Emilie Richards's Blog, page 32

Writing With Others: A Conversation Turned Blog

While the title today is writing with others, let me first talk about reading with others instead.

As many of you probably remember, I’ve mentioned my book discussion group, which has been in existence for more than twenty years. It began as an offshoot of a small group of writers in the Cleveland, OH area. We decided reading a book and discussing it when we got together, and concentrating on why it did or didn’t work from a writer’s standpoint, would be fun. Eventually we moved the discussion online, where it’s remained every since.

I’ve been the gatekeeper since the beginning and I’m now the only original member. When members find they can’t keep up or their interests have changed, new people are invited in. I can’t begin to count how many members have come and gone. We average between nine and twelve at a time, all published novelists.

Recently, as we discussed Six Years,* by Harlan Coben, our February selection, we had several enlightening conversations. I’ll bring you another I’m putting together soon about the many different ways we put books together.

Moving Right Along

Today I’m sending you elsewhere, to Word Wenches, a blog from eight well-published historical authors which has been in existence since 2006. Check the sidebar to see all the awards and bestseller lists these authors have garnered and enjoy  their posts. While you’re there take a moment to mourn Edith Layton and Jo Beverly, much beloved authors and wenches who have since passed on.

Today, though, enjoy the most recent blog from author Mary Jo Putney, a member of our book discussion group who I’ve known for many years and who took some of our conversations and condensed them for you to enjoy. In this segment she enlightens you about our opinions on everything from how we feel about writing, to how we feel about writing with others. We weren’t talking about collaboration, but about ways that groups of authors help each other by critiquing, brainstorming, or retreating together.

Even if you’re not a writer, do you band together with others to work on projects together? Do you critique or help a friend come up with new ideas? Have you ever been on a retreat with other creative people to share and learn together?

(**I’m an Amazon Associate which means when you click on an Amazon link in my blogs, I receive a small percentage and the gratitude of Jeff Bezos–I’m sure I do.)

 

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Sunday Inspiration: Mardi Gras in New Orleans

“New Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture — even the local superstitions. It’s a sensory experience on all levels and there’s a story lurking around every corner.” — Ruta Sepetys

I miss New Orleans most of all this time of year when the entire city goes absolutely crazy with Mardi Gras fever.

During the eight years we lived in New Orleans we never missed a Mardi Gras, packing up our kids to see parade after parade. Mardi Gras day is this Tuesday — Fat Tuesday — but the Carnival season began on Twelfth Night, slowly building up to the grand climax two days from now.

It’s true that New Orleans is unlike any city in America, especially during Carnival season when the cultural diversity is celebrated with unparalleled enthusiasm and the sensory experiences are on overload.

I won’t be at Mardi Gras this year — though I will be in New Orleans in the spring (more about that later) — but on Tuesday our home will be filled with jazz and our tummies will be filled with New Orleans delicacies and our hearts will be filled with joy.

As they say in New Orleans: “Laissez les bons temps rouler” or “Let the good times roll.”

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Romance Scams: When Love Really Isn’t

Today, after we’ve just celebrated real romance on Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing information I found in today’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune about romance scams. Since these suggestions come straight from the FBI, I’m sure they want this information to be read by any and all who might be affected.

The Herald-Tribune article concerned internet scams on the rise in Florida, which has already claimed close to 1,200 victims who have lost more than $20 million. Scammers cozy up to the vulnerable, often lonely older people, and insinuate themselves into their lives and pocketbooks.

So here are some excellent tips to avoid being scammed yourself. Not my usual blog, true, but hopefully it will give all of us pause.

Don’t become a victim

To stay safe online, be careful what you post, because scammers can use that information against you. Always use reputable websites, but assume that con artists are trolling even the most reputable dating and social media sites. If you develop a romantic relationship with someone you meet online, consider the following:

‒ Research the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the material has been used elsewhere.

‒ Go slow and ask lots of questions.

‒ Beware if the individual seems too perfect or quickly asks you to leave a dating service or Facebook to go “offline.”

‒ Beware if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or requests inappropriate photos or financial information that could later be used to extort you.

‒ Beware if the individual promises to meet in person but then always comes up with an excuse why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be suspicious.

‒ Never send money to anyone you don’t know personally.

‒ If you suspect an online relationship is a scam, stop all contact immediately. And if you are the victim of a romance scam, file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Have you been scammed or aware you might be? I hope this helps all of us see the pitfalls of internet friendships with strangers.

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Sunday Inspiration: All That We Share

“Sometimes it’s difficult to find the things that we, as human beings, have in common.

We live in times when the ‘Us vs Them’ narrative has become mainstream. We get caught up in minutiae and risk losing sight of what binds us, rather than divides us.

This Danish television station ad, entitled “All that we share,” challenges this narrative with a simple but effective formula.”

–from TV 2 Danmark

I dare you not to tear up when you watch this — or feel a ray of hope for our world — or want to hug someone you love.

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The Academy Awards: What We Didn’t See

In 2019 I saw seven of the eight films nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture by the  Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

For me, 2019 was a great year at the cinema. Looking back at that list, I realize I even saw one of the Oscar nominees, Black Panther, twice, as well as half of the eighth nominee, Roma, which I still plan to finish one day.  Green Book, inspiring and positive–if not 100% accurate–won the award. I wouldn’t have wanted to choose a winner from so many fine films.

In 2020 I saw three of the nine Oscar nominated movies, not one of which I enjoyed.

I’ll confess I don’t like war movies, so even though I know that 1917 was an important and beautifully done film, I passed on it after watching the trailer multiple times. Unfortunately I didn’t pass on another. After hearing so much hype about Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Proman and I  settled into our den last night and numbly watched as a movie with a drawn out, boring story crept toward horrifying violence.

While many reviewers doted on this film, and it received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, a favorite review conveyed my feelings: “Watching the movie is like listening to a friend explain a Wikipedia article that he’s been obsessed with since he was 15.” (Damian Levy from the Jamaica Gleaner.)

With the exception of Ford Vs. Ferrari and Little Women (whose director was convinced that showing scenes out of order would turn a well loved novel into art) all the films were, in their own way, dark stories of difficult times. I leave it up to you to decide why, after Green Book won an Oscar last year, filmmakers chose so many grim stories to showcase.

In all fairness to the movie industry, though, there’s another list of recent films you might want to see.

Recently Greater Good Magazine published an article describing twelve films that highlight the best of humanity. Films like Harriet (about Harriet Tubman), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (about Fred Rogers), Just Mercy, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, even The Rise of Skywalker.

The article describes each movie and awards it a title like The Compassionate Heroism Award, or The Resilience Award. If you’re looking for thoughtful, sensitive movies to stream or see in the theaters, this may be the list for you.

I will point out that two of the films on the Greater Good list were also nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Parasite (Oscar winner) and Marriage Story. I haven’t seen either. Although I know the stories, I suspect that after or if I ever recover from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, I’ll try them both.

Did you have a favorite film last year? Want to share and tell us why?

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Sunday Inspiration: “Love isn’t something natural”

“Love isn’t something natural.
Rather it requires discipline, concentration, patience, faith, and the overcoming of narcissism.
It isn’t a feeling, it is a practice.” –Eric Fromm

Years have passed since I read Eric Fromm’s The Art of Loving, but I still find his notions of love to be inspirational.

Fromm doesn’t sugar coat love and blow fairy dust. He emphasizes that love is a mature choice, and it’s not an easy one. Love requires a letting go of ego, a sacrifice of rigidity, and a commitment to practicing love in all we do.

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence,” he writes.

I agree with all my heart.

Happy Valentine’s Day — just a little early.

 

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Maybe It Could: Changing Facts in Fiction

Last week I wrote about the way novelists incorporate facts into their fiction.

While I was at it I also explored the way we sometimes ignore facts in order to advance and suit our particular plots. I listed some general rules I’ve created for myself. This week I thought I’d be more specific.

Recently I read a disclaimer at the beginning of a work of historical fiction. The author announced right up front that she had taken “creative liberties” as she detailed her character’s lives. I appreciated the warning, but it left me with questions. If she chose to state that from the start, without giving instances where she had, did that mean she’d changed many important things?

What details are accurate for the era and which are not?
Would characters of this period act the way these do?
Has the author made life harder or easier than it really was during this time period?
Do I really want to do the research I’d need in order to get answers? Isn’t that the author’s job?

Every work of fiction takes liberties.

As I said last week, sometimes authors detail exactly what they’ve changed to make their story work. Today I looked for an example from several of my own books to share with you. In the time I allotted, I couldn’t find one. It’s perfectly plausible that I’ve changed a detail or two in my novels, but apparently never so many that I felt a need to warn you. Or possibly I just slid around the truth in such a way that I didn’t really “take liberties” so much as fudge a little.

Fudging is part of a novelist’s repertoire. After a bit of research we can’t find information on what soldiers in the 1700s ate before a battle? Instead of making up a meal, our soldiers are too anxious to eat, or they eat off stage. Problem solved.

For fun I thought that this week I’d tell you what I’ve changed in my work in progress and why. I’m not rerouting rivers or ignoring existing technology, but so far, I’ve changed the following:

Tarpon Springs has a brand new high school and a new gated community.
Orlando has a new conference hotel–and we all know how much the city needs new hotels, right?
The Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks have a new Greek restaurant, generations old.
Manhattan has a new group of psychiatrists and a new hospital.

I feel so powerful. In a matter of months I’ve changed the real estate of three cities. Without spending a dime of taxpayer money.

So why did I make those changes? Bet you’ve already guessed. There are some shenanigans at the high school in my story, which I’m calling Coastal Winds. Did I want to write about shenanigans at a real Tarpon Springs high school? No, I did not. Because a real school might not appreciate being characterized that way. Plus if I used a real school, I would have to spend time there, figuring out where the lockers are in relation to classrooms, where students wait for rides–if indeed they do. The parking lots, the steps up or down. A million and one details.

And yes, if I were writing about a real high school, I would do that research. Because anyone who knows the school would catalog my mistakes. The moment a reader finds mistakes, they’re pulled out of the story. I want my readers to stay there the entire time they’re reading.

I want my readers to trust me.

A conference hotel near Disney World was a different matter. There are no shenanigans in my hotel, the Boardwalk Grand. At the same time the hotel is fairly generic, because the hotel is just a place for action and in no way influences it. So instead of traveling to Orlando and spending an hour trooping through a real conference hotel near the same location, I created my own.

Oh, the power!

My Greek restaurant, Yiayia’s Kouzina, is such an integral part of my story I had to build if from the ground up myself.

Finally, my Manhattan (Tribeca to be exact) psychiatrists and hospital. I bet you’re getting a feel for this already and know what I’m going to say. The psychiatrists’ practice and the hospital are important to the story, and events have taken place there that no practice or hospital wants connected to them. I did not want to make an appointment with a psychiatrist in Manhattan so that I could describe an office.

Finally did I just make these things up entirely? Did I pull a rabbit out of my novelist’s hat with no preparation or basis in fact? Nope.

For my high school, I pored over facts about real Pinellas County high schools (one of which I am a proud graduate.) I checked disciplinary procedures, dress codes, schedules both daily and yearly, and curriculum. I wanted Coastal Winds to be as realistic as possible.

For my gated community I downloaded a list of real gated communities in the city and drove to them from the Sponge Docks, checking what my character would see along the way and the section of town she’d head for.

For Yiayia’s Kouzina I prowled Tarpon Springs, eating at real Greek restaurants as well as several nearer to home. I’ve also made a point of watching dozens of videos and reading about the restaurant business. For fun I’m cooking Greek specialties and collecting recipes. These days if you come to my house I’ll serve pastitsio or moussaka. I have killer recipes for both.

For my conference hotel? I checked similar hotels for the layout of the lobby, the parking procedures, the size, and the driving time between Tarpon Springs and that little corner of Orlando. For my psychiatrists and hospital? I spent hours looking at maps, and reading about architecture in the part of the city where I’d narrowed the location. I checked size of practices, terminology, educational requirements, and more. My practice doesn’t exist, nor does the hospital it’s affiliated with, but maybe they could.

And “maybe they could” is the standard I shoot for. Because even when I’m making up “facts” in my “fiction” I want my facts to be plausible. I want my reader to know that even if something doesn’t actually exist, well…

Maybe it could.

Next time you’re immersed in a novel, notice the details. Ask yourself how many are true and how many were born in the author’s imagination. Finally, ask yourself if “maybe it could” applies. I’d say if it does, you’re in good hands.

“No way that could happen” is another story altogether.

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Sunday Inspiration: Don’t Be A Jerk!

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one of my favorite blogs is by John Pavlovitz titled Stuff That Needs To Be Said. Please visit it if you’re so inclined. You will find so much food for thought.

His latest blog, titled Life Is Short. People Are Hurting. Don’t Be A Jerk, struck me as especially poignant and profound, as well as inspirational. He gave me permission to quote it.

He begins by trying to see beyond people’s beliefs to their personal struggles. Every one of us is fighting a hard battle in one way or another, and to see a person in that light helps us to value that person not for their politics or race or religion but for their humanity.

Our options on how to treat other human beings is somewhat limited, but John tells us that the least we can do — and it’s not insignificant by any means — is to not be a jerk.

Don’t impose your religious beliefs on other people.

Don’t demand that they adapt to your preferences of identity or orientation.

Don’t try to take away things that keep them physically healthy or give them peace of mind or allow them access to education or opportunity.

Don’t put obstacles in a parent’s way of caring for their children or working to support them or guiding them safely into adulthood.

Don’t tell people who they can marry or how they should worship or where they can call home.

Don’t do things that make them more vulnerable to sickness and sadness and stress.

Don’t try to keep people from having things that you take for granted.

It may seem like not being a jerk wouldn’t be that difficult, but we see far too many examples of this kind of behavior all around us. And people don’t deserve it. There is plenty of pain in our lives as it is. We don’t need the pain of condemnation, of bullying, of blatant prejudice to add to it.

Reverend Pavlovitz ends his blog with these powerful and inspiring words:

These words are for me.

They’re for you.

They’re for ordinary people.

They’re for our elected leaders.

They’re for our President.

Life is short.

It is extremely fragile.

People are grieving.

They are struggling.

They are hurting.



For God’s sake and for theirs—please just don’t be a jerk.

All I can say is Amen!

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How Much of Fiction is Fiction?

So you pick up a book by an author you love, and before you begin the story, you read the author’s note.

“If you’ve ever been to Anytown,” he/she says, then you know that the river flowing downtown doesn’t stop at Everywhere Street. In fact there is no Everywhere Street. And let’s face it, the river is more like a mud puddle during the months this book is set. This is a work of fiction, and so I changed geography and climate just a bit to suit my story. Get over it.”

Well, it’s unlikely the author would say “Get over it,” but that’s really what they mean. Because works of fiction set in real places do take some getting over. Depending on how qualified an author is–or believes she is–facts have a habit of changing.

How much of fiction is fiction?

Geography isn’t the only target to take a hit when novelists go to work. History can sometimes change. It’s not unusual to learn from an author’s note that a song mentioned in a story didn’t really come out that year, or a politician wasn’t in office until the next year. We bend facts to suit our stories. And if we’re smart, we let our readers in on the secret. We admit our fudging right up front so that we don’t get five hundred emails telling us what we already know.

So how does an author decide whether to use a real place or their own creation when writing their story?

I have some rules I’ve developed for my own work. I create new places for the following reasons.

If a character or a situation might bring shame to a real town, or somehow imply that the town was filled with deceit and treachery.
If a place is so filled with history, customs and rituals that I could never be completely accurate.
If no part of the story would be enhanced by real geographical or cultural details.
If I’m writing a small town series that will take place over several years, I create my own town so that I don’t have to do continual research or step on multiple toes over time. (Yes, I’m talking about my Ministry is Murder series.)

I often use real places, too.

If the story “hints” at the setting but doesn’t demand a lot of real life details, I use an actual place. Toms Brook for my Shenandoah Album series is an example–as is Asheville for my Goddesses series –but all the books in those series are, for the most part, set in the country. For that reason I felt safe mentioning the towns, but most of my research focused on the general areas or on specific neighborhoods I could easily research.
If a town or area is important to establish the culture or situation my characters live in.
And finally if a town is so darned interesting I just can’t pass it by.

That last reason is why I’ve set my latest book in Tarpon Springs, Florida. To be one hundred percent truthful, since making that decision, I’ve had to decide, after the fact, how best to incorporate Tarpon Springs into my plot. Usually it works the other way. We visit a place and the setting inspires a story. This time I came up with the story and then visited the place to find ways to make it necessary, even vital.

Of course re-creating a plot this way means that I had to be open to lots of changes.

When I began thinking about the book, the story certainly didn’t have a Greek restaurant on the Sponge Docks, or a large Greek family dancing in and out of scenes. I didn’t have a scene at the Epiphany celebration, and I had never been out on a sponge boat.

All that changed. I was completely hooked by the setting (not a sponge diving pun, I promise) and relentlessly, setting merged with plot to become the book I’m writing. My title, by the way, is Lies and Other Mercies, although, after writing approximately five million books, give or take, I am not foolish enough to think this will necessarily end up on the cover. But that’s between us.

Deciding how much reality to incorporate into fiction is not a simple matter, and these days it’s hugely controversial.

If you don’t believe me, check out the hoopla around the novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. That link will take you to the Washington Post and a story about the way the author’s life has been threatened. But there are a gazillion other articles detailing the pros and cons of the story. If you’re in the mood for a controversy and are tired of the impeachment drama, try that one on for size.

As for me? I’ll only say that I abhor violence, and violence directed at an author who tried to humanize the ongoing immigration crisis, is especially abhorrent. I haven’t read the book. I don’t know if the book really trivializes the actual experience or the work of authors with more immediate knowledge of the crisis. I’m not taking sides. I don’t know how much fact is in Cummins’s fiction, or how much fiction eclipsed the facts.

I will say unequivocally that enough with the threats, okay?

Here’s what threats will reap. Novelists will be terrified to use any facts in their fiction, for fear they will offend someone. They will be terrified to write about anything they don’t know so intimately that they could pen the book in their sleep. So they will write fewer books, with less imagination, and more covering their butts.

Even fantasy writers, who by definition are, for the most part, not writing about the “real” world will worry that something they say will equate to a real life situation and they’ll receive threats, too, for something they may not even have intended.

Facts in fiction. Fiction in facts. Let’s hear your thoughts on what you want your favorite authors to do. Write about only the things they know intimately? Or use their writing power to imagine stories that may or may not be plausible. In the end, readers always decide.

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Another Reading Challenge Begins

I’m delighted to say our 2019 Read Along With Emilie Richards Reading Challenge was a success.

The challenge developed organically from the Facebook Group: Read Along With Emilie Richards. While we didn’t keep score or names of participants, and we didn’t give prizes or ask for sign ups, we did something much more exceptional. We had fun!

How does this work?

As individuals we chose books from the same category for each month, and the categories were randomly selected from a proposed list. Each participating reader chose a book she wanted to read that fit that month’s category, and off we went. We read books about food, books about nature, books with winter depicted in the title, books by an author from Canada or Mexico, books from the generation each of us was born in. Plus many, many more.

Sometimes choices were easy to make.

We chose fiction or non-fiction depending on what sounded best to us. Sometimes we checked with each other for suggestions, or looked at lists on Google or Goodreads. Sometimes we started one book, abandoned it, started another, abandoned it and finally found our selection. Sometimes we just skipped a month or two because we were busy, or those categories held no appeal.

The discussion afterwards wasn’t formal. As the month progressed readers told us what they’d chosen for their selection and why. Sometimes I asked questions, and sometimes I didn’t.  In between we heard about lots of other books people had enjoyed. This group is positive and upbeat, so mostly we share about books we loved reading. There are so many wonderful books to read, why dwell on (or finish) a book that is not?

In December we discussed whether to do another reading challenge in 2020, and the decision was unanimous. Yes, let’s do it.

So we are doing the challenge again.

This time we took the categories that random.org did not choose last year and added plenty more. Then we let random.org choose 12 of that expanded list of categories for this year. Today I published all of them in our group files. This is a bit different from last year. Participants asked to have the entire list this time so they can plan ahead. Some didn’t want to know ahead of time, so I’ll still post that month’s category on the first day of the month. But both ways are great because…

We’re reading! Together. And sharing suggestions of more books to read.

Want a sneak peek? 

January’s category? A book by an author from a different ethnic group than your own.

And February? A book with a season or month in the title. 

For my January book I read A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki. I regret to say this novel had been lingering on my Kindle for three years. But once I began it, I realized the story was buried treasure. Would I have read it without the challenge? Most likely not.

I’ve just ordered my February book, November Road by Lou Berney. I read a book by Berney several years ago and remember that not only did I like it, I wanted to read more, particularly this one. So again, I have the perfect reason to do so.

The rest of the challenge categories are published in our Facebook reader’s Group. It’s a “private” group which only means that in addition to having your own Facebook profile, you must ask to join us and answer a few simple questions (to weed out loathsome spammers). Then you’ll be invited to come on board.

If you do join with us, you don’t have to participate in the Challenge. In fact no one will know one way or the other. As I said, we’re informal and relaxed. Some people read Challenge books occasionally, some always, some never. It doesn’t matter. We like finding new books and new authors. That’s all we’re about.

So if you have a hankering to read further afield, a hankering to talk about your favorite books or new authors, a hankering to just be part of a casual, upbeat book centered on reading? We’ll be delighted to have you.

I’m an Amazon Associate, so if you click on an Amazon link on this post, I get a small reimbursement. Guess how I use the money? Uh huh, buying more books at Amazon. Do we wonder why they’re so successful?

 

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