Rachel Dacus's Blog, page 26

Shameful Day in Washington

“We are all breathing a sigh of relief,” Representative Chris Collins, Republican of New York, said. “We’re living up to a campaign promise we made, the Senate made, the president made.”

This statement was made after the House today passed legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Urban Institute (funded by the venerable Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) in 2016 estimated the costs to individual Americans should a repeal of ACA pass -- and these are just a few things to consider:
Number of uninsured people would RISE by 24 million by 202181% of those losing coverage will be working familiesThere would be 14.5 million fewer people with Medicaid coverage in 2021 It means people will be sicker and people will die. I hope the Republicans breathing a sigh of relief are having breathing issues that are no longer covered under their replacement -- if they ever come up with one. It's a mean wish, but my meanness pales in comparison to the idea of passing a law that will end up killing children.
Not to mention the loss of an estimated 200,000 jobs in healthcare from this new law.

Way to commit political suicide, Republicans. Last time I checked, those affected were all voters (except the children).

As Jimmy Kimmel pointed out recently on his show, it's shameful to take health care away from sick children. And that's exactly what these legislators are trying to do.

But it's not too late! Call or write your legislators today. We can still reach those who can make a difference before it's too late for millions of Americans. The Senate still has to vote on this shameful legislation -- you can contact Congress and quite simply save lives. Do it today.

“I have never seen political suicide in my life like I’m seeing today,” Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, warned moderate Republicans who supported the measure: “You have every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. You will glow in the dark.”




Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

Character Quirks & Little Defining Things or Events

I'm working on a new novel. I know the basic setup: it's about two half-sisters who clash over inheriting a cottage in Italy, along with its resident ghost, the poet Perch Bysshe Shelley. The setup (hook) has specificity, but a story that can fill a novel drills down into such granular particularity you find yourself imagining exactly how each character walks, eats, where they carry their stuff, which kind of pillow they prefer, and whether or not they can tolerate broccoli. It's all germane to the story, hopefully. But finding it out is a great labor.

As with all my great labors these days, I turn to the Internet. And seeking, I found several great essays on character-building, especially my favorite part of it, character quirks.

Here's Writing Geekery on character quirks.
The essential point is that a good character quick blends characterization and character development. 


And here's a character quirk I used that didn't: a gold pen. My character originally used it to aid others in time travel. But why? Someone gave this tour guide a gold pen in gratitude, and so the pen had the ability to fold time, or write paragraphs of history. Not a good quirk and certainly not a good logical rule for time travel. I wound up keeping the gold pen -- evidence that this character was wealthy and beloved by his wealthy clients, but not more than than. A minor, not developmental quirk, but then this character didn't develop through my story. He helped others do so, but he didn't have an arc.

It's possible to get so enamored of a character's quirk that you try to build a story around it, and that's fine, as long as it does support a story. But I do love character quirks and how they aid my remembering a character as I read. Sometimes it's an event in a character's life. How she once cut school to go catch crayfish in a creek and instead caught an unopened letter.

And I really love gold pens. Maybe for the next time travel story?





Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

Books, Books, Swimming in a Sea of Books

E-reading devices have made me a fiction-reading junkie. Hooked on Books was the name of a used book store up the road, which is sadly now closed because they sold paper books. But the books I buy on non-paper are proliferating like rabbits in springtime on my e-reading devices. I am so very hooked because of the ease of reading. On my phone, I always have a book with me.

I’m about to launch a book of my own, The Renaissance Club , a time-travel novel set in Italy involving the great Baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini and a contemporary young art historian who specializes in–him. Fortchoming from Fiery Seas Publishing, the novel will appear as an e-book original and paperback. While I love that it will be both on paper and the ether, to suit different reading tastes, I’m an e-only reader. My eyes and hands like holding a Kindle better than a paperback. And I can turn pages faster, read more books (on my iPhone in the dark!) and consequently, have begun to simply consume novels. So I'm hoping that the e-version will be the popular one.

I now have — I blush to admit it — almost 100 books on my e-reading app, which means accessible on all my devices. A sea of books. What, for a reader and writer, could be more delicious?

What do you think of this cover mock-up for The Renaissance Club? Comments welcome!

Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

New website for THE RENAISSANCE CLUB - my novel's upcoming debut

New novel, new author website. Sounds simple, doesn't it? I've looked at so many author sites and the ones that stick with me are SO SIMPLE! Simple is hard. And I'm short of funds to pay a really great designer. As the daughter of a painter, however, I have my esthetic tastes, and as the daughter of a rocket engineer (same guy), I have my HTML skills. So -- drum roll, please -- here's the new author website for Rachel Dacus.
My new slogan: "In my world, love always wins." And I stick by that philosophy. I'd love feedback, comments, anything you have to say about the website or anything. When it comes time for cover design, I'll be asking for your opinion too! In fact, maybe I'll make some kind of contest out of it, a free ebook of THE RENAISSANCE CLUB for the winning comments. Or something like that! 
As I may have mentioned, James McAvoy is my pick to play the complicated, volatile genius Bernini in the film that I very much hope they're going to make of THE RENAISSANCE CLUB! The part of May Gold has yet to be cast in my imagination, but I'm working on it. Curly long dark hair, a curious and sometimes mischievous look in her large, dark eyes. Thoughts?
Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

What a Writer Can Learn from HAMILTON

This lucky writer of plays, poems, and novels got to see the spectacularly innovative musical theater that is Hamilton. Having listened to the recording at least ten times, watched every Youtube clip of the musical numbers at least five times each, I could have rapped or sung along with many of the numbers. Yet in many ways, I was unprepared for the play itself, its drama and intensity, its organization of themes and events. 

So in one performance -- probably the only one I'll get to see for a long time -- I had a lot to learn, and I had to learn it on the fly.

The biggest surprise -- immediately -- was the near absence of non-rap dialogue. The story  proceeded by one after another spectacular number -- the kind that usually begins and ends a show. And each number, or many, were highly narrative. There was in-the-moment action, of course, but a lot of character-as-his-own-narrator speeches, delivered in rap, fast or slow, but almost always rhythmic. So there was a stylization in every scene, every song, that reminded me of Shakespearean speeches, with a kind of formal structure you don't see in musical plays, unless it's Shakespeare or opera. Rap, after all, is a form of poetry, and so the comparison to Shakespeare's rhythmic and often rhymed lines isn't surprising, after all.

My second surprise was the pacing. The whole show was thrillingly beyond fast. At a certain point, you just settle into being bombarded with content and you absorb as fast as you can. Regular musicals let you absorb plot in normally paced dialogue before the next huge production number hits, tying it  together. This show makes you learn the story through extravaganza. You scarcely catch your breath before plunging off on another wild ride again. It's like surfing monster waves.

I guess the most surprising thing to me was how much narrative was embedded in this history musical, often by the character about himself or herself. That's really a unique way to put a story together. I'll be thinking about that for a long, long time. And when I got back to bingeing on Hamilton songs and raps, it will be with an analytical writer's eye. What can I replicate here, how can I use the formality of rhythm or some other device to create structure? And where can you rent those stage turntables?



Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

Casting the Film Bernini from My Novel THE RENAISSANCE CLUB

The Renaissance Club by Rachel Dacus, Fiery Seas Publishing (forthcoming).

That felt good to type! Today I'm handing over my final manuscript to the publisher. It feels like handing over the controls of my airplane in mid-flight. Next, they wrap the book with a cover. Very important element. I can't help but  imagine casting Gianlorenzo Bernini, around whom the story unfolds, for the movie. Here he is in his self-portrait, age 26, an image that was part of my inspiration to write the book. Who could play the temperamental, charismatic artist?


JAMES MCAVOY

Don't you think McAvoy would be fantastic in the role? I thought of him because of his thrilling portrayal of Jane Austen's love interest in the movie Becoming Jane. But what if they made The Renaissance Club as a musical -- then it must be Chris Pine!! We can darken his hair. I'll write the lyrics, unless Stephen Sondheim wants to. How great is Captain Kirk singing as the Prince in this clip from Into the Woods?

CHRIS PINE


IF WE CAST LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, HE CAN BRING HIS OWN COSTUME!

Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

Which Broadway Musical Illustrates Your Writing Process?

I'm having a Saturday writing morning that's deep into Crazy Lady Writer Head, thanks to too many exciting things to to work on at once. Plus my work-in-progress new novel, I have a novel to edit, a play to finish, a poetry manuscript to edit, and a memoir to edit. I feel like the bride above, who almost wants to call it off when it comes down to really doing the thing.

It's been a wild ride in my writing world since early February, when I had two offers to publish my debut novel The Renaissance Club, an expression of strong interest (with request for changes) for my next poetry collection, Arabesque, and even interest from a publisher in reviewing my memoir, Rocket Lessons. The thing is, I promised a lot to many, and now I'm facing the Saturday morning page like a sweaty-nervous bride.

See the above video for a glimpse of my writing process today. I think we all should talk about our writing processes not in the usual bland narrative terms, but as illustrated by Broadway musicals. Writing is all about the qualities of the Broadway musical: brightness, energy, force, and action. And an insane belief that inspiration --- like love --- will always win.

Here's a more upbeat glimpse of my usual Saturday writing space, which I'm trying to get into today --- Anything Goes:


If you had to pick a Broadway number to illustrate your writing head today, which one would it be?


Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

My Favorite Fictional Sweethearts

Valentine's Day approaches, and over on Goodreads, someone asked me what are my favorite fictional couples. I cheated, of course, and managed to get in three pairs of lovers.

First, I'd have to say Romeo and Juliet.
There's nothing like starry-eyed and highly sexed young lovers spouting the world's most enchanting, poetic love lines  as they barrel toward their doom.

Right behind that pair are, for me, Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy in the book and movie BECOMING JANE. I'm a devoted Austenite, and would of course include all her lovers, Emma and Mr. Knightley first among them.

The biodrama about their author, starring the compelling James McAvoy, is based on an imagined (but possible) love affair between Jane and the Irishman. I love that story because the demise of their plan to run away together rests on noble feelings on both sides. They recognize what in the long run would be best for the other. Swooning and spiritual upliftment, quite a combo! They're in some ways the opposite of Romeo and Juliet.

Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

The Story with Sisters

Sibling relationships and specifically sisters is what I'm thinking about. I'm finishing a new novel. It's about two half-sisters who feud about an inherited cottage in Italy with its resident ghost of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Sisters -- we love to explore these complicated lifetime pairings. In real life and literature, sisters stand out. From Jane Austen with her siblings, to Emily Dickinson and hers, to those fabulous Brontes, the stories of siblings have made a huge impact on us, even if we're only children. We devour the sisters who are subjects of novels, in a sister-craze that isn't new, but seems like a current trend. Reading about sisters makes us consider our connections and how they affect our lives.  

I've been thinking a lot about that, following my brother's death. It's a subject that fascinates me and one I'm going to be exploring as I spend the month of February finishing the first draft of my new book.  

Sense and Sensibility is my favorite sisters story. I love the contrast in personality between the two, the tension hovering around the core of sisterly love, and the way their stories intertwine. I patterned my sisters on Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, because their differences fascinate me. In contemporary language, their story is one of reconciling the values of logic with feeling -- a journey we all have to take. Having your opposite in your family life, while often frustrating, is the magic formula to growth and wholeness. And that's what my story is about. That's what all my stories are about. The journey to that more full existence.

And I threw in a dash of Brontes, so of course my sisters are both writers.



Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.

Deaths in Karmic Batches

I've read that when people reincarnate, they may do so in batches, sticking together for their progressive learning. I find the idea mostly pleasing. But I hadn't thought about how that might call for group exits. This fall-winter has knocked me on the head with two deaths. First my beloved brother (my only sibling) on October 10. Now my stepmother, January 19, last week.

Death's absoluteness blindsided me. You can't plead for just one more phone call or visit. You can't ask a departed person to send you an occasional text message saying  they're doing fine in that foreign country called the afterlife. Whatever language they speak there is mostly incomprehensible to me. Grief is in the silence.

To process my karmic batch of exits, I write, of course. Today my stepmother's body is being cremated. It's a hard fact. I awoke into it not happy. But the impenetrable is what writers write to penetrate. We try to write our way behind the curtain, even when that's impossible.

Death Is Not Subjective
You can’t negotiate it, finesse, or spin it visceral skull-hardness into soft-sweet resonance. You can’t flex it.
When I touched her folded, white hands, I felt permanence. And impermanence seared me in its icicle grip. I forgot to eat all the rest of that day,
but then I followed it with a binge, because while I am still alive I need to learn the lessons of being by hand, tongue, skin, and muscle.
By illness and overeating, exercise, and petting my dog’s silky strands. Chill fog is the right element today, this day of a disembodiment,
winter tucking deeply in, life whirling in sharp flakes inward, behind a white curtain.
The road ahead unclear, yet I travel deep into the till then unknown.
I need to cherish even fatigue, and remember what my brother told me on his last day: to hug harder. A hug is not subjective.Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.