Christine Amsden's Blog: Christine Amsden Author Blog, page 51
May 31, 2011
Description for the Minimalist Writer (1)
The minimalist writer is one with a tendency for brevity, who likes to get to the point and drive past it, pushing through to the exciting bits. I recently ran into just such a writer in one of my workshops, and she reminded me a little of me when I was a bit newer to the game. I have learned to slow down and capture the moment, but it took years of pratice.
First of all, close your eyes. Now, describe what your senses tell you about your environment. I'll go first:
From off to the left, I hear the constant, never-ceasing whir of the server's fan as it attempts to cool machinery that is too old and stored in a rather unfortunate location — a closet near the top of the house. It is often hot up here, though this morning is cool and the top of the house feels pleasant. Summer is coming, however; and I will need to spend less time up here in the afternoons. The chair beneath me is made of a rough, somewhat cheap leather that clings to my skin where it touches, but it is a vast improvement over the chair I had a month ago, which had completely lost its padding. The air up here is comforting and filled with a scent so familiar I cannot identify it. I only know logically that it is not scentless.
With my eyes closed, I can hear, feel, taste, smell, and remember. Even when my eyes are closed, my mind knows my familiar surroudnings. If I weren't in familiar surroundings, if I were, say, blindfolded and forced into an unknown location, I would still make those mental connections.
The first thing a minimalist writer needs to understand is that description need not be mechanical or boring. You can set the stage, put us (the reader) in a room full of personality and memories. The color of the walls, the location of the windows, whether or not there are drapes or blinds…none of this is nearly as important as how your character observes and interacts with the world around her.
One of the biggest struggles I had as a writer were those creative writing exercises where they made me write a thousand words about the ceiling (or something). Can I be honest? I can barely see the ceiling (visual impairment). It's white and has a popcorn finish. Staring up at the ceiling reminds me more of me and my limitations than anything else, much like staring at the stars in the sky. I think most humans are a bit egocentric like that.
Does that mean it's a mistake to describe a room in painstaking detail, bringing a location to life more vividly than the character even imagines it? No! But I'm talking to the minimalist writer right now, which probably means you have a tendency to skim those paragraphs when you're reading. (Come on, let's be honest.) If that's you, then my first general piece of advice is this:
Make it about the character.
This strategy makes each word you write more relevant, more meaningful, and as a result, more interesting. Instead of skipping to the good parts, you're making every part good, and every part useful. You're stepping beyond plot, and beginning to tell a story, one that comes to life when you populate it.
This is too complex a topic for a single blog post, so I'm going to make it a series. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for more suggestions and more writing exercises. Next week…stepping through action: the play by play.
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May 30, 2011
And the winner is…
Last night was the last chance to enter the Fallen giveaway. According to random.com Jenny Goepfert is our lucky winner. For all you poor souls whom didn't win remember to sign up for The Calling giveaway.
Some fun trivia about The Fallen, it is printed using a font called Bembo, a typeface based on an old-style Roman face that was used for Cardinal Bembo's tract De Aethna in 1485. Bembo was cut by Francisco Griffo in the early sixteenth century. The Lanston Monotype Company of Philadelphia brought the well-proportioned letter-forms of Bembo to the United States in the 1930s.
I really like this font. This is a large book and I never found myself with eyestrain even early in the morning. Congratulations to whomever selected this.
I always love it when Author include fun facts in their books.
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May 27, 2011
Book Review and Giveaway: The Calling a DC Gary Goodhew Mystery
Guest review by Austin Morgan
[image error]Since Karin Slaughter's Fallen did not quench my need for a good mystery (see the review) I tried again, with far more success.
DC Gary Goodhew is a traditional police procedural protagonist. He is thorough, dependable, quirky and very likeable. He also lives in Cambridge, England. If you were wondering what the DC stands for it is Detective Constable for us Yanks on this side of the pond. Trivia note: Constable is the lowest rank of a police officer in England.
The Calling is the third book in the DC Gary Goodhew series. I have not read the previous 2 books but as soon as I get through my backlog they will be immediately requested from the library. Fortunately for me, while I missed out on some of the relationship details that were obviously addressed in previous books, I never felt that I was missing any pivotal details.
In the calling Kaye Whiting a young promising lady goes missing the day before her grandmother's 80th birthday party. An anonymous caller calls the police info hotline saying that Kaye is alive and that Peter Walsh was the culprit. Initially the question is can Gary save Kaye. The mystery unfolds smoothly with none of the cheap tricks I have encountered in many other police procedurals recently.
What made this story stand out to me more than the mystery was the changes in the characters through the story. Alison Bruce's characters were a very pleasant surprise in a genre known for surprises. I found myself caring for not only Gary, but most of the secondary characters also. After reading The Calling I need to read Cambridge Blue
and The Siren
if for no other reason to learn more about his mate Bryn and what makes Sue Gully blush so frequently.
Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to visit Cambridge yet. When I do I hope that Alison Bruce would be willing to show me around. If the previous two Goodhew books are as descriptive as The Calling after reading them I may start a Cambridge tour service. Amazingly this great description enhances instead of detracts from the mystery itself. I also like how she incorporated contemporary works into the story. For instance the Cross and the Switchblade a novel I greatly enjoyed when I read it in High School appears as well as some well known art work that isn't being stolen. I feel Alison Bruce's ability to bring all these environmental elements together smoothly is what elevates The Calling far above other police procedurals.
I loved this book, but (there is always a but) the narrators voice was very difficult to read. The book was written in third person omniscient, except when it wasn't. The narrator would bounce from omniscient to limited perspective at random. Worse there were a few places I swore was first person, although after re-reading them I discovered I was wrong. The problem here was the fact that I felt I needed to re-read thee section specifically because of the narrator and not because I thought I missed a clue. Also the limited point of view sections did not hide clues that would have allowed you to solve the story earlier. I still can not understand why Marlowe's name was hidden for so long. All it did was annoy me that I was following a character for chapters and I didn't know her name. The worst part about this issue is I believe Christine would have likely put the book down, it is one of her pet peeves, and I believe she would really be missing out.
I recommend this to anyone that likes a good police or detective story. For those of you whom are queasy about such things there are explicit descriptions of sex. They are pertinent to the story and I highly suggest that you read it anyway.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Title: The Calling: A DC Goodhew Mystery
Author: Alison Bruce
ISBN: 978-1-56947-964-3
Publication Date: June 21, 2011
Reviewed by: Austin Morgan
This is another Goodreads.com's First Reads book. This is a great service in which you can sign up to receive books either before or just after they are released.
The Contest:
To win this copy of this book leave a comment on this post.
Rules:
Only comments left at http://christineamsden.com will be entered in the contest
You will receive the exact same Advanced Review Copy I received from the publisher
You must live in the US to win
Contest ends on Sunday June 05, 2011 at 11:59 PM CT
The winner will be contacted via e-mail, the winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.
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Follow Friday
Q. How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?
Due to my visual impairment, I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks through the National Library for the Blind. Their new digital player allows me to download books from their catalog in minutes, and listen to them at double speed, so I can usually get through 3-4 of them in a week.
I also work through eBooks on my computer, that I blow up to 36-pt font. This takes me much longer, and I can usually only do one of these each week. I only recently started to do this at all, because I wanted a chance to review newer books, or books that were not available through the NLS.
Doing critiques for unpublished writers takes up some of my reading time as well. This month, I have been teaching a scifi & fantasy world building workshop through a chapter of the RWA, and reading my students' assignments has substituted for my eBook reading. (I also teach through Savvy Authors.)
I don't read print books at all, but from time to time, my husband will read one to me. This is how we have read the entire Dresden Files series. (#13 coming out this summer!)
How mahy books do you read in a week? Don't forget to post your blog link!
Happy Friday!
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May 26, 2011
Touch of Fate Review
The US Review of Books, which covers the Eric Hoffer Awards, had this to say about Touch of Fate:
"This is a strong first novel from an author who understands dialogue and the art of making human exchanges believable. Here is a mystery story wrapped around paranomal events. Marianne can see the future, although what value is this gift if she has no control over fate? With a rich story line, Amsden does not miss a chance to please. "
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Eric Hoffer Honorable Mention: Touch of Fate
My debut novel, Touch of Fate, received an honorable mention for legacy fiction in the Eric Hoffer 2011 Book Awards.
Touch of Fate was published through Twilight Times Books in 2007, and is still available as both a paperback and an ebook. (Amazon.com has had the kindle version for $2.99 for a couple months now.)
I made the decision to enter it into the legacy fiction category earlier this year, when I was researching competitions and awards for The Immortality Virus. As a new, uncertain author, I missed a lot of opportunities with Touch of Fate, but when I learned the Eric Hoffer Awards had a category for books published at least two years ago, I decided to give it a shot.
I was thrilled to see Touch of Fate receive some recognition after all this time. I would like to take the time to offer a special thank you to Lida Quillen at Twilight Times Books, who gave the book its chance and, through hiring a gifted artist for the cover and wonderful copy editors, helped turn it into the work of art it is today.
For those of you who haven't read Touch of Fate, you can give Chapter 1 a try right here.
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May 25, 2011
Characterization: The Circle of Intimacy
One way to think about interpersonal relatoinships is as a series of expanding circles. I'm in the middle, and inside my innermost circle are my closest confidantes — family and friends who are closer to knowing the real me than anyone else. In the next circles there are friends of gradually decreasing intimacy…the ones you work with, the ones you hang with, the ones you'd ask for certain types of favors, acquaintances, and finally, strangers.
Right now, you're a stranger to your character, and he to you. Your circles don't even touch, because you haven't met.
How do you get to know your closest friends? Did it all happen in one evening or did it take years? Was the growing process smooth, or frought with strange new realizations that made you question yourself or your friendship?
When it comes to character creation, we don't have years, but we do need to be realistic about the process. Even if you get drunk one night and divulge all your darkest secrets to a stranger, they can't possibly know the real you from that one encounter. They've only caught you in one moment — a bad one at that.
Likewise, when you first "meet" your character, you can only know so much about her right away, and it will probably focus on how you met. If you were looking for a hero to have an epic adventure, perhaps all you know when you first meet is that he's a wizard, or she's a warrior. If you're looking for a romantic heroine, perhaps all you know is why she hasn't found love yet.
The first time you meet your character, it is often about story — what type you're trying to tell and what kind of hero you think the story needs. And even if you think up your character before the story, you've probably only imagined one critical thing. For example, when I first met Cassie Scot, the heroine of my newest (unpublished) book, all I knew about her was that she was from a family of powerful sorcerers but had no magic of her own. In fact, for a day or two, I thought she was a he. I even came up with his name (and then gave it to one of her brothers instead).
So, "Hi, it was nice to meet you. Maybe we should get together and do a thing sometime." That's as far into your relationship as you've gone. And you know most of the time when you say something like that, you never get together and do a thing. (Or I don't know — maybe you're more outgoing than me. 
)
The next step in a growing relationship is to actually spend time together. I have a couple of friends right now that I met through playdates with our kids, and when I first met them, I only knew they were moms. There we are, our children playing together without a care in the world (It's amazing how small children can buddy up easily with no more information than — you're short, too!), struggling to find something to say to one another.
When you find yourself in a situation like that, what is the first aspect of yourself you let loose? What is important enough to you to mention, but safe enough that you figure your true self is still protected from possible scorn? Me? I often mention I'm a writer. It's a solid starting point. Many people are interested, and many have their own artistic experiences to share.
What does your character say?
If you decide to continue getting together, there are likely to be a few more awkward encounters in which you just skim the surface. Your opinions of the other person are probably still largely based on prejudice and stereotyping. I don't mean this as a bad thing, and I'm not talking about racial profiling. I am talking about the natural inclination of humans to form mental categories. The more you know about a person, the more you have to shift them around to new subcategories, until, finally, they no longer fit into a category at all, but instead become who they are. That's the point of true connection you're seeking with your character.
In the meantime, you have to keep asking questions, and it's going to take a while. Your first answers are likely to reinforce stereotypes, so it's important to keep asking again and again, until you get a more satisfying answer.
As in a real friendship, I think writers can make the mistake of trying to get to know too much about their characters too quickly. When you push a person to get intimate too fast, then tend to back off, don't they? And why shouldn't they? You're trying to mine the depths of their souls before they feel comfortable that you'll really get it. That you'll really understand them…and not just turn them into a stereotype.
So back off, work slowly, and develop a full picture. As with all of writing, it may even be an iterative process, in which you learn something about your character that changes the overall picture. Your story could have a retroactive impact on your character as well (a topic for another time). But in the meantime, working toward true intimacy, just as you would do with a best friend or potential spouse, will help you truly create a real character.
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May 23, 2011
Book Review: Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1)
I should preface this review with two facts: First, I am not a huge epic fantasy fan. I've read some of it, and enjoyed some of it, but it is not my first choice as a sub-genre. Second: I love The Dresden Files, and in fact, the only reason I picked up this epic fantasy was because Jim Butcher wrote it.
This is not The Dresden Files. I didn't think it would be, but for those familiar with the other series, try to put it completely from your mind. The only thing the two series have in common is that Jim Butcher writes an exciting story arc that starts out strong and builds to new levels of danger as time goes on. Otherwise, this is a new world, told in the third person from 4 different viewpoints, and the narrative voice gets out of the way of the story. There is little humor, which I think is what surprised me the most.
What there IS…a new and imaginative epic world in which a race of humans commune with furies to gain mastery over things like air, earth, fire, water, metal, and possibly others. I did enjoy the magic system. It reminded me of a few other systems I've seen, but it put a new spin on them, and was implemented in a unique and powerful way, taking full advantage of the inherent magic of the world.
ALSO…a cast of really well-drawn characters with unique talents, who showed their wit and skill early on, and then came through at the end. I particularly liked (and believe I was particularly supposed to like) Tavi, the fifteen-year-old boy who commands no furies of his own (the only one, and he is teased), but whose wits are second to none. There's more to him than meets the eye, and though we didn't learn all there was to know about him at the end of this book, I do think it's pretty obvious where he's going. It is for Tavi, more than any other character in this book or aspect of this world, that I will continue reading this series.
Amara, the young cursor who completes her final exam at the beginning of this novel, is also a fine character — brave, intelligent, and loyal. She gets a little romance subplot which surprised me in that I like it — I can't often say that I like romantic subplots in epic fantasy.
There were other characters who came together to humanize this world, each unique, each well constructed, and each important.
Having said all that, it did take me a little while to get into this story. I'm not sure why, except that I often struggle when four different viewpoints rotate and I have to get used to each in small snippets. I think it was also because of the narrative voice which, despite everything, I expected to be more Dresden-like. I really got into this after about 1/3 of the book, and it continued to be excited throughout, although…the battle. I guess this is something epic fantasy novels have to do? Long, drawn out battle scenes? I'm sure it was even well written, but before I started reading these things on tape, I used to thumb through those pages, looking for the important highlights. Harder to do that now.
I do recommend this book to those who enjoy epic fantasy, even if, like me, you only enjoy it a little bit, and when you're in the right mood. Get in the mood, and give it a try.
Rating: 4/5
Title: Furies of Calderon
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Epic Fantasy
ISBN: 9780441012688
Publication Date: June 2005
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May 20, 2011
Follow Friday
I've decided to start participating in Follow Friday, an opportunity for bloggers to get to know new bloggers.
Follow Friday is a weekly event hosted by Parajunkee. All to discover new amazing blogs and new friends! This weeks featured is Ninja Girl from Ninja Girl Reads.
This weeks question:
It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them…
All right, here goes…
1. I bite my nails. (Nervous habit…I'm working on it!)
2. I don't like nicknames, especially applied to me. I'm Christine, not Chris, Chrissy, Christina, Tina, or Christy. I specifically chose names for my kids that are not easy to shorten.
3. I like icing more than cake. I envy my kids that they get to just eat the icing, and leave the cake. As an adult, I feel obligated to eat both, or neither, although I sure do love to make icing! (And lick the bowl…the spoon…the beaters…)
4. I hate leaving messages on voice mail, and am pretty sure I always fumble and/or make an idiot of myself when I do.
5. I can't stand water. I know I'm supposed to drink 8 cups of it a day, but whenever I try to drink actual water, I get dehydrated, because I just can't make myself do it. I drink Sugar-Free Kool-Aid instead.
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May 19, 2011
Tips for Writers: Beginnings
Starting July 5, I'm teaching a workshop on beginnings at Savvy Authors. I have a loose outline of topics I discuss, but the real advantage to the couse is that you will get a chance to post the first chapter or two (depending upon size) of your novels and receive specific feedback from me and your peers.
One of the difficulties with giving general advice is that there really isn't any such thing as a general audience. You can tell people to eat a low-fat diet, but if you end up reaching a diet-obsessed person looking for more ways to lose weight he or she doesn't need to lose, they're going to get the wrong message.
Likewise, I can tell people to watch out for info dumps, but I might reach someone so scared of info dumps that she forgets to provide any real information. If I tell people to be concise with their word choices, someone who writes skeletal stories will hear and misunderstand. If I encourage description, a long-winded person might get even more out of breath.
But if you participate in a workshop, I'll read what you write and respond directly to your style, helping you recognize who you are as a writer, while you decide who you want to be.
If you can't make it in July, I will also be teaching a World Building workshop in January, Beginnings again in April 2012, and a couple more workshops in the fall of 2012. I say a lot of the same things in both workshops, coming from different angles, but the most important thing I try to do is pay attention to who you are, and help you reach for the next level.
Hope to see you in a class!
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