Samantha Bryant's Blog, page 46

What's in a name? #IWSG June

 It's the first Wednesday again, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. The June 6 question - What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

The awesome co-hosts this week are Beverly Stowe McClure, Tyrean Martinson, Tonja Drecker, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor! Be sure to pop over and see what they have to say, too!____________________________________
For my Menopausal Superhero series, both the titles and the character names came pretty easily. Going Through the Change was the working title pretty much from day one for the first book, and finding Change of Life (book 2) and Face the Change (book 3), was a quick sidestep and a little bit of thinking about phrases using the word Change. Not too difficult. 
Naming the characters was a little tricky, but still not anything I struggled over for long. Once I'd gotten far enough in to know about how old my characters were, I just went to census records for popular names during their likely birth years. I was going for an "everywoman" kind of feel for these characters, so giving them common names (Helen, Patricia, Jessica, Linda, Cindy) went along with that. 

There were some personal Easter Eggs in there as well, since Helen was my grandmother's name (though she preferred to go by Liz, a nickname off of her middle name, Elizabeth) and Patricia is my mother's name (though she prefers to be called Pat). I have a cousin named Jessica, too (who goes by Jessie). I liked Linda because it's a bilingual name and Linda Alvarez lives her life in two languages. 
Other works have been harder to name. His Other Mother (unpublished) went through a lot of titles while I was writing it. For the longest time it was just called Sherry, after the main character, even though I knew that wouldn't be the title in the end. 
The short story I finished last week still hasn't settled on a title even though I think the story is otherwise complete ("The H.O.A" or maybe "Late Bloomer"). Sometimes I can't title something until I've written it completely and the title rises up and suggests itself somewhere along the way. 
In my current WIP, working title Thursday's Children, the main character has been named Kye'luh the whole time, but I've tried out a bunch of different spellings for it: Ki'lah, Kai-luh, Kyla, etc.  Her youngest cousin used to be Jared, but became Camden when I realized I had two J characters with two syllable names: Jason and Jared. Could be confusing. 


A name can be so important. It can give ethnic cues, generational information, geography hints. The same with names of books. The title can give you tone and genre, as well as a hint as to the plot or theme. These seemingly little choices, can really impact a reader's experience with your work! 
How about you, friends? Got a character whose name you love? Or would change given the chance? how about a book title? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

Ethel Merman Moments: The Doctor Mom Blog Hop

It's May, that time of year when we're all reminded to appreciate our mothers. Luckily, in my case, that isn't difficult. Mom and I have always been close, and I find a lot to appreciate about her. It might even be her fault that I'm a writer.

I went looking for a picture of us to share for this post and ran across this gem of the early 1990s. We're on the back porch at my grandmother's house, and even though I'm a college student, I'm being silly and sitting on her lap. I love this picture for the dynamic it portrays: the way we have fun together. (even though I don't look like me at all--short hair and makeup? Who the heck is that girl?)

I really wish I had a picture that captured our "Ethel Merman" moments. One time, Mom and I were traveling together, and we were in a swimming pool cooling off at our hotel. We were both exhausted and a little punchy from a long day on the road.

My mom is not a good swimmer. In fact, she never puts her head or face in the water. So I was trying to tease her about her water moves. I said, "You're no Ethel Merman." (I meant Esther Williams; we're both old movie fans).

I know this is one of those "you had to be there" things, but the idea of mixing up Ethel Merman, known for her big voice and personality with Esther Williams, known for her delicate water ballet cracked us both up. In fact, we laughed till we cried. 
Ever since then, when we make each other laugh till we cry (which happens on average, once per visit), we call it having an "Ethel Merman Moment." 
So in celebration of my mother and mothers in general, I'm participating in a blog hop today, helping an author friend celebrate her mother's book release! (see below)
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BLURB: It’s Saturday, and Gregory Green can’t wait to have fun with his dad on the riding lawnmower, but something is wrong. Sammy, his teddy bear and best friend, won’t get out of bed. Gregory is worried when he sees Sammy’s left leg is torn. This is a case for Doctor Mom! Can they fix Sammy? And just how did Sammy get hurt in the first place?

PRAISE FOR DOCTOR MOM:
"Doctor Mom is an adorable story that shows how Moms can fix anything—even a torn limb on a beloved teddy bear! Children will enjoy the lovable little bear who needs a stitch or two and his boy who plays dress-up as a doctor." – Wanda Luthman, award-winning author of Little Birdie Grows Up
“A sweet and heartfelt tale kids can easily identify with, and all of that with a wonderful touch of magic.” – Tonja Drecker, reviewer at Bookworm for Kids
BUY LINK: AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Elaine Kaye first created Gregory Green after her son, who loved her homemade pea soup, thus inspiring the story Pea Soup Disaster. Doctor Mom is the second book in A Gregory Green Adventure series and highlights something all moms and children can relate to; a beloved stuffed animal in need of a repair.
Kaye has worked as a library assistant and teacher's assistant in elementary schools in the Sunshine State. She currently lives in Florida, but she has called Michigan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan home.
She is a grandmother of three boys.

Website / Etsy Shop / Goodreads / Amazon / Instagram / Facebook

Devouring Books

I've always been a reader.

Heck, I think I was a reader before I could read.

I'd cajole my mother into reading books to me over and over until I had them memorized, including which words were on which pages.

I'd build houses out of my books and sit inside them and read other books.

As an adult, I still read a lot, but of course, it's not as much as I did back then.

There are other demands on my time, and, here in the twenty-first century, I have so many choices for how to spend my limited leisure hours, that I sometimes don't choose books, but play video games, listen to podcasts, or watch TV and movies on a streaming service instead.

All of these feed the part of my brain that wants story, too.

I'm finding that I go through phases where I'm not reading much at all, where I seem to grow persnickety and hard to please and start books only to abandon them, wandering off in a moment of inattention. It's not necessarily that there's anything wrong with those books, either. It's more about where I am in my brain at the time. I do think that loving a book is partly an accident of timing: finding that book at the right time for you to read it.

I hate those times, though. I feel nearly as broken when I can't read as I do when I can't write.

So, I'm delighted to be going through a book devouring phase right now.

I set a yearly goal of 52 books, one per week. A lot of years that's almost too much, especially if I choose any lengthy or challenging books.

But this year, I'm already 8 books ahead.

Part of that is because I've been choosing some shorter, lighter works here lately, craving my escape in a big way. The pressures of the end of the school year and getting my house and heart ready to face my daughter's graduation from high school are intense.

Losing myself in imaginary lives and imaginary problems is my kind of self-medication for high stress times.

Some highlights of my 2018 reading so far (click links to see my full reviews on Goodreads):

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey: a tour du force when it comes to voice and pacing. I was intrigued by Melanie from the get-go. Carey meted out strange details at just the right times to keep me from ever getting bored as I figured out the world the story was taking place in.

True Grit  by Charles Portis: another fantastic example of what a unique character voice can do for a story. Mattie Ross is one of a kind, for sure. A fiercely independent and determined person with a black and white personal morality that is her north star.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. A traditional gothic ghost story in a lot of ways, but turned on its ear by having the victim of the ghost be a young Englishman instead of a wide-eyes young female ingenue.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. A brutal and beautiful story of a serial killers, his victims, and the police officer who is on his trail.

Hmmmm . . . .looks like voice is key to getting in to my reading good graces this year. All four of those books are amazing character-driven pieces with unusual voices.

Really, I've had great luck with my reading choices this year. Hardly a dud among them. How about you? Read anything good lately? Anything that *really* grabbed and held you? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

BackBurner Projects

I'm in a slow period at the moment, so far as writer productivity. But I can see relief on the horizon. It's only a month or so now until school breaks for summer and I can be a full time writer for a few blessed weeks.

In the meantime, I'm letting a few projects simmer on the back burner, hoping to turn them into something yummy to read in the next few months.

My main project, a young adult dystopian romance (working title Thursday's Children) has been moved to the slowcooker so that it keeps warm even though I don't have enough mental energy to finish it right now. It's about two thirds written, but it's patchwork. It has a beginning and a late middle, but no early middle and no ending. To make sure it doesn't go stale on me, I stir the pot at least weekly, revising an old scene or working on a new one. I'm feeling good about finishing in that first month after school ends.

On the back burner though are a BUNCH of other projects and I'm enjoying trying to decide what to work on next (as soon as I finish Thursday's Children).

Cold Spring is book one of a historical fiction trilogy. I still love Lena and Freda, the sisters at the center of the story, but finishing their story is going to require a LOT of research if I'm to do it justice. I feel solid in the first of the planned three books, but I'm holding off doing anything with it (as in seeking publication) until I've written all of it. That could end up being work that spreads out over the next decade or so.

Rat Jones and the Lacrosse Zombies, a NaNoWriMo project from a couple of years back, wants to be a middle grades or young adult novel about bullying and witchcraft. I've got a full draft of that one, but I think it's needs restructuring and to remember that it's a kids' book.

His Other Mother, the first novel I ever finished writing, is percolating back there, too. I'd really like to give it a once-over, now that I know more about writing and structure than I did back then. It's issues-driven women's fiction, and I still think it's a powerful story that could find a publishing home with another comb through to smooth out tangles and snags.

A few short stories are pulling at me as well. "The H.O.A." will fit into a collection I've been working on called Shadowhill, which are all weird tales that take place in a suburban subdivision suspiciously like the one I live in. A few of those stories have been published, and I'd love to collect them into a single publication. Another one from that collection, "Suburban Blight" is begging me to turn it into a novel, but I keep telling it to wait its turn.

Two other short stories are jumping up and down in the background, too, one called "Frankenstein in Savoonga" and another called "Another Turn of the Screw," each riffing on the classic literature they reference. Oh yeah, there's also that suffragette story I started at a writing workshop that I've been promising myself I'd finish: "Tiger Lily."

The fourth and fifth books in the Menopausal Superhero series await my attention, but I think they're going to wait for 2019. Taking 2018 to write other things has been rejuvenating so far, and I want to keep letting that energy build.

Of course, there's a new novel idea tugging on my skirt hem, too, this one a gothic mystery novel, featuring a female architect named Devon. She's persistent about wanting her story told, and I've been dying to write a gothic novel since I was about nine years old.

If I can write even a third of this stuff this summer, I'll feel like a powerhouse. How about you? Got anything on your back burners you're anxious to get back to?

IWSG: Feeling sprung this spring

 It's the first Wednesday again, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. The May 3 question - It’s spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?
Be sure to check out our awesome hosts after you see what I have to say: The co-hosts today are E.M.A. Timar,J. Q. Rose,C.Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant!_________________________________________________________Normally, I'm all about spring. Flowers, sunshine, rebirth, love. I usually shake off the doldrums of winter, get out there in the world and get things done. It's traditionally been my favorite time of year, with birthday celebrations, book launches, and outdoor time.
Not so, this year. This year I'm more like this: 
My spring done spring, ya'll. I'm stretched out and thin. For my writing life, I find I have very little energy. It's frustrating, but I'm trusting that it's a cyclical ebb and flow thing and that the balance will come back. I'm a terrible patient, and this is a lot like being sick: accepting limited options for a while.
Its just one of those times when "life" demands more of my focus. I've got a girl getting ready to graduate high school, another about to transition to middle school, I had the flu in March and have felt behind on things ever since, my allergies are in full bloom, it's the last push of the school year and my middle schoolers have spring fever and tensions are high among them. 
But I'll keep on keeping on, like you do. At least some of my old work is paying off. A new Menopausal Superheroes story released yesterday, as part of a multi-author anthology. 
Here's hoping I get some bounce back in my spring soon. How's yours going? 

Z is for Lisa Zaran:

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.
In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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As was true for my entries for the letter I and the letter Q, I didn't come to this AtoZ project with a poet in mind for Z. So, once again, I took the opportunity to read someone new (to me). I found Lisa Zaran, an American poet living in Arizona, best known for her book, The Sometimes Girl.

If you've been reading my other posts in this series, then you already know that I am a sucker for an intriguing opening line when it comes to poetry. Zaran has some humdingers in this regard:

Death is not the final word.-from "Talking to My Father Whose Ashes Sit in a Closet and Listen"
In the roomwhere I learned how to lie, -from "Rivers"
She said she collects pieces of sky, -from "Girl"
As if we haveany answers.-from "Hair"
Simple, declarative, sure. Each of these lines caught my ear and eye and pulled me in, made me want to read the rest to see what that line might end up meaning when it was fully explored.  I'm so glad I took on this challenge which let me visit 23 old loves, and find 3 new ones. Thanks for traveling with me! 

Y is for Yusef Komunyakaa: Revealing a deeper layer

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.
In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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Most of the Yusef Komunyakaa poems I've read are intensely personal. Through his verses, I've learned more about his childhood, his war experiences, and his joys and disappointments than I know about people that I see every day in real life. In each poem, the speaker is there, front and center, no distancing, letting me know what has happened and how he is affected. And I, in reading the lines, am affected, too. 
Here's one of his poems, about visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, an intensely emotional experience for many, but I can only imagine how intense it must be for a veteran of that war.

On the surface, Komunyakaa is only describing what he sees: what is and isn't reflected in the glossy stone of the memorial, but the still-biting experiences are in there, too in the word choices, the descriptive details. Hiding. Reflection. Bird of prey. Profile of night. Depending on the light/to make a difference. Flash. Smoke. Cutting. Lost his right arm. 
There's a second poem in those details, giving you the ghostly after-image of his service experience. That deeper layer that pushes forward, almost feeling like he let it slip by accident and revealed more than he meant to. 
Genius.

X is for XJ Kennedy: Bringing the Fun

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.
In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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XJ Kennedy's verses are fun. Sometimes leaning towards sardonic, but always with a eye to the humor in a situation. Maybe because he also writes for children, he's held onto a playfulness with language and imagery that pulls me in.

I like him better than Shel Silverstein because the underlying feeling is more positive. I guess I'm attracted to the energy and joy that runs through much of his work.

This poem, for example, has a man imagining himself as a dog and plays with that metaphorical dog of a man who won't commit and marry.

It's a silly idea, but the punny language and imagery is appealing.

When I want to look on the lighter side, I turn to XJ Kennedy.

W is for Walt Whitman: Always in Love

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.
In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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In 2017, I decided I would read a poem every day and post about it. Poetry was such a central part of my life when I was younger, but it had drifted almost entirely out of my life, and I realized I missed it. The inspiration for that project was Walt Whitman. My eldest daughter was reading Leaves of Grass for a literature class she was taking, and I LOVED talking with her about the verses of his I loved most, and about his place in the history of American poetry. It seems fitting that it was Whitman who brought me back to reading poetry after an absence of many years.

One of his poems that I remembered fondly was "I Sing the Body Electric." There's that part in Bull Durham where Susan Sarandon remind us how sexy some parts of it are when she reads it aloud to her lover.


When I revisited the whole poem, the first thing I noticed is that it's a lot longer than I remembered. It's a nine part poem! 
The next thing I noticed was the range of it. It's all a celebration of human form, but it waxes philosophical, scientific, personal, and political in turns. It's a sweeping, epic vision, and you can get pulled up into the beautiful maelstrom of words. 
Whitman in his verses always seems to be love. His joy, fascination, and celebration are contagious. Reading him, I fall back in love, too, and see my fellow human beings as the wondrous creations they are. 

V is for César Vallejo: The Personal and the Political

It's April! Time for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge!

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.
In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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I'd heard of César Vallejo before, but not read his work until recently. When my former poetry professor lost her battle with cancer last year, I revisited her work and found a poem she'd written "after César Vallejo." That sparked my curiosity so I looked him up. My curiosity is still sparked, so I'll be looking for more by this poet.

The nineteenth century was politically rough in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries, including Vallejo's homeland of Peru. Every poet or writer I read about from that time period faced a great deal of turmoil and persecution, sometimes for their art, sometimes for their lives. Bohemian artist-types are not always welcome. That pain and tragedy is reflected in his work, which is both personal and political in tone.