Linda Westphal's Blog

Small town stories

Since I am not a native of Northern California, my favorite thing to do on weekends is explore the area's many small towns (I had no idea there were so many). It's a happy surprise when you discover a new one, because when most people think of Northern California they think of San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, perhaps Silicon Valley or the Pacific Ocean, not well-preserved historic communities.

Not only do I enjoy exploring small towns, I also like to read stories that take place in small towns; and, the contemporary fiction stories that I write take place in small towns (where the town is one of the book's characters).

So when I needed a place to set my story, THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE, I instantly thought of Lotus (population 295), a community that dates back to California's gold rush days (165 years ago). Lotus has one main road, Lotus Road, a few old farmhouses, a friendly vibe, and lots of residual spirit energy left over from the California Gold Rush.

THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE is a modern day story that evolves over the span of a week in April 2014. The story is about a mysterious bookstore that suddenly appears on Lotus Road where an old farmhouse used to be. There’s a quirky bookstore owner, Jolene, who meets three people who live in Lotus. These three characters need to fix a piece of their life but can't seem to do it without a little push. Jolene happens to know what they need and how to push them in the right direction.

If you also enjoy small towns and would like to read about California's oldest continuously functioning post office that you can still visit today in Coloma (around the corner from Lotus), go to Coloma post office still delivering mail after 165 years.

How to write better fiction

#1 - To write a great story, forget all the rules and just write. Write every day. Visit the story every day, even if it’s only to write one sentence. Keep at it until you reach the end. Then edit like crazy.

#2 - Look for story and character ideas in everything you do — books you read, movies and TV programs you watch, people you talk to, and while eavesdropping in public. Being observant is a very important characteristic of a writer.

#3 - The job of each chapter is to encourage readers to want to read the next chapter. That means revealing details slowly, just enough to build suspense so the reader wants to know what will happen next.

#4 - If you allow yourself to think about all the things that go into a novel — characters, themes, place, plot(s), ending — you'll get overwhelmed. Instead, break it down into smaller tasks. First develop the story’s theme. Then develop the characters and where the story will take place. The rest will likely come during the writing and editing process.

#5 - Write what you want to write, not what someone else recommends because it’s a popular genre.

#6 - Your research material will add depth and richness to your story. Learn to love the research process.

#7 - Don’t worry if your story isn’t long enough. The story will find its own natural length. If parts of the story need more, you’ll know it. If it has too much filler, you’ll know that too. Most readers like tight, efficient stories and don’t like rambling.

#8 - Get out into the world. Interact with it. Travel. Meet new people. It will all become part of your stories.

Authors get their best feedback from author events

Jay Leno has commented a number of times in interviews that it's important for stand-up comedians to continue their stand-up work even when they no longer have to. Getting in front of a small live audience is a valuable experience, because it keeps you sharp and provides an opportunity to understand what people like and don't like about your work.

My books were published last year and I'm new to book marketing, but I've noticed that Jay Leno's advice also applies to authors. The more I talk to readers about my books at events, the more I learn what they enjoy about my writing. It's information I don't get in a book review or an email. It's real, instinctual feedback that they provide with their words, facial expressions, laughter, applause, and physical energy.

Last night at an event where I was one of five authors on a panel, I introduced new information about the way I write and discovered more than I could have imagined. This is what I shared:

*My stories will always have a strong sense of place. The story's location will be one of the characters. I want readers to connect to the story's location via their senses, e.g., smell, touch, sight, etc. This comes from my love of travel.

*I write fiction to communicate an idea. My book THE MEDIUM communicates: it's comforting and healing to connect with someone you love on the Other Side. My book THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE communicates: there's no such thing as a coincidence.

*My story ideas and themes date back to my childhood when I first became interested in things most people can't explain. For example,
—when you walk into a room and can feel that something is wrong
—a feeling of deja vu when you travel to a place you've never been but it feels familiar
—receiving a sign from or connecting with someone on the Other Side
—feeling the influence of a full moon
—a coincidence that doesn't feel like a coincidence, either when it happens or a few months later when you're thinking about it

*I refer to these events as "mysteries of the human experience". We feel them. We experience them. We know they happen. But we can't explain them. My stories will always include these types of events because they are part of being human (whether you notice them or not).

*I think it's important to write stories about these types of events, because it helps people validate their own experiences.

While sharing this information I learned that readers better understand the types of stories I write, and they enjoy reading about characters who have these experiences. It also adds a bit of mystery to the story, which everyone enjoys.

Eudora Welty explains why all short stories are not potential novels

If you like Southern fiction, you may have read the book CONVERSATIONS WITH EUDORA WELTY (I highly recommend it).

In an interview with Alice Walker (Summer of 1973), this was Welty’s reply when Walker asked if she thought all short stories were potential novels:

“No, they are two different things. I think that one of my faults as a novelist is that I don’t think as a novelist does. I think the short story is a sustained thing, all in one piece, and compact. You don’t have any of the expansion and scope that the novel can have. So any time I’ve made the mistake of writing a short story that became a novel I’ve had to go back and start at the beginning again. It’s like starting for the long jump or the short hop. You don’t have the same impulse.”

Based on my own experience, Welty is right as rain. When I wrote THE MEDIUM, a short story, and THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE, a novella, my mind’s eye naturally saw a tidy story, not a lingering show. Then this year, when I started to write my first novel, my mind’s eye saw something different — an expanded drama where the characters and story elements slowly unfold.

I enjoy reading all types of story lengths, but I especially admire writers who can pack a big story into a small space. Here are a few examples of wonderful stories packed into about 100 pages. Do you have any favorites?

A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck

THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Henry James

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST by Oscar Wilde

How research helps a fiction writer develop a sense of place

Whether you are a reader who enjoys stories that take place in the 1950s, or a writer who is writing a story that is set in this time period, you will want to visit this place. I only live 30 miles from Mark Reiff's Gas Station Museum in Woodland, California, yet had no idea it existed. What a thrill it was to hear about it from a friend!

It made me think about the writing process and the importance of research. To see, touch, smell, hear and sense the vibe of the time or place where your story evolves is invaluable (at least it is for me when I write). All of these sensations become part of the book and help your words develop pictures in readers' minds.

Before I wrote THE MEDIUM, I traveled to Savannah, Georgia, and explored the city's Historic District for two weeks (read more about my visit here). Also, a visit to an old farmhouse in California's gold rush country inspired my novella, THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE.

It's not always possible for writers to travel to their story location; therefore, they rely on other research methods, such as reviewing online blogs, local newspapers and magazines, maps, travel books, or talking with people who are familiar with a region.

Every good novel worth reading requires some research. And it happens to be one of my favorite steps of the writing process.

Why I love to read author interviews

There are two writing magazines that I enjoy reading, The Writer and Writer's Digest, and my favorite segments are the author interviews.

There is so much you can learn about an author from an interview that's not on the back cover of a book or an author's website. In particular, I think it's fascinating to read about an author's writing process and what influences his or her writing. And if I enjoyed the interview and have not read any of the author's books, that's an added bonus; I like discovering new authors to read.

If you are like me and enjoy reading author interviews (where secrets are often revealed), please enjoy these two interviews:

Kathy Reinhart, Ink Drop Interviews & Reviews, interviews author Linda Westphal: Define a great book; Tell us about the picture on the cover of your book THE MEDIUM; Tell us about the theme running through your book THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE; and, more - View the interview

Lisa Montanino, Accidental Bohemian, asks author Linda Westphal about writing, reading, life - View the interview

Here's something not many people know about me

Here's something not many people know about me: I'm a slow writer. Probably because I'm a thinker - I think a lot about what I'm writing. It's the only way I know how to write, which means my books take a lot of time and effort.

So, when one of my books is recognized by people I admire - publishers, booksellers, book bloggers, and other authors - it makes me feel absolutely giddy. And then grateful, relieved that the effort was not in vain.

I am happy to announce that THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE was awarded The Indie Spiritual Book Awards’ (TISBA) 2015 Finalist nomination in the fiction category.

It's my belief that we are always being pushed in some way to do what we’re meant to be doing. Sometimes it’s a subtle hint, sometimes it hits us over the head to get us to take action. THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE is a simple story about three characters who get a push from the same quirky bookstore owner. The mysterious nature of the bookstore and its owner will keep you wondering what happens next.

The Indie Spiritual Book Awards (TISBA), founded in 2014 by author and healer Lois J. Wetzel, honors the best new independent books with a positive message and supports authors who are leaders of positive change.

View a list of the 2015 winners at http://tisbawards.blogspot.com/
View more about TISBA at http://www.theindiespiritualbookaward...

We're celebrating today!

It's been 6 months since these two books pushed their way from my desk to your bookshelf. I'm so glad I did it. THANK YOU, readers! I'm thrilled with how well they've been received.

Lisa Montanino asks author Linda Westphal about writing, books, life, more

I had so much fun answering Lisa Montanino's questions. You can see a few of them below and the full interview on Lisa's blog, Accidental Bohemian.

Lisa Montanino interviews Linda Westphal —

Lisa: Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?
Linda: I write on my Apple MacBook Pro laptop. I don’t write story paragraphs or scenes longhand, because I can type faster than I can write. My ideas for the story, however, are captured on paper in longhand and as voice memos on my iPhone.

Lisa: What is the best advice you’ve been given?
Linda: You’re a writer. Keep at it. Don’t worry about what other people think.

Lisa: What book do you think everyone should read?
Linda: The book’s title is TRAVELS, written by the late Michael Crichton. It’s a collection of memories from his travel adventures early in his life – both outer travel to places such as Bangkok, Kilimanjaro, Malaysia, and Jamaica (when people rarely traveled to these places) and inner travel (his personal spiritual exploration). His experiences are not only fascinating, but you’ll learn a little about yourself when you read this book. He was such a great writer. He starts the book with this sentence: “It is not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw.” (referring to his days as a medical student).

See more questions and answers here – Accidental Bohemian

8 admirable qualities of readers

The other day I noticed something — all of my friends are readers. And I don’t think it’s because I’m a writer. I’m attracted to people who read books because:

-Readers are interesting people to talk to

-Readers are good problem solvers

-Readers are not afraid of quiet time

-Readers are comfortable with being alone

-Readers are better informed than the average person

-Readers are good listeners

-Readers are world travelers

-Readers have a way of changing the world with their knowledge