Characterization: Every Villain a Hero, Part 2

Last week we talked about how villains can be constructed along the same line as heroes.  (See part 1.)  Goals and motivations are just as important for bad guys as for good guys - maybe even more important.  So, now we know what evil deeds the evil-doers are trying to do...evilly.  And we have a grasp on their motivations (evil though they may be!).  What else is there?

BACKGROUND

The villain's background often ties in closely with his or her motivation.  This doesn't necessarily mean that all bad guys have to have some childhood trauma in their past (which is an interesting but overused theme).  But take a man born to privilege, whose riches are cruelly stolen away...might he not turn to crime and bad-guy-ery to regain that which he lost?  Just a thought!

Rene Belloq (Indiana Jones's nemesis in Raiders of the Lost Ark) - His motivations are unclear, although we do get the idea that he was brought up in a state of privilege.  Remember how he laughingly refered to the spirits he and Marion were drinking as "my family label"?  This again supports a motivation of pride, since a man like that could easily feel that the world and its riches were his for the taking.

Darth Vader (who needs no introduction!) - In the original Star Wars trilogy we don't get a good taste for Vader's background, except to know that he was Ben Kenobi's apprentice until he was seduced by the power of the Dark Side.  In the prequel trilogy, we find out that as a young man he was intelligent and capable, yet filled with pain and anger at the death of his mother. 

Hannibal Lecter (the penultimate villain) - When he was a child, he and his sister Mischa were happy and inseparable...until World War II brought the deaths of their parents, the occupation of their family estate by cruel and starving soldiers, and the brutal death of little Mischa.  This is a classic example of background playing into motivation and goals.  (Although it bears repeating that authors should play the "childhood trauma" card with extreme caution, as it's been used to near-cliche status in the past few years.)

REDEEMING TRAITS

Just as a well-rounded hero should have a few faults, a well-rounded villain should have some redeeming - if not endearing - traits.

Belloq - Aside from that snazzy linen suit, Rene Belloq also possessed a sense of humor and a love of antiquities.  More importantly, he had a soft spot for Marion Ravenwood.  And mutual admiration/affection (in other words, our villain likes/admires someone that the audience also likes/admires) can be a truly endearing trait.

Vader - Until Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader seemed to have no redeeming traits whatsoever.  But then we saw him kill the Emperor to save Luke, our hero.  And afterwards, when he said to Luke, "You were right about me.  Tell your sister, you were right," we saw that he did have a redeeming trait, and it was love.

Lecter - First thing that comes to mind is this sentence: "I'm having an old friend for dinner"  A sense of humor is Hannibal Lecter's greatest redeeming trait.  That and, of course, the fact that some of the people he killed were jerks. "Mutual enemies" can be as endearing a trait as mutual affection.  And that brings us to....

GREATER EVIL (THE "BIG BAD")

Introducing a Greater Evil into your story is a tried-and-true method for giving your villain more depth.  We think that the villain is the greatest evil in our story-universe, but then we introduce the super-villain, and we see that the villain is just the Little Bad - the super-villain is the Big Bad.  Sometimes the hero and villain have to work together to fight the Big Bad, and that always a produces a fascinating dynamic!

Belloq - Although Belloq was a thorn in Indy's side and a real threat to both his life and his mission, there was a bigger bad than Belloq: the Nazis.  Whereas Belloq's motives were pride and greed, the Nazis soldiers' motives were pure evil, and they were the true villains of that piece!

Vader - Although Darth Vader was the villain of Star Wars (or for the sticklers: Episode IV, A New Hope), during both Empire and Jedi we saw that he was mostly the evil enforcer for the Big Bad - the Emperor.

Lecter - In Hannibal, the Big Bad was really Mason Verger.  After all, Lecter may have been a cannibalistic serial killer, but Verger was a pedophile - and there is really nothing more evil than that. 

It's interesting to note that in the latter two examples above, the villain was responsible for the death of the Big Bad.  Darth Vader killed the Emperor, of course.  And in both the book and movie versions of Hannibal, Lecter convinced someone close to Verger to murder him. In a way, those villains were heroes - at least to the extent that their evil acts benefited the greater good.  Even Belloq was partly responsible for the death of the Nazis, since his pride convinced him that he could control the power of the Ark.

SUMMARY

A well-crafted villain is one of the most entertaining aspects of fiction.  Remembering that the villain really thinks of himself or herself as a hero, and addressing their actions from the direction of "why is this right?" can help us to create villains who are realistic and memorable.  And after all, don't our heroes deserve great adversaries?
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Do you have a favorite fictional villain?  What are his or her most redeeming traits?

Read more about writing:
Characterization: Every Villain a Hero, Part 1
See all of Misha's writing blogs.


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Characterization: Every Villain a Hero, Part 1

There's an old saying in fiction: every villain is the hero of his own story. I think Willem Dafoe summed it up perfectly when an interviewer asked him whether he preferred to play good guys or bad guys. "Don't make no difference," he answered. "Everybody thinks they're righteous."

And so it seems like we can take the same elements that we would apply to developing a hero and use it with a villain.  In fact, that kind of sounds like fun!  Why don't we do that with three of my favorite movie villains:

Rene Belloq from Raiders of The Lost Ark (the evil archaeologist).  He was unscrupulous, mean-spirited and greedy...but he sure could wear the heck out of a white linen suit!

Darth Vader from Star Wars (and I mean the original trilogy, of course!).  He was evil personified, scary-powerful and without mercy...and then we found out he actually had a gooey center of fatherly affection hidden under all those spare parts!

Hannibal Lecter, the penultimate villain, the cannibalistic serial killer that we all love to hate (or hate to love, as the case may be)!  In this case, let's look at the Lecter that we saw/read about in Hannibal, the final installment of Thomas Harris's trilogy, since it's in that story that he's really the main villain, not just a fascinating secondary character.

GOALS

Heroes, villains, and supporting characters all want something.  Whether it's to save the world (or in this case, try to take over the world) or to pick up the dry cleaning on time (or in this case...er...try to take over the world).

Belloq - In Raiders, Belloq's primary goals seem to be: 1) To discover and sell archaeological treasures.  2) To best Indiana Jones.  Who can forget the line: "And so we see once again Indy, there is nothing that you can possess that I cannot take away"?  Mmmm!  I still get shivers!

Vader - To crush the Rebel Alliance.  (He's nothing if not straightforward about that!)

Lecter - When Hannibal opens, Lecter is in Florence and his goal is to make a success of his new position as curator of the Capponi Library (and presumably to pare down the more boorish faction of the board of directors!).  As the movie progresses his goal becomes to avoid the people who are trying to capture him and to "reunite" with Clarice Starling.

MOTIVATION

Underneath the goal (the thing that's being pursued and fought for) lies the motivation - the driving force behind both the goal itself and the actions that further it.

Belloq - The first thing that comes to mind as Belloq's motive is pride.  He wants to be the one to open the Ark of the Covenant.  He wants to conduct the ritual.  It's not so much a love of history and relics that drives him, it's the reflected glory that he feels.

Vader - The power of the Dark Side - and his own anger/fear, which is what left him open to seduction by the Dark Side in the first place. 

Lecter - The idea of remaking the world into his own twisted vision: a paradoxical vision filled both with horrific acts of violence and works of immense beauty.  The cellist in the local symphony lacks talent? Eliminate him so that a more gifted musician can take his place.  Pride also comes into play here, because Lecter's intelligence and self-control makes him almost godlike, at least in his own mind. 
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NEXT WEEK: Part 2 - What makes your villains more heroic (at least in their own minds)?

In the meantime, who are your favorite fictional villains?

Stages of a Writers Career, Part 3: Published and Promoting

And so not only have you finished your first novel, you have actually published it - whether on your own, or with a publisher. Wow, those are both huge accomplishments.  Now all that's left for you to do is to sell your work to the reading public!

Um, er, and how does one do that, exactly?

Part 3: Promoting Your Book

Challenges - Well for starters, there are the two biggies: time and money.  Effective promotion can cost a lot, both in hours and in dollars.  And how do you know if what you're investing in will pay off in book sales?

There's also, again, the issue of volume.  There are a lot of writers trying to sell a lot of books.  If your particular book isn't on the front racks of Barnes & Noble, how are readers going to find you?

Helpful Hints - Most of these ideas I got from talking to other writers, and if you're feeling lost, other writers are always a good place to start.  Bounce ideas off each other - chances are, you have tried some things that others haven't, and vice versa!  And in the meantime, here are a few other things you can consider:

Find your brand.  You may have heard this before.  But what does it mean? Well, the simplest definition is this: it's your identity as a writer.  Your brand is intimately tied to the genre in which you write.  And no gender-bias intended, but this appears to be much more important for female writers than it is for male.  Men tend to be "horror novelists," or "science fiction authors."  Their name and writing style itself tends to become their brand.  Not so for women.  We may be "horror novelists" and "sci fi authors," but for some reason we have to code ourselves as "romantic thriller writers," or "paranormal authors."  Why is this? Your guess is as good as mine!  (And if you think that this is a bogus observation, feel free to discard it.) 

You can get a good idea of how writers are branding themselves by checking out their websites.  For example, the following brands are evident on the websites of these bestselling authors: Brenda Novak - "Sophisticated, evocative romantic suspense."  Debbie Macomber - "Wherever you are, Debbie brings you home." We could probably do a whole blog about this subject in an of itself.  But the bottom line is, finding your personal brand will help your readers identify with you, and that will make them more likely to want to buy your books.

Explore the Internet.  Ah, the majestic power of the mighty Interweb!  Where would we be without it? (Back in 1989, I guess!)  Explore the Internet and find where readers are hanging out, and where writers are meeting up with them and getting to know their public.  Facebook, Goodreads, Kindleboards, Amazon discussion threads are all good places to start.  Remember to be friendly and polite: readers respond better to writers who aren't only trying to hock their wares.  Learn the etiquette of whatever website you find, and you could find your public, ravenous for your books!

Figure out what works for you.  Promotion can take hours and hours and cost lots of money.  Don't try to be everywhere and do everything.  Take it slow, see what's out there, and figure out what will work for your time and budget.

If you like, you can start by telling us, here on this blog, a little about your book!

Read more about writing:
Stages of a Writers Career, Part 2: Publishing for the First Time
Stages of a Writers Career, Part 1: Finishing Your First Novel
See all of Misha's writing blogs.

Stages of a Writer's Career, Part 2: Publishing for the First Time

Okay, so you've finished your first novel (or your first big writing project).  Before we go any further, let me say: congratulations!  Just think about how many years you spent thinking, "If I could just finish that first book...."  And now you've done it! 

So what's next?

Part 2: Publishing (or Getting Published) for the First Time

Challenges - Few things in life are as challenging as trying getting published. The frustrations are many, and the victories are few and far between. First, there's the sheer volume of competition. Trying to land a major book deal is kind of like shooting an arrow at an apple from a mile away, while 5000 other people are aiming for the same apple!

There's also the "time factor." Some agents and publishers will take six months to a year to respond to your initial query. If they request the manuscript, it could be another six months to a year before you hear back. And if you're offered a contract, it will likely be a year or more before your book goes into print (and before you get the final installment of your advance, if you've been offered one).

Helpful hints - Well, I've painted kind of a dark picture, here, but please don't despair! There are a few tried-and-true things that writers can do to ease the journey along the road to publication:

Name your genre. This can be difficult for many writers. It was for me! After all, your work is unique, and many books don't fit into a neat little genre box. But imagine this: You're selling a car. A prospective customer asks, "What kind of car is it?" If you say, "It's difficult to describe," you've probably lost your sale. If you say, "It's a four-door sedan," you have a much better chance of moving that baby! And it's the same for readers, publishers and agents. They want to know what it is they're buying. So study up on genres, find one that seems to fit your work, and then go with it.

And if you're having trouble figuring out which genre is right for your work, pick a book that is similar to yours and look it up on Amazon to see in which category it's listed. That will at least give you a place to start.

Work out your "blurb." There are two ways that writers use the word "blurb." One is short review that can be used to promote the book. (As in, "I'm so excited! Stephen King gave me a blurb!") And the other way refers to a short, gripping description of your story. It's what which will appear in your query letter. It is usually two or three paragraphs. It describes your story, draws in your readers, gives publishers and agents a sample of your writing skill. Read the backs of DVD cases and books to get an idea of how the pros do it, and work your blurb until it's perfect!

Get your manuscript edited and/or proofread. Unfortunately, yes, this does cost money. A professional editor may charge anywhere from one to three dollars per page (sometimes more). But having a set of experienced, impartial eyes look over our work can prove to be invaluable. Trying to judge which chapters to cut can be like asking yourself which of your fingers you're willing to do without. You want your manuscript to be as tight, as professional and as ready for the presses as possible!

In later blogs we can talk more about genres and about publishing options for writers.
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Do you have any stories (be they mystery, comedy, or horror) about getting published?

The Stages of a Writer's Career, Part 1: Finishing Your First Novel

Well, my writing blog has been on hiatus for the past few weeks, and now that it's back I thought it might be fun to take a broad look at the life and career of a novelist.  Just like any other career path, writing has certain stages of evolution - rungs on the ladder to fame and fortune (or so I keep telling myself!).  The following isn't based on any scholarly work or expert opinion, it's just a few observations of myself and others.  I hope you find it helpful!

Stage One: Finishing Your First Novel

Deciding to be a novelist is a little bit like saying, "I want to be a mountain climber," and then running right out to tackle Mount Everest!  There isn't a lot of middle ground.  We don't usually say, "I want to be a mountain climber; I think I'll start with that hill over there!"  No, typically we say, "I want to be a novelist," and then sit down and attempt to churn out a 300,000 word volume of painfully personal material, trying to make it both entertaining and literary.  Or maybe that was just me.

So where does that leave us? 

Challenges - One of the biggest challenge that I've found with trying to be a writer is that no one can really teach us how to do it.  I mean, we can (and should!) learn grammar and punctuation, story structure and characterization, how to phrase action scenes and how to handle exposition.  But the truth is we don't know how to write until we actually sit down and do it - and do it a lot.

Another challenge is that when we first start to write we don't know if we're any good.  Writing can be a fairly painful exercise.  What if we're terrible at it?  What if all this suffering is for nothing? 

And last but not least is the subject of motivation.  It can be very difficult to stay motivated, to push through the rough parts of your book - the parts you don't want to write - and keep working at it.

Helpful Hints - When it comes to writing, there are no easy answers, no cure-alls, no tube of magic cream that says "apply to forehead and become a genius writer!"  (And believe me, I've looked!)  But there are a couple things that you may find helpful:

Learn your craft.  Okay, it may seem like I'm contradicting myself here!  Didn't I just say "no one can teach you how to do it"?  Yes, it's true, I did.  However, what I have found time and time again is this: knowing your craft will give you something to fall back on when the writing gets hard.  Or when your muse has gone off to play someplace else, leaving you bereft and alone at the keyboard, staring at an unmoving cursor.  So buy some books, take some workshops, find some good writing blogs (ahem!), etc.  Learn your craft and write, write, write.  You'll be happy that you did.

Figure out where and when you write best.  Every artist is different.  Our work looks, sounds, and reads differently from one another.  It makes sense that our production habits will be as unique as we are.  Personally, I write best either in a busy public place or sitting in the big chair in my living room.  A friend of mine can't write in a coffee shop, but she can write while watching TV, which is something I've never been able to do (and yes in case you're wondering, I am totally jealous of her!).  So don't think that you have to chain yourself to your desk; maybe you need to chain yourself to a lawn chair, or lie on the floor of your dining room.  What works for you? Wherever you're happiest writing is probably the place where you're going to get the most work done.

Find a writing buddy.  When I was trying to finish my first novel, the thing that saved me was having a "writing buddy."  Somebody to crack the metaphoric whip and ask me, "Where are your new pages?" on a weekly basis.  It's interesting how much can be accomplished when someone's demanding it!  So consider finding a writing buddy, or an accountability partner, or a critique group.  This may not work for everybody, but give it a try and see if it helps.

Next week we'll look at Stage Two: Trying to get published for the first time!

What kind of challenges are you facing (or did you face) in finishing your first book?

How to Help Your Child Discover His or Her "Inner Writer"

We’ve all heard young people say, "I want to be a writer!" And we’ve all cringed a little when they’ve said it. After all, we know how hard it is to make a living as an artist. So how can we support their ambitions, knowing that disappointment might lurk around every corner? And how can we help nurture their creative instinct without crushing their artistic spirit?

It was probably about fifteen years ago that I first started coaching young writers. I still remember their earnest efforts at storytelling, their frustration when they couldn’t quite paint pictures with their words the way they’d wanted to, their elation when it came out right. I remember it well, because it so perfectly mirrored the ups and downs of my own writing. I drew on my memories of being a young writer and helped the children in my care to cultivate their natural talents. And in helping the children to tell their stories, I learned a lot about how to tell my own.

So when parents come to me and ask me how they can help their children develop their writing gifts, there are a few things that I usually suggest:

Encourage your children to read – a lot! Reading has a multitude of benefits for young writers. It builds vocabulary, first and foremost. It also gives one an eye for plot, story structure, dialogue, all the elements of good fiction. And don’t worry if what your child is reading seems simplistic or “below their reading level.” Help to pinpoint what he or she can read easily and with enjoyment, then stand back and watch the pages fly!

Encourage your children to write – a lot! Did your son just make up a funny joke (or even not so funny)? Suggest he write it down. Did your daughter tell you a story about a unicorn who jumped through her bedroom window and started dancing around the room? By all means, hand her some paper and a pen! Whether they’re writing letters to grandma, creating fan fiction for their favorite movie, or chipping away at their twelve-volume masterwork, writers of all ages do one thing: they write. And here’s some inside info: they don’t have to finish everything they start! Every writer has a sock drawer full of half-finished projects. It’s just part of the process. So encourage your children to write, and don’t stress over whether or not they finish everything.

Which brings me to my next point….

Never criticize. When I write that, I’m not simply saying, “don’t say anything mean,” because of course you wouldn’t intentionally insult your child. What I’m saying is, “Don’t say anything negative. Ever.” This can be a tough one for parents, which is understandable. The nurturing instinct makes you want to hover, bite your nails, and offer helpful corrections and suggestions. And if you’re looking at a school project, of course you must help monitor the quality of your child’s work. But when it comes to creative writing, my advice is this: never ever criticize.

Why? Well for one thing, there are few things on earth more fragile than the creative spirit. You’d be amazed at how easy it is to crush a burgeoning artistic impulse. A well-intentioned but careless comment from you could easily put your children off writing for quite some time. For another thing, if your children decide to pursue a career in writing, there will unfortunately be many people who will take their work and tear it down, deconstruct it and pick it apart. It’s a less-than-lovely aspect of the business that we all have to deal with at one time or another. So from Mom, Dad, teacher, etc., they should get only praise and encouragement.

If you’re worried that giving nonstop praise will make them conceited, or set them up for disappointment down the road, my advice is not to be too concerned about that. Yes, disappointment is inevitable. But the best way to overcome that is just to encourage them to keep writing. The more they write, the better at it they’ll become, and the fewer disappointments they’ll encounter. As for being conceited, well, every great venture requires a certain measure of conceit on the part of the “venturer.” Help them to build pride and even a touch of vanity in their work; chances are, no matter how big their heads get, they’ll still be able to fit through the door!

Well, this is a subject about which I would happily write volumes, and in fact I talk at length about these suggestions and more in my workshop, Helping Your Child Find the “Inner Writer.” There are few things in life more gratifying than helping a child to achieve satisfaction and gain a sense of accomplishment and of his or her own self-worth. Do you have a story you’d like to share or a question you’d like to ask about working with young writers?

This blog was originally published on the Vanilla Heart Publishing Authors' Blog.  For helpful and down-to-earth advice on writing, please check out their blog today! 

Setting, Part 1: What Is It, Why Should It Matter, and How Can You Start Using It?

When I first undertook the subject of Setting, I thought I'd blow through it in one blog.  Six hundred words, subject covered.  No sweat, right?  Um, wrong. 

As I began to write about Setting, as I started to think about it and distill my thoughts into semi-intelligible sentences, I started coming to more deep and complete understanding of the subject.  The more I wrote, the more I understood.  And the more I understood, the more I wanted to write!  So then I thought I'd split the subject into two parts: the mechanics of setting, and the subtler side of setting.  Twelve hundred words, subject covered, right?  Um, again - wrong!

So I now have three parts, and it's still growing!  I've stopped counting words and I have no idea when (or if) the subject of setting will ever be exhausted.  And if nothing else, I'm learning a lot by writing these blogs!  I hope that someone else finds some good in them, too.

Step 1: Where and When

Setting is vital element of writing. But what exactly is setting, and how can you use it to enhance the story you're trying to tell?

In breaking down the subject of setting, we can see that the absolute bottom-line, nitty-gritty of it is WHERE and WHEN. Where and when does your story take place?

Of course it's easy to see how this matters if you're writing a World War 2 epic, or a science fiction novel: the 1940s in London is a heck of a lot different than 3010 on the moons of Jupiter. But it also matters when you're writing any modern day novel, whether it's romance, mystery, thriller, etc., because the where and when will effect many aspects of your story and your characters.

Some examples:

• F. Paul Wilson sets his Repairman Jack novels in modern-day New York.
• Holly Jacobs sets many of her romance novels in the fictional town of Whedon, Pennsylvania.
• James Ellroy set his LA Crime novels in mid-20th Century Los Angeles.

In each of these cases the where and when affects the who and what – the setting affects the characters and the plotline. It doesn’t necessarily dictate plot or create the characters for you, but it definitely does have an effect on both (we'll go in-depth on this subject in a later blog!).

For a quick example, imagine a single woman raising a child on her own. Whether she lives in 1629, 1993 or 3010 will make a difference in her parenting style and the set of obstacles she has to face, not to mention the entire concept of her own identity as a human being, and her concept of the identity of her child.

So, WHERE and WHEN does your story take place?

Step 2: Make it Realistic

Research, research, research. If you are writing about a place and time that is unfamiliar to you, make sure you do your homework! My second novel, Still Waters, is set in the mid-1950s in Arlington, Virginia. I was very familiar with the place, but – aside from many years of watching Hitchcock films - not too familiar with the time period.

To research the period, I spent hours in the library, reading newspapers from the months during which my novel was set. I also found a 1950s map of the area and was able to identify what some of the streets were called at that time. I didn’t use all of this information in the book, of course, but it made it easier for me to set my mind to that place in that time.

And here's a hint: you can often find newspapers going back to the 19th Century. One of my local papers has been around since the early 1800s, and has back issues on microfiche that go way back to the beginning!

Confirm, confirm, confirm. There are always tiny details of life in various eras that can't be found in books. And the danger of writing about any place or time outside of our experience is that our conceptions are shaped very much by movies and books, which may or may not be accurate. Hopefully your rolodex (or Facebook friend list) includes one or more people who have education about or experience with your chosen time and place. Ask them questions while you're writing, and/or have them read your manuscript when it's finished. Tell them to cast their expert eye on the details and confirm that you haven't written anything too embarrassingly wrong!

Relax, relax, relax. There is only so much you can do to make a time period accurate, and the primary jobs of a fiction writer are to create an emotional connection with the reader, and tell a good story. You can kill yourself – and your story, for that matter – by becoming obsessed over the details. Make it as accurate as possible, and then just relax, knowing that you've done the best you can.

Setting should serve your story, not the other way around. (Unless you're James Michener, of course, but that's a whole other blog!)
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What settings do you enjoy when you're reading a book or watching a movie?

Great Reads Monday: A Chaunce of Riches by Chelle Cordero

Chelle Cordero is a freelance journalist and author. Her articles have been published in various Gannett publications, regional and national trade magazines. She is also the author of many novels and short stories.  Chelle and her husband live in Rockland County, NY, where they raised their two children.  I'm happy to share her book, A Chaunce of Riches, with you - another great read!

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover.

One reader says:

"Personal conflict kicks off at the very start of Ms. Cordero's A Chaunce of Riches, as widower Samantha Chaunce comes face to face with a man from her past - Ben Johnson. She told him she loved him oh-so-long ago, and then she departed in the arms of another.

"Nothing is simple in the complex tale of love, danger, and this shared, almost-mourned, past....  However, the two main characters are both strong, edgy people, and their history together creates a rather unusual relationship between the two. There is anger, resentment, yet, somehow, there is an enduring trust that becomes more and more important in the face of danger.

"The very focused plot keeps us madly turning the pages, right to the very end. Yet, it's the romantic in us that is waiting, and so hoping, that they are both the people we think they are...that somehow, out of all this emotional clutter, disaster and more, they can find their way to true feeling. The story is simply super on all counts. Mark A Chaunce of Riches a Must-Read." - J. Thomas, The Long and Short of It Reviews

Read more on Chelle Cordero's website.

Or buy today on Amazon.com (available in paperback and on Kindle)!

Great Reads Monday - Forest Song: Letting Go by Vila SpiderHawk

Vila SpiderHawk is the author of three novels, a book of short stories and a cookbook.  She lives with her husband in the woods of Pennsylvania, in a log house of their design.  They share their home with five cats and enjoy frequent visits from their many woodland friends.  I'm thrilled to be able to share with you her latest work, Forest Song: Letting Go.

She left her birth home to learn the ways of the woods in Forest Song: Finding Home.  She grew into her powers as protector of the denizens of the forest in Forest Song: Little Mother.  And now, Judy Baumann faces the horrors of World War II: the concentration camps, Jewish ghettos, and the other persecution of the Jews.

Join Judy as she struggles to survive death-defying challenges, overcoming betrayal and loss with courage, cleverness and humor.

One reader says:

"Amazing but true.  SpiderHawk has again written an outstanding novel that touches the very core of loss, yearing, learning and beginnings.

"It has been my privilege to own all of Vila SpiderHawk's wonderful books and this one, as I myself am getting on in years, touched a deep vein of recognition in me.  It deals with loss, new beginnings and blossoming awareness of ability and truths.

"As with all her work, Vila SpiderHawk's ability to bring the reader deep within, with her color descriptions is an utter joy.  This is a truly inspiring novel and I highly recommned it to anyone.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again...Vila just gets better!  Of all her novels, this one touched me to my very soul.  There were times when I smiled, times I associated closely with the characters and times when I cried in sympathy, because always, there is somewhere a place that we too have visited.  In this, her most recent book, I was drawn into her web and held utterly spellbound from start to finish." - J.H.G.

Visit Vila Spiderhawks's website to read more!

Or buy today on Amazon.com (available in paperback and on Kindle)!

Characterization and Attitude

We all know what it means to have attitude. And I'm sure we all know what it means to give attitude, too! But what does attitude have to do with your characters?

Don't look at me in that tone of voice!

Okay, first let's make sure we're all on the same page regarding the definition of "attitude," because it's used it in different ways.  Attitude can mean a personal viewpoint or general opinion about something.  It can also mean a challenging or arrogant manner.  And it can mean a physical posture or bodily position. 

So "attitude" is not only the way a person thinks about something, or the arrogant manner in which they're expressing themselves, it's also the way they are physically standing or holding themselves.  And how can you use that when you're writing?

Let's workshop it - with attitude to spare!

Try combining all three of those ideas and applying them to your character.  Let's say you're writing about a woman who's having an argument with her fourteen-year-old daughter.  What's the daughter's attitude?  Let's break it down:

Her personal viewpoint is that she wants her curfew extended to one a.m. so she can go to her best friend's birthday party. 

Is she displaying a challenging, arrogant manner?  You bet your boots she is!  But how does your reader know that?

Well, what's the typical physical posture of a girl arguing with her mom? 

Joanna's hands welded to her hips as her elbows fanned the kitchen air. 

Grace looked up from the bread dough she was kneading.  If that child rolled her eyes one more time, she was definitely going to suffer some serious vision damage.  Or at the very least she'd be grounded for the rest of her life.

"You're fourteen, my dear daughter," Grace said, with as much patience as she could muster.  "There's no way you're staying out until one in the morning!"

Joanna's mouth pulled up on one side as she gave vent to her weakest argument yet.  "Oh please, Mother, you wouldn't dare keep me home," she smirked, "everyone's going to this party."

Okay, obviously those two have a lot of issues to work out.  And I didn't exactly play to subtlety there, with the arms-akimbo, eye-rolling, smirking teenager.  I'm sure you've got a good idea of Joanna's character (at least in relation to curfew and the importance of big parties).  But did you also get an idea of Grace's character?  The bread-kneading, line-holding mom?  Well, that brings up an interesting point, which is this:

You get a good idea of someone's character by their reaction to the attitude of another person.  It's not just the actions your characters take, it's their reaction to the actions of others which will give the reader a concept of who these people are.

But what if the character in question doesn't have quite as much of a challenging arrogant manner?  What if he or she is, for lack of a better term, a human doormat?

Let's workshop it again - and don't give me any of your attitude!

So let's say your character is Harvey, a storeroom clerk in his late forties.  A shipment has come in without the proper paperwork, and technically he's not supposed to accept it.

His personal viewpoint is that he should not sign for the delivery.

Is he displaying a challenging, arrogant manner?  In this case, no.

And what about his bodily position?  Well, let's see:

Harvey wiped his palm on his khaki shorts and pulled the clipboard closer for another inspection.  "I have specific instructions not to accept any shipments from your company that don't have the proper TPS forms."  He heard the quiver in his voice and swallowed, trying to steady it.  Dealing with these paperwork issues always made him shaky.  What if he screwed it up - again? 

He forced his rounded shoulders square and handed the clipboard back, using the most decisive motion he could muster. "Sorry."  It didn't help that now his hand, as well as his voice, was shaking.

The brownshirted delivery man held up his hands like somebody at gunpoint.  But this guy wasn't surrendering.  "No can do, bra," he said with a smile.  "Can't take it back, gotta leave it here."

The sweat made its way from Harvey's palms to the back of his neck.  He could feel it beading on his upper lip.  Was this guy serious?  What was Harvey going to do if the delivery guy wouldn't take the package back with him?  The meatball sub that Harvey had eaten for lunch was starting to come back on him, emitting a foul acid that crept up his throat.  He needed to have a glass of milk and lie down.

"I guess I could find a place in back for it, as long as you promise me you'll bring those forms tomorrow."

"Sure thing bra," the delivery guy said.  "No problemo."

Poor Harvey.  He's sweaty, slump-shouldered and has stomach problems.  And do you think that delivery guy is going to bring in those forms tomorrow?  No, me neither.

Lack of attitude can tell your readers just as much about your characters as attitude can.  When something unpleasant confronts Harvey, does he attack or retreat?  He probably lies down with a glass of milk.

But what about Joanna, from the example above?  How would she have handled the delivery guy?  Well, she probably would have made some cutting comment about his shorts not being kind to his knobby knees, and then gone back to filing her nails. 

Summing up the attitude issue

With attitude and characterization, keep these things in mind:

• The person's posture and physicality: what does it say about them?
• Their reaction to events: when confronted with something pleasant or unpleasant, how do they react?
• Getting what they want: how do they go about it?
• Remember that attitude is not necessarily a bad thing!  If Joanna used those same mannerisms when dealing with a bully at school, we'd be cheering for her.

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When was the last time you saw someone "giving attitude"?  What did it tell you about them?  And what did it say about the person on the receiving end of that attitude?

Laying the Groundwork for Your Novel: The Basics of Plot and Storytelling

Horror.  Science Fiction.  Romance.  There are many kinds of stories to tell, and although every story is unique, there are, generally speaking, some elements that are universal:

- The Hero
- The Journey
- The Prize
- The Great Obstacle

The Hero

Or, I should say, the Hero(es)-slash-Heroine(s) - what some writers refer to as the "H/H."  This is the protagonist, the person your story is about. The H/H is your Frodo Baggins, your Elizabeth Bennett, your Harriet the Spy, or even your Benji!

Of course, the hero doesn't really have to be heroic - at least not in the usual way! He or she could be Ebenezer Scrooge. Or Dexter, for that matter. But your "H/H" does have to be empathetic. Your reader must be able to feel for him, or at least get a laugh out of him. Ebenezer Scrooge won my heart as soon as he said to Jacob Marley, "There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" Despite the fact that Dickens had shown Scrooge to be a despicable human being, when I read that line I thought, "Well, there's something to that guy. If nothing else, he's funny." And because of that I was willing to go on the journey with him, and even to root for him.

The Prize

We all want something.  Health, happiness, long life.  And a million dollars.  Sometimes we want to foil a bank robbery, solve an ancient riddle before time runs out, or marry the man of our dreams. 

In Lord of the Rings, the prize was getting the ring to the fires of Mordor.  In Pride and Prejudice it was a good marriage with a suitable spouse.

Sometimes the prize starts out to be one thing and turns out to be another.  In Lassie Come Home (a personal favorite of mine when I was a child), the prize seems to be for Joe to get his dog back.  But it turns out to be much more: it's the reuniting of the hearts of a family, and the rejuvenation of an entire town.

Whatever the prize is for your hero, make sure you know it, even if your hero doesn't yet. 

The Journey

All heroes are headed somewhere.  They're not just sitting on their hands while events unfold around them.  They are going somewhere, whether it's a physical journey or an emotional one.  And usually that journey is toward their Prize, whatever that is for them.

In Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara's prize was Ashley.  Her emotional journey took her through the Civil War, three marriages, the death of two husbands, childbirth, the death of her daughter, and a relationship with the unforgettable Rhett Butler.  And how did her journey end?  With the realization that her actual prize was Rhett himself. 

Sometimes a journey is both physical and emotional.  In that case, each journey has a prize of its own.  For Lassie, the physical journey had only one prize: to be in her usual spot when Joe got out of school.  The prize for her emotional journey was the return to her loving family and, as mentioned above, the return of a town to something of its former glory.

The Great Obstacle

If Frodo and company had just been able to hop into a limo and ride to Mordor in air-conditioned comfort, would we really have lasted through three novels?  Of course not.  And so we have our Great Obstacle, in the power of Sauron, who sent forth many other obstacles to impede the progress of our noble heroes. 

In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family also faced a multitude of obstacles: lack of money, great distance, the flaws in their own family coalescence, the heartless opportunism of others, and the abject poverty of an entire nation. 

But regardless of whether you're writing a literary masterpiece, a tale of adventure and fantasy, or a simple homespun romance, every story must have a great obstacle.  Sometimes the greatest obstacles are the hero's own character flaws which are preventing him from reaching his goals.
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Of all these - the Hero, the Prize, the Journey and the Great Obstacle - is there one that you think is more important than the others?

Let's Meet Your Characters

In my most un-humble opinion, creating memorable and loveable characters is the most essential part of any writer's job.  I know that not all writers feel this way, and that's fine - everyone's entitled to their opinion.  But I do think that regardless of how exciting the story, regardless how twisty and turny your plot is, without three-dimensional characters to race along the surprise-laden path you've laid, will anyone really care?

After all, what would Star Wars be if Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan were a kid and an old guy?  What would Gone with the Wind be if Rhett and Scarlett were just a guy and some dame?  And what will your story be, if you don't create your characters as fully-fleshed, breathing and feeling human beings?

So let's meet your characters, shall we?

Ms. Writer, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Character (no gender-bias intended!).  Okay Ms. Writer, take a look at your character.   How are you going to go about getting to know him?  Well, you can always start with the first thing you notice about anybody you meet: their appearance.

Ooh, a little superficial, isn't it?  Well, let's start on the outside and we can work our way in later!

What does he look like?

I've studied a lot about the art of characterization, and many writers seem to fall into two camps: 1) describe the character's appearance in minute detail, or 2) give as little detail as possible.  And depending on your writing style, you may find yourself going to either extreme.  Both are fine, as long as the "minute detail" doesn't translate into "long boring paragraphs," and as long as "little detail" doesn't translate into "I can't tell these characters apart because apparently everybody looks alike!"

The other thing to remember is that no matter how much painstaking detail you put into describing your characters, no matter how lovingly you draw their features with the finest of brushes, no two readers will ever have the same image when they read your story!  We all superimpose our own mental images on the people we read about.  We just can't help it - and when you think about it, why would we want to?  When we read we are entering the universe created by the writer, but we are also creating a universe all our own.  That's the magic of reading and of writing.

So on the question of "a lot of detail, or a little?" I generally try to aim somewhere in the middle (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?).  I've found that there are certain specific details I like to establish for myself, and then I sort of let the rest go.  The physical elements that are essential to me are:

Hair color and style
Eye color and shape
Height and overall body shape (weight lifter, swimmer or couch potato)
Any unusal or memorable physical characteristic (manicured fingernails, freckles, a tiny nose like a tulip)

Much more will be communicated about your characters by their attitudes and speech patterns (more on that in future blogs!).  But you want to give your reader enough detail to give their imagination something to grab onto.  When they read "Maggie," you want them to know that she's the girl with red hair and freckles, not the girl with blond hair and glasses. 

That's one reason why it's good to give your characters unusual physical characteristics: someone with long fingernails might have trouble dialing the phone; someone with freckles might spend more time putting on makeup (if she were self-conscious about it, of course!).  But all of these things feed into who the characters are on the inside as well as the outside!  Physical characteristics play into attitudes and personality, just as attitude and personality affects the way we appear to others.

Another physical aspect that communicates character is how they move.  John Travolta once said that when he goes about creating a character as an actor, he starts with the walk.  Think about it: Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, Chili Palmer from Get Shorty, and of course, Edna Turnblad in Hairspray!  Three distinct characters, three distinct ways of communicating characterization simply through motion.

Of course, it's easy to convey motion in the movies - in writing it's more of a challenge!  A good way to accomplish this is through the use of simile and metaphor:

Simile (saying that something is like something else): "She drove like she was Dale Earnhardt's long-lost daughter and every street was the Talladega Speedway."

Metaphor (saying that something is something else): "Not the marrying kind?  That's an understatement!  The man was a jackrabbit on Viagra!"

Of course, it can get kind of heavy-handed if you overuse it, but in small doses you will find that your characters begin to leap to life, and right off the page!

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters, and what is it about their physicality that most sticks with you?

Fiction Writing: What's It Made Of?

It's been said that there are three basic elements to fiction: plot, characters, and setting.  Over the next few weeks I'd like to get into each of these individually, but for now let's just take a quick look at these important ingredients in your fiction pie:

Plot - To put it plain and simple, "plot" is your story line.  It's the chain of events that takes your characters on a ride, and brings your readers along with them.  A good plot doesn't necessarily have to be exciting in an oh-my-god-we-have-to-find-and-diffuse-the-bomb kind of way, but should contain at least minor amounts of mystery and excitement, even if it's just in an oh-my-god-where-are-my-car-keys-so-I-can-go-out-on-my-first-date-in-years kind of way! 

Characters - Of the three elements, this one is definitely my favorite.  Why?  Well, mainly because I'm lazy, I guess.  It's always been my belief that if you have good characters, they write their own story, which keeps the need for plotting at a minimum!  Okay, that's a little bit of a joke (although it's not entirely untrue, either!)  "Characters" are, of course, the people in your book.  You could also look at them as the readers' guides: the ones who are leading your readers along the path that is laid by your plot.  Relatable characters are essential for telling a good story.

Setting - Well, if the plot is your path, and the characters are your guides, what does that make setting?  Your scenery!  But of course, it's a bit more than that.  Setting is essentially the where-and-when of your story.  It's Victorian England, or the recent future on a dying planet, or a modern day suburb.  It's the universe in which you are immersing your characters (and readers), and through which your are laying down your plot.  It's multi-dimensional; it looks, smells, sounds and tastes the way you decide it will. 

These three elements combine in a million different ways.  Your setting effects your characters (think of the difference between the Australian outback of the 1930s and the city of Tokyo in modern times): how they look, talk, etc.  This in turn effects your plot, because different characters will react to circumstances uniquely, and this in turn will change the course of events in your story!

We can take up each of these elements in several different blogs in the coming weeks.  I'm looking forward to re-exploring all of these vital pieces of your story-puzzle, and I hope you are too!

So, any preference as to which one we start with?

Writing: How Good Does It Have to Be?

As I re-read the title of this blog, it sounds like a joke. But I hear this from people all the time: "I really want to be a writer, but I just don't know if I'm good enough." And that begs the question: just how do we define "good." And how good is good enough?

Ask ten people how they define good writing, and they will probably give you ten different answers. One may be obsessed with grammar and punctuation ("You used approximately 4.5 adverbs per page; that's 2.75 more adverbs than recommended!"), one may talk esoterically about "art" (as in: "It's okay writing, but it's not art."), and one or two may simply say, "Anything that I can't put down is good writing to me!"

So what is Good Writing?

Now, this is a touchy subject, and to be honest I hesitated to tackle it here, because I'm afraid it will seem that I'm either defiling the hallowed rules of grammar or bruising the tender flesh of art. But I've done a lot of reading lately, from both published and unpublished writers, and I've come to realize something important:

"Good writing" is writing that creates an emotional connection with the reader.

And that's it. (Almost.)

Good writing makes you laugh or cry, makes your skin crawl, arouses your passion (for good or evil). It communicates something to you. It brings you into its particular universe. It makes you feel, and that's the primary mission of "good writing."

A long time ago I started to read a book which I found to be constructed of pretty bad writing. I won't go into detail, but I'm sure you've all read enough poorly-written books to know what I'm talking about! But even with its technical flaws, I found myself becoming absorbed by the story. I wanted to know what was going on. When I wasn't reading the book I was thinking about it, and when I finished it, it stayed in my mind for a long time afterward. And you know what I call that? Good writing! You know what I call the technical flaws? Bad editing. :~)

The way I see it, if this writer had had a better editor (or a better grammar teacher), this book could have been a best seller. Because it created an emotional connection. And the fact that it was able to have that affect in spite of poor use of language just highlights how deep that emotional connection was, and makes me realize anew that the author was indeed a very good writer.

Good writing doesn't have to be technically perfect. But it does have to be technically correct enough that it doesn't detract from the emotional connection.

What makes writing technically correct?

Here's what technically correct writing is made up of (in my humble opinion):

• Grammar and punctuation.

• Proper spelling (of course!).

• An understanding of - and comfort with - language. Not just for dialogue purposes, but also because the rhythm of language varies from age to age and from place to place.

• Story structure: the highs and lows, ebbs and flows of your story.

• Characterization: the hardcore techniques of bringing your people to life.

 I'm sure I've left out a few things, there but those are the basics. All of these things are important: Grammar, punctuation, language – these are your tools, your instruments. Story structure and characterization – these are the beams and girders of the world you are building. But none of them should ever become more important to you than forging an emotional link with your readers.


So how do you go about creating an emotional connection? And how do you know when you've done it?

Here's what I think: How do you create an emotional connection? Start by feeling it yourself. Fall in love with your characters – even the bad guys (or especially the bad guys, as the case may be!). Make sure every part of your story fascinates you, and if it doesn't, change it! Because if you're not interested in any part of your story, I don't see how or why the reader would be!

And how do you know if you've actually achieved the emotional connection? Have someone read your work. Or several someones. They should be people you trust (especially when you start out!), people who aren't afraid to be honest. Are they "feeling it" when they read your story? No? Ask questions, figure out what's going wrong and change it. Yes? Well then, you've got something good going!

(Oh, this is very important: they should be people who enjoy the genre in which you're writing. I once had someone get very critical about my writing. Eventually I found out that this guy never read "women's books" and in fact hardly ever read fiction at all! So save yourself some time (and heartache) and don't give your romance novel to someone who hates romance novels, LOL!)

So what do you call Good Writing?

If you're still not sure that your writing is good, don't be afraid to indulge in a little self-examination. Just ask what you, yourself, consider to be good writing. Shakespeare? Okay, are you trying write like Shakespeare? No? Oh, you just want to make people feel the way you feel when you read Shakespeare?

 Okay then, you have now established what kind of emotional connection you're trying to forge with your readers: the same kind old Will forged with you!  And that's a good place to start! Just remember, William Shakespeare didn't start out as an Immortal Poet. He didn't just pick up a quill pen one day and scribble rough winds do shake the darling buds of May on a piece of parchment. He honed his craft. He learned how to make art by making art. He learned by doing.

And I hope that this blog has made you feel like doing! :~) So quit reading, and go write. (You can start by leaving a comment, if you like!)

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So how do YOU define good writing?

The Writing Road: How I Finished My First Novel

It's always been my true and fervent belief that we all have at least one novel inside of us, waiting to be written.  But a few short years ago, I wasn't sure that my own novel would ever get finished.  After all, the roadblocks seemed high and wide: I never had time to write, I wasn't sure if what I was writing was any good, I was constantly starting projects and not finishing them.  And overshadowing all of these was the nagging fact that if by some miracle I actually did get my first book completed, I had no idea if I could ever get published.  And if my work wasn't published, how was I going to live with that disappointment?

Ultimately I realized that my love of writing was larger and more powerful than all the things that were stopping me from writing, and that if I wanted to reach my destination, I had to first be willing to set out on the journey.  Although there were many little jaunts in between, and more than a few rest stops, here are the five major steps I took on the road to completing Homesong, my first novel!

1) Decided to just finish it, and worry about publishing later.

I remember the day I had this epiphany: "A book that hasn't been written can't be published!"  In retrospect it seems very elementary, but hey, sometimes I'm downright obtuse about stuff like that!  Write first, worry about publishing second - ahh, the light dawns!

Simplistic though it may be, getting these priorities straight was extremely liberating for me.  So I set my first goal, which was just to get the darn thing done.  I decided that I would write the book that I most wanted to write, finish it, and to heck with whether or not anyone wanted to publish it!

2) Joined a writing group and went to my first writing conference.

Having decided that I wanted to finish my first book, my very next thought was that I had no idea how to go about doing that!  That was when I realized I needed the support of my fellow writers.  Soon afterward I saw a flier in Starbucks for a the Washington Independent Writers convention.  I joined the group (which has since become American Independent Writers) and attended the conference a few months later.

That first writing conference was a real eye opener.  I attended an agent's breakfast and actually had a chance to talk to a literary agent (a nerve-wracking experience until I realized how nice she was!), who said she was interested in seeing my work when it was finished.  I went to several lectures about the publishing industry and got a glimpse of what a kooky, cloistered, exciting field it can be.  I also realized that there were thousands of other writers in the DC Area; and far from seeing these folks as competition, I immediately felt more secure, because for artists, there's always safety in numbers!  And most of all, that conference was my introduction to Marita Golden.  That in and of itself made the whole thing worthwhile!

3) Attended Marita Golden's "I Want to Write" workshop.

A lot of you have probably heard me talk about Marita Golden before.  She's the bestselling author of over a dozen books.  She's also an extraordinarily gifted teacher.  After hearing Marita speak at the AIW conference, I knew that here was a person who could help me get where I wanted to go with my writing.  I took her workshop, "I Want to Write," and, well, WOW!  It's difficult for me to describe exactly how she did it, but the one thing I can say for sure is that Marita's workshop gave me the tools and emotional fortitude to really BE who I already was: a writer!

4) Found a writing buddy.

One thing that Marita stressed was the importance of having a good support system, especially in the form of a writing buddy(ies) and critique partner(s).  I was lucky enough to meet Kathryn Harris, my first writing buddy, at the workshop itself.  At her suggestion, we began to meet once a week until our novels were finished.  Without that collaboration, and the "enforced accountability" of having to give Kathy new chapters of my work every week, I might never have finished my first book! 

5) Wrote, wrote, wrote.

As I said above, having a critique partner really forced me to write steadily.  Sometimes I would write over my lunch hour, knowing that I would be in big trouble if I didn't have any pages to show my friend that night!  Writing is hard work, and you have to be willing to start out writing garbage, knowing that you can go back and clean it up later.  Usually I have to write three drafts before I settle on what I tell people is my "first draft."  And then I'll go through three or four revisions before settling on my "final draft," and even that one usually gets picked over quite a bit!

On the subject of writing and re-writing, there are two quotes that have helped me tremendously.  One is from Ernest Hemingway (although I've also heard it attributed to Oscar Wilde ): "The first draft of anything is sh*t."  And the other is from Nora Roberts: "You can't fix a blank page."  What does that tell me?  That even the cleverest and most prolific of writers agree that in order to write well, you must first write, period.  (And you can quote me on that, LOL!)

People sometimes ask me, "How long did it take to finish your first novel?"  I worked on Homesong off and on for about five years, which is not an uncommon lenghth of time.  The majority of the writing was done during the last year, when I was really pouring the coals on.  My second novel, Still Waters, is slightly shorter and took about two years to write. 

*****

Looking back on my journey from "Will I ever be able to finish this?" to "I'm a writer!" the thing that seems so remarkable is how one thing led to another.  It started (as does every journey) with the decision to do it.  That led to the realization that I needed a dependable route, and hopefully some good traveling companions.  One writing conference, one writing workshop, one writing buddy and a lot of plain old writing later, I finally reached my destination. 

So what about you?  Whether you've completed that first novel or not, what have you found helpful (or not so helpful) on your writing journey?

You Learn Something New Every Day: Am I a Closet Sci-Fi Addict?

This comes under the heading of "a tongue-in-cheek look at my own psyche."  I've always stated (with perhaps too much emphasis) that I'm not "into" science fiction.  I mean, Star Wars was great, ET made me laugh and cry, and Avatar was a really fun way to spend 280 minutes.  But am I a sci-fi fan?  Until recently, the answer would have been no.

But then last week I joined 150,000 other people at the San Diego Comic-Con.  Just a few years ago, Comic-Con was a medium-sized convention for fans of comic books, graphic novels, and (to an extent), science fiction.  But it's exploded into a legitimate phenomena and mini film-festival, where celebrities of varying stature mingle with their adoring public.  It's still largely sci-fi-centric, but the boundries have expanded to include many things that are genre-defying and/or slightly off-kilter: Dexter, Nurse Jackie and Family Guy being three of them. 

The con was a really unique and fun experience (and yes, I do have pictures to post on Facebook!  This weekend, I promise!).  It was for the most part a cheerful crowd (isolated pen stabbings notwithstanding): all of us were bonded by the general atmosphere of festivity and the aching feet we developed while standing in line.  As I chatted with my fellow fun-lovers, I found myself repeating my firm stance that I wasn't a sci-fi fan.  And then something remarkable happened: I started listening to myself!  This is what I heard:

"I'm not really into sci-fi, but I love Battlestar Galactica."

"I'm not really into sci-fi, but I love Firefly."

"I'm not really into sci-fi, but I love Futurama."

Hmmm, am I crazy, or is there a pattern emerging?  Suddenly I realized that my professed indifference of the genre was just my way of "playing it cool," much like we used to do as kids when we didn't want someone to know that we "liked" them!

So after much inward-searching and contemplation, I have come to a remarkable conclusion: I am a fan of science fiction!  I mean, beam me up, Scotty, because I frackin' love that shiny sci-fi!  It's full-on double rainbow. I'm twirling my hair into Princess Leia buns right now! 

You know, the older I get, the more I have to learn -- especially about myself.  It makes me feel hopeful about the future, and very young at heart!

Have you ever had an experience like this, or am I the only one?

Where do ideas come from? And why haven't I had any good ones lately?

Yikes! It's been a MONTH since I've blogged!? Oh boy, that ain't good. The truth is, aside from being "busy" (which is never an excuse not to write, as any writer will tell you!) I just haven't had any good ideas lately! It's been a bit of a problem, let me tell ya. But then last week, something funny happened. (Insert dramatic segue music of your choice here.)

I was invited, by someone I'd never met, to submit a short story for a new website. The deadline was fast approaching, and I was stumped. I mean, when someone I don't know contacts me and asks me to write something for them, that's progress, right? So I had to do it, right?

There was an inkling of an idea wriggling around in my brainpan about a woman who takes a "sick day" from work and winds up in a most peculiar situation. It was all I had, so I decided to run with it. I chiseled three hours from my schedule, packed up my laptop, and went to Starbucks to write. Now, three hours isn't a lot, but it's enough to get the bones of a short-short story down on paper. (Short-shorts usually run 500-1500 words.) I was convinced that I could bang out a rough draft, do rewrites over the next couple of days, and voila! Brilliant story, rave reviews, worldwide fame. I had it all planned.

I strode confidently into the coffee shop, head held high, laptop over my shoulder. I ordered my beverage and a chicken-veggie platter with humous (yum), plunked down my stuff at the corner table with the good view, switched on my computer…and sat there. And then sat there some more. Oh, I sat like a champ, let me tell you! Finally, I started typing, grinding out the story as I'd imagined it. It wasn't good, but at least it was something.

Slowly and painfully, words made their way onto the screen. I hacked out the first act of the story, which was all that I'd thought of at that time, and then I stopped again, and sat some more. What should happen next? I asked myself. But I had absolutely no clue; I was stumped, good and proper.

Now, anyone who knows me well can tell you that I've had a lifelong love affair with the works of Agatha Christie. She's written some of my favorite stories of all time, including classics like Jane in Search of a Job, The Golden Ball and The Manhood of Edward Robinson. So at that moment, in my time of trouble, I sent up a quick prayer to the writing gods and asked myself, "What would Agatha do?" Suddenly I had an idea. Just like that, I Saw It All: the whole story, all laid out like a pretty little lollipop path winding its way into an enchanted forest.

But there was a catch, of course (isn't there always?) and it was this: no way was this story going to be only 1500 words. And no way was I going to bang it out in the time I had left which at that particular moment was – well, damn it all, I was out of time!

Okay, almost out of time. See, I was supposed to meet someone approximately one hour from that particular moment, and I was going to need about ten minutes to get to where I was going. So I had fifty minutes to come up with another brilliant but short story and write the rough draft. The impossibility of the situation overwhelmed me, and I knew I had to get out of the store and get some space.

Frustrated, I packed up my laptop, threw away the remains of my yummy snack, sucked down the rest of my coffee and got the heck outta there. I used the short drive to remind myself of all the times that writing has been easy. Okay, so there aren't that many of those times, but there have been a few! A few of those lovely, delightful instances when everything falls into place and the words just flow like fine wine.

There has to be a way to have that again, I told myself. I just need a little sweet inspiration.

I arrived at my destination and parked the car. I looked up at the blue sky and imagined having a hundred brilliant ideas. I pictured them like brightly colored balloons, rising in the air, multiplying and spreading….

Something clicked. Oh, yes it surely did. I looked at the clock on my dashboard. Forty-fiveminutes left. It was better than nothing. My laptop was out of juice by that time, so I grabbed my trusty spiral-bound notebook and my favorite ballpoint and I started scribbling. Spelling and grammar were in no way important, and for once, neatness absolutely did not count.

By the time my friend arrived, I had handwritten almost half the story. She took pity on me: helped me find an electrical outlet so I could plug in my computer, and waited patiently while I banged out the second half. That rough draft came to about 900 words; further tinkering brought it up in the 1300-word range. I emailed it off just under deadline, and now I'm waiting to hear back. If they don't choose to use it – well hey, that's okay, I'll just post it here. :)

You know, one of the most common questions for a writer to be asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" The truth is, ideas can come from anywhere. My original story concept(about the sick day) came on a morning when my alarm went off and for the briefest of moments I contemplated calling in sick (I confess I wasn't sick, I was just feeling lazy!). Then I imagined where the day might take me if I didn't go to work, and that's how I got my first act. As I really think about it, most of my ideas come from that same place: from simply asking What if?

What if two childhood sweethearts were suddenly thrown together in an intimate but exotic setting, while all the secrets of their hometown life threatened to destroy their last chance at happiness? That was Homesong, my first novel.

What if a woman finds evidence that her husband is having an affair, but he dies in an accident before she can ask him about it? That was Still Waters, my second novel (available now on Kindle, and available in paperback on August 18th, I might add!).

Sometimes the what-ifs don't go very far, but sometimes they go all the way!

So now, what if you tell me about a good idea that you've had (artistic or otherwise!), where it came from and where it led you?