Archive for January, 2010
AND THE WINNER IS….
LAURA BRECK!!! Congratulations, Laura. You are the winner of January’s First Friday Fodder For Fiction Writing Exercise Contest.
Thank you so much for entering. I will be sending you copies of e-book versions of Double Out and Back as well as a free special edition e-cookbook from the authors at Red Rose Publishing, Kissin’ Don’t Last, Cookin’ Does.
Check back this coming Friday, for February’s First Friday Fodder For Fiction Writing Exercise Contest.
Resolutions Update: How Am I Doing?
Progress on Resolutions as of January 29, 2010:
1. Revamp Author Website: I worked with Farr Design, my new web mistress to put together a new look for my website. I hope you like it! This blog is fully-integrated. I’m liking having everything in one place!
2. Punch-up Blog Lisa Leibow’s Fodder for Fiction and plan programming for the year: You’ve already experienced some of the new programming. I’m almost ready to re-direct the old BlogSpot to WordPress fully-integrated with my website. My new address is: www.LLLeibow.com/blog
3. Finish my Fictional Slave Narrative by June and have it ready for a critique group.: I spent Tuesday, Jan. 5 getting reacquainted with my characters and making character cards to help me keep track of everyone better as I delve into writing the scenes I outlined in November. I also have been doing more period research, reading as much as I can about the Revolutionary War. I think I need to spend a huge chunk of time to jumpstart this project again. All of my focus on getting the website and blog going strong has zapped some of the creative time and energy these first few weeks of the year. I’m hoping though, that I can front-load some of my blog posts so I can have a couple of weeks to just focus on the novel… Here’s hoping!
4. Finish the rewrite of my middle grade high-fantasy by incorporating feedback from my new critique group.: I received my first set of critiques of the first two chapters. Great feedback. It’s really got me thinking. My critique partners are now reading Chapters 3&4. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say.
5. Write four short stories: I spent some time reviewing my story idea log, and I have chosen one of the ideas to focus on for my first short story draft of 2010. Now if only I could find time to write it…
6. Donate blood at least 6 times
I’m planning to go the first week of February. I had to wait to be eligible again, and I gave just before Thanksgiving.
7. Exercise at least three times per week
Jan. Week 1:
- Went hiking while I was in the mountains
- Elliptical 30 min., weight training 30 min.
- Recumbent exercise bike 30 min.
Jan. Week 2:
- Yoga class
- Spin class
- Weight training
Jan. Week 3: I was so bad this week—completely off track. However, I refuse to use this as an excuse to stay off-track.
Jan. Week 4:
- Yoga class
- Spin class
- Treadmill 30 min.
8. Read at least 50 books (i.e. read all of the books I have purchased and are in my to-read pile). Here’s what I’ve finished so far. I’m on track.
1. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
3. Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
4. You are Not A Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
Not perfect, but I’m making progress. I’ll give another status update next month. This feels like an interesting exercise. I’m not really sure if my followers are interested in hearing about my goals and progress. However, it gives me the illusion of being accountable to someone other than myself! So, thank you for the healthy pressure. Any encouragement you can offer along the way is welcomed! I’ll give my next update on the fourth Friday of February.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
Celebrating Virginia Woolf’s Birthday!
This week brings us a wonderful celebration of Virginia Woolf’s birthday.
Nobody writes like that anymore — wonderful. One of my first reads of 2010 was Mrs. Dalloway. I wanted to read it because of it’s prominent influence on The Hours. As a writer, I read it with an eye toward the craft. It was fascinating to read an omniscient narrative. Contemporary style shuns head-hopping but Virginia Woolf delved into so many characters’ views, here. I really enjoyed the experience of learning about Clarissa Dalloway through all of the characters she encountered during the day of her party.
Clarissa Dalloway, the quintessential party-thrower is the perfect character to show a glimpse of in celebration of Virginia Woolf’s birthday. Here’s an excerpt.
“Hullo Elizabeth!” cried Peter, stuffing his handkerchief in his pocket, going quickly to her, saying “Goodbye, Clarissa” without looking at her, leaving the room quickly, running downstairs, and opening the hall door.
“Peter, Peter!” cried Clarissa, following him out onto the landing. “My party to-night! Remember my party to-night!” she cried, having to raise her voice against the roar of the open air, and overwhelmed by the traffic and the sound of all the clocks striking, her voice crying “Remember my party to-night!” sounded frail and thin and very far away as Peter shut the door.
Remember my party. Remember my party, said Peter Walsh as he stepped down the street, speaking to himself rhythmically, in time with the flow of the sound, the direct downright sound of Big Ben striking the half-hour. (The leaden circles dissolved in the air.) Oh these parties, he thought; Clarissa’s parties. Why does she give these parties, he thought. Not that he blamed her or this effigy of a man in a tail-coat with a carnation in his button-hole coming towards him. Only one person in the world could be as he was, in love. And there he was, this fortunate man, himself, reflected in the plate-glass window of a motor-car manufacturer in Victoria Street. All India lay behind him; plains, mountains; epidemics of cholera; a district twice as big as Ireland; decisions he had come to alone—he, Peter Walsh; who was now really for the first time in his life, in love. Clarissa had grown hard, he thought; and a trifle sentimental into the bargain, he suspected, looking at the great motor-cars capable of dowing—how many miles on how many gallons? For he had a turn for mechanics; had invented a plough in his district, had ordered wheel-barrows from England, but the coolies wouldn’t use them, all of which Clarissa knew nothing whatever about.
The way she said “Here is my Elizabeth!”—that annoyed him. Why not “Here’s Elizabeth” simply? It was insincere. And Elizabeth didn’t like it either. (Still the last tremors of the great booming voice shook the air round him; the half-hour; still early; only half-past eleven still.) For he understood young people; he liked them. There was always something cold in Clarissa, he thought. She had always, even as a girl, a sort of timidity, which in middle age becomes conventionality, and then it’s all up, it’s all up, he thought, looking rather drearily into the glassy depths, and wondering whether by calling at that hour he had annoyed her; overcome with shame suddenly at having been a fool; wept; been emotional; told her everything, as usual, as usual.” Excerpt, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
I hope you enjoyed this celebration of the life and beautiful writing of one of the masters of them all, Virginia Woolf.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
On Men and Monsters
In fiction, there is often no question as to the significance of monsters used in a given story. Monsters represent that which is dark and evil in humanity. We write and read about them to acknowledge their impact on our lives and to define the very real monsters that exist in our world. While many writers are vague about their influences or base their writing on secondhand experiences, it is important for me to share about my past encounters with real human monsters and how they have influenced both my life and my fiction.
I come from a family of vampires—not the immortal, blood-sucking creatures of lore, but rather psychological leeches who thrive on the undue, often negative, attention of others. For many years, I also contributed to the dysfunction, continuing the cycle of harmful behaviors and self-destruction by partnering myself with abusive men. When I finally did break the cycle, the reality of my family’s energy sucking behaviors was both sobering and unsettling. I had just left my fiancé, who had left me with a cracked skull, torn rotator cuff, split lips, and bruises from head to toe, and I had temporarily moved “back home” to regain my bearings and start over my life. After years of living hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles away from my parents and siblings (they moved often), I had not realized that the family from which I came had striking similarities to the man I had just escaped.
I learned that my mother and youngest sister, like a number of other members of my extended family, suffer from a type of personality disorder that makes it nearly impossible for them to empathize with others. Even worse, their worlds consist of one drama after the next, leaving heartache and destruction in their wakes. They live to gain attention from others, no matter how their actions might affect the people around them. Moreover, they achieve varying levels of pleasure in causing others pain. As I came to identify the darkness within my family, I began to identify that darkness within myself—and I began to distance myself from both. As I did so, I was able to see it with even greater clarity, and the more I distanced myself from them, the more they worked to reel me back into their dysfunction.
I now live free of my past monsters, but it has been a long and painful journey to get to where I now stand. My past has left me with much to share, and so I write about the people I have left behind: they are the monsters in my horror, the aliens in my sci-fi, and the dark shadows in my literary fiction. They are the creatures from the furthest depths of my imagination, and they are the lessons I hope I never have to repeat again. In writing about—and overcoming—them, I offer a slice of reality and hope to my readers. After all, the only way to destroy a monster is to expose it the light.
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Lisa Lane lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their two cats. She has authored over a dozen novels and screenplays, as well as numerous short stories and essays, and she prides herself in her ability to move between different genres and formats. Her literary influences include Olaf Stapledon, Kurt Vonnegut, and Anne Rice.
Wizards, Giants, and the Collector’s Curse
My Number One Son is an athlete and sports fan. This lucky kid owns spectacular sports memorabilia. Some came as gifts, and he even caught a ball or two at baseball games. His most prized collectibles include an autographed jersey of his favorite football player, a baseball autographed by his favorite baseball player, and a pair of basketball shoes autographed by his favorite basketball star. You might say, this kid has the best collection in town! Only, the series of unfortunate events that followed the display of each of these prized items in my home leads me to believe that there is some kind of dark magic afoot. Because of big trouble, this display at my house is transformed from a wall of fame to a wall of shame?
Who are these troubled fallen heroes?
1. Giants player Plaxico Burress, who is currently serving a prison sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun that went off and wounded him at a Manhattan nightclub.
2. Yankees player Alex Rodriguez, who is now infamous in the steroid scandal.
3. The Wizards player Gilbert Arenas, who was arrested, pled guilty and is now awaiting sentencing on felony gun charges.
Since this is ‘real life’, I’ll chalk it up to coincidence, or the skyrocketing odds of a professional athlete descending into trouble. However, as a writer, who loves to spin a tale, I can’t help but to imagine scenarios where the a Sports Collectible shop is located on some sort of ancient burial ground. The ghosts look to the inventory of the store for haunting assignments, causing any athlete they haunt to become reckless and paranoid enough to resort to firearms, even shooting themselves in some instances. Or, where a teenage boy with a fantastic autographed baseball card collection stumbles upon an old book of voodoo curses in his grandfather’s basement and begins to read. Unbeknownst to him, the ingredients for assigning the curse – the reading of the hex aloud in the presence of a personal item and an authenticated signature spell disaster for the original owners of those items.
I love it when my creative juices get going. Tell me what you think of those ideas. And, I’d love to hear about strange real-life coincidences you’ve encountered.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
P.S. Don’t forget! There’s still time to complete this month’s writing exercise “The Photograph.” Anyone who posts that they have completed the assignment is entered into a drawing to win a free e-book of Double Out and Back and an e-book Cookbook, Kissin’ Don’t Last Cookin’ Do
http://llleibow.com/blog/2010/01/07/fodder-for-fiction-first-friday-writing-exercise-january-2010/
LISA’S MONTHLY RANT: This Girl Passes On TV’s That Need Glasses
Recent media reports promise three-dimensional images will jump out of movie theaters and into living rooms sometime this year. (e.g. CNN) According the linked report, Sony and Panasonic say they will release home 3-D television systems in 2010; Mitsubishi and JVC are reported to be working on similar products. Is this really as a simple as the switch from black-and-white to color television and the shift from standard- to high-definition images?
I’m less than enthusiastic about this new technology. Don’t get me wrong. It would be cool to watch the tube and have football players appear to jump out of the screen during live 3-D broadcasts, or watch the Discovery Channel and feel like I’m standing next to an African Elephant in my living room (sure to freak out Bosco the family dog if we could fit him with glasses).
The above parenthetical brings me to the real topic of this rant: GLASSES.
You see, this 3-D gimmick requires a new television, broadcasting content, and 3-D glasses. I have spent the better part of my life trying to avoid wearing glasses. In elementary school I ‘lost’ them on a regular basis. As soon as I was old enough, I switched to contact lenses. With each new development in optometry, I advanced to wearing my glasses less and less often – soft contact lenses by day, and glasses only at night, extended wear contact lenses worn for a week at a time, with glasses worn only while cleaning them, and disposable extended wear lenses that allowed me to avoid having to wear glasses during disinfecting-time. Finally, ten years ago, I underwent LASIK surgery. I’M FREE!! But I have this 3-D TV technology promise looming large in the future.
Vanity and convenience aren’t the only reasons I’m against needing 3-D glasses to watch television. I also hate the fact that I’m inundated with umpteen remote controls, video game controllers, and other gadgets to add to the clutter, to misplace, and to confuse. Add a pair of glasses for every member of the family as well as a few extra pairs for guests, and that’s a dozen more pieces of stuff I didn’t want around my house in the first place!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Womens’ Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
The Story Behind Fiery Roses
The arsonist I’d created began to merge with the characters I’d created in A Band of Roses. With Princess Talty, my indomitable veteran of “otherworld” adventures, and the rest of her spirited royal clan still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help wondering how the gallant descendants of High King Brian Boru would deal with the political tangle the Corrib Gas Field had become.
My husband and I had already planned to visit Ireland in the summer of 2005. We decided to visit the Mayo bogs. As we weren’t brave enough to drive on the opposite side of the road back then, we hired a driver and headed north.
We passed through some exquisitely scenic country, the Atlantic Ocean to our left, the Nephin Mountains to our right. I didn’t realize we’d reached the bogs until the driver pointed them out. They might have been rolling meadows, but the blankets of green weren’t grass. They were scraw, the layer of tough fibrous sod that covered the peat, or turf, as it’s called in Ireland. Masses of white bog cotton and yellow buttercups painted the scraw. Cows and sheep roamed everywhere. Rows of shrubbery divided the bumpy land into square patches. New homes and crumbling old cottages dotted the landscape.
On we went until we saw a sign for the Corrib Gas Terminal. Down the road, men in hard hats were hard at work behind a chain link fence, large sections of blue pipe awaited installation, and protestors sat in parked cars. They had set out hand-painted signs that said things like, “We are Irish citizens, not Shell subjects.”
The next morning, we learned that Royal Dutch Shell had sought and obtained a court order for the arrest of five Mayo men who refused the company access to their land. The men spent ninety-four days in prison.
As I worked on Fiery Roses, a story filled with fictitious villains and heroes, I followed the Irish news online, waiting for some resolution to the increasing hostility in the Rossport area. I finished writing the book a year ago, after spending more than three years tidying up all the imaginary plot twists with the help of make-believe characters. Sadly, the real situation in north Mayo remains unresolved.
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Born and educated in Boston, Massachusetts, Pat grew up in a family full of music and myths that have found their way into her stories. She is a member of The New Hampshire Writers’ Project, Seacoast Writers’ Association, Romance Writers of America, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A frequent visitor to Ireland, she lives in New Hampshire, where she is currently working on her next novel
Pat’s Website: http://www.patmcdermott.net/
Pat’s blog: Put the Kettle On
FODDER FOR FICTION AUTHOR BIRTHDAY BASH: What Kind Of Birthday Celebration Would Poe Want?
Is it Wednesday already? That means it’s time to celebrate another author birthday at Fodder for Fiction. I’m beginning to enjoy this. This week’s birthday challenge presents a challenge for finding just the right excerpt to capture the spirit of a birthday celebration. Edgar Allen Poe would be 201 years old if he were alive today, and this father of psychological thriller, science fiction, and master of the spooky short story is one of my favorites. No matter how many times I read The Telltale Heart, I can hear the frightening beat right along with the guilt-ridden murderer!
The excerpt I’ve chosen involves an invitation to a party of sorts. Here it is,
“I could not have completed my third snore when there came a furious ringing at the street-door bell, and then an impatient thumping at the knocker, which awakened me at once. In a minute afterward and while I was still rubbing my eyes, my wife thrust in my face a note from my old friend, Doctor Ponnonner. It ran thus:
Come to me by all means, my dear good friend, as soon as you receive this. Come and help us to rejoice. At last, by long persevering diplomacy, I have gained assent of the Directors of the City Museum, to my examination of the Mummy—you know the one I mean. I have permission to unswathe it and open it, if desirable. A few friends only will be present—you of course. The Mummy is now at my house, and we shall begin to unroll it at eleven to-night.
Yours ever,
PONNONNER”
Excerpt from Some Words with a Mummy by Edgar Allen Poe
Don’t you agree that this is precisely the type of party Poe would wish to attend on his birthday? Positively Spooky!
In honor of Poe’s birthday share some memories of your favorite Edgar Allen Poe story.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
PACE YOURSELF
Ever heard the expression “pace yourself?” In my case, I truly needed to. Life was so busy. There wasn’t enough time for me to pursue my creative writing habit so I went for a weekend retreat with Nancy, a fellow writer.
We went for a few nights to The Pace House Inn, a bed and breakfast. The restful lodging was where history spoke volumes in the way of charming architecture and lovely antiques. I was inspired to the max. The result of the weekend was an ebook of romance and time travel. On first reaching my destination, I was immediately caught up in the stories of the family who built and owned the home a hundred years ago.
While staying at the B&B, I kept sensing the presence of someone named Ben. While I learned that none of the original inhabitants had that name, I came to realize that the Ben I was sensing was the character in the story I would ultimately write while there.
I found myself wondering what if… What if a guest at the bed and breakfast found herself in a relationship with someone from the property’s past who had come to visit contemporary times? Would he have a charm and sensitivity not possessed by guys of today?
The air and décor of the rooms where I stayed inspired me to write a story that showed that love can span generations or even a century. Inspiration can be intensified if a writer digs deeply enough or far enough in the past.
Cara Preston a.k.a. Phyllis Johnson (real name)
Cara Preston is the pen name for a writer whose work at Red Rose Publishing includes Pickup Lines from a Pickup Truck and Another Place and Time (scheduled for Jan. 14, 2010 release at Red Rose) Her alter ego writes a weekly newspaper column, does restaurant reviews and writes for national magazines. She has also published three poetry books.
COLLECTIBLES AS QUIRK AND CATALYST
Do you collect something unusual? Is it your choice to collect it or have others thrust the collection upon you. My mother once bought a creamer shaped that looked like a purple cow, and everyone decided, “Oh! You like cows!” Now, due the generosity of friends and family, her house is filled to the brim with everything cow: magnets, pictures, coffee mugs, bath towels, mooing ice cream scoops, you name it-she’s got it.
In fiction, this kind of detail adds some quirky personality to a character. But what a character collects could be more than just a telling detail or character trait. Consider the following recount of the life of my personal collection of salt and pepper shakers, started when I was a little girl, it gave me something to search for as souvenirs and something special for my parents and friends to give as gifts.
Over the years, my collection of salt and pepper shakers grew. It included a zoo of animals, including trout, horses, monkeys, pigs, and even a kangaroo salt shaker whose Joey pepper shaker sat in her pouch. Toast and a toaster lined up next to replicas of landmarks like the Washington Monument, gardens of tiny, porcelain shakers of ears of corn, apples, and carrots. My collection was a sight to behold. I carried it with me from my childhood home, to dorm rooms, an apartment, and two houses. Finally, I displayed it on a mantle shelf hung above the kitchen sink. I loved admiring the shakers each day.
One day, I arrived home from work to the sound of running water. I walked into the kitchen to find that the shelf had fallen and hit the faucet turning it on, and worse, had left my cherished collection of salt and pepper shakers in shards all over the floor and counter. Ugh… I felt as if part of my childhood had been shattered along with my collection. I salvaged a few shakers. And, my mother – a very artistic and wonderful woman – took some of the broken pieces and glued them as a mosaic on a bulletin board frame, so I have the memory of my collection. However, I cannot bring myself to start anew.
If this were fiction, the build up and loss of this collection might be symbolic of the loss of innocence. Or, it might end up a catalyst to set the protagonist into action, sending him on a quest to find replacements, to seek revenge against whoever might have caused the shelf to fall, or to invent better wall anchors. It might also be an event that foreshadows disaster on a larger scale.
Use your imagination!
I’d love to hear about what you collect – be it stamps, beanie babies, antiques, or art! Share it here. It’s fodder for fiction.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com