Jennifer Griffith's Blog, page 25

Name Some Children Some Names and See What Happens

It’s freezing out there. I went running in 14 degree weather this morning. And I couldn’t find my scarf. And when my neighbor pulled up to tell me to “go inside where it’s warm,” I couldn’t respond because I’d been out there too long and all I could say was, “Hawah? Mah wips don’ wahhk.”

So glamorous.

The other day at my writers group we were discussing how to name “story people” (as Dwight Swain calls them.) There’s a fine line to walk, choosing a name that’s memorable, that fits the character, and that the author likes. It’s tough.

In the past I’ve chosen names for characters that I would’ve loved to use for an actual child born into my family, if only I could get my husband to agree to it. Or names that just struck my fancy at the moment I was writing.

I went with alliterative names for a while–both the first and last name starting with the same letter. After all, that’s how I remembered my husband’s name when I first met him.

Then, one day when I was reading a John Grisham novel, I noticed that he named his characters all real names, but out of the ordinary names. They were names you could find in the phone book, but that even in a city there might only be one or two entries with that last name.

That hit me as being a key–a real name (not made up) but that would stand out as unusual.

So, since then I’ve pulled out the phone book and selected names that way.

Another thing I have done is jot down interesting names as I come across them while reading magazines, especially auto magazines. For instance, lately I found the name , who was the 1970 Indy Car winner. Great name! It’s a real name, but just unusual enough that it’s memorable. Other magazines have been helpful. I just happen to read a lot of car magazines.

One other way I’ve found names is to do research. If I were writing about, say, a cooking school, I might find a list of the top chefs or innovative cooks of all time and then mix and match first and last names from that list to populate my story, assuming they have interesting names.

In my work in progress, I have a character that comes across as likable but that I am hoping the readers will take a dislike to, so I gave him the last name Dirkburg and I have the heroine refer to him as “dirtbag.” A sound-alike can sometimes be useful. Ben Franklin called himself “Silence Dogood,” and Dickens very often used names that were meant to invoke emotion in the readers. In my short story I named the semi-hero “Mr. Thurgood,” since I didn’t have as much time for character development in this short story and had to do something to make him seem good from the get-go.

There’s that great poem by Robert Frost, as well, “Maple.” The girl in the poem has the name Maple instead of the more common Mabel, and it brings her some difficuly socially, but then it ends well when it catches the attention of the right man. Frost closes it, “Name some children some names and see what happens.” I’m not recommending that we hobble our kids with wacky names, but since we can always name story people, go big and let’s see what happens.

Great Googly Aggie Moogly!

So, I just checked Facebook and a post from my cousin Jared told me he’d seen the Aggie Alumni Newsletter and I was in it.

Shazammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

What a nice article they wrote. It’s so cool that they featured Big in Japan, and mentioned Christopher Loke (also an Aggie) and Jolly Fish Press (populated by many Aggies.) Go, Big Blue!

I don’t know how many alums get the e-mail with the newsletter in it, (and it kind of freaks me out), but I think it would be really fun if it meant I was able to get back in touch with some of the people I met at USU and have lost track of. So, if that’s you, here’s my Facebook link—friend me!

Seeing the article made me think back on lots of USU memories.

Like ice blocking down Old Main Hill. Sledding too. (Very nostalgic since I’m in Arizona now.)

Going to Logan Cave—traipsing through cold water and then crawling through that horrible tiny hole to get to the very back.

Eating the fresh, hot bread in the Student Center. Man, makes me want raspberry honeybutter right now.

Watching sporty people play ultimate Frisbee on the Quad.

The Halloween Howl—especially the year my uncle Tim (5’4”) and his friend Bennett (6’3”) and their friend Rick (5’) painted themselves green and went as the Jolly Green Giant and Little Sprout and a box of peas.

“Following the herd” by walking on the same trail cut diagonally across the grassy field next to the athletics building. Some do-gooder put up a sign that told us not to follow the herd, so that the grass could grow back.

Going to the late-night showing of U2’s “Rattle and Hum” … and not quite making it all the way through the show awake. But waking up just in time for “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

The huge bronze statue of the bull on the corner of 10th North and 8th East—and trying to un-see the strategically disturbing icicle that formed there every winter.

Sitting in Dr. Sonja Manuel-Dupont’s great lectures, and getting a test back from her that had smiley faces drawn on it. Made me feel so happy.

Seeing Old Main on a frosty morning as I emerged, walking, at the top of The Dugway from the Island and thinking, “Only one more hill to climb.”

Just basking in the beauty that is Cache Valley. Isn’t it simply God’s Country? Oh, I think my heart might always and forever be there.

Thanks, Aggie Newsletter for the nice article and for the chance to think back on so many good things!

 

Big in Japan is the story of a big, fat Texan, Buck Cooper, who goes to Japan and accidentally becomes the first blond sumo wrestler. He must face down his biggest enemy to win the Emperor’s Cup to save “the girl.”

It has won an award for best book trailer at the League of Utah Writers 2012 conference. It was named one of the “Ten Best Books of 2012″ by ksl.com. It reached #9 on the bestselling list of Kindle in December 2012 for sports novels.

It’s available in bookstores, and through online sellers, and as an e-book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble dot com. Sample chapters are available for preview!

 

 

The Lament of the Snacking Writer

What was with me that I thought I needed enough Ritz Crackers to choke a horse in order to churn out a few (I mean, ten, friends, ten!!!) pages on my WIP yesterday?

I mean, sure. Snacking and writing go together like bread and butter (of which I ate inordinate amounts over the holidays.) Or anything and butter, actually.

But honestly, how much energy am I really expending. I’m trying to convince myself that mental energy is the same as physical energy. They’re both energy, right? Surely, a ten-page push has to be something like a marathon of sorts.

Somehow I suspect I’ll be sacrificing my body for this project. I can already see the yoga pants with the drawstrings loosened coming out from the back of the pants drawer. In fact, why do I even bother calling them yoga pants? They should be called writing pants. Or, more accurately, snacking pants.

Since I swore off cold cereal this year as a New Year’s Resolution (pretty much the toughest one so far), I’m stuck eating things like Ritz and dry roasted peanuts and bag after bag of microwave popcorn. I’m pretty sure these things have more calories and more destructive potential than an innocent handful of cold cereal.

The family size box of Marshmallow Mateys is calling to me from the cupboard.

I overheard my 5 year old daughter say at the breakfast table this morning, “Why do they bother putting in the brown stuff when all we really want is the marshmallows?”

A child after my own heart.

Now, pass the snacks. I’m back on task and cracking the WIP.

The Law of Compensation (free audiobooks included)

I dropped my kids off at school Monday morning after a long Christmas break with a lot of family together time. (Whether togetherness always counts when 5 or more of us are absorbed in some screen or other is up for debate.) But it was a fun break, and seeing it end got me all sentimental, and kind of weepy.

When my son who’s a freshman disembarked from the family boat (our enormous Suburban) I found myself sniffling. Then I looked to the east and there was this incredible pink and orange and grey sunrise, and then to the west where a pink glow hit the snows atop the mountain that guards over our little valley, and I felt like, yeah. It’s going to be okay. There are compensations. This is a new day.

Anyway, sentiment. I am just plain full of it.

So, everybody’s making these New Year’s Resolutions. Mine was to just keep running. I had to resolve this because, frankly, I’ve been getting a little tired of it. My route is starting to bore me. The songs on my MP3 are seriously, seriously old news. I can’t think of any new songs or albums to add, since I’m not much of a music buff (although I’d gladly take suggestions.) And the whole process was getting stale.

And thennnnnnn, I remembered.

Librivox.

What is Librivox? It’s audiobooks recorded by volunteers. All books are in the public domain. They’re free to download as MP3 files. This means there are classics and classics and classics available for the listening—if I’d just take the 15 minutes and load them onto my little $18 MP3 player.

Yes! Why didn’t I think of this before?

So, now I’m happily plodding along, absorbed in the story Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (of North and South and Wives and Daughters and Cranford fame.) I don’t even see the same dull houses or potholes I was started to despise. I’m too busy worrying whether Mary will ever get together with Jem Wilson or not.

It’s bliss.

I’m saved!

This is such a great thing, and I hope someone reading this will click over to librivox.org and find some listening pleasure for as you drive or run or work or whatever. It’s like a beautiful sunrise after a gloomy thought. There are compensations. This is a new day!

The Anti-Magic-Formula

I really love my publisher. They are super encouraging and they really “get it” about social networking, and they’ve really encouraged me as an author to stretch outside my comfort zone and put the book out there (and myself) more than I would’ve done so otherwise.

So yesterday, when they sent a list of suggestions, I had to laugh out loud at one of them. It was basically:

Your blog doesn’t generate enough comments. Write posts that get more people talking.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

It’s just funny to me because the posts I think are definitely going to ruffle feathers or bring up controversy or whatever? They sit there like a three day old baked potato on the countertop. (At least around here no one would think to pick that up.) It’s like I know the anti-magic-formula for what will/won’t be interesting. And the posts I just randomly throw up on the screen and give not a second thought in writing? They get a bunch of Facebook likes and Twitter tweets, and even a few comments.

Why is that?

It’s like back when I was pregnant with ALL FIVE of my children. For sure, I knew for sure my first two were girls while they were in utero. And they were boys. And THEN, I knew, just KNEW that my next three were boys while they were in utero.

All girls.

(We never wanted to find out through a sonogram, preferred a surprise. Not everyone is like that. Some people want to know ahead of time, but I’m an open-your-Christmas-presents-on-Christmas person, and I really liked that in the hospital the nurses were always just a little more perky and helpful when they were in on the fun of the surprise as well. And *now* I’m really glad I’m done being pregnant altogether. Anyone else think a surprise is better?)

Anyway. Wrong exactly 100% of the time. You’d think I’d be remotely able to guess, even 1/5. But no.

Just like with the commenty-ness of my blog.

I Know, I Know, Never Read the Reviews (Books are Friends, Not Food)

So, I know it’s emotional suicide to read too many reviews of our work. That’s fine. I generally don’t read them unless someone I know emails me and tells me about them–and that’s only when they’re good. I have nice friends, not mean friends. “Hey, Jen. There’s a sucky review of your book on Goodreads. You should check it out.” I don’t have those friends, thank heavens.

But accidentally I stumbled across an honest review of my book. It wasn’t a mean one, not at all. It just turns out the reviewer was looking for depth in my book and didn’t find enough of it.

Depth? Depth? Imagine.

Anyone who knows me and knows what I like to write knows I’m not here for that. If a reader wants depth or a life changing experience, there are plenty of novelists just aching to deliver that food for the soul. There are hundreds and thousands of years of literary classics to choose from with depth and meaning. There are books with centuries of staying power that feed the spirits of their readers. There are books a-go-go published each week (and more and more as the ease of publishing continues to increase) that are meant for such a lofty purpose.

I, however, am not that writer.

My goal, stated time and again, is to provide an emotional and mental escape for anyone who reads. I want things to end with a kiss and a smile. I want the reader to put it down and say, “Aw, that was fun,” and then, likely, forget about it. Maybe he or she will pick it up again after a few months, having forgotten the more salient points of the plot and grab it on a trip to the beach to pass around to fellow vacationers because it’s an easy companion for a happy journey. Or else pull it from the shelf on a day when everything in the world is going wrong because it’s a chance to forget. (Much safer than self-medicating.)

That’s what kind of writer I’m striving to be.

And so when my eyes slid over the reviewer’s criticism, I couldn’t find a bit of fault with her assessment–other than she didn’t know what I was when she picked up the story. Perhaps when her down day comes, though, she will need a lift and remember it’s an easy friend when that’s all she needs.

Get Your Hawaii On!

My friend Lehua Parker has her cool Niuhi Shark Saga (installment #1) book called “One Boy No Water” on Kindle for $2.99 today and tomorrow. Grab it before the sale is over!

Here’s a link to my interview with Auntie Lehua, and another link to my review, and by the way, she has a really, really great website/blog where she teaches her readers Oleo, which his Hawaiian slang. I’ve learned a lot of good words for when I go to Hawaii. (Oh, how I hope and pray I can go to Hawaii someday.)

Makes me want to go get some Hawaiian shave ice right now.

Little Present to Me

It’s New Year’s Eve! I love New Year’s Eve–now that I’m married and don’t have to wonder when my prince will come and now that I have someone to kiss at midnight every year. It’s the best.

Today I’m cracking the whip and getting the kids to clean up the Christmas bomb that exploded all over our house. Man, what a tremendous mess. Beautiful, but messy.

But I have to take a break from cleaning (big sacrifice) to post because I just received a late Christmas gift–in the form of a super-nice review of BIG IN JAPAN on the Logan (Utah) Library website. Here’s a link to it, but I’ll post the whole text of it here, just for the joy of it.

Review by: Janet Kay Jensen (Logan Library)
Mild-mannered Texan Buck Cooper is obese and lonely, and he feels unappreciated and overlooked at the workplace. However, a visit to Japan with his parents changes all of that. Buck attends a Sumo wrestling match where, thanks to a chance appearance on a Jumbo Tron TV screen, he’s briefly transformed from spectator to participant, and the crowd loves him. Imagine a 400-pound blond American engaging in Japan’s favorite national sport! Buck finds himself suddenly propelled into the real world of sumo wrestling. And what a world it is. For the first time in his life, Buck finds that his size is not a disadvantage, and through rigorous training and grueling matches, he works his way up to the highest level of the sport. But is this new life of fame and adoration worth it? Buck Cooper’s accidental journey into sumo wrestling superstardom is fascinating and laugh-out-loud funny. The reader also gains an inside view into the world of the sport, which we soon learn is not for the faint of heart. Like any sport, it has its dark side. Through Griffith’s lively description we also gain a vivid glimpse into the culture of Japan. The fast-paced plot of Big in Japan has plenty of surprising twists as well as engaging moments of hilarity and poignancy. Softhearted Buck emerges as a gritty, tough and memorable hero. I highly recommend Big in Japan by Jennifer Stewart Griffith. Two thumbs up!

Late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me! And many thanks to Janet Jensen for reading and reviewing. I love readers. And I love reviewers! And I love Christmas. And I love New Year’s Eve. And New Year’s Day. And the Rose Parade. And the holidays. And all these bomb-detonating kids. It’s a beautiful time, and I’m savoring every day.

A Merry Little Christmas

I’ve got no deep thoughts today. Just too busy having the merry little Christmas with the family and children. We’re watching lots of good movies, eating easy food, reading books and taking a pile of brownies over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house. What could be better?

The Gift of Not Sharing (Microwave Caramels, DO NOT STIR)

Sometimes I give the gift of not sharing. Like today.

Today is Christmas Eve, and our family tradition is for me to make pan after pan of caramels and for the kids to wrap them and then we go caroling to the neighbors and take bags of delicious homemade caramels. I love it. The kids love it. It’s tradition!

But starting last Wednesday, my kids all got colds. This cold’s first onset is a strange, irrational grumpiness. And then it morphs into a headache and dizziness and a sniffly nose and general misery and fever and sleeping for days.

This is not something, in this season of giving, that we’d like to give to others.

And so, this morning I decided to scrap the caramels plan and just have us all sit around and enjoy one another’s company eating microwave popcorn and, I must admit, watching Korean dramas on Netflix. What could be better?

So, instead of sharing actual caramels, I’ll share my AMAZING caramels recipe. Enjoy, people. Enjoy!

 

Microwave Caramels

1/2 cup each of the following:

melted butter

brown sugar

white sugar

light corn syrup (like Karo)

sweetened condensed milk

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Stir well to get out all brown sugar lumps. Microwave for 5 minutes 42 seconds on high. DO NOT STIR. Dump into 8″x8″ pyrex dish. Chill, cut, eat.

 

And when I say DO NOT STIR, I mean it. These work exactly right in my microwave for that amount of time. It’s worth experimenting with 3 or 4 batches to find just the magical amount of time for your own microwave because then you can have delicious caramels every year from now on and forever without any hassle. All the joy of caramels, none of the pain. MERRY CHRISTMAS!