Laura Whitcomb's Blog, page 6

Being Library

(Reprinted from the January 2011 Willamette Writers newsletter with some revamping.)

On the first day of September 2000, my first fallish day as an Oregonian, I was walking into the public library in Lake Oswego when an elderly man with a beaming smile held the door open for me and said, "Have a library day." It's possible I didn't hear him correctly. Or maybe, like my mother,  he had Alzheimer's and was not using the word he had intended. But it got me thinking about library as a descriptor. A Library Day sounded good. Maybe not as spectacular as a wedding day or Christmas day, but better than a bad day or an average day.  A Library Day sounded full of possibility, learned yet humble and wholesome.

And if library could be an adjective, was I Library? I went through my life and tried to take a reading (as it were)  – I was going to the public library to check out a book. Obviously that was Library of me. And it was a collection of literary short stories – very Library — one written by my boyfriend's cousin, David Schickler – Library by proximity. AND I was listening to an audio book in my car – more Library than listening to pop music on the radio. (But I still hadn't figured out which station played NPR – that would've been Librarier.) The book on tape was a Stephen King. I know what you're thinking — not as Library as a John Steinbeck. But it was King's book on writing, so hah! Definitely Library.

That day the weather was cool, the air clean and crisp, autumn leaves drifting from the trees around me as I walked to my car. I was wearing a sweater. This all seemed very Library indeed – not sure why. Is it because it was more like New York weather than L.A. where I grew up or Hawaii where I'd just moved from? Why does Oregon seem more literary to me than my past cities?  Sweater weather and deciduous trees ~~ that's what makes the NW so great and Librariesque.

And Librariest of all, I was a novelist. You might think that the fact that I was unpublished at the time would've made me slightly less Library, but NO. There's nothing more Library than an unpublished novelist.

Which brings me to you.

Whether you are a reader or a writer, published or about to be published, it matters not. You are deeply Library. You are reading this blog. And not just the first line. You have books in your home because you love to read – novels, research books, volumes of poetry. You have paper all around you — too much paper, both filed and unfiled. You love to write, or at the very least, you love to read about writing. You might have a writer's support group or a critique group where you can revel in the company of other writers. All this is supremely Library.

So, here's to you. You lovers of literature. May you find time to finish that book you're halfway done with and may the last page inspire you to the core. And to you writers, may you get your pages done on time for your next critique meeting and may they thrill you. May you get a "yes, send complete mss" reply from your latest query letter. May your skies be brooding and your sweaters warm. May your laptop glow blue in the winter's dark. May you wake at two in the morning with an open book on your chest, or an open pen bleeding onto your legal pad of scribbled notes, and find you've dreamed a great scene for your next book. May you write a whole page tomorrow morning while your coffee's still hot. 

And have a Library Day.

January Give-Away

Happy New Year! The winner of the December Give-Away was Erika of Las Vegas, Nevada. The January Give-Away will be a signed copy of my writing book NOVEL SHORTCUTS. Send your name and physical address via the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website.

Hope your holidays were grand. We had a lovely time. Cheers to you all!

December Give-Away

The winner of the November Give-Away is Amanda of Dover, Delaware.

Congratulations to all those who participated in Nanowrimo — you, obviously, rock. In honor of a new, fresh year starting, the December Give-Away will be a signed copy of Your First Novel. Send me your name and physical address via the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website.

Sorry I've been behind on blogging — I've been engulfed in the world of the Christmas Revels. Hope your holiday season is blossoming beautifully.

November Give-Away

In honor of the holidays, when goodies tend to abound, the Give-Away this month will be a grab bag of five second-hand YA novels. Email me your name and physical address to enter the drawing — go to the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website.

I hope Halloween was delightful for each of you. We had a splendid time. Binny came as Harry Potter and I just wore black because no one notices what you're wearing if you're carrying  around a baby Harry Potter.

Great good luck to everyone doing the Nanowrimo experience this year. I am behind on posting writing tips, but this month I hope to catch up. Write away, you brave souls!

Why I Love Halloween

(from an essay I only excerpted last year)

Ever since I can remember, I've been in love with Halloween. Maybe you'd think it was the treats. When I was a kid we didn't have candy very often at our house – only on holidays or vacations – so it was deeply appealing to end up with a full bag of Hershey's chocolate and pixie stix. Maybe you'd think it was the costumes – I loved dressing up and we had trunks full of old gowns, hats, and props in the cellar. Maybe you'd think it was the celebration – the last school day before the 31st was always fabulous:  story time with the lights turned down, special songs in minor keys, and on your desk after last recess a collection of orange and black cup cakes, cookies, and pop corn balls secreted in by stealthy moms.

But I think my love of the holiday was more about that magical combination of light and dark. My earliest Halloween memory, the October I was three, I remember stepping out our front door after dark, dressed as a princess in a flower girl gown and fake crown, flanked by my sisters who were 9 and 11. It was wonderful. I was entering a world of shadows and mystery (and I'll admit I was a bit of a scaredy-cat) but with my protectors beside me, I was safe.  Children darted by on the sidewalks dressed as skeletons and monsters, but underneath I knew they were just children like us. People's yards were thick with cardboard tombstones and pipe cleaner spiders, but when we knocked and the doors opened, faces beamed at us as sweet as those of our own aunts and uncles.

I liked the light – the laughter and sweets and playfulness of it all. But honestly, I found I  preferred the darkness between streetlights. I liked not knowing precisely who was behind each mask. I liked the corny sound effects records of moaning spirits and even the neighbors who opened their doors with wolfman masks on and made me hide my face. I loved how even the kids in the lightest, easiest to see costumes–white sheets and pale fairy dresses–would fade like ghosts as they moved down the block. I loved the glow of jagged toothed jack-o-lanterns in the blackness and the smell of burning pumpkins and wax, of rotting dead leaves in the gutters and cinnamon cider. I loved the dizzying tracks of flashlights dancing like sprites, leading us through the night.

So, I guess it's not surprising that I grew up to write about ghosts and Fetches or that on the 31st I'll be hosting another Supernatural Tea Party. Can't help myself; every October I become a kid again.

I so look forward to my son's second Halloween. Coming soon, pictures of a 19 pound, two foot high Harry Potter.   =)

October Give-Away

The winner of the September Give-Away was Alexandra of Lexington, South Carolina. Congratulations to her. In honor of Nanowrimo, the Give-Away for October will be a Willamette Writers tee-shirt, black with green logo, female style size large. (Small gals could wear it as a sleep shirt, of course.)

You might be thinking, "Why is the Halloweeny book the September prize and the "Nanowrimo" (which is a novel writing event in November) the October prize?" It's because the winner doesn't get the prize until the beginning of the following month. "I knew that," you say.

I failed at posting on my blog every day in September. Just impossible with a 20 month old. But I will try for at least twice a week in October. Happy Month of the Pumpkin.

Short Story Contest

If you have a short story ready (or close to ready) you might want to enter the AuthorStand (free) contest for short fiction between 1,500 and 10,000 words. Deadline is October 13th. The prize is $250 — see their website at: www.authorstand.com Good luck, comrades. (Winning a contest is great for mentioning in a query letter.)

We're not in Kansas anymore . . .

The theme of our September Supernatural Tea Party was "Other Realms & the Journeys There and Back" — the Underworld, Valhalla, Spirit Worlds, the Astral Realm, mythic journeys, the crossover between fairy realms and the land of the dead, etc. We dined on tea sandwiches and dried snap peas (Binny loved these crispy little things that Roxanne brought) plus, butter cake, shortbread, and grilled cinnamon apple slices. We saw clips, everything from The Return To Oz and Peter Pan to Twilight Zone episodes, The Dark, and Tron. Again, we had pop corn from the stove top crank machine for a late night treat. So many ideas get stirred up in my imagination during these teas – I love that.

The Arts & The Supernatural

At our August Supernatural Tea Party we ate truffle pudding, berry muffins, Quarter Cake (made with one quart each eggs, butter, flour, and sugar) and grilled Havarti sandwiches. My sister, Wendy, from California was there with her two daughters, Anne and Siobhan.

I shared a story about a haunted opera house in the south — its owner was called to the theater one night because someone had called the police saying the party going on inside the theater was too loud. Of course, when the cops arrived and investigated, there was no one there at all. The owner also claimed to have seen a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin from a seat in the back row. If he did witness such a thing, my therory is that he was glimpsing the past rather than watching a troop of ghosts. Interesting idea . . .

 

We watched clips, were entertained by the ever fascinating Binny boy, and talked about haunted and/or magical paintings, sculptures, music, dance, theaters, plays, operas, and books — and we also enjoyed our traditional off-topic chattings. Huzzah to the Supernatural Tea Parties!

Supernatural Children

Our July tea party included stories about children of the paranormal: child ghosts, angels, saints, creatures, and same such. We dined on sugar cookies, miniature sandwiches, and pecans squares. Roxanne brought handmade chocolates. Don shared some books, movies, and photographs. Here is a famous photo that claims to be of a ghost baby.

Afterwards, at our clips party, we showed scenes from (among other titles): Let Me In (vampire girl), Peter Pan (enchanted boy), The Orphanage (ghost children), and The Messengers (baby who can see dead people). Thanks again, Roxanne, for giving Cyn the stove top popcorn popper with the crank — I'll never eat microwave popcorn again!