Laura Whitcomb's Blog, page 9

Tea & Sweethearts

Yesterday was our February Supernatural Tea Party — after a wonderful digression into the art of Storytelling vs. Reporting, we talked about paranormal love stories: different kinds of soul mates, couples who meet in magical ways, husbands/wives who continue to commune with their spouses after death, soul mate dreams, and so on. Always fascinating. A new member attended, Anne, who sailed the Atlantic with my sister last year on her "Writing the Waves" cruise.

We dined on tea sandwiches, Earl grey, heart-shaped chocolates, black and white cupcakes (Don made), chocolate shortbread (Pam made) and cinnamon cake from Anne. Afterwards we watched clips that ranged from lovers in past lives, romantic time warps, fateful meetings, and magical couplings. Characters included ghosts, mermaids, time travelers, and we touched on supernatural adventures of the dating and mating variety. We popped corn and interpreted the Rorschach-like patterns on the tops of the cupcakes (dragon, crane, Italy, accidental creations in dark chocolate and cream cheese.)

Binny had a great time as usual. He even tasted his first lemon curd sandwich (well, he licked it, anyway.) Next time we will discuss the Little People and Ireland in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Writing Tip #13 ~ a few minutes away

Sometimes it strengthens your writing life, and your current manuscript, when you play hookie for at least a few minutes per day and write something else. And I don't mean something businessy or home-worky. I mean a fanciful piece, maybe even a secret, guilty pleasure project.

Every night I email my sister in California and tell her about my day. At the end of each message I always say goodnight in a different way. A pun or a sentimental snippet. Here is an example from a few days ago, a silly poem that started out a spoof on a Dickinson verse and got out of control:

Because I could not stop for Sleep

He kindly stopped for me,

Tripped over the bed-clothes, spilled my milk,

Quite embarrassedly.

 

He blotted my damp blankets

And he deftly wrung the sheets

Then crept around my footboard

On his foggy, kitty feets.

 

Yes, Sleep sat up a while,

Read some comics, brushed his teeth,

Looked at his email, toe nails clipped,

My bed he checked beneath.

 

Having found no monsters,

Now lullaby he croons,

Puffs my pillows, jammies up

And nestles me in spoons.

 

"Tell me a story," Sleep demands.

"One that ends in bliss."

So I tell him a short one, tuck him down,

And give him a little kiss.

 

"Good Sleep, good fellow,

I love you," I say as I stifle a yawn.

"Do you love me," he asks, "as much as

You love my sister, Dawn?"

 

"As much as I love cousin Dreamy," I say.

"That's how much I love my Sleep."

"Even when I'm fitful?" he asks.

"Even when I'm deep?"

 

"Even," I say, "when you're shallow."

Now Sleep he smiles and thinks.

"Goodnight," says Sleep and before he drifts off

He gives me forty winks.

 

Sometimes I open a new page on Word and brainstorm about a future project I want to write. Sometimes I describe a cool dream I had to my cousin or old beau in a letter. (Yes, now and then I still send snailmail.) Or I write out my hopes for the future in a stream of consciousness or a numbered list.

It feels healthy to write something "other" at least a few minutes each day. I guess it's like having sherbet between the soup and meat of your novel to clean the creative writing palate.

February Give-Away!

The winner of the January drawing was Gwen of Belmont, California. I will be sending her the writing books: Between the Lines (Jessica Morrel), The Writer's Guide to Character Traits (Linda Edelstein), and The Making of a Bestseller (Hill & Power) plus one copy of The Writer magazine.

The February Give-Away is a copy of The Writer's Guide to Places (Prues & Heffron.)

To enter, send your name and physical address to me via the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website. (If you do NOT want to get free bookmarks or postcards when I have a new novel coming out, let me know that you don't want to be included in my snailmail group.)

Goodies, Gods, & Goddesses . . .

At our most recent Supernatural Tea Party we shared tales of the days of Gods and Goddesses. 

I served a three tiered tray of sweets — divinity on the top, closer to the heavens; truffles below since they come from the earth. Well, since they're named for something found in the earth. 

We provided health nibblies for those being good (celery and carrot sticks, cheese, nuts, rice crackers and sugar-free candies) and naughty things for those being bad (tea sandwiches, huckleberry brownies that Don baked, shortbread from Pam, chocolate almond squares and rum cake.)

We talked about the oldest samples of written language (cuneiform) supposedly taught to humans "by the gods." We contemplated the passage of scripture that references giants walking the earth.

Binny had a grand time. I wonder if he'll remember any of the tea parties from his first year. Perhaps they'll just simmer in the back of his mind like the picture books we are shown in infancy. Ooo, what a treasury of heroes, quests, myths, mysterious monsters and magical beasts!

Later we watched clips, everything from Jason and the Argonauts to The Twilight Zone. As usual, a lovely time had by all. These conversations are excellent for stirring up story ideas.

Writing Tip #12 — "that can't be good"

One way I jokingly acknowledge certain kinds of plot points while watching movies on TV with my writer sister is by using the catch phrases "that can't be good" and "that ought to do it." They signify the heightening of tension and the resolution. As in Jaws — the boat's motor breaks down while they are floating above a 25 foot man-eating shark (that can't be good) and Sheriff Brody blows that same shark to smithereens (that ought to do it.)

I have a third phrase I use less often, but it's still helpful: "wait a minute now" for that moment when the protagonist (or reader/movie watcher) first realizes something is afoot. In a mystery it might be the police detective discovering that the supposed suicide victim had, on the morning of her death, bought a play ticket for the next night.

In a ghost story the "wait a minute now" might be when an object moves by itself or a disembodied voice is heard for the first time. The "that can't be good" might be a climactic attack by the ghost. The "that ought to do it" might be the freeing of the spirit to leave the haunted house/the earthly plane.

In a love story the "wait a minute now" might be when the main characters, who start out hating each other, first see something unexpected in the other's character. The "that can't be good" might be some dire misunderstanding of heartbreaking proportion. And "that ought to do it" is often a wedding.

Whatever kind of story you are writing, there are probably at least one of each of these kinds of moments that create the rise and fall of emotion. Just for fun, look for them and see if the moments are satisfying.

And if you have your own catch phrases for turning points of the plot . . . I'd love to hear them.

What I did on my Christmas vacation . . .

Okay, I confess. I don't have a vacation at Christmas because I don't have a day job (other than being a novelist and a mommy.) But here's what happened to me:

I wrangled the props again for the Christmas Revels, this year set in Spain. Wonderful, haunting show.

I had a holiday supernatural tea party where we discussed Christmas magic like Santa, elves, Jack Frost, the winter solstice, and other mysterious things of the Decemberish ilk.

To celebrate my birthday I went shopping at several Goodwills with my family finding delightful treasures, went out to eat at California Pizza Kitchen, and could hardly get enough of my Tres Leche cake. (Better start a diet soon.)

My sister hosted a brunch at our place and it was splendid to schmooze with old friends and new.

I loved having my sister Wendy and her kids visiting from California. We played games like dominoes, dressed the baby up like a shepherd and an elf, watched old movies (White Christmas, Scrooge, A Christmas Story) and took turns cooking for each other, reading out loud to each other, and using the Wii Fit.

Binny with cousin Molly

It was Binny's first Christmas and as predicted he loved the wrapping and boxes as much as the toys. He thoroughly enjoyed all the holiday music and rocked out to it in his little one-year-old, head-bobbing, knee bouncing style.

And, as you might have guessed, I'm still recovering from all the fun. Hope your holidays were just as exhaustingly blissful.

Writing tip #11: Research wisdom

When I was young I hated research. It seemed like homework – making things up seemed much more fun. But now I love it. Sometimes, too much. Reading and taking notes often makes me want to keep reading and to take more notes. And sometimes I get obsessed with a detail I cannot find. What was the most common cosmetic brand sold in Harlem in the twenties or how close together were boats docked at the turn of the century near London? How did they make sandals in first century Palestine, I mean, step by step?

What I found was that I needed to know when to keep digging and when to move on.

I love reading about a subject for one of my novels. So often I find cool facts that enrich my stories. There's nothing quite like that particular thrill. But I also love the freeing sensation of saying to myself, "Okay. I tried. I'm going to go with the closest thing I could find."

So maybe I couldn't find a historian who was interested in the spacing of boats in 1903. I discovered a photograph on Google images of the West India docks from 1912. Close enough, baby. And maybe I couldn't find instructions for making Jesus' sandals – I looked up a book at the library on communal living that included a chapter on making your own sandals and those sandals looked pretty Biblical. I couldn't find anyone writing about the Harlem Renaissance who mentioned the names of the lipstick or face powder, but I could write about it without using a brand name. A name would have been great, of course. But describing the details of the color and scent and texture of the cosmetics that I pulled out of my imagination would have to satisfy me.

I've had some fun research adventures – discovered the concept of a Fetch while reading about supernatural beings for a different story, chose names for characters from volumes of family trees at the public library, came across details of antique tools from sketch books of a farm boy turned artist, got tips on travel during WWI from a history prof at a local college via email, pulled setting descriptions from places I had traveled or lived, and used bits of stories from my own dreams and nightmares.

If you have an interesting research story, please share!

p.s. I'm calling this tip "#11″ only because I've written ten other posts on writing before this. Just so you don't have to try to decode the tip hierarchy of which there is none.   =)

January Give-Away

The winner of the December Give-Away (a signed copy of NOVEL SHORTCUTS) was Aimee of Dixon, California.

The January Give-Away will be a writing book grab bag — a surprise collection of secondhand books on the craft of writing. To enter, email your name and physical address via the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website. (Tell me if you do NOT want to be on my snail mail list for bookmarks, postcards, and other freebies when my next novel comes out.)

Happy New Year, everyone!

News Flashes!

The German Book Awards — SILBERLICHT (the German translation of A  CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT) is on the shortlist for the German Book Awards. If you'd like to vote, go to:

http://www.lovelybooks.de/leserpreis/2010/Kinder-Jugendbuch/

http://www.lovelybooks.de/leserpreis/2010/Bestes-Cover-Umschlag-Sonderkategorie-/

and thank you for your support!

Give-Aways — The winner of the November Give-Away was Misha of Uttar Pradesh, India. I'll send out that copy of YOUR FIRST NOVEL next week. The December Give-Away will be a signed copy of NOVEL SHORTCUTS, my second writing book. If you'd like to enter, send me your name and physical address using the "Email Laura Whitcomb" link on my website at: www.laurawhitcomb.com and let me know if you do NOT want to be on my snailmail list for periodic goodies like bookmarks and postcards.

Writing Tips — Congratulations to everyone who participated in Nanowrimo (the National Novel Writing Month) — I hope you all got even more words under your belts than you expected. And I hope you loved what you wrote. Starting in the February issue of the Willamette Writers Newsletter, I'll have a monthly column. To join WW and get the newsletter, visit their site at: www.willamettewriters.com. Also in 2011 I will post writing tip blogs twice a month. Look for them around the 7th and 23rd of every month.

Robinson's Revels Blessing

It takes a village to raise a child and in my village (which includes my family, my writers support groups, my choir) the Portland Christmas Revels is like my church. So it made perfect sense to me that, instead of a traditional baptism, I would take my baby to the Revelers for his blessing, to welcome him into the world, to show him that God is love and that the earth is a beautiful place to live.

I brought Binny to the opening circle of the Revels first mega-rehearsal last month. We were invited into the center of the group and the chorus sang Binny The Travelers Prayer. He watched and listened as if in awe. He will probably not remember the experience, but I will never forget it. Gorgeous, breathtaking. Find the lyrics below. (If you would like to hear the music, the Portland Christmas Revels has just come out with a CD that I'm certain you will love.  To order it and/or  learn more about the Revels go to: portlandrevels.org)

My deepest thanks to my Revelers, the happy few.

The Travelers Prayer

(John Renbourn) 

Praise to the moon, bright queen of the skies,

Jewel of the black night, the light of our eyes,

Brighter than starlight, whiter than snow,

Look down on us in the darkness below.

 

If well you should find us then well let us stay,

Be it seven times better when you make your way,

Be it seven times better when we greet the dawn,

So light up our way and keep us from all harm.

 

Give strength to the weary, give alms to the poor,

To the tainted and needy five senses restore,

Give song to our voices, give sight to our eyes,

To see the sun bow as the new moon shall rise.

 

Cast your eyes downwards to our dwelling place,

Three times for favour and three times for grace,

Over the dark clouds your face for to see,

To banish misfortune and keep Trinity.

 

In the name of the waters which spring from the earth,

In the name of the rivers to whom they give birth,

In the name of the oceans, the seven deep seas,

All praise to the moon, for eternity.