Archive for March, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AUTHOR JENNIFER WEINER!
In honor of Jennifer Weiner’s birthday, I’m sharing an excerpt from her work about a mother’s first glimpse her new baby. I was torn when it came to choosing a passage to celebrate. If you read my blog on a regular basis or have read any of my fiction, you probably guessed how much I love food. And Jennifer Weiner has some delicious dish descriptions in her narrative. But, once again, I decided it more fitting to choose something that captures a new life and one author’s expression of a paradoxically universal and unique experience of the day a baby is born.
They eased me into a wheelchair, sore and stitched up, hurting all over, and wheeled me to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I couldn’t go in, they explained, but I could see her through the window. A nurse pointed her out. “There,” she said, gesturing.
I leaned so close my forehead pressed on the glass. She was so small. A wrinkled pink grapefruit. Limbs no bigger than my pinky, hands the size of my thumbnail, a head the size of a smallish nectarine. Tiny eyes squinched shut, a look of outrage on her face. A dusting of black fuzz on top of her head, a nondescript beige-ish hat on top of that. “She weighs almost three pounds,” the nurse who was pushing me said.
Baby, I whispered, and tapped my fingers against the windows, drumming a soft rhythm. She hadn’t been moving, but when I tapped she pinwheeled her arms. Waving at me, I imagined. Hi, baby, I said. Excerpt, Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner.
If you like Jennifer Weiner’s books, recommend your favorite to me! I’m listening!
Take care,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
On the Radio…
Since the release date of Double Out and Back, I’ve been touring the blogosphere, and trying to get the word out! One of my favorite ways to reach readers is to chat on BlogTalkRadio shows. I thought it would be fun to share the podcast links to some of the highlights of my radio guest spots over the past several months – just in case you missed them live. Have fun listening!
The Literary Goddess Blog Talk Radio
Introducing Writers on BlogTalkRadio
All Romance eBooks What’s Hot in Romance! on Blog Talk Radio
A Book and a Chat BlogTalkRadio
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
Music as Fodder for Fiction
I often joke that the most difficult part of writing fiction is whatever aspect I happen to be tackling at the moment – first draft, character development, crafting meaningful dialogue, or revealing setting through character interactions with it, and the list of writing challenges goes on. But today’s “most difficult” part of crafting fiction is pacing and rhythm. It’s a challenge to look at the big picture of a completed draft novel-length manuscript and see where the reader could use a break from the tension, or where the pace might be lagging and the reader is likely to start skimming pages. The author is too close the prose and may not be able to detect those nuances without a sixth sense for it. Even in a shorter passage, it may be a challenge to spot when the prose in a narrative description might benefit from an added “beat” to improve the rhythm of the voice.
One of the workshops I attended at the Silken Sands Writer Conference was called The Subliminal Writer with Laura Hayden. The focus of her presentation was on using music to train your mind to stay in the story – choosing a soundtrack of songs that fit the mood of your story. In a Pavlovian-style, train your behavior to get your head in the game each time you hear the music. She used soundtracks from movies for her examples, recognizing how much work goes into scoring films to set the proper mood as the plot unfolds.
This made my wheels start to turn—dangerous, I know! Soundtracks of movies are so carfully scored to set tone, build emotion, heighten tension, and build or break suspense. Ultimately, the score PACES the plot as it unfolds.
Here’s my idea. I think I’m going to play around with this concept. I’ll choose a movie soundtrack. Then I’ll analyze the pacing of the music from start to finish, taking note of the following: 1. sequence of sounds and music; 2. how much time the soundtrack hums along as white noise in the background; and 3. the placement and amount of time spent on the intense, enhanced, or exaggerated sound effects and musical accents.
From here, I’ll take this data and extrapolate a rhythm to write a story with the same pattern of emotional melodies—only in prose.
I’m in the early stages of exploring this idea. I’m curious about your reaction. More importantly, I’m open to suggestions for your favorite soundtracks, so I can narrow down what soundtrack I should use for this exercise!
Leave your soundtrack suggestions for me, please. It’s all Fodder for Fiction!
Take care,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
Making a Good Idea Great
by Katie Hines
What elements create great fiction? Oh, the usual come to mind: killer idea, great plot, rich characters, full settings, lots of research, editing, story arc, conceptualization, and so forth.
I’ve been parts of critique groups, both in person and online, and I have to say that without a doubt, it has been one of the most valuable experiences of my writing life. But the thing I have seen, more often than I care to admit, that some writers simply don’t have a good idea for their book, or even worse, write a poor good idea.
There is one lady I am thinking of who is writing a piece of historical fiction that frankly, upon reading it, I find myself yawning, my mind wandering and the words “ho hum” waft through my thinking. I wonder, “And I care about this, why?”
See, it isn’t enough to have a good idea, even a killer idea. You have to make a good idea great by transforming your reader from “ho hum” to “I can’t put this story down.” How does this happen? By transforming your writing by lifting it from the doldrums, by wrenching it from your soul, making your words count in ways that make your readers sit up and take notice.
I read a great book by Noah Lukeman called, “The First Five Pages.” He basically says if you don’t have “it” in the first five pages, this elusive “it” won’t be in the rest of the book.
As a children’s author, you have to capture that kid on the very first paragraph–the first line–if at all possible. Think outrageously! When you pick up a kid’s book, do you want to wait for page three to get fully involved?
No, of course not.
And neither does your reader. With kids especially, you have to draw them in with the very first words. If you don’t make it by the end of your first paragraph, you run the very real risk of having the reader close the book, put it away and never finish reading it.
Your first words must sparkle with character, not descriptions. They must make your reader want to read further. The first words in my middle grade book, Guardian, are, “I have a secret…” Who doesn’t want to read further, to find out what this secret is? Right there, you’ve tapped into something every kid wants to know about – a secret.
Take it from there. Make your reader sit up and take notice. Make them wonder about the secret, throw some action in, perhaps some wild event (that adds to the story). Introduce your characters, but be sure and introduce them within the context of action. See, that’s the real key for writing for children. Action, suspense, and a story that keeps unfolding and keeping them guessing. That’s the key to exciting fiction.
So if you have a good idea, make it great by anticipating what your reader wants. If you don’t know what your reader wants, then you need to go to the library and begin reading everything you can in the genre you are wanting to write in. Once you know, you can know if your story is going to meet the test, and pass it, and woo your reader through to the very last page.
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Katie Hines has been writing snippets here and there as long as she can remember. Then, in high school, she wrote several poems that were published in an anthology. Marriage and raising two children contributed to putting away writing, but she came back to it while in her 40s. Since that time, she has been a contributing feature writer and columnist for a local newspaper, has written several features articles for another area newspaper, and wrote religious and humor articles for an online Catholic ezine. Her first book, “Guardian,” is a middle grade urban fantasy and available through http://4RVpublishingllc.com , Amazon, Barnes & Noble and your local bookseller.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA GLASS!
This week on Fodder for Fiction, we’re celebrating the birthday of one of my favorite authors, and one I consider a mentor! Happy Birthday Julia Glass!
I know Julia Glass would appreciate my focusing on an excerpt about birthday cake in honor of her special day. Happy Birthday Julia!
“The angel food cake that Ray had requested was to be a birthday cake. The birthday was Claudia’s, Ray told Greenie that afternoon, clearly pretending that this had just occurred to him. “How ‘bout with some kind of berry sauce?”
“That’s her favorite cake?” said Greenie.
“I have n o idea what the woman’s favorite cake is. Everybody likes angel food, right?”
“Maybe,” said Greenie suggestively.
Ray gave her a testy look. “I got cows to sell here.”
“How many candles?’ goaded Greenie.
Ray considered this. “don’t know as we have birthday candles on hand,” he said. “But you get McNally to fork over some sparklers from his personal munitions. And how about pink frosting? The feminine touch.” He walked out the door before she could tell him that Claudia did not look like a woman who needed or even wanted the feminine touch.
Excerpt, The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
I think she has a new book coming out in September! Stay on the look out for it. I can’t wait!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
Feel Like Someone’s Watching You? — Use It In Your Writing!
by Roseanne Dowell
Several years ago, I dropped my husband off for work at midnight. On the way home, I was following a car. A few minutes later, another car turned out of a side street and followed me. I didn’t pay too much attention until I turned for the third time. The car was still in front of me. I remember thinking; I hoped he didn’t think I was following him. He turned down a side street that just happened to be the same side street I needed, so I turned also and so did the car behind me. At this point, I thought it was strange that three of us were all going the same way and down an out of the way side street. I hoped he wasn’t following me. But having a logical mind, I shook off the thought. I mean here I was innocently following the car in front of. We came to another side street and the car ahead of me turned off. I kept going straight, as did the car behind me. Again, I shook it off and continued on to my house. I turned in the driveway and the car stopped in front of the drive. I couldn’t have backed out if I had wanted to. Fortunately, my house – as usual- was lit up like a church. I mean just about every light on the ground floor was on, several in the living room, the dining room and kitchen light lit up the house as if it were full of people. Actually, it was. My six children were in there asleep. I flew in the house, my feet barely touching the ground. I could barely get the key in the lock, my hands shook so badly. Once inside, I looked out the front window. The car still sat there. I grabbed the phone and called my friend who lived on the next street. She was just about to wake up her husband when the car pulled away. I spent a sleepless night. Every time I heard a car, I looked out the window.
Years later, this sparked a story called Only in the Movies available at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Only-Movies-Roseanne-Dowell/dp/B000RGZSKY/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267573619&sr=1-20. My heroine drops her husband off at work, just as I did. In fact everything is the same until she runs to the house. Then her life becomes one terrifying event after another.
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Roseanne’s work has appeared in Good Old Days, Nostalgia and Ohio Writer magazines, along with several other online publications. Her first novel, Satin Sheets, was nominated for the Ippy Award and was a finalist in the Reader’s Choice Award from Author Island. Time to Live Again is available from Red Rose Publishing and Designed for Love is coming soon. Only in the Movies and several other short stories are available at Amazon.com. You can visit Roseanne’s website at: http://www.roseannedowell.com or her blog at http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com/
Silken Sands
A couple of weeks ago, on The Roses of Prose, I wrote about Straddling the Line Between Mentor and Mentee. Well, you’re catching me on the heels of an excellent adventure in doing just that at the Silken Sands Writers Conference in beautiful Pensacola, Florida. In line with my current station on my journey as an author, I presented a workshop, participated in the author book signing, and pitched a new project to two literary agents. Both asked to see more! I also attended as many workshops as my schedule allowed. I came away with some fantastic new gizmos for my author’s tool kit, ranging from organizational tips, and contest strategies, to world building techniques and self-editing. I listened to two inspiring speeches by authors Diane Love and Karen Rose. I connected with industry professionals. I stayed up late into the night sharing ideas about plot structures, favorite reads, and the writing life with new friends. I even made a fool of myself trying my hand at Karaoke! (I requested a Sheryl Crowe song. However, when I got up there, to my surprise, the music that started playing was “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Can you imagine? I couldn’t decide whether to be Magenta or Frankie!)
I gleaned way too much fodder for fiction during my four-day getaway to include in one brief blog post. Look for the ideas this experience sparked in the upcoming weeks!
The best part of the whole weekend was getting to spend time with fellow Roses of Prose author Laura Breck. We have been working together on the Group Blog for over a year. Internet friends are nice, but seeing Laura was like meeting an old friend!
Take care,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
PS Sorry for the grainy photos, but I only had my camera-phone with me. Oops!
Happy Birthday Penelope Lively!
Happy Birthday to Penelope Lively! She’s a contemporary Booker Award and National Book Award-winning author. I love reading her work. She’s an expert in delving deep into character and in crafting beautifully written prose. To celebrate her special day, I chose an excerpt from The Photograph, one my favorites of her work. Although, I hope she celebrates with more festive affair than did her character, Glyn!
“It is Glyn’s birthday. He does not remember this until he notices the date on his newspaper. Birthdays never rated highly with Glyn. But he knows how old he is—sixty-two. This reminder of the relentless process is unwelcome. The passage of time is indeed his stock-in-trade, but when applied personally it is as though there were someone out there gleefully chuckling: You too—oh, dear me, yes, you too.
It is Saturday. He plans a weekend dealing with paperwork and ordering his thoughts on a projected article. This will be therapeutic. Glyn is in a curious state these days. He recognizes this, knows that he is not operating normally, that application requires an effort, that his mind wanders, that it is willful, that he cannot seem to control its direction. He has always been able to work; work has been the imperative, ever since he can remember. He has been able to switch into work mode under any circumstances. No, it is not like that. He stares for long minutes at the screen, he does not turn the pages of the book in his hand, or he reads without comprehension.
Kath. Her fault….” End of Excerpt, The Photograph by Penelope Lively
Join me next Wednesday for another Fodder for Fiction Author Birthday Bash!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
Anything You Do or Say May End Up in One of My Books
by F.M. Meredith
The Rocky Bluff P.D. series has many such happenings. The very first in the series, Final Respects, is about the death of a police officer during a domestic dispute. Though the circumstances are much different in the story I wrote, a real situation triggered the plot.
My son-in-law, who was a police officer, told me many tales about incidents that happened while he was at work. Many of them have turned up in different forms in several of the Rocky Bluff P.D. books, and especially in Bad Tidings. The detective’s wife with breast cancer has many similarities to a good friend of mine and her bout with breast cancer.
The main and mostly bad character in Fringe Benefits was based on an actual cop that I knew—of course he didn’t do all the bad things that happen in the book, but he certainly gave me lots of ideas for the plot.
Smell of Death is based on a real kidnapping of a child, though it happened long ago and I changed a lot of the circumstances. It’s in this book that Officer Stacey Wilbur and Detective Doug Milligan begin to notice each other in a much different way than as fellow officers. The title and some of the plot came from my son-in-law telling me that movies and TV shows aren’t able to portray the worst part of a crime scene—the smell.
No Sanctuary is about two churches, two ministers, two wives and one death. Though I’ve never been in a church where the ministers were quite like these two guys, I once belonged to a church where the minister had an affair with the choir director and I learned about it from the church secretary. This book has a choir director and church secretary much like the ones I knew. One of the side plots about a pedophile came from a female vice-officer who told her stories at a Sisters in Crime meeting.
The latest in this series, An Axe to Grind, also has a tie-in to a Sisters in Crime meeting. The guest speaker was a coroner and he delighted in showing us the grisly crime scene slides where the victim had been decapitated. The opening scene of this book is the discovery of a decapitated murder victim.
A ride-along with the only female police officer on the department gave me a lot of fodder for writing about my character, Stacey Wilbur. From three o’clock in the morning until six, the lady cop didn’t have a single call. As we rode around the city, she bared her heart to me, telling me all about what it was like to be the only woman with a bunch of guys, and how hard it was to be a single mom raising a son on her own. I used a lot of what she told me to create Stacey Wilbur.
This is fair warning, if you meet me, don’t share anything you wouldn’t want to see in a book. However, don’t worry about it, because I change things enough no one would ever recognize that it came from you.
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F.M. Meredith a.k.a. Marilyn Meredith is the author of nearly thirty published novels. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series. No Sanctuary was a finalist in the Epic 2009 best in e-book mystery/suspense category. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Epic, and serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association. She was an instructor for Writers Digest School for many years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writers Retreat and many other writers’ conferences.
Website: http://fictionforyou.com
Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com