Nancy E. Blanton's Blog, page 12

Crimson Petal Watcher

Just finished watching The DVD disks for The Crimson Petal and the White. I remember feeling excited when the book came out and I bought it immediately, but then I had trouble reading it. I am not a fan of reading about the “dark, gritty underbelly” of anything, and the book is rife with it especially at the beginning, so that my mind could not latch on to one character. I did not finish the book and eventually ended up giving it away. I wish I had persevered, because now that I have seen it I truly love the story. The character Sugar harbors so much hate, having been turned to prostitution by her own mother when she was very young, but then she demonstrates a more loving heart than any other character. Her nurturing and protection of her lover’s daughter are endearing, but by the time she steals the daughter away I am cheering for her and want to smack Mr. Rackham upside the head with a shovel. I can’t wait to see the next episode and my husband is equally engaged. I had forgotten what cruel times these were for women, the tortures they experienced at the hands of doctors and fashion designers, and the few options they had for survival if they had no family or money. All very well done.

Writing and journalism: remembering why

Last Thursday I had two great opportunities to recall some basics on creative writing and my first profession, journalism. In exchange for the use of our facilities at my workplace, the Port of Seattle,  we got a seat in a creative writing seminar series. I signed up for one on getting your novel started, and it happened to be led by Seattle author Robert Dugoni. He is a the author of a number of books  and legal thrillers including the David Sloane series. I have not read any of them yet — it’s not my genre — but intend to. He won some Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary awards which I’m sure helped along the way to publication, and I believe he created a very strong character in Sloane, so I can learn from Dugoni’s work.  

My novel is historical fiction, and I’m on my fourth revision. I don’t need help getting started, but I am never satisfied with that opening line, that opening paragraph, and wondering have I started my story in the right place. I made a big shift after the first draft, to start with the action. This is the recommendation from many writers conferences I’ve attended, and from Dugoni as well. One of the other participants said if the book is a mystery “I want blood and guts in the first paragraph.” Not so much from historical fiction, but you’ve still got to hook your reader.

Another of Dugoni’s recommendations was to make sure you create a question in the reader’s mind with the first paragraph, and really with every paragraph. That’s what makes them keep going. That’s how you create a page turner. Another conference presenter said it a different way: End your chapter in the middle, never at the “end.” It’s all to keep the reader eager to find out what happens next.

One of the no-nos Dugoni called out was the use of flashback. If you need to go back in time you’ve got to put the reader right in that time. Flashbacks stop the story. So, I’ve got a flashback in my third chapter and it is one of my “darlings” that I have to decide whether to delete. A couple of literary agents have told me they like my story but could not quite connect with (fall in love with) the protagonist. The scenes from the past are, I think, what make her endearing and make her who she is in the present time. I just have to be more crafty in how I get that information across. Some days writing is a blessing, and some days it is a pain in the ass!

That same evening I met a friend for dinner and we went to see “Page One,” the documentary about the New York Times. The premise is that print journalism is not dead, because that is where the online news sites get their content. Really — how many bloggers have been to Iraq? Most just comment on what someone else has researched and written, and there is no concern about balanced reporting or truth.

My friend and I both graduated from University of Florida’s journalism school, and we had some amazing instructors so after that the passion for journalism is in your blood. I never did investigative journalism, just daily news stories and my strength really was profiles and feature stories. But I fell in love with the NYT writers who are keeping the passion alive, fighting back against those who have no care for information but only for Lady  Gaga stories that they think bring in the bucks. They talked about the struggle of reporters and editors having to work for owners and leaders who do not share the same values. I know a bit about that. And David Carr, oh my gosh what a character and what a strong person. If you are a journalist, even at heart, you must see this movie and remember why we all do it.

It’s an interesting coincidence that both of these events ended up happening on the same day, and both of them touching that writer in me. I wanted to write since I was in first grade, but for most of my life told myself I couldn’t. My college roommate encouraged me to major in journalism and I will always be grateful for that, because writing has been the cornerstone for everything in my career. Dugoni and Page One remind me I can be proud of that. Success to me has never meant NYT best seller list, Oprah, or anything like that. I heard a long time ago that, if you tell your story and it reaches the heart of one person, you have succeeded.

I’ll finish the revision of my historical novel soon, and put it out there one way or another for that one reader. It’s called “The Wideness of the Sea,” and it’s about an Irish peasant girl who, in 1650, vows to avenge the destruction of her village by assassinating Oliver Cromwell, so keep an eye out in case that one reader is you.

Portraits of a Time

On January 1, 2011, I’m sure I was not the only one grumbling and struggling to put away the things of 2010, clear away unneeded things, and get clear spaces for the year ahead. A sticking point for me has been this big, clunky  plastic bin in my laundry room. It’s been in my way for over a year, my husband has complained about it, but every time I’ve tried to get rid of it I am stumped by the decision-making required, and quickly give up.

The bin mostly contains keepsakes and photos that belonged to my mother. She died in October 2006 at 89 years of age. I should say she lived a good long life and was loved. She absolutely was, but after all this time I still struggle with letting go, and particulary of pictures. Even duplicates — it feels like some kind of sacrilege to destroy them or throw them out, so back into the bin they go. One of the things I thought a lot about this time, though, was her portraits.

Portrait of my mother, Virginia

It seems odd to me that she frequently went to photographers’ studios and had portraits made of herself– the high-quality 8 x 10s like you’d have done for a graduation or wedding. She was a beautiful woman and we have several of them throughout her life — in fact my sister had one of them enlarged and framed for my Christmas present this year, one of the early ones probably from before she had kids.

But most people don’t have portraits made of themselves, do they? Families, yes, but self portraits? Usually you just go with whatever snapshots come out of family events or vacations. Why would she do that? I think now it is because she was a mother of the 1950s. In the 1940s, she was young and beautiful, she had left her family’s farm in Iowa to become a stenographer for a senator in Washington D.C. She wore classy suits and stylish hats, three-inch heels and silk stockings. She was popular in her group of friends and during the war years married a USO performer. When the marriage failed she moved to Miami, got a divorce, and was soon pursued by my father, a determined, up-and-coming businessman who was tall, dark and handsome. They married, and she must have been filled with excitement for what her life would become. But instead of expanding, her life contracted.

In the 1950s, as we know, women married, had kids, and their public lives were over except where the kids were concerned. They began to disappear, in deference to their children and their husband’s career. I wonder, did my mother have those portraits made to remind herself that she did indeed exist, that her beauty endured, that she had value inspite of what her life had become?

Women have come so far since my mother’s life, and I am so grateful to our tenacious warriors who made that happen, and I am horrified by women who say they want to be a stay-at-home mom while their husbands are the breadwinners. Are they crazy? Don’t they remember? No, they do not. But in many cases, it turns out the opposite: More men are staying at home to handle the childcare while the women pursue their careers.

I’m far afield now of where I probably need to go with this post, and that is my own ability as an adult child of a stay-at-home mom, to release her to what is next for her, to release myself from the pieces of paper that bear her image. I’ll keep the best of the portraits, hold her dear in my memory, understand her more more clearly, but try not be encumbered by the struggles of her past.

Oh, and, get rid of the bin. I did manage to toss some stuff — now I just have a smaller bin!

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,000 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 3 times

In 2010, there were 17 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 52 posts. There were 34 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 9mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was October 30th with 38 views. The most popular post that day was Four Queens Favorites.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were mail.yahoo.com, sz0133.wc.mail.comcast.net, facebook.com, student-loan-consilidation.com, and mail.live.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for dublin, dublin map, cool maps, cool map, and map of dublin.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Four Queens Favorites October 2010

2

About this blog June 2007

3

Queens don’t stand in line October 2010

2 comments

4

Queens ride in style October 2010

3 comments

5

Last Day October 2010

1 comment

THANKS EVERYBODY — For reading this blog, following the Four Queens tour in Italy, and for your comments. We’re not sure what the Queens will do next, but keep us bookmarked. It’s bound to be fun!

–Nancy