You Gotta Believe!

by Judy Merrill Larsen

Fears. Worries. We all have them. I mean, except for those who don't. Who always seem calm, cool, collected and above it all.



But, I'm not talking to them. And, besides, I'm guessing they are afraid of not seeming calm, cool, collected and above it all.

So, here's the thing. You have to have faith. You gotta believe. Just do it.

I can be the queen of (irrational) fears. Snakes. Satellites falling from the sky on one of my kids. Dreaded diseases. Can I just say that WebMD is not my friend? I've always been this way. I distinctly remember when I was 10 and reading all the Little House on the Prairie books. I had a cold with a bad cough. My throat was all congested. And some character in the book (a minor one) died of Diphtheria. So, of course, I diagnosed myself with Diphtheria and was a little put out that no one in my family was very concerned that at any moment I was about to die. I remember coughing quietly into my kleenex and thinking how much they would miss me and how bad they'd feel that they hadn't been nicer. And I was quite surprised when I woke up the next morning very much alive. I even mentioned it to my mom, who, when she stopped laughing, assured me that I did NOT have diphtheria and also pointed out that I'd been immunized when I was a toddler.



Oh well.

That didn't quite get rid of my hypochondriac tendencies. Suffice it to say that I've diagnosed myself with cancer more times than you can imagine. My doctor just shakes her head when I tell her my latest diagnosis (always grim).

But, deep down, I believe that no matter what, I'll be okay.

Just like deep down I have faith in my writing. Even when all I seem to be getting are rejections. I have faith in the kindness of people even when I see lots of evidence to the contrary. Because giving up just isn't an option. Sure, some family and friends probably shook their heads when I kept submitting queries. I mean, I'd been rejected over and over and over again. But all it takes is one yes. And I eventually got that yes. I have faith in the future of publishing. People love to read. So they'll continue to buy books. Maybe more and more will be e-books. Or paperbacks. But people are still reading. So, I'll keep writing.

You never know. That's the key. And that's the wonder of it all.

Let me give another example . . . on August 25, the St. Louis Cardinals were 10.5 games out in the National League wild card race (there was no way they were going to win their division). They were toast. But you know what? They didn't count themselves out. They went 18-8 in September and on the last day of the season, won the wild card. Then they went on to beat the Phillies and then the Brewers in the playoffs. Two teams with better records and home field advantage. Okay, so heading into the World Series, NO ONE picked them to win it all (well, other than my husband and sons).



But, they won it all. They believed in themselves. They didn't give in to naysayers or prognosticators or their own self-doubt. They didn't diagnose themsleves with diphtheria. They just played with heart and faith and guts.

That's all any of us can do. Live with heart and faith and guts. Write with belief. And heart and faith and guts.

I have a new manuscript I'm putting the finishing touches on. And I believe--deep down where it really matters--that it will find the perfect editor who will love it as much as I do. It won't get diphtheria because my belief will immunize it. I mean, if the Cardinals could do it, so can my book.

What's your diphtheria? What do you need to really believe in?

I live in St. Louis, MO with my husband, am the mom/stepmom to five kids (ages 18-26), and taught high school English for 15 years. I'm over on Facebook and Twitter . My first novel, ALL THE NUMBERS was published in 2006.

Are you in the game?

A close girlfriend of mine just sent me a Tennessee Williams’ essay, “The Catastrophe of Success,” which Williams wrote after the commercial success of The Glass Menagerie. 

            In the essay, Williams talks about losing sight of who his actual friends were, about getting caught up in the mirage that is success—which reminded me of what one of my professors once told me:  “Publishing a book won’t make people like you more.  In fact, publishing a book, might make people dislike or envy you.  The only thing that really changes is that more people might want to fuck you.”

            I have not experienced (that I know of…) this boon of success.  J  But what both men remind me, in different ways, is that a writer’s success is not who the writer is.  In the same way that our thoughts are not who we actually are, our levels of success are far less substantial than our thoughts.  Our actions represent who we are.  Are we writing or have we become complacent?     

            As Tennessee Williams mentions in “The Catastrophe of Success”: if you’re not pursuing something, if you’re not fighting and in the midst of conflict, you’ve got nothing to say. 

            After a series of cataract surgeries, Williams’ friends—the friends he’d had before his success—came to see him.  They didn’t talk about his writing or his play.  Instead, they wanted to know how he was feeling, and if he needed anything.  This cleared his head.  He left the kidney-shaped pool in Beverly Hills and went to Mexico.  There, he wrote A Streetcar Named Desire.  “Stella!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Truman Capote said, “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” 

One must always be in the game of writing and fighting for something.  Are you in the game?    Happy Day of the Dead.

Michele Young-Stone lives in Richmond, VA with her husband and son.  She is currently completing two novels, Perfect Birds and The Saints of Los Vientos under contract with Simon and Schuster.

If you'd like to buy an autographed copy of her critically acclaimed first novel, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, copies are available at Chop Suey Books (804) 422-8066 and Fountain Books (804) 788-1594.  Call to order!  

  

All Hallows Eve

by Maggie Marr

I scare easily.

I've never seen the movie Halloween. I don't watch The Walking Dead. Salem's Lot by Stephen King was required reading in a high school literature class and after I read it (okay during too) I slept with the lights on for over a month. I don't enjoy a 'good scare' and seriously think anyone that does is more than a bit half cracked.

I don't want to know how to survive a Zombie attack.

Nor can I even begin to imagine why anyone would want to date one.
This:

is absolutely NOT cute.

And vampires? Come on--what is sexy about a boyfriend who wants to kill you or at the very least suck out all your blood until your nearly dead--but not quite--so you--the living girlfriend can produce more blood to feed his insatiable habit. This isn't a love story--it's domestic violence.

There are creatures that do this--they are leaches and ticks and they aren't cute or sexy or loving. They are parasites. Much like your vampire boyfriend--get over him. Find some love with the living.





Me and my lovers rolling around in my blood--doesn't seem sexy--more like sociopathic.

I will admit to a life-long love of Anne Rice--and some sleepless nights because of her and Lasher and the Vampire Lestat.

I was scared watching Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and even my five year old loved that film.

Give me a romantic comedy. A drama. Maybe even a light thriller. But anything--anything that is gonna' make me jump, sream, shriek, pee my pants (and not because I am laughing really hard) forget about it.

Which is why that it is pretty remarkable that I am still in this writing thing after 15 years. The stories I could tell you--OH MY GOODNESS--the stories I could tell you--(but can't due to the confidentiality agreements in place)--would raise the hair on the back of your neck, send chills shivering down your spine--might even cause you to run-run-RUN fast and far from this crazy thing called publishing.

I leave you with one final thing that freaked me out this week.



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Maggie Marr is a scaredy-cat and mother of two who lives in Los Angeles. Her latest book a contemporary romantic COMEDY will publish March 2012. Her short story 'Dashing Through The Snow' will appear in the anthology Sleigh Ride 11/11/11/. You can find her biting her fingernails and hoping nobody jumps from the bushes to get her. On Halloween she will be safely in the house by 9 pm with the doors locked and all the lights on.

Book Winners!

We had so many great comments at the Girlfriends Book Club, I decided to award two copies of BEAUTIFUL DISASTER! The winners were Laura Kay & Melissa A.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

The World of Magic

by Sandra Novack

 I love Halloween.  It’s one of the few nights a year when the veil lifts and when, supposedly, the dead can walk freely among us mortals.  Can you feel it, how the air becomes electrified with possibilities and magic?  Usually on Halloween I’m an unabashed witch.  See that photo?  That’s me there.  It’s a no-brainer, given that I am actually something of a witch. Sometimes I use the more innocuous word gypsy instead, but let’s not split hairs. I’ve read tarot since I was fourteen and even recently did a blog post on reading tarot, which, as a Halloween treat, you might enjoy reading.  I might be one of your few friends who will call you to say a loved one showed up in dreams, with a message about wedding rings.  I can tell you that basil, blessed thistle, chamomile, or rosemary can bring you luck and success, that lavender helps with sleep, that Thursday is ruled by Jupiter and good for career-related things, and that red candles are used for love, sex, or vigor, yellow to attract and persuade, and light blue to promote understanding.  I am careful during the time the moon is waning.  And I try to send out my thoughts like prayers—only good—because I believe in the laws of karma, and I believe that energy travels.

Given my love of magic, I decided to write a post about magical realism.  In a way this post represents a blend of recent topics, as it hits on one of my favorite genres, pointers, and risks that paid or didn’t pay off.  For starters, even making the above statements is a risk. In the olden days, I might have been burned for such statements!  But, too, I’ve tried my hand at magical realism once, and couldn’t quite get it to fly.  (Ha, lame pun.) When I wrote my debut novel, PRECIOUS, I actually had an element of magical realism in it.  In the original draft, Eva looks out her window at the end of Part I and flowers are falling from the sky, not rain.  The ‘flower thread,’ as I called it, was then developed as the book progressed.  It was important to me for reasons that were beyond my logical mind.  It was so important, in fact, that I was scared to trust it.  I trusted my rational mind to shape a plot, to write the story well, to have characters come to life, but I didn’t trust the magic I wanted—the element of the extraordinary—would spring to life.  It felt ‘way out there’ to me.  It required a leap of faith.  In the end my wise editor looked at it and decided that the harsh reality of my novel was too much for the more delicate magical-realism thread.  She was right, a point even more obvious to me when I could cut the thread without hardly any reworking/revision.  I hadn’t developed it enough.  I didn’t let it infuse itself, didn’t let it take over the world, the way I truly believe magic can enter into our lives, and shape us, all for the better. 

I’m not unhappy that I cut the thread. Part of being a writer requires coming more and more into yourself.   But you know I am very OCD about certain ideas and images and themes.  So of course I have a project I’m working on that has some magical realism elements, yet again.  With that in mind, a few pointers I want to hang on my own computer as I work:

1)   Magic, little witch, is not for the timid!  Be strong with your intentions and have them permeate the page. If you don’t believe it, no one else will.  If you’re going to go for it, then dang it, GO FOR IT!  

2)   Never be afraid to bring out what is naturally in you.  The world at large may deem you nuts, but like energy finds like energy.  You will always find a home, and readers, if you write from your heart.

3)   Take a lesson from John Updike, who doesn’t make his magic seem anything other than mundane.  Because, in a very real way, magic IS mundane—it’s all around us, all the time.  Read The Witches of Eastwick, for example.  Things just happen, and the author doesn’t get mired down in justifying why that is.  It just is.

4)   Magic has to operate within the reality of a narrative framework and within the reality of the plot, characters, and setting.   This is a truism that cannot be hampered with, as far as I can tell.  It’s like a law of the (fictional) universe!

5)   Magic can also be ‘other-worldly’—another door, another place.  In other words, a world co-existing with this one—tangible, yet still slightly apart from the everyday world, a veil to be lifted. But it can just as easily be worldly.  Practical Magic comes to mind.

6)   Details build credence.   Gabriel Garcia Marquez knew this.  Take his gritty angel, as an example.

7)   Magic can also be justified by science.  Quantum physics, anyone?  (See, that’s the rational part of me, again.)

8)   Often magic is introduced gradually and then ratcheted up and up, as the narrative progresses, but just as easily some readers are simply put into a fully-blown, ‘not-quite-ordinary’ world.

I’m sure there’s more than this, but that’s off the top of my head.  So:  What do you most wish for, what magic in your life?  Write it down, send it out in the world.  I wish you all every success (and all a gypsy’s blessings), that what you put out there is given to you.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  XOXO

Sandra Novack is the author of PRECIOUS and the short story collection EVERYONE BUT YOU, both available from Random House.  Visit her at http://www.sandranovack.com, or on-line at Facebook.

There’s No Crying in Baseball, But There Is Good Story Structure

by Sara Rosett 

I suppose I should preface this post with the comment that I’m not a rabid baseball or Rays fan, but I do keep up with local sports teams. I was aware of the Rays standings in baseball the way I was aware of the bridge closure downtown—it was there in the background, but not front and center on my radar. 

I paid more attention as the season wound down. When I saw Evan Longoria’s homerun at the bottom of the twelfth inning on the last day of the season send the Rays to the post season, I thought, it’s like a book or movie.

Of course, since I’m a writer and a big fan of process, I began to break it down and discovered the Rays' journey to the post season provided some excellent tips for creating good story structure:

Your characters need problems and obstacles
During the summer of 2010, there had been a steady bleed of talent as Rays players were traded or departed as free agents to teams that could pay higher salaries. Expectations were low. 2011 was labeled as a “rebuilding year” for the Rays. By September, they were almost nine games behind the Boston Red Sox, a gap that had never been overcome. Their odds of going to the post season were miniscule. 

Why this is important for good storytelling:  Our characters need problems and issues to overcome. There must be a struggle. If there’s nothing wrong in our characters’ lives, no challenges, then there is no story. The Rays’ situation was extreme, but it’s more thrilling to watch the underdog win than to watch the leader steadily progress to victory with no serious challenges.

Your characters need some redeeming qualities
While the Rays had lost some of their stars (Crawford, Garza, Pena, etc), they still had talented baseball players and brought out the best in their new players. Their manager, Joe Maddon, emphasized good mechanics and was the winner of Sports Illustrated’s poll that asked MLB players who they would most like to play for. The Rays might not have the biggest names in their division, but they were persistent. They didn’t steadily climb up the standing though sheer luck. Their own hard work helped them get there.

Why this matters in good storytelling: Readers want to like your characters and root for them. You don’t have to make your character a Pollyanna, but if you have a complaining, rather grouchy cop who is depressed over the death of his partner, readers will be more likely to root for him if he’s got a redeeming quality or two. Maybe he’s a volunteer Little League umpire (fitting for this post, eh?) or keeps an eye on the rookie at work. Don’t let your character succeed through dumb luck or coincidence. Of course, your character will have flaws, but be sure he/she has admirable qualities, too.

Your characters need a good rival
This won’t take much time to explain:  the Rays are in a division with the seemingly invincible and deep-pocketed Yankees as well as the Red Sox, two tough teams. The Red Sox steadily declined throughout September, which opened the door to the Rays, but both the Yankees and the Red Sox were quality opponents. With the Red Sox sliding, the Rays last games weren’t with a last place team, they were with the division leader, the Yankees. To go to the post season, they’d have to beat the best.

Why this matters in good storytelling: Your characters need a worthy rival. A victory over a worthy opponent is sweeter than a victory over a weaker rival. If you do well on an easy test that everyone aces, there’s not much pride there, but if you’re the only student to make an “A” in the class with the professor known to be difficult, you have a reason to feel good. Think of the feedback on reality shows. Praise from Simon on The “X” Factor or from Len on “Dancing With The Stars” means more to contestants because these “tough grader” judges have such high standards. A worthy rival tests your character and pushes him/her to the limit, revealing your character’s best and worst qualities. Seeing a character face down a worthy opponent and succeed through their own intrinsic qualities gives the reader immense satisfaction and that’s what we want to do as writers—give the reader a good ride.

Your character must always be in jeopardy
Even with the Red Sox fading, they were still tied with the Rays on the last day of the regular season and there was always the possibility that the Red Sox could pull it out, down to the last moments of the last game.

Why this matters in good storytelling:  This is what’s known as “stake.” What is at stake for your characters is what motivates them, keeps them struggling against those hefty odds. If the stake goes away, the tension goes away. If the Rays had pulled ahead of the Red Sox and the Red Sox had no chance of winning the Wild Card slot, those last few games wouldn’t have been filled with tension and pressure. Keep the stakes high. Keep your characters in jeopardy until the last possible moment.  Howard Bryant summed it up on ESPN.com, “In the span of three minutes, what couldn’t be settled for 161 games was settled. The Red Sox were one strike away from the playoffs; the Rays one from extinction. All was reversed. Even in the clubhouse, professionals who have seen it all, stood and stared at each other because they had never seen this, a virtual split-screen pennant race.”

So there you go…a couple of great story elements courtesy of Major League Baseball. (That’s I post I never thought I’d write!) but I bet someday there is a book or screenplay, maybe even a movie, based on the Rays’ 2011 season. In fact, it sounds a lot like the plot of Moneyball.

What about you? Anyone else have inspiration for story elements or structure from some place unusual? 

Sara Rosett is the author of the Ellie Avery mystery series, an adult “whodunit” mystery series in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Publishers Weekly has called Sara’s books, “satisfying,” “well-executed,” and “sparkling.” Library Journal says, “...Rosett’s Ellie Avery titles are among the best, using timely topics to move her plots and good old-fashioned motives to make everything believable.”

Visit http://www.SaraRosett.com for more information or connect with Sara on Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads.

365 Snapshot & BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!

By Laura Spinella

This seems like a good juncture for a reflective blog. I was going to go with the publishing mistakes theme, but realized how low we are on liquor. So, instead, I’ll drink what’s left, aptly setting the mood for reflection. Nudge me if I start to slur. It’s an appropriate pause point for a number of reasons, including the birthday I celebrated yesterday. I still get to hang with the forty-something crowd, but not for too much longer. On the upside, this time next year I’ll gape at people in their late fifties, saying, “Holy crap, I’m glad that’s light years away!”




The Ladies of Taunton's Booktini



I actually spent last year’s birthday wondering what this one would bring. The drum roll would have long since passed, and my much anticipated book on the shelf would, with any luck, be… restocked?? If it was a baby, by now it would have teeth and babble a coherent, “Mama.” Truthfully, I’d have it on three or four preschool waiting lists. I never was particularly adept at entertaining small children. Here’s what I didn’t envision a year ago, spending yesterday’s birthday at a book club. When the woman contacted me months ago, I casually mentioned that while I’d love to attend their BEAUTIFUL DISASTER get together, it was my birthday. Maybe another day that week would work? Nope, last Tuesday of the month, that’s their book club date. Fine with me. I was fairly certain I could drink their wine to celebrate, just as well as my own. Honestly, book clubs, by far, have been the unforeseen perk in all this. I thought the signings would be the icing on the cake. Some had their moments, and some were a total bust, but they all came with a level of tension that I could never dial down. Book clubs, on the other hand, were a more natural fit. You get to do a lot of listening, which takes the pressure off. And depending on the group, I often found myself feeling like a lifelong member. Booktini (which has to be the coolest name ever for a book club) in Taunton, MA was one of the best—hand monogrammed wine glasses, door prizes, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER refrigerator magnets, and some of the nicest women I’ve ever met. They made me glad I didn’t listen to people, close kin in some cases, who suggested I bag the book idea and pursue something less fanciful—like, maybe, an application at Home Depot.

In addition to that lengthy list of publishing firsts and author naïveté, which is still bumbling, though not quite as pathetic as it used to be, were contests. I never gave them much thought. There are only so many hours in a day. Subtract out every facet of life that has nothing to do with book writing and factor back in the 24/7 dedication required to write a book. I’m no math whiz, but I’m fairly certain this results in a negative number. So, whatever my reasoning, it just wasn’t something I paid much attention to before BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. A few months ago, I entered one. An invite came in the mail from NJRWA’s Golden Leaf contest. What did I have to lose besides four books? The only real problem was the competitive nature of such an event. Remember, I’m the author who has never visited her Amazon page. It’s not that I have an aversion to competition—I’m just more comfortable with armchair rivalry, preferably the kind where Vanna controls your fate. Yet, by summer’s end, there I was, a finalist in the contest. Go figure. Courtesy of complex circumstances, I didn’t make it to their Put Your Heart in a Book Conference where the awards are bestowed. But I did check my email late last Friday. Holy Moly, I won. BEAUTIUFL DISASTER was awarded NJRWA’s Best First Book in their Golden Leaf contest. Now there’s something I definitely didn’t envision a year ago.

Next week, I head back to the book’s roots, Athens, Georgia. The University of Georgia Alumni Association has been supportive of my literary efforts, and has invited me to participate in their annual Alumni Authors Showcase. I was quick to accept. Aside from the showcase, I haven’t seen that middle child since August, and I’m curious to see if she still knows how to say, “Mama!” I did a signing at UGA last January. At the time, I thought that was the full circle to my big book event. I really did. I’d revel in the moment, sign copies on the campus that inspired the setting, and look around longingly for characters who don’t exist. I’d go home, and that would be it. Well, as I said, bumbling naiveté. So when I take this pause, I see a lot of things I never imagined—at least when it comes to this curious thing we call publishing.

In celebration of BEAUTIFUL DISASTER’S win, and heeding good Girlfriend advice to put the book in readers’ hands, I thought I’d give away a signed copy! Just leave a comment and I’ll pick a winner by Friday.

You can always find me at http://www.lauraspinella.net/ or on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/BeautifulDisasterANovel?sk=app_150903068337795