S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 56

Toes and Throws

Sometimes writers have to stop writing. It happens, usually when you have to deal with a problem or event that can be best described by adding the letters sh to the first word in this sentence. I did last year in between my eye surgeries, first because I was too blind to write, and then I was healing and still a bit fuzzy-sighted (and by the way, if you ever need someone to put drops in your eye, I'm your girl.) Once you do stop writing often it can be difficult to start again, especially after a long hiatus from the page.

I learned what to do from another surgery that got between me and the work many years ago. I lost most of the use of my left hand after having a tumor removed, and since I was left-handed I had the additional burden of relearning how to do everything right-handed. Anyone who has been forced to do this will tell you it's not much fun. Hand writing was out of the question until I learned to write as a righty, and my typing was restricted to whatever I could do with one-finger pecking. That's why I didn't write anything for almost a year. I even stopped thinking about writing so I could wrestle the larger issues.

When at last I did have a functioning right hand and semi-functioning left, I sat down to write. I remember how disconnected from the work I felt, too. It was still in my head, like a huge inner ocean of stories, but I hadn't gone for a swim in so long that simply eyeing it scared me. I decided to cautiously dip my toe back in the writing waters by composing a first page. I'd just start a story and see what happened. What happened was three hours of sitting there and sweating and fussing over every word until I'd produced about 200 of them. Which were collectively so bad that I immediately trashed them.

The next day I was back to square one with nothing to show for my first try. I considered writing another cautious toe-dip partial, and promised myself it was purely practice, and gave myself carte blanche to write crap in hopes that would jump start my mojo -- all the bargains writers make with themselves to get back on the horse. And I wrote another toe-dip page with some lukewarm setting and some action about as exciting as yawning, and trashed that, and started to seriously question myself.

On the third morning I sat in my writing space for a while staring at the keys. Desperation hovered, wanting to set in. Or maybe it was writer's block; I'm not sure. One thing I did know was that I couldn't dip my toe in to test the waters again because that wasn't working. Neither were the bargains and promises I'd made with/to myself. So I decided to hell with it, and defaulted to the last resort. No more toe-dipping and thinking about it and worrying. No more thinking about it, period. I'd throw myself in the water and write a novel. A fun novel. A novel for me and no one else.

Four months and 468 manuscript pages later I typed the last page of that novel, gave myself a week off, and then finally read it. The beginning was complete and utter crap, and the middle crawled more than it should have, and the twist at the end was more of a wrinkle, but it was a novel -- a finished novel. And the next one I wrote was better, and the one after that was much, much better. As for that lame, for-fun novel I never published or even showed anyone, it remains the most valuable story I've ever written. If I hadn't thrown myself into it, I know I would have quit writing altogether.

The process still works for me, too. Last year In the Leaves was my 2014 post eye-surgery throw story. Rain Lashed was a throw story after another, earlier eye surgery. After I broke my foot and cracked some ribs during a bad fall down the stairs back in 2003 writing Deimos threw me back into the work.

Whether you use toes, throws or something in between, maybe the most important thing you can do after taking a long break from writing is to write anything, really. Whether it's 1 page, or 468 of them, you're doing your job, and bottom line: writing is what makes you a writer.

Image Credits:

Toe dip: warrengoldswain
Leaping dolphin: vitaliy_sokol

PBW's Book of the Month

In May I tried to read every day, primarily to practice focusing the new eyes but also to get back to a more normal-for-me reading routine. I also tried some new-to-me authors and finally tackled a novel that I've been dithering about reading for about a year. Turns out my favorite read from the whole pile is the book I dithered over, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, which was also the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008.

I should note that prior to this month I've read exactly three Pulitzer-prize winning pieces of fiction:

#1: Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1953 winner) which an English teacher assigned in school. Honestly, I skimmed it and thought it was boring, but I was thirteen and at the time interested only in sonnets and YA science fiction novels.

#2: Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1940 winner) which an English teacher assigned in school two years after Hemingway (seeing a pattern here?) which still ranks #2 on my top ten list of reading experiences that emotionally scarred me for life. That particular novel was actually so upsetting to me I silently vowed never again to read Steinbeck, even when it got me an F the next year for flatly refusing to read a single word of East of Eden -- and to this day I have kept that vow.

#3: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1961 winner) which I read voluntarily much later on in life when I didn't expect everything to be Shakespeare, feature space ships, or offer decent endings. Okay, I had to read it to help my kid do her homework because her English teacher had assigned it.

Now you understand my dithering, yes? I didn't want to be Grapes of Wrathed again. Had quite enough of that in school, thank you very much. Fortunately Oscar's author is not a Steinbecker. He probably would have felt right at home growing up poor with me and mine in the Cuban-Haitian-Jamaican melting pot of South Florida, however, which is the other reason I liked this book so much. It was a bit like going back home and hanging out with the chicas.

While I wax nostalgic that wasn't an easy life, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is likewise not an easy book to read. It's fun and funny in a sad, sort of desperate way, the way too many people who come to this country have to live. In this story, the characters are from the Dominican Republic, and it's full of their lives both there and here, in a crazy almagum of Spanglish and superstition and some truly horrific stories about the country and the atrocities they left behind. Lots of footnotes, lots of family drama. As a genre lover and the first goth in my high school, I certainly identified with the title character, Oscar. For most of the book he was like a mirror in which I watched a clumsy, hostile teenage me burying herself again in A.M. Lightner and Shakespeare and Star Trek.

The writing is simply amazing. Very real and funny and poignant and like having a conversation with the characters. I think Faulkner himself would be impressed by the effortless stream of the narration, and how it conveyed the story. I also think this story is important because it chronicles with an unromantic eye the lives and experiences of people who don't often get books written about them. So those are the dazzling points.

On the flip side, the story had two things that bugged me: zero quotation marks and innumerable footnotes. I like quotation marks; they're a visual aide that helps me hear the story in my head, and while excluding them may be more hip the text becomes textbookish to read. Also, while I don't mind a few footnotes, too many of them aggravate me because a) footnote type fonts are so damn small I can hardly read them and b) very long footnotes wholly interrupt the read and c) nearly all of the footnotes in this book are very long, and d) why footnote fiction with fictional footnotes? I don't get it.*

Sidebar practical suggestion: if you ever see a footnote crop up in your own fiction story? Stomp on its pointy little head until it turns to dust and work what you're trying to footnote into the story so I don't squint and mutter bad words when I read it.

I didn't mind how depressing the book was, probably because I knew going in it was a prize winner and that's almost a guarantee it's going to be a downer. Also, the footnotes kept my temper at a medium-high simmer, which is too hot for depression to set in. But despite all this, as the story progressed I actually forgot about the footnotes and became very invested in the title character. I wanted Oscar to prevail in his quest. I knew from the beginning what his fate would be (see title) but by the second half of the story I began silently cheering him on and hoping I was being lied to and that it would all work out in the end. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but it was true to the title and perfect. Genius. Absolutely deserved a Pulitzer, just for the ending.

I doubt I'm going to break my Steinbeck vow, and maybe this was just a fluke, but after reading Oscar I think I may try reading another Pulitzer Prize winner. I'll also be investing in every this author writes, because it's never a chore to read an amazing novel -- even if the next one has a million footnotes and no quotation marks, too.

*Probably because I've never taken a single writing class.

Sub Op

Cohesion Press has an open call for their upcoming Snafu: Future Warfare antho: "For this military/sci-fi/horror anthology, we want warriors competing on a futuristic battlefield, fighting against forces threatening humankind, the balance of the galaxies, or life itself. Think Aliens, Halo, Predator, Starship Troopers, and Terminator. Have your heroes defending their way of life against inconceivable odds. Take us along for the ride while your future soldiers take the fight to their enemies. Expect casualties! We want ORIGINAL military-style combat with strong elements of future technology/sci-fi, and we want horror. Give us fear… suspense and tension… we want originality and speculation about future aspects of war. Most of all we want action, action, ACTION! We want something jaw-droppingly amazing." Length: "2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)"; Payment: "AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released" No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: August 13th, 2015.

Sky Power

This time-lapse video by Enrique Pacheco will whisk you off to Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, which at 10,582 square kilometers is the largest salt flat on the planet. It also contains about half of the world's lithium, so there's a good chance that the lithium in the batteries in your various devices came from Uyuni. During the rainy season water pools and reflects the sky to create stunning illusions (with background music, for those of you at work):

Reflections from Uyuni from Enrique Pacheco on Vimeo.

Just Write

Today I'm off to write something new and post it online before midnight. Everyone inclined to do the same is invited to join me.

My link: More on Ghost Writer , with new material beginning on page 60.

For more details on Just Write Thursdays, click here to go to the original post.

Image credit: windujedi

LT Early Reviewers, GW Cover

Last month I mentioned that I signed up for Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, which allows me to request ARCs and gratis copies of books I'd like to read being offered by participating publishers and LT members in exchange for a review. Since there are inevitably more requests from ER participants than available copies there are no guarantees you'll get any book, but like any giveaway there's always a chance you will, too. I was selected to receive an ARC of In a French Kitchen ~ Tales and Traditions of Everyday Home Cooking in France by Susan Herrmann Loomis, which arrived yesterday:



Honestly, it's like Christmas without the decorating, and I can now say with certainty that yes, you actually can get cool free books from LT's Early Reviewers. To keep my end of the bargain once I've read it I'll post an official review here, at LT and a couple other places.

I'm also tinkering on cover art for Ghost Writer, my current Just Write Thursday story, and have narrowed a bunch of possibilities for the image down to these four (which will all need some tinkering, titles, bylines, etc.):









Which do you like best? Let me know in comments.

Added: As I mentioned in comments I could also combine a couple of these images, like so:



Image Credits:

Vintage writing: Miiisha

Laptop screen: pogonici

Writing hand: Syda_Productions

Lake Sunset: Yours Truly

Sub Op

Local Hero Press has an open call for their upcoming superhero-themed antho Caped: "We are now accepting submissions for an anthology of original superhero fiction short stories, called Caped. Here is what we’re seeking: Original superhero fiction stories that get into more depth about being a superhero than basic secret origin tales or superhero-versus-supervillain. Who are these people who have strange and wonderful powers and choose to use them for great justice? What makes them tick? Your characters should be original creations. We cannot consider work utilizing licensed characters." Length: "Up to 5000 words"; Payment: "$0.01 per word, rounded up to nearest $5.00 USD, paid via PayPal upon final acceptance of the contract by all parties." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: August 31st, 2015.

Remembrance

Image Credit: CelsoDiniz

Just Call Me Lyn

You can find out what your name might be if you were born today (and at every decade dating back to 1890) by entering your name, birth year and gender in
My results:



Oooh lala. I also like my 1970's name (Terri) and my 1920's name (Opal). This might also be a fun generator to use to come up with some alternative names for your characters.

So what would your name be if you were born today? Let us know in comments.

(Name generator link nicked from Gerard over at The Presurfer.)

Personal Legends

Here's something you don't know about me: Back in the eighties I was a lab rat for Quaker Oats. Or to be more precise I was one of the many volunteer consumers on whom Quaker tested several variations of their new chocolate-covered granola bar product before deciding on the final product.

I was actually approached by a consumer product tester while I was out shopping, and she asked if I'd like to take part in her group. I agreed because free food was involved; also, I loved granola and chocolate, so I didn't think it would be awful -- and it was actually really neat. I was given several boxes with different versions of bars, had to taste each one, rate them, mark a survey sheet and then report my opinions over the phone. I took it very seriously and answered honestly (and got to eat a lot of chocolate-covered granola bars, another happy memory.) The Quaker Oats people in turn treated me with respect and thanked me for helping them out. Since the product has stayed on the market for like thirty years, and it's the version I picked as the best of the test lot, I like to think my opinion helped bring the best form of the product to the shelves.

Most everyone has a personal legend or two in their lives, I think -- being remotely involved with some huge product as I was, or finding something enormously valuable at a garage sale, or having a brush with fame by meeting celebrities under ordinary circumstances. According to family lore, my grandfather, who came down with osteomyletis when my mom was a little girl, was among the first Americans to receive penicillin after the antibiotic was first approved for testing on patients in the U.S. Because at the time osteomyletis was a death sentence, it also saved his life. On the much lighter side of family legends, my mom once bought a dirty but pretty pearl ring at a flea market that she later had cleaned and appraised. Since it was made of platinum and had two nice little diamonds along with the pearl the jeweler valued it at $2,500.00 -- which was ten thousand times what she paid for it. Yep, she bought it for a quarter.

Although I've never met a celebrity under ordinary circumstances I think that would be pretty cool. Singers seemed to gravitate toward my family; while working the makeup counter at a drug store my mom waited on Roberta Flack, who was lovely to her. I definitely envy my brother, who along with being a minister runs an appliance repair business; one time he was called out to Gloria Estefan's house to fix her dishwasher and got to talk to her. Probably the most famous singer-celeb encounter story in our family is the time when my daughter and her classmate ran into rapper/actor Will Smith while they were on a school field trip, and he was kind enough to stop and talk to them, and answered a question my daughter asked him (which is why I will always love Will Smith. He was nice to my kid.) The unifying note in all these celeb personal legends is how kind famous people are when they deal with non-famous people. Generally speaking celebs tend to be very nice people under ordinary circumstances, as long as you're not shoving a camera or something to sign at them.

When you're building a character, consider adding a personal legend or two to their background. This doesn't have to tie into your story if you just want to add it to flesh them out, but very often personal legends do motivate us after they happen. My mom always pokes through jewelry boxes at every garage sale, rummage sale or flea market she goes to, hoping to find another treasure for a quarter. To this day I still buy Quaker Oats products and feel good every time I do. I also try to see in the theater or buy on DVD every film Will Smith makes (there's an example of how kindness to a child affects the kid's parent.) I suspect even my minister brother has a personal collection of Gloria Estefan's albums stashed away behind his Bibles. Connect a personal legend to your character's present and you add depth, realism and fun.