?
– April 5, 1944

I have been following this 2016 Reading Challenge, and for category #7, I was to choose a book published before I was born. There are a lot of books that qualify under this category, and choosing just one could have proven difficult, but I decided to choose something from my already enormous list of books I want to read someday. What rose to the top was Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

A small light in a dark room…

Sometime last year I began work on a new series of adventures intended for young girls, The Golden Locket Adventures. This is to be a sister series to my other middle grade stories, The Silver Compass Adventures, intended primarily for boys.

As I searched for ideas for these books, I began researching notable women throughout history that I could highlight in my books. I didn’t want just the obvious women who have been studied and profiled many times already, though I have considered the likes of Annie Oakley and Amelia Earhart. I looked for those I hadn’t heard of before and sought out their stories.

In this way, I encountered Miep Gies. Mrs. Gies worked for Otto Frank’s company in Amsterdam before the German invasion of Holland and throughout the war. She became instrumental in helping to hide the family, and was the one to recover Anne’s diary on the day the Franks were arrested, hoping to be able to return it once the war was over. I read Mrs. Gies’s autobiography, Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family. I was fascinated.

But even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.
– Miep Gies

This woman’s story was well told. I was captivated, even devastated by her story, and deeply impressed by her strength. She became one of the first women I hope to feature in my adventure series.

But after reading her story, I wanted to know more. Thus, Anne’s diary joined my list of books I needed to read. This reading challenge provided the perfect opportunity to do so.

I have now finished reading the diary, and hope to share my thoughts. This will not be a typical book review. It is more of a piece of an ongoing conversation that I think we should not lose sight of. A conversation that should not be left in the past. The Jewish Holocaust of the second world war may be over, but hatred, bigotry and other human indecencies continue unabated to this day. I have to believe that we are capable of so much better.

This book isn’t a story as a typical book would be. Even a biography follows a narrative with a beginning, middle and an end. This is simply a diary, published as it was written. Near-daily entries of the everyday life as Anne experienced it. She wrote about her thoughts. She wrote about her family. She wrote about the conflicts that inevitably arise between people who are in too close quarters without break. She wrote about her interests and her hopes for the future.

Oh, why are people so crazy?

There a so many directions I could go with this Anne Frank article. She had so much to say and a surprising amount of wisdom for a girl of her age. She wrote about the typical things an adolescent girl thinks about, family relationships, love, her changing body, the future.

But more than that, she wrote about the war and the Jewish plight.

There’s a destructive urge in people, the urge to rage, murder and kill. And until all of humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut down and destroyed, only to start all over again!
– May 3, 1944

She wrote about the roles of men and women and the unfairness of gender bias.

Men presumably dominated women from the very beginning because of their greater physical strength; it’s men who earn a living, beget children and do as they please … Until recently, women silently went along with this, which was stupid, since the longer it’s kept up, the more deeply entrenched it becomes.
– June 13, 1944

Anne wrote with remarkable insight into the human condition. At the age of fourteen, she recognized within herself two “Annes” – an inner Anne she kept mostly hidden within herself out of fear, and the outward Anne which was the one everyone saw. She wrote often about the “outer” Anne as being dominant whenever anyone else was around. She would try to be the inner Anne, the better Anne, but expectations of others always had her shoving that Anne back down inside. She also felt that the inner Anne was her true self, but she could only seem to reveal this part of herself to her diary.

Anne began writing in her diary at the age of thirteen, shortly after going into hiding. She wrote primarily for herself in the beginning, but after hearing on the radio how documents such as letters and diaries could serve as a record of the war, she began to take her writing more seriously and even rewrote much of her earlier entries. It was her intention to share her experience with the world, but I can’t help but wonder if she could have imagined the reach her words would ultimately have, and the impact they would make on the world.

What I find most remarkable about Anne’s diary is that throughout this time in hiding, an experience most people would find terrifying, dull and extremely wearing, she remains upbeat and positive. She is hopeful for her future, and continues to work toward it with study and practice. Despite the hardships, she sees the positive.

I’m young and strong and living through a big adventure; I’m right in the middle of it and can’t spend all day complaining because it’s impossible to have any fun! I’m blessed with many things: happiness, a cheerful disposition and strength. Every day I feel myself maturing, I feel liberation drawing near, I feel the beauty of nature and the goodness of the people around me. Every day I think what a fascinating and amusing adventure this is! With all that, why should I despair?
– May 3, 1944

Anne’s diary provides a beautiful picture of a girl growing into adolescence. We get to be a witness to her growing maturity and self awareness. Anne writes with heartbreaking honesty, and her diary, to this day, holds a relevance that can’t be easily ignored.

I chose to read this book because I was fascinated by the story of a courageous woman who dared to do the right thing even when it was difficult. I wanted to know more of her story, and to see the result of her bravery. In the process I found a girl whose story is just as compelling.

Why do I think others should read this book? Because we all need to remember that underneath the labels – Jew, Christian, Muslim, Black, White or Brown – we are all still human. We all have the same fears, desires, curiosities, hopes and dreams. We all have to pass through the fire that is adolescence. Anne never had the opportunity to come out the other side of it. Many others through that time never had the opportunity. Even more throughout human history have been denied the right to become all they were born to be.

I am glad I made the time to read this book. I’m grateful that through their words, I’ve come to know the likes of Anne Frank and Miep Gies. For one, this is a piece of human history that should not be forgotten. But also, here are two remarkable women who have shared the truth as they saw it and lived it. Who dared to hope for a better future.

Let’s not allow their stories to be forgotten.

Maybe One Day…

Maybe one day…

… I’ll publish a short story.

… I’ll finish my novel.

… I’ll sign with an agent.

… I’ll hold my first book signing event.

… I’ll see my novel turned into a movie.

… someone will ask for my advice.

… I’ll be a real writer.

 

Maybe one day starts today.

A Short Story, a Promise and a Publication Date

Last month I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo. Go on, check it out. If you love words, it’s great fun! I had a goal in July of writing 31,000 words, and I succeeded. My project, a series of short stories.

A Decision
Now that the rush of Camp NaNo is over and I’ve had a few days to recover, it’s time to turn my attention back to a promise I made before the event started. I asked for your feedback on which of five stories you’d most like to read.

To be honest, I was surprised by the responses I got from you about which stories you wanted to read. I suppose my story blurbs were a bit sketchy, and probably not all that interesting. They were written based off very vague ideas as I tried to form a story from two or three words. In some cases, I didn’t even have a solid character on which to hang the story idea.

Nevertheless, you made your choices, and I thank you for your participation! Your choices helped give me direction in July. The story that received the most votes was:

The Adventures of Andreú and Marcel
Andreú and Marcel are Empaths of legend in the realms of Bangor, Dyfedd and beyond. Feared by the Jut’ma of the northern wastelands, revered as gods by the islanders of Bisbaine, and even spoken of in awed whispers by the Arikkaans, the stories of Andreú and Marcel are far reaching indeed. They are credited for the rise and fall of empires, for the creation of mountains and rivers and the birth of the islands. But not many know – or remember – their exploits were all for the love a woman.

The Process
When I first decided to try working on a series of short stories, I started by making a list of story ideas. I generated several ideas based on two separate novel worlds I’m currently working on. From this list, I randomly selected ten ideas. It so happened that there were five from each novel world. I decided to go with the ideas from the novel I’d been working on most recently, and those are the ideas I presented for input from you, my readers.

It turns out, ten ideas was beyond overly ambitious a goal, as I suspected it might. Even the five I narrowed it down to were more than I could complete in a month. I did finish the story above and began writing two others. I also did some preliminary sketching and research on a fourth.

New Title, New Focus
Having a single story to focus on gave me a place to start. Still the idea suggested by “The Adventures of Andreú and Marcel” is very broad, and implies the possibility of a great many stories. Therefore I zeroed in on a single phrase from the proposed story blurb: “all for the love of a woman.” I took this and imagined a single event which could have been the beginning of all those adventures. This narrower focus also suggested to me a new title for the story, which in turn helped me focus it even further.

I decided to write this story in the first person point of view. But when I started it, I wasn’t entirely sure who was the main character of the story. So I decided to write it from the perspective of each of the three main characters and see where that took me. As it turns out, the story is now told from the first-person perspective of all three, each character with their own section of the story.

Writing it this way made the story longer than I’d first anticipated. Instead of my original goal of three thousand words, the final first draft is a little more than seven thousand. I don’t expect the final draft to retain this length, but it will likely still be longer than my initial plan. I’m still fairly new to writing short stories, so this has all been a learning adventure.

What Happens Next
Now I begin the journey of rewriting the story to make it perfect. Or as perfect as I can make it. I will give it a good run through myself before sharing it with a couple of trusted individuals. I would also like to run it by a couple of beta readers before I publish it. My goal is to have it all polished and ready to publish by Saturday, September 3.

First step, print the draft and read through it. Next I’ll build a plot outline. I’ll likely do a complete rewrite, removing in the process all the extra bits I left in during NaNo.

It’s a scary thing, sharing a piece of fiction. For some reason it is harder for me to share my fiction than a book review or an essay. Maybe it’s somehow more personal. But on that note, it’s time to get back to work on this story. I’ve made a promise, and I intend to keep it.

In the meantime, I shared a sneak peak here. And just for fun, here’s another bit of the new story, “Shattered.” I hope you enjoy it.

   Andreú pulled me into an embrace, spinning me around in circles. His joy was infectious and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Put me down!”
Andreú stopped spinning and let my feet back down to the ground, but he didn’t release me.
“I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“That was a waste of your time. You should have known I’d be out here.”
“And I would know that, of course, because certainly you’re not supposed to be in Elder Harlan’s philosophy lecture right now.”
“Oh, ugh! That man is insufferable. You also know I skip out on that as often as possible.”
“Right.” Andreú looked down at me, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Then, of course I should have known you would be beating up some poor lout on the training yard.”
“Andreú!” I slapped at his shoulder, trying to push myself away, but he held me even tighter. “I do not beat up anyone.”
“Of course not. The fact remains, you were not there.”
“Master Chen has his hands full training a bunch of brand new recruits. I would not be able to get a real workout. And I didn’t feel much like getting beat up myself by a bunch of clumsy farm boys with sticks.”
“Fair enough.” Andreú drew me back down to sit on the ground beside the tree again, keeping his arm wrapped around my shoulders almost as if he feared I might flee. “But then I should have known by your absence at the yard that you would naturally be with Marcel.”
“I’m not my brother’s keeper, Andreú.”
“Are you not?”
“Oh stop. I look out for him, that’s all.”

Moon of Three Rings, by Andre Norton: A Review

This is the story of Krip Vorlund, a Free Trader, a group of merchants who travel between planets seeking trade opportunities, and his chance encounter with Maelen, one of the Thassa, a people group on the planet of Yiktor. This encounter between these two very different individuals brings them unknowingly into the plot of a third.

Norton weaves into her story the conscious and subconscious desires of each character, and how those desires impact the direction the story takes. She makes it clear that the story hinges on the decisions of each character at each moment.

The story sort of meanders through the world of Yiktor, the conflict building gradually as the author reveals more of her imagined world. To be honest, I had some difficulty with this at first. The story didn’t draw me in as quickly as I’d expected. I still enjoyed the ride, it was just slower than anticipated.

By the end of the book, however, I realized just how skillfully Norton had laid her trap. I was fully invested in the story, and finished the book satisfied with the outcome. Norton ties together all the threads I hadn’t even been fully aware she’d been weaving. The story ends in a way I hadn’t seen coming, but should have.

This is the first book by Andre Norton I’ve read, so I have no way to know if this is typical of her style. It left me feeling somewhat haunted. The story has continued to linger in my mind, and I continue to put pieces together as I remember bits from early on in the book. Little innocuous bits of information so skillfully placed, the ending was all but inevitable.

This book came to me as a recommendation from a member of a book club I belong to. I’ve been reluctant to borrow books from members because my to-be-read pile is already so unmanageably large. But for two reasons I gave in this time. One reason was this gal’s persistence and her obvious love for Andre Norton. The second reason was that I’d recently come across this list of women authors of fantasy and science fiction. Though Andre Norton isn’t on the list itself, the comments and my own knowledge of Norton’s contributions to the genres made me curious.

I enjoyed this book. It was slower and subtler than many books I’ve read recently. But the change of pace turned out to be a good thing. I look forward to reading more by Andre Norton. Do you have a favorite Norton book? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Finishing this book represents step one of my August reading challenge I set for myself. One book down, six more to go!