Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "homeless"
It's All About the New Book
I won't deny it: I'm excited about the book that's coming out this month, KILLING SILENCE. Really excited. It isn't up on Amazon yet, but it will be soon. (And I'll let you know!)
As a writer, I believe that everything I do should be better than the last thing, else why am I writing? Subgenres make that a little hard to judge. I write historical mysteries, and there are people who love them and wish I'd write nothing else. I also write a paranormal series, and some are intrigued by the idea of the Dead Detectives and want to know more about the world I imagine after this one.
The new series is mainstream mystery/suspense and what I like most about it is the protagonist, Loser the loser. She's homeless, she's damaged, and she's going to help a little girl keep her daddy, even if it kills her.
I was surprised at my workshop on Saturday when someone suggested that it must be hard to write a book with a homeless protagonist, since I have to "dumb down" the vocabulary and take into account her inability to think clearly.
I know there are homeless people who are scary or disgusting or pitiful, but Loser doesn't want you to think of her in any of those ways. Even though she considers herself the world's biggest loser, it doesn't mean she's any less a person than you or me. She might not believe it, but with the right incentive, I know she can crawl out of her despair.
(But I have to warn you: that's going to take two more books!)
As a writer, I believe that everything I do should be better than the last thing, else why am I writing? Subgenres make that a little hard to judge. I write historical mysteries, and there are people who love them and wish I'd write nothing else. I also write a paranormal series, and some are intrigued by the idea of the Dead Detectives and want to know more about the world I imagine after this one.
The new series is mainstream mystery/suspense and what I like most about it is the protagonist, Loser the loser. She's homeless, she's damaged, and she's going to help a little girl keep her daddy, even if it kills her.
I was surprised at my workshop on Saturday when someone suggested that it must be hard to write a book with a homeless protagonist, since I have to "dumb down" the vocabulary and take into account her inability to think clearly.
I know there are homeless people who are scary or disgusting or pitiful, but Loser doesn't want you to think of her in any of those ways. Even though she considers herself the world's biggest loser, it doesn't mean she's any less a person than you or me. She might not believe it, but with the right incentive, I know she can crawl out of her despair.
(But I have to warn you: that's going to take two more books!)
We're Writers--We Make Stuff Up
From time to time, people argue about whether writers can evoke something they've never experienced. I have friends in the writing community who take classes in how to shoot a gun, sign up to go rock climbing, and (of course) travel to faraway places in order to write realistically about a subject.
We know, though, that writers must also use their imagination to create scenes and characters they can't actually visit: battles are pretty much out for me, as is being a teen-aged boy abandoned by his mother. I have to imagine them, like Shakespeare, who created Juliet without ever having been a young Italian girl.
Loser, the protagonist in KILLING SILENCE, (http://tinyurl.com/a8gyqjd) is homeless, mentally fragile, and living in Richmond, Virginia. I spent time in Richmond, so I have a sense of where things are in the Fan, how far one would walk to get to this place or that. I have, in my lifetime, enough experience with mental stress to imagine being overcome by life's trials. Homelessness was a stretch. I've never in my life been truly hungry, never slept outside, never had to deal with the people (homeless and not) who threaten a woman with no place to hide.
I was asked at a workshop if I had to "dumb down" the dialogue, since Loser is homeless. Hmmm. An assumption that homeless people are all stupid?
Interestingly, I recently met someone who was homeless for some time as a young person. She's intelligent, articulate, and amazingly healthy, physically and mentally, considering the life experiences she's had. As we talked, I found that my imagination had served me pretty well as I wrote Loser and her companions. She mentioned that once she was able to have a normal life again with a home and family, she became, as she termed it, "a control freak." Having had a life that was out of control, she's compelled to make sure everything is right, at least in her mind.
Totally understandable. And in addition, it's going to help a lot with Book #2!
We know, though, that writers must also use their imagination to create scenes and characters they can't actually visit: battles are pretty much out for me, as is being a teen-aged boy abandoned by his mother. I have to imagine them, like Shakespeare, who created Juliet without ever having been a young Italian girl.
Loser, the protagonist in KILLING SILENCE, (http://tinyurl.com/a8gyqjd) is homeless, mentally fragile, and living in Richmond, Virginia. I spent time in Richmond, so I have a sense of where things are in the Fan, how far one would walk to get to this place or that. I have, in my lifetime, enough experience with mental stress to imagine being overcome by life's trials. Homelessness was a stretch. I've never in my life been truly hungry, never slept outside, never had to deal with the people (homeless and not) who threaten a woman with no place to hide.
I was asked at a workshop if I had to "dumb down" the dialogue, since Loser is homeless. Hmmm. An assumption that homeless people are all stupid?
Interestingly, I recently met someone who was homeless for some time as a young person. She's intelligent, articulate, and amazingly healthy, physically and mentally, considering the life experiences she's had. As we talked, I found that my imagination had served me pretty well as I wrote Loser and her companions. She mentioned that once she was able to have a normal life again with a home and family, she became, as she termed it, "a control freak." Having had a life that was out of control, she's compelled to make sure everything is right, at least in her mind.
Totally understandable. And in addition, it's going to help a lot with Book #2!
Malice Domestic, Invisible Sleuths, and Me
I got my panel assignment this morning for Malice Domestic, May's mystery conference in Bethesda, Maryland, . (One year we had a gentleman stop some female participants and congratulate them for banding together to fight spousal abuse, but that ain't it, kid!)
My panel is on invisible female sleuths, those characters who can investigate crime largely because no one pays them any attention. I was chosen for the panel because of Loser, my homeless protagonist, and she fits the bill perfectly. I got the idea for her from living in Richmond for a few months and seeing the street people every day, visible to me as a newcomer but largely unseen by the residents. I began thinking about what those street people must notice, what they might be thinking. I know some of them are hampered by chemical or psychological problems, but what if there was one who observed, was able to form conclusions, could make a plan and follow it through? From those thoughts, Loser emerged.
The first Loser Mystery has done well, and I even got a note from a former student who was waiting to pay at a faraway B&N when a woman came up and asked for Peg Herring's new book. Now the second one is almost ready. I'm doing final proofing this week and it should be out in early April. Once again Loser uses her anonymity to eavesdrop and observe, and she's ignored until...well, until she isn't, which leads to lots of action and danger and all the things one expects in a mystery.
Loser has become very real to me, and as I finish Book #4 of Simon & Elizabeth's adventures, I'm already thinking of what the next Loser Mystery will entail. In the meantime, I'll be interested to meet my fellow panelists for Malice Domestic and see what they've done with their invisible sleuths.
My panel is on invisible female sleuths, those characters who can investigate crime largely because no one pays them any attention. I was chosen for the panel because of Loser, my homeless protagonist, and she fits the bill perfectly. I got the idea for her from living in Richmond for a few months and seeing the street people every day, visible to me as a newcomer but largely unseen by the residents. I began thinking about what those street people must notice, what they might be thinking. I know some of them are hampered by chemical or psychological problems, but what if there was one who observed, was able to form conclusions, could make a plan and follow it through? From those thoughts, Loser emerged.
The first Loser Mystery has done well, and I even got a note from a former student who was waiting to pay at a faraway B&N when a woman came up and asked for Peg Herring's new book. Now the second one is almost ready. I'm doing final proofing this week and it should be out in early April. Once again Loser uses her anonymity to eavesdrop and observe, and she's ignored until...well, until she isn't, which leads to lots of action and danger and all the things one expects in a mystery.
Loser has become very real to me, and as I finish Book #4 of Simon & Elizabeth's adventures, I'm already thinking of what the next Loser Mystery will entail. In the meantime, I'll be interested to meet my fellow panelists for Malice Domestic and see what they've done with their invisible sleuths.
