February 2007 Archives
Anguish!
THE SEA TENDER is out of the running because my editor/publisher feels it's too passive and doesn't capture the emotional intensity of the story. The central theme of the story--in a teeny tiny inadequate nutshell--is the length a loving family (mother, sister and uncle) will go to to protect one of their own (fifteen-year-old Andy. Andy is mildy disabled with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. At first, he's seen as a hero for rescuing people from an arson fire and is later the prime suspect in the same fire.) The setting is a barrier island (Topsail Island) off North Carolina. The title THE SEA TENDER referred to the name of the family's old beach cottage and also had a second meaning I won't reveal.
Current contenders, but I don't think we've hit the right one yet:
THICKER THAN WATER
THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE LOVING MOTHER
NEVER LET HIM GO
SHELTER FROM THE STORM
CIRCLE IN THE SAND
THE SEA TENDER'S SON
Any ideas?
Well, now, this is funny! I have a treasure box--a large plastic tub in which I keep all those odds and ends that have meaning to me but that don't belong anywhere else in my house. I have my original wedding ring in it, a picture I took of Felix Cavaliere (The Young Rascals) back when I had the hots for him as a teenager, greeting cards I received that had special meaning to me, etc. I was cleaning closets, as I do when I'm trying to think (in this case, of a new title for the WIP. sigh) and started going through the treasure box. I found this old letter. I can't reproduce it well enough for you to see what it says, but apparently when I was 20 (the date of the letter is 1970), I wrote to Harper and Row Publishers (before they became HarperCollins) to ask how to go about getting a children's book published. (I don't recall ever writing a children's book, but obviously I had it on my mind!). The letter is addressed to Zan Lopresti, which was the name I went by back then--Lopresti being my maiden name and Zan a nickname. The lovely woman who responded wrote: Actually, it's a very simple and informal affair, submitting a manuscript to a publisher. Ha! Times have certainly changed. She goes on to say We were so pleased that Charlotte's Web is your all-time favorite book. (It still is one of the best books I've ever read). Finally, she says: So go ahead and send us some of your manuscripts. We look forward to reading them.
For those of you who are trying to get published, doesn't this make you long for the good old days? Of course, we were typing on typewriters and using carbon paper back then, so everything wasn't perfect. I tucked that letter away somewhere (so glad I saved it!) and went on to become a social worker. Writing eventually became a hobby and finally a career. And a good number of my books wound up being published by HarperCollins. Who could have guessed?
My May 19th workshop on characterization is now open for registration. You can learn more about it -- including the most important piece of information -- lunch choices! -- here. I'm really looking forward to teaching this class!
It's not only the big stuff that requires research when writing a novel. The big stuff in my current Work-in-Progress includes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and whale behavior. But I thought I'd illustrate how much research truly goes into a book. As I've mentioned before, as I write, I keep a running list of things I need to check on before finishing the book. That list is now many, many pages long. Groan.
Here's a paragraph from chapter two, written from 17-year-old Maggie's point of view:
I called Mom to let her know the lock-in had been moved from the community center to Drury Memorial so she’d know where to pick Andy up in the morning. Then I told her I was going over Amber Donnelly’s. Instead, I drove to the northern end of the Island, which, on a mid-week night in early April, felt more like the end of the universe. I saw only two other cars on the road in seven miles, both heading south, and few of the houses had lights on inside. The moon was so full and bright that eerie shadows of shrubs and mailboxes lay across the road in front of me. I thought I was seeing dogs or deer in the road and I kept braking for nothing. I was relieved when I spotted the row of cottages on the beach.
Now here's what I added to my research list from that one simple paragraph:
- Is there a community center? If not, where could the lock-in have been held? If so, where is it in relation to my setting of the fictional church?
- Is seven miles the correct distance?
- Can there be a full moon in early April 2007?
- Are there deer on Topsail Island?
I know we discussed this a while back, but as I think about ideas for the book I'll write after my current work-in-progress, I'm toying with the concept again. How do you feel about connected books? By that I mean:
- a trilogy or continuation of the story with the same characters (as in the KEEPER OF THE LIGHT trilogy)
- related books (books all set in the same setting but the focus is on different characters, although the original characters are still around -- think Jan Karon's MITFORD series)
Well, as I've mentioned before, you never know when a character is going to do something unexpected in your Work-in-Progress. I should have also mentioned that you never know when your editor is going to do something unexpected as well.
I've been blessed with the BEST editors--and that can be a problem because they're always thinking of ways to make my work the best it can be. A couple of days ago, my editor emailed me with an idea for a dramatic change in an important aspect of my story. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES this book, but she had an idea to make it better. After groaning, gnashing my teeth and tearing my hair out, I realized she was onto something good. But it required a major change in the logistics of what happens (sorry to be evasive here, but I don't want to give anything away!). I was so enjoying writing with all the angst of plotting behind me, and then this bombshell.
So I spent the last couple of days thinking of the logistics--how to make something in the story work in a believable and satisfying way--and I think I've finally got it. Joy! It means a load of rewriting, and getting to understand a certain character in a new way, but I think it will pay off in the end.
It better!
Yes, my favorite workshop is finally going to make its North Carolina debut! I've picked a date, May 19th, and now I'm committed. I'll have more information as the date grows closer, but for now, you can read a bit more about it on the blog's Events page.
I talk to so many people who want to write a novel, and often they tell me they get started, get stuck, put it away and never go back to it again.
So here is the elegant, highly sophisticated technique I use when I get stuck in my first draft: I simply say to myself "pass," as though passing on a question in a quiz. I actually type the word into the document. It's so easy to get stuck on a scene and stay stuck. It's much better to pass over the sticky wicket and move on to a scene you know. When I've finished my draft, I make a search for all the words "pass." At that point, I usually know what I need to write to fill in that particular gap.
Simple! Now you have no more excuses not to finish that rough draft!
Now that's an odd pairing.
In the last couple of days, we've lost them both. I don't believe I've ever read a book by Sidney Sheldon, but if my mother didn't have one of my books in her hand, she had one of his. (My father, on the other hand, loved Andrew Greeley novels. In my Dad's devoutly Catholic eyes, the fact that Greeley was a priest made it all right to read his steamy love scenes.) A quote from Sheldon that resonates with me: "I love writing books. Movies are a collaborative medium, and everyone is second-guessing you. When you do a novel you're on your own. It's a freedom that doesn't exist in any other medium." And I'll be kind to you, dear readers, in quoting Ivins. There are so many wonderful, pithy things she's said over the years, but the following can offend no one. In its simplicity, it sometimes moves me to tears and at the same time, gives me hope and fills me with pride at being an American. "It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America." Rest in peace, Sidney and Molly. You'll be missed.
