tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55943410746528210172024-03-14T02:45:37.006-04:00Novel SpacesWe're an eclectic group of authors bound by a singular passion: writing. If you love reading great stories from across the broad spectrum of tales to be told, then you're definitely in the right space. Journey with us.KeVin K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14792797517571690942noreply@blogger.comBlogger1484125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-72111641518225006702019-06-30T01:00:00.002-04:002023-03-21T22:28:27.326-04:00Final Trip Around the Sun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkMjIz5MfJY/XRPc_R_CLyI/AAAAAAAAJ_M/vUZjMgsHwSoNmkGJ7Cn3rRjGc3idG_jmgCLcBGAs/s1600/scroll%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="1000" height="139" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkMjIz5MfJY/XRPc_R_CLyI/AAAAAAAAJ_M/vUZjMgsHwSoNmkGJ7Cn3rRjGc3idG_jmgCLcBGAs/s400/scroll%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Last Words</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>After a 10-year run, the Novel Spaces blog will post no more. Our archives remain available, however, for the thousands of visitors who still find themselves on this site every month. </i><br />
<i>Read, learn, enjoy and... Happy writing!</i></div>
<br />
<i>Maggie King:</i> "Years before I joined the Novel Spaces lineup, I admired not only the posts, but the cover collage. Sunny Frazier got me a guest post and in no time I landed a regular spot. Liane and the other authors are incredibly talented and generous. I’m happy to transition to a Facebook group … and that we’re keeping that collage!"<br />
<br />
<i>Liane Spicer:</i> "I've been a member of the Novel Spaces blog community from the very beginning, and it's been a most rewarding journey. Thank you for your fellowship over all the years, dear Novelnauts, and heartfelt thanks also to our numerous guests and readers. My last words are borrowed from French writer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guy-de-Maupassant" target="_blank">Guy de Maupassant</a>: "Get black on white." Just do it.<br />
<br />
<i>Linda Thorne:</i> "Goodbye to an awesome blogspot. I’ve hung around Novel Spaces for years, visiting and commenting. In June of 2016 I had the honor of becoming one of the Novelnauts with my own regularly scheduled posts. Novel Spaces will be missed, but never forgotten."<br />
<br />
<i>Amy Reade:</i> "Writers are readers first. Read a lot, read everything you can get your hands on, read all the time in lots of genres."<br />
<br />
<i>Carol Mitchell:</i> "Write. Rest. Revise. Repeat.<br />
I was recently approached by an author whose book I gave a mixed review a couple of years ago. He has revised the book and said to me, “I was ashamed of the work as it was.”<br />
<br />
When people ask me for advice on writing, my first response is: Write. Get the story down because if you don’t nothing else is going to happen. However, eight years of reviewing and editing ‘first drafts’ masquerading as completed manuscripts has revealed to me that my advice is flippant, incomplete, and does an injustice to our craft. While the initial writing is obviously necessary, it’s often really a brainstorm, just the opening of the first door into the oft-time painful journey towards a completed book. Too many writers wrestle that first door shut then lean on it breathing heavily from the effort, resolved never to open the door again. But we must.<br />
<br />
If you can give yourself the time to put down that first draft, come back to it with fresh, honest eyes willing to rip it apart not once, not twice, but as many times as necessary, and then to be open to having someone else do the same, you may emerge on the other side of the process with a true reflection of your story that you’ll be proud to present to the world."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>The Novel Spaces community wishes you all the best in your publishing career. </b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-86960433762034324032019-06-22T01:00:00.001-04:002019-07-05T16:05:19.499-04:00The definition of success<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is celebrating its 10th anniversary! We hope you've enjoyed the popular posts from our archives which we've shared with you over the past months. This one was first published on October 25, 2012. Enjoy! </i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Jewel Amethyst</b><br />
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While watching the local newscast, I heard a reporter
introduce a prominent doctor as a successful surgeon, before proceeding to
recite a long list of his achievements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I turned to my husband and asked sarcastically, “So if another surgeon doesn’t
accomplish all that he has, does that make him an unsuccessful surgeon?” </div>
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<br /></div>
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My husband shrugged
nonchalantly and responded, “I guess it depends on how you define success.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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I smiled.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I first decided to publish my stories, my idea of
success was getting a traditional publisher to publish my story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, I was not thinking about
self-publishing and (now shamefacedly) like many authors a few years back, I
didn’t think of self-publishing as being successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now that I have gotten my work published,
and spent three years without another in print, my idea of success has changed.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What makes a successful author?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is a successful author a prolific author?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can think of one Pulitzer Prize winning
author who only published one book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harper
Lee is by any measure a successful author.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not only did she win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, but her book, “To Kill
a Mockingbird”, is considered an American classic and is assigned reading for
English Literature in most middle and/or high school classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Harper Lee is not prolific.</div>
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Is a successful author a rich author?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well in that case the successful authors are
few and far between.</div>
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Is a successful author on the NY Times bestseller list?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is one measure of success. But does that mean any author who is not on the NY Times bestseller list is unsuccessful?</div>
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Is a successful author published by a traditional big
publishing house?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen many
successful authors who have self-published, even some producing bestsellers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen huge publishing
houses publish books that tank.</div>
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What I’ve concluded is that what defines a successful author
is dependent on the definition of success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that definition is not only subjective, but is also
dynamic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The definition of success as a
writer is constantly changing for me.</div>
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-88498724335950111442019-06-15T01:00:00.000-04:002019-06-15T01:00:00.838-04:00Writing Night at the Movies<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is celebrating its 10th anniversary! To celebrate, we're sharing some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published October 11, 2010. Enjoy!</i></div>
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<br />
<b>By Charles Gramlich</b><br />
<br />
I don’t often talk about movies. I’m not a big movie buff. I haven’t been to a theater to see a film since <em>Lord of the Rings</em>. I probably average ten or less movie rentals a year through PPV, although I do watch movies when they finally come out on TV, and I rewatch movies that I like when they show up on the little screen. However, we live in the age of video imagery and I haven’t escaped its influence. I’m amazed sometimes at how many movies I have seen. And my writing has definitely been affected. Here are some movies that I like very much, and a bit about how they’ve influenced my writing. (Thanks to <a href="http://scott-blogofthebeast.blogspot.com/">Scott</a> for the inspiration for this post.)<br />
<br />
1. <em>Once Upon a Time in the West</em>: Sergio Leone’s greatest work, even if it didn’t feature Clint Eastwood. Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson were superb. The staging of this movie, the dramatic way in which the scenes were set and the stark landscapes, helped establish the way I visually stage story scenes in my mind. The dusters worn by “Cheyenne’s” men in this movie were a direct influence on the rawhide coats that the bird riders of Talera wear. Lines from the film such as: “You brought two too many,” “Just a man,” and “An ancient race” have influenced the way I structure dialogue. This is my favorite movie of all time.<br />
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2. <em>The Thing</em>: I’m referring here to the John Carpenter version, which is my favorite horror movie. (Even the novelization by Alan Dean Foster was thrilling.) This film certainly wasn’t the first to create a sense of claustrophobic horror, but it did it very well. And it also had a great ensemble cast of characters who responded to the horror in wonderfully realistic ways, from their physical actions to their dialogue. This film was certainly an influence on my desire to create ensemble casts for my horror fiction and get them to act like real people facing absolute terror. This was part of what I wanted to do in <em>Cold in the Light</em>, and in that book I often used the night and the woods to create the claustrophobia.<br />
<br />
3. <em>Alien</em>: My second favorite horror movie, and it is definitely horror even if it is set in an SF universe. The “chest burster” scene is, to me, the most effective scene ever caught on film. The “alien” is still the coolest alien ever. This one also had the claustrophobic element and the ensemble cast. And it had a strong female lead character, which I’ve tried several times to achieve myself, without great success, I’m afraid. It also had the “ringer,” the one member of the ensemble who turns out not to be what he seems to be. This is a great device for a writer and one I’ve used several times, particularly in <em>Witch of Talera</em>.<br />
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4. <em>The Thirteenth Warrior</em>: My favorite fantasy movie of all time. I also thought the book upon which the movie was based was very good. That book was <em>Eaters of the Dead</em> by Michael Crichton. The gritty realistic feel to this movie contrasted strongly with the more “fantasy” feel of such movies as <em>Conan the Barbarian</em>. Instead of it reminding you of “an age undreamed of,” it made you feel as if every instant was absolutely real. I want to achieve that kind of realism in my fantasy. I want my readers to feel the dirt under their nails and the biting tang of blood in their nostrils. The dialogue here was also extremely good and created a sense of drama that I believe fantasy fiction needs.<br />
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5. <em>Predator</em>: A reader remarked a number of years back that the Warkind in <em>Cold in the Light </em>reminded him of the “Predator.” I know the “Predator” did influence the development of the Warkind, although there are also many other elements that went into those creatures. In part because I was curious about the nature of the “Predator,” I created an extensive background and social structure for the Warkind. <br />
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There are many other movies that have had some level of influence on my work, though certainly nowhere near the level that books themselves have influenced me. Some of these other films would be: <em>The Outlaw Josey Wales</em>, <em>The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly</em>, <em>Hearts and Armor</em>, <em>Conan the Barbarian</em>, <em>Jurassic Park</em>, <em>Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan</em>, and <em>Star Wars</em>.<br />
<br />
How about you? Have movies influenced you? In your writing? In other aspects of your life? If so, which movies? What’s your favorite?<br />
<br />
<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-37876531028734829302019-06-08T01:00:00.000-04:002019-06-08T01:00:05.863-04:00Holding the book you wrote<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published July 19, 2010.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Kevin Killiany</b><br />
<br />
Arrived home from work on Friday to find a box from Simon & Schuster on my doorstep. Inside were ten copies of <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Star-Trek/William-Leisner/e/9781439148426/?itm=1&USRI=star+trek+out+of+the+cocoon">Star Trek Corps of Engineers: Out of the Cocoon</a> -- an omnibus of former e-books that includes my own <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Star-Trek-SCE-58/Kevin-Killiany/e/9781416510598/?itm=25&USRI=star+trek+honor">Honor</a>. I know from my experience with <i>Orphans</i> in <i>Grand Designs</i> that even though <i>Honor</i> has been on the market for half a decade, more people will read it now that it's part of a "real" book than bought the digital version. I anticipate a deluge of one, maybe even two, emails and nearly a dozen first-time visitors to <a href="http://kvaadk.livejournal.com/"> my Livejournal</a> (which is not about writing as much as I meant for it to be).<br />
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The book itself is beautiful (though I confess for me the most attractive thing about a book cover is my name) and all pages seem present. I am particularly satisfied to be sharing this volume with three of my favorite compatriots from my brief tour in the Star Trek writing stable. <a href="http://phaedraweldon.com/">Phaedra Weldon</a> has been a good – though long distance – friend for something like a decade. We met in Trek, and at the Oregon Coast Writers' Workshops, and wandered into BattleTech together. She has gone on to write very successful urban fantasies and keeps threatening to build a young adult urban fantasy series around a trio of psychic sleuths that includes two of my children. <a href="http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/William_Leisner">William Leisner</a> and I were in Strange New Worlds #s IV and V together. But for me his greatest claim to fame is that he was once willing to collaborate with me on pitching a Star Trek novel to Pocket Books. (As I recall it was a DS9/Powerpuff Girls crossover.) We didn't get the contract, but I enjoyed brainstorming our way through the plot and outline together. Though I've never met him in person, <a href="http://www.robertjeschonek.com/pages/Works.html">Bob Jeschonek</a> and I used to correspond fairly regularly. He has one of the most interesting minds I've met; his "Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story" (in <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Strange-New-Worlds-III/Paula-M-Block/Star-Trek/9780743411134">Strange New Worlds III</a>) remains one of my top-10 favorites of all time – in any genre.<br />
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I will never forget the first time I saw the anthology containing "Personal Log," my first professional sale. It was May of 2001, and I was rounding an endcap in Barnes & Noble, en route to the science fiction section, when I unexpectedly found myself nose-to-nose with <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Strange-New-Worlds-IV/Paula-M-Block/Star-Trek/9780743411318">Strange New Worlds IV</a>. I let out a falsetto yelp (followed by a big show of looking around as though I could not imagine where the sound had come from) then snatched the book from the shelf. I read my story standing in the aisle, then bought the book so I could take it home to show my wife Valerie.<br />
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One thing I noticed then, something that's been a constant every time I've first held one of my books: There is a particular thrill to holding a book you have written – or have had a part in writing – in your hand. Most singular is the fact the volume has no weight; it seems to hold your hand up by the sheer energy of its existence. And that thrill has not diminished. Though I no longer yelp, I still experience a frission at first contact with the physical reality that has sprung, concrete and irrefutable, from weeks and months of thought and effort and creative discipline. Though this spark is not what drives me forward as a writer, as a reward for work well done, it's more than cool.<br />
I cannot imagine ever growing tired of that moment.<br />
<br />
So now I have ten – make that nine, since my youngest has appropriated one – copies of <i>Out of the Cocoon</i>. One of them will be awarded randomly to a person who tells me she or he would like it in their comment.<br />
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-55675253899922233302019-06-01T01:00:00.000-04:002019-06-01T01:00:02.986-04:00You're In It For The Money<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published April 13, 2014.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Sunny Frazier</b><br />
<br />
Oh yes, you are! And that's nothing to be ashamed of even if it sounds crass to admit your intentions aloud.<br />
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I've been blacklisted on at least one artsy site and bad-mouthed on others for blatantly saying "I like to make money from my writing." I blame my attitude on my early years as a journalist. In those days I was paid to put words on paper and I grew to like having an income. It felt good to have people reading my articles, even when my precious words were tossed in the recycle bin after a day. Now there are few newspapers and my degree languishes, but I still like the notion that my words are worth a few dollars.<br />
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Kudos to those who write simply for the sake of their art. Perhaps satisfaction comes from pieces published in literary magazines for limited readership. Me--I want lots of people reading my stories and books. I want those hours (years) I put into my work to be rewarded. This is a business for me and the IRS concurs.<br />
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Not that it's ALL about money. I have no problem contributing to Novel Spaces because I'm investing in a site I respect and hope readers will possibly invest in me. I give books away when I'm on panels to pepper the pot for sales. I've donated my novels to the local Senior Center and VA Hospital. I've even gifted to people who were too broke to spend $12 on one of my books.<br />
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Does expecting money for my work make me a hack? Possibly. I know what readers want and I strive to give it to them. They want an entertaining story, interesting characters, a few cringe-worthy moments (I write mysteries) and a satisfactory ending. But, to keep my standards high, I also give them craft, personal insights, soul-searching questions and a bit of astrology. Yes, it's worth much more than the few dollars I'm asking in return. <br />
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What I'm against are those people who make money off of the one segment that can't afford the cash--new authors. When starting out, it's hard to resist the carnival barkers promising quick routes to the bestseller list. They come in the form of costly conferences, webinars, PR people, paid reviewers and businesses that impersonally shovel titles to the Internet. All of this can be done for free--and should be. The info is readily available in your computer if you know where to look. Since we're close to Easter, I'll liken the process to hunting for those colored eggs. The search will take exploring websites, following leads and a bit of time.<br />
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Time is money. I realize that and I also understand the World Wide Web can be a very confusing place. My solution was to start a Posse. Several years ago I decided to share my own searches with others. Authors just send me their email addys and they're in. They get emails from me pointing them to articles on marketing, platform building, inside business info, places looking for guest bloggers and yes, my blogs.<br />
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There's no charge because the effort is minimal on my part. It's my way of paying it forward. Consider it a gift from one author to another. I hope others do the same with their future network. And, who knows? Perhaps I'm make a fan or a friend who will buy one of my Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries. Because, as the L'oreal ads say, I'm worth it! <br />
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-29944923570597426572019-05-22T01:00:00.000-04:002019-05-22T01:00:01.920-04:00Local Color<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published April 21, 2013.</i></div>
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<br />
<b>By Liane Spicer</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iCyfgFv3nso/UWxd1YbuPGI/AAAAAAAADYs/4Pp7DNig8Fw/s1600/CaribbeanColors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iCyfgFv3nso/UWxd1YbuPGI/AAAAAAAADYs/4Pp7DNig8Fw/s320/CaribbeanColors.jpg" width="320" /></a>Writing coaches recommend that writers use local color in their stories to make them come alive. Every location, real or fictional, has unique sounds, sights and flavors. The characters in a story don't live in a generic town; they live in a town in a particular place where the stench of the swamp permeates when the wind blows south, </div>
where little blue buses called "Conchita" bustle along the main street, where a paraplegic veteran sits in a cart in front the courthouse and curses the gov'mint every Saturday morning.<br />
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I'm from the Caribbean so a reader might expect to find a certain island flavor in my stories<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—</span>infusions of hot sunshine, white beaches, clear turquoise waters, lush vegetation, and market stalls heaped with mangoes and pineapples forming the perfect pictorial background to my scenes. They might expect colorful characters from the postcolonial melange of cultures, the syncopation of soca, calypso and reggae<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—</span>and they would very likely find these. But local color extends far past the touristic image of a tropical paradise. Those elements are not the whole picture. <br />
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Particularly exciting to me are the languages, myths and legends of the region. There are many versions of English, English Creole and French Creole spoken in the Anglophone Caribbean, varying from island to island and even within territories. Then there are the myths<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—</span>the tales of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbee" target="_blank">jumbies</a> in Trinidad (duppies in Jamaica, ghosts elsewhere), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagahoo" target="_blank">lagahoo</a> (<i>loup-garou</i> or werewolf elsewhere), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douen" target="_blank">douens</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Diablesse" target="_blank">La Diablesse</a>... Penetrate deeper and a kaleidoscope of fantastical human, animal and supernatural characters emerge.<br />
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Some myths blur the lines between reality and fiction. When I was a child one of the tales with which my father held us in thrall was the story of the giant snake. It lived in forest pools, he said, and every so often it would come out and raid nearby villages, swallowing livestock and children whole. This horrifying creature was called a <i>wheel</i>, and years later, whenever I swam in deep forest pools after a long hike, the image of the <i>wheel</i> lurking below never failed to send shivers down my spine even as I laughed and splashed with my fellow adventurers. Suppose the thing was real? Why was it called a <i>wheel</i> anyway? Did it put its tail in its mouth and roll through the forest like a hoop? Suppose one lived down there? Would it emerge from the green, shadowy depths and pull me under where it would proceed to swallow me whole as I thrashed in vain, while my companions ran (or swam) for cover?<br />
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I subsequently discovered that the snake is not a <i>wheel</i> but a <i>huile</i>, French lexicon creole for <i>oil</i>, and the name is derived from its fluid movements in the water. The <i>huile</i> is also known locally as <i>macajuel</i>, a Spanish creole form, I think. It is a type of boa constrictor and is related to that famous South American giant... the <i>anaconda</i>. My father did not invent the <i>huile</i>; the darned monster is <i>real</i>.<br />
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The more I write, the more I feel the urgency to capture the colors of this place. The old spaces are being razed; the old words are dying out, replaced with the Americanisms of cable television. I remember standing in front of a literature class a few years ago<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—</span>we were reading a novel by local novelist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Anthony_(author)" target="_blank">Michael Anthony</a><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—</span>and not one of those teenage suburbanites knew what <i><a href="http://books.google.tt/books?id=_n82hsbDJBMC&pg=PA510&lpg=PA510&dq=laglee+trinidad&source=bl&ots=zmT417bEGg&sig=437XBsJNMxi4PJOLnzJuG2FIWEA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hGZsUeKjBvSt0AG0-YGoBA&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=laglee%20trinidad&f=false" target="_blank">laglee</a></i> was. (It's the sticky white sap of the chataigne or breadfruit tree that's spread on twigs to trap birds.) When I was a child no boy worthy of the name would be ignorant of the existence and applications of <i><a href="http://books.google.tt/books?id=_n82hsbDJBMC&pg=PA510&lpg=PA510&dq=laglee+trinidad&source=bl&ots=zmT417bEGg&sig=437XBsJNMxi4PJOLnzJuG2FIWEA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hGZsUeKjBvSt0AG0-YGoBA&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=laglee%20trinidad&f=false" target="_blank">laglee</a></i>. The colors are fading fast, including those of the old characters, the lagahous, douens and that man-eating she-devil, La Diablesse, who are retreating further and further into what's left of the tropical forests. <br />
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There's only one way to keep them alive: on the pages of our books. Keeping them alive has become an important part of my mission. Do you feel a compulsion to conserve the colors of your patch of earth?<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">—<i><a href="http://lianespicer.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Liane Spicer</a></i></span><br />
Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-27959439683356340372019-05-15T01:00:00.000-04:002019-05-15T01:00:00.230-04:00How “Real” Are My Characters?<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published April 21, 2018.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Maggie King</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Are my characters modeled after real life people? </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This
is always an interesting question. The answer is yes. And the answer is no! As
my characters are a hodge-podge of the many “real” people I’ve known over the
years, snippets of their experiences wind up on my pages. And I’ve known people
who live turbulent lives; Carlene Arness, the victim in <i>Murder at the Book Group</i>, #1 in my Hazel Rose Book Group series, is
a case in point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think people expect similarities between myself and
my sleuth, Hazel Rose. Like Hazel, I was born on the east coast, moved to Los
Angeles in my twenties, and started my career as a computer programmer. Like
Hazel, I had a calico cat named Shammy who accompanied me when I moved back
east in 1996 and settled in Richmond, Virginia. Hazel and I share a commitment
to the environment, we’re both frugal and unimpressed with the high life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But divorce and widowhood have not touched my life—I
will soon celebrate 29 years with my one and only husband. I may get stuck in
ruts, but not for long. And, alas, I don’t have Hazel’s “money green” eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The biggest difference between me and Hazel is this:
if I needed to re-purpose my life a murder investigation would not be the
method I’d choose. No question about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But real people did find their way into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murder at the Book Group</i>, like a woman I
used to see at a gym in Richmond. I never knew her name or even talked to her
except for a hi and a wave. She was partial to leopard prints and chartreuse.
The last time I saw her she sashayed into the gym sporting chartreuse stiletto
boots and a leopard cowgirl hat, platinum blonde curls cascading down her back.
She became Kat Berenger in the Hazel Rose series. As a perk, I gave her a
personal trainer job at the same gym.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jeanette Thacker “reminds” me of a former co-worker.
Jeanette doesn’t feel the need to censor her speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, her language was much saltier in
earlier versions. My editor advised me to ditch the swear words. If the real
Jeanette reads my tome and recognizes herself I think she’ll be pleased but
will probably wonder why she’s using words like “frigging.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Another character is based on a
woman with whom I once had an adversarial work relationship. I made her nasty
as all get out. But I had a runaway word count and some ruthless editing was in
order. Ms. Nasty got whittled down and, lo and behold, she became quite nice!
I’m still scratching my head about that. Do other writers unwittingly transform
their characters via literary nip n tuck? Is writing a vehicle for forgiveness?
Someone with savvy in the spiritual realm can weigh in on this question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Here is a <a href="http://listverse.com/2013/02/19/10-fictional-characters-based-on-real-people/" target="_blank">list</a> of some classic
characters you may not have known were based on real people. Dorian Gray is one
of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; text-align: start;">Image from https://kssunews.wordpress.com</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">How about you, my fellow writers: how
“real” are your characters?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Maggie King is the author of the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries,
including <i>Murder at the Book Group</i> and <i>Murder at the
Moonshine Inn</i>. She has contributed stories to the <i>Virginia is for
Mysteries</i> anthologies and to the <i>50 Shades of Cabernet</i> anthology.
She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two overly-indulged cats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
Website: <a href="http://www.maggieking.com/">http://www.maggieking.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaggieKingAuthor">https://www.facebook.com/MaggieKingAuthor</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MaggieKingAuthr">https://twitter.com/MaggieKingAuthr</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Instagram: authormaggieking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Amazon author page: </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2Bj4uIL">http://amzn.to/2Bj4uIL</a></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-23157189324118979032019-05-08T01:00:00.000-04:002019-05-08T01:00:00.961-04:00Method of my madness<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published July 28, 2010.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Carol Ottley-Mitchell</b><br />
<br />
<div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4sOHOQFFvSI/TE8Nh33R51I/AAAAAAAAABU/ho97lxVKWbA/s1600/manual+typewriter.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498628545625319250" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4sOHOQFFvSI/TE8Nh33R51I/AAAAAAAAABU/ho97lxVKWbA/s320/manual+typewriter.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 100px;" /></a><br />
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Let me share a little secret with you. I am very old fashioned when it comes to writing. </div>
<br />
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</div>
<div align="justify">
We have to keep this to ourselves because in my other life, I work with computers; I write computer software, consult on information management and create websites. When it is time to create literature, however, I find it impossible to do so at the computer, I must put pen to paper. I suspect that seeing the words on paper, the way that my readers would, provides some level of inspiration. I probably would have done very well with a manual typewriter.</div>
<br />
This stumbling block makes writing a very laborious process since, having written the words, I must then transcribe my scrawls into an electronic form so that they can easily be edited and shared. Being a techie, I have done some research in an attempt to make this process a little less painful.<br />
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</div>
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Intelligent character recognition software is one possible solution to my problem. I could scan my jottings and use optical character recognition software to electronically translate my written words into characters that can be edited with a word processing document. The problem is that no software has yet been created that can decipher my handwriting. Years of computer use have caused my writing to deteriorate significantly. The legibility of my writing is often exacerbated by the fact that I often write in the car on long commutes on bumpy roads and sometimes I scrawl a paragraph or two in the dark on the pad that I keep next to my bed.</div>
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<div>
</div>
<div>
At one point I dabbled with electronic writing tools, a pen stylus to be exact. I connected it to my computer and wrote on a Tablet. This was several years ago, and the technology may have improved considerably by now, however, I was extremely frustrated with this method. The main problem was that the software reading the handwriting relied on me to make each letter basically the same way each time I wrote it. You see the problem. When I am on a writing roll, my thoughts are often flowing faster than I can write and the last thing that I need to worry about is forming my letters.</div>
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<div>
</div>
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One more option that I have considered is speech or voice recognition software, which would require me to read my work aloud into a microphone and then have my words translated into electronic text. This would work well for me, because as a writer of children's books, I find it very useful to hear the words as they would be read by a caregiver. I have not yet made the step to purchasing and testing the software, however.</div>
<br />
I am very interested in hearing if I am in a minority in terms of writing on paper and also, how others are using technology to enhance the creative writing experience.<br />
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<br /></div>
Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-66777427118274664082019-05-01T01:00:00.000-04:002019-05-01T01:00:00.440-04:00Where Words Get Their Power<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published November 27, 2010. Enjoy!</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Charles Gramlich</b><br />
<br />
I’ve finally finished Peter Elbow’s <i>Writing With Power</i>, and I have to admit to being fairly disappointed. Elbow is almost a mythic figure among academics who write about writing, but I found much of the book to be rather vague and, often, contradictory. I also found, almost to an example, that Elbow’s selections of good and bad writing seemed exactly the opposite to me. However, there were some things I liked quite a lot and one of those was Elbow’s discussion about where words get their power. It was something I’d not really thought of before but it made perfect sense to me.<br />
<br />
First, in writing, words get their power from the readers, not the writers. Elbow didn’t really stress this point but I believe that’s what he was saying. The word “tiger,” for example, only has power if the reader invests that power in it. But where exactly does the power that the reader invests come from? Here’s where Elbow made me think.<br />
<br />
Basically, for Elbow, a word only has power in as much as it is able to evoke an image, experience, or thought about the thing the word represents. If the word “tiger” makes you <i>see</i> a tiger, <i>hear</i> its growl, and <i>fear</i> its hunger, then the word has power. I found myself agreeing absolutely, and this is actually what I’ve been trying to say on my own blog in my posts about “lushness” without being quite able to capture it.<br />
<br />
But Elbow goes further, and he took me with him. He suggested that, for children, pretty much all words come imbued with power because of how they learn them.The child acquires the word “dog” from being shown a dog and playing with it. For the child, the “word” dog comes to evoke an image and experience of that particular animal every time it is used. The word itself has something of “dogness” about it. It’s as if the symbol has siphoned off some of the power of the real object. As we get older and more sophisticated, though, the word dog becomes a common rather than a unique experience, and the symbols of “d o g” become less and less about a particular dog and more about a general concept. Eventually, the word stops evoking images and experiences when we hear it, and it loses its power.<br />
<br />
Elbow uses the example of curse words and taboo words to illustrate his concept. The word “shit” has power because many people still hear that word and react emotionally to it. It still represents, at least a little bit and for some of us, the material that it names. In a similar way, the word “God” has power for those who are believers. For such folks, the word is treated as if it has some element of “godness” within itself.<br />
<br />
I remember very clearly as a child how I decided one day to say a particular curse word. I’d heard others curse and wanted to do it too. It took an intense effort of will to make myself say that word. I actually had to fight with myself to get it out, and once I’d said it I felt absolutely awful. What incredible power that word had for me at that moment. And yet, today, I use the word far too frequently and barely even notice when I do. It’s lost its power, at least for me. That word was “damn.”<br />
<br />
I’ve known this truth of Elbow’s for a long time but I never knew how to put it into language. I remember perhaps 30 years ago hearing a rap song that seemed to consist almost entirely of the “F” word. I was angry, not so much at the use of the word, which I’d heard plenty of times, but at its “overuse.” My comment at the time was that songs like this were destroying the power of the word,that once the word came to serve as little more than punctuation it would become useless to writers. I was mad because they were taking away one more word of power from us writers and were just wasting it, like pumping gasoline on the ground or burning money.<br />
<br />
The worst offenders these days are in politics, where it seems every minor disagreement between Democrats and Republicans has to be magnified to the point of “Warfare,” and where every opponent is a Nazi, or a Socialist, or an Atheist, or a Jesus Freak, or something else along those lines . All of us who use language, and that means <i>all</i> of us, have a vested interest in maintaining the effectiveness of the words we use. I, for one, am getting tired of the idiots trying to steal the power of my words. I’m rising up against them. I’m saying, right here and right now, leave my words the **** alone.<br />
<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-33587418783376902492019-04-22T01:00:00.000-04:002019-04-22T01:00:07.078-04:00The Second Time Around<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published June 5, 2018.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Linda Thorne</b><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2A6Xqy4Y1E/WxdM3cOMuYI/AAAAAAAACng/axAjmnxnvK03A16BHEIqRdx3KqMw-jaTwCLcBGAs/s1600/309px-Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01c.svg%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="309" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2A6Xqy4Y1E/WxdM3cOMuYI/AAAAAAAACng/axAjmnxnvK03A16BHEIqRdx3KqMw-jaTwCLcBGAs/s320/309px-Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01c.svg%255B1%255D.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Is writing that second book like the song says? “Lovelier the second time around. Just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.”<br />
<br />
My answer is no, nope, nada. None of the above.<br />
<br />
With the first book, I felt like Mad Max in Beyond Thunderdome, not knowing what obstacles I’d face until they were there, me fighting to mow them down and keep moving with one major goal, publication. I’d been so forewarned about rejections and criticisms that no matter how many hundreds of them I received, they only fueled me to keep churning toward my most important goal.<br />
<br />
I’m no longer scything through underbrush seeking to become a published novelist. I’m already there with a publisher by my side. Yet, this second-time-around experience is more intimidating because others are counting on me to produce a book that is at least as good as my first and hopefully better. This scares me. Almost everyone I talk to about writing and books, asks me the same question: “When is your second book coming out?” <br />
<br />
Time flies by and still no number two. This time I recognize when my writing is bad and this time it’s downright mortifying because I should be better just like everyone else seems to assume, presume, or expect. The second-time-around pressure is tremendous in a different way because there is something very tragic-sounding in the words, <i>a one-book author. </i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V__G7NKdCv0/WxdNOeHhRPI/AAAAAAAACns/IksWSDyko-oHLf1DEsfCqDGxa7C_Yo0owCEwYBhgL/s1600/read-all-the-books%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="400" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V__G7NKdCv0/WxdNOeHhRPI/AAAAAAAACns/IksWSDyko-oHLf1DEsfCqDGxa7C_Yo0owCEwYBhgL/s200/read-all-the-books%255B1%255D.jpg" width="200" /></span></a>I celebrated the first, but I will celebrate big-time when I have number two .<br />
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<a href="http://www.lindathorne.com/">http://www.lindathorne.com</a>
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-72565285196375318292019-04-15T01:00:00.000-04:002019-04-15T01:00:00.138-04:00Hurry Up and Wait<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published February 9, 2010.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Liane Spicer</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__prpLK188us/S29zTsTLbgI/AAAAAAAABkk/eaJKvI50Fqg/s1600-h/waiting+for+mail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435690057405787650" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/__prpLK188us/S29zTsTLbgI/AAAAAAAABkk/eaJKvI50Fqg/s320/waiting+for+mail.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 285px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 255px;" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">This writing business is hell sometimes. No, not the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">writing</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"> writing, but the waiting that never ends. We wait for agents to get back to us. Agent in the bag, we wait for editors to get back to them. Then we wait for the agent to get back to us with the editors' verdicts.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">We wait for the sale. For the galleys. For the advance check. For the release. For reviews, royalty statements, sales stats... It all adds up to years of waiting. During this time we obsess. We wonder if the agent/editor ever received the script, and are convinced that if they did they're using it as a footstool to reach the toner on the high shelf of the office supplies cabinet. No matter what stage of the business you're at, it seems, the waiting just never, ever ends. I've read of writers going through this same waiting, wondering and despairing hell with their </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">thirteenth</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"> book.</span>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">What's a writer to do? Apart from going crazy checking the inbox 40 times a day, and the Amazon stats 60, that is? Here is a by no means exhaustive list of the things I do in my waiting time:</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Twiddle thumbs.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Read blogs.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Compare search rankings for novel #1.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Fiddle with widgets.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Shop online catalogs.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Work, albeit distractedly, at the day job.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Fantasize about the perfect writing life - the one where writing pays the bills.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Create wish lists for every category of consumer item.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Drink wine.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Engage in text message flirty war of words with favorite ex.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Eat chocolate.</span>
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E<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">at almond crunch cookies.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Just eat.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Apply to MFA writing program I swore I'd never start.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Sink hours on social media sites. (Don't look at me like that - at least I don't tweet!)</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Paint the bedroom.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Paint the living room.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Paint my nails.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Stare into space.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Wonder, often, whether writing for publication is a form of insanity.</span>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Yes, I'm a neophyte. But what do the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-weight: bold;">real</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"> writers advise? They tell you to write, that writing keeps your mind off the waiting. I'm ready to begin listening. Today, for the first time in many moons, I completed almost 2,000 words of a brand new novel in one sitting. It felt good to watch the demons crawl off and lick their wounds for a few hours. </span>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">The pros are right. Getting deeply involved in a new world and new characters is the only answer.</span>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">So, how do you manage the waiting game? Come on, let's have it, the good and the bad.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); color: rgb(68 , 68 , 68); font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 11px;">—</span><i><a href="http://lianespicer.com/">Liane Spicer</a></i></span></span></div>
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-67835090679384421172019-04-08T01:00:00.000-04:002019-04-08T01:00:14.181-04:00Greatest Movies Ever. Or Not<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published March 27, 2011.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Charles Gramlich</b><br />
<br />
Lana and I watched a show on TV the other night about the greatest movies of all time, as voted by—well—people like me and you. There were a number of different lists, greatest overall, greatest musical, greatest action/suspense, etc. Apparently a group of “experts” narrowed the choices down initially and then people were allowed to vote for the top five in each category. Gone with the Wind was first in the greatest overall category, which told me one thing right away: More women than men voted in the poll. I’ve never actually even seen the movie and have no plans to do so. The vote did nothing to change my mind that I probably wouldn’t consider it the greatest movie of all time.<br />
<br />
I was much more interested in the picks for greatest Science Fiction flicks of all time. Here’s the TV voters list:<br />
<br />
5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind<br />
4. The Matrix<br />
3. Avatar<br />
2. E.T.<br />
1. Star Wars<br />
<br />
This list is, of course, incorrect! Although, the only real travesty here is Avatar, which does not deserve to be in the top ten even. <br />
<br />
The “correct” list(s). That is, “my” lists are as follows:<br />
<br />
General SF:<br />
5. Jurassic Park<br />
4. Blade Runner<br />
3. Star Wars<br />
2. The Matrix<br />
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan<br />
<br />
The first three of these are separated by a bare fraction from each other. And honorable mentions in this category include War of the Worlds (Original version), E.T., Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, and Logan’s Run.<br />
<br />
SF/Horror/Thriller<br />
5. Predator<br />
4. The Terminator<br />
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (first version)<br />
2. The Thing (Carpenter version)<br />
1. Alien<br />
<br />
The first four of these are very close, and honorable mentions that come very close to unseating number 5 are The Road Warrior, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Aliens.<br />
<br />
I also struggled a bit with some assignments. Does Jurassic Park go with general SF or SF/Horror/Thriller? The Matrix is certainly a thriller with strong elements of horror. In the end, though, I didn’t think the horror elements of either were the primary strength of these movies. So there you have it, the TV lists and the “true” lists. I’m sure everyone will agree! Feel free to tell me how <em>much</em> you agree. :)Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-84066883077197385422019-04-01T01:00:00.000-04:002019-04-01T01:00:03.608-04:00All writing is ...<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published June 3, 2011.</i></div>
<br />
<b>By Kevin Killiany</b><br />
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I'm on record in several places as being firmly in the Robert Heinlein camp when it comes to revising and rewriting. (Heinlein's Rules: "You must write. You must finish what you write. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order. You must put the work on the market. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.") and a proponent of Dean Wesley Smith's codicil to Heinlein's Rules: "Write. Mail. Repeat."<br />
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Writing instructors often say things like "all writing is rewriting." I think the advice is well-intended. It's meant to take away the pressure many beginning writers feel, the sense of obligation that every word they write must be perfect. The assurance it's okay to throw something onto the page if you know it's only raw material you'll be able to shape and polish until you think it's ready for others to read gives them the courage they need to begin. But outside the classroom? You find very few successful writers give even lip service to the "all writing is rewriting" mantra.<br />
<br />
But the prejudice against writing well the first time runs deep. Tell someone you wrote a novel in 90 days and they assume it's junk. Or that it would have been much better if you'd spent three times as many days on it. The fundamental credo underlying these attitudes is that the training wheels of composition/creative writing 101 are welded on; that whatever you write first is by definition simply a lump of raw clay. Weeks and months of further molding and shaping are necessary before it can be seen by anyone else.<br />
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The fact is the words written in the flow of creation are almost always the best. Rewriting, proceeding from the assumption that what you've poured out is fundamentally wrong and must be fixed, opens the door to beating all the life and spirit out of your story as you hunt for mythically perfect words.<br />
<br />
Does this mean that one should print out and mail first drafts every time? Yes and no. In my response to XXXXX's <span style="font-weight: bold;">*</span> column on book signings, I mentioned passing the idle time by reading my own books and finding typos. I also find mechanical problems in my prose. For example, in Wolf Hunters (my 90-day, 93k-word novel) I have found nearly a dozen sentences that began and ended with 'though'. And occasional clusters of telegraphic sentences that I might now have linked with conjunctions. And this one gem: "Concerns such as budget didn't concern him." So there was a lot of housekeeping that would certinly have been taken care of before the ms went to the publisher. But none of them would have seen print if I'd had more than three days to review the proof pages; I'd have liked at least a week. But so far I have found nothing in the story itself that I would change. With short stories, when I am not on deadline, I usually do a pretty thorough job of scouring the grammar – which sometimes requires revising confusing paragraphs, clearing up subject/verb conflicts, eliminating redundancies, and deleting three in five adjectives. It is rare I rewrite any of the story itself. If I find several passages that need rewriting, I usually chuck the lot and write the story again without looking at the first effort. I've done that more than once.<br />
<br />
I recently applied to an MFA program that required a selection of my fiction as part of the consideration process. In looking through my stock of unsold stories for examples of my style and craft I came across "Exploring," one of a half-dozen exercises I wrote during a short story workshop in 2005 at the late, and sorely missed, Oregon Coast Professional Writers Workshops. Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Gardner Dozois team-taught fourteen intense classes over seven days. In one afternoon session we were asked to write a detailed, multisensory description of a location we hated; someplace so negative we could not think about it without a visceral response. Then we were told to write a description of the same location – changing none of the details – from the perspective of someone who loved the place every bit as much as we hated it. The assignment for next day's session was a 2500-word short story set in that place. I chose the room my mother died in, and writing that story involved staring into space for a couple of hours after dinner, jotting occasional notes and thinking more about how I felt than plot, and two frantic hours of typing just before class. I had not looked at "Exploring" in over half a decade and though I remembered it fondly, I opened the file expecting to find something in need of a ground-up rewrite.<br />
<br />
After reading it through twice and eating lunch, I changed one sentence. "The door to the hall had opened all the way and a nurse – at least he thought she looked too young to be a doctor – was in the room." became "The door to the hall had opened all the way and a nurse – or nurse's aid of some sort, since she looked too young to be out of school – was in the room." Anything more – any "polishing" – would have killed the story's spark and energy.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">*</span> (Say, did anyone notice the "XXXXX" in the fifth paragraph? Left that there on purpose. As I wrote that sentence I could not remember which Novelnaut had written the column on book signings. Rather than stop the flow of writing, fire up the internet and check, I put a placeholder – in all caps to catch my eye – and kept going. Do this. It prevents loss of momentum – or worse, loss of whatever it was you were writing. When everything up to this point and the closing paragraph were written, I did come online to check before posting. However, rather than put Jewel's name where it belonged, I decided to add a paragraph to the essay about the method. Because I wanted to mention that I also always go back over a story to check for placeholders as well. And yes, adding this paragraph <i>did</i> change the structure of my essay, which would appear to contradict the thrust of said essay. Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.)<br />
<br />
Do not ever assume the first thing you write has to be perfect. But just as emphatically, do not ever assume the first thing you write is nothing more than a rough lump of clay. Edit for clarity; revise for impact; regard with dark suspicion any urge to add words; and triple check to be sure all your placeholders have been replaced – but otherwise leave be. If you find yourself changing any more than 10% of your words – and I'm the lax student of prolific writers who put the number at closer to 5% – you are almost certainly robbing your story of the spirit that inspired you.<br />
<br />
Because the truth is: All writing is writing.<br />
<br />
[Note: If anyone is interested in reading "Exploring," say so in comments and I'll send you a PDF.]<br />
<br />
<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-86040637623536888122019-03-22T01:00:00.000-04:002019-03-22T01:00:03.280-04:00The Purpose Driven Novel<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published October 9, 2011.</i></div>
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<br />
<b>By Jewel Amethyst</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wc4mZfvs7iM/TpFMAkcdUFI/AAAAAAAAARs/xJnH7SOGeMk/s1600/life-purpose2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661389779248173138" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wc4mZfvs7iM/TpFMAkcdUFI/AAAAAAAAARs/xJnH7SOGeMk/s320/life-purpose2.png" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 229px;" /></a> It’s 3am. My blog post is due, and I hadn’t a clue what to write about. So I did what I should have done nine days ago: I visited the Novelspaces Authors' private blog to view the theme for this month. The theme is totally optional, and most novelnaughts thus far have elected to ignore the themes. But right now, it is serving the purpose it was intended for. It is giving me a topic to blog about when my mind is drawing a blank.</div>
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The theme for this month is: “<em>Should novels have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader?” </em><br />
<br />
The short answer is, it depends.<br />
<br />
There are many different types of novels. Some have the deliberate purpose of educating the reader. Case in point, Carol Mitchell’s “Caribbean Adventure Series.” They are a series of very entertaining children’s novels set in different Caribbean Islands. It is quite clear that they are meant to expose children to the history and to some extent geography of the Caribbean islands. I myself have embarked on a similar project but with the aim of exposing elementary to middle school students to cell and microbiology through a series of science adventure novels. For children’s books especially, the list of novels that make deliberate attempts to educate is extensive.<br />
<br />
Even for adult novels, education is often a secondary (if not primary) purpose of many novels. Some bring awareness to the struggles of racism, classism, discrimination in an entertaining manner. One of my favorite books, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, does just that. Others expose life in certain eras, uplift women, or men or some country. The much talked about book, “The Help” brings to light the life and times of women of color working as home domestics in segregated America. And we cannot forget the timeless classic, “Roots” and its historical impact.<br />
<br />
Some books push an agenda or a political opinion. John Grisham’s “The Chamber,” and “A Time to Kill” very entertainingly address some pressing issues like the death penalty. Time won’t permit me to list even 0.00001% of the fiction novels (and I won’t even go into the creative non-fiction genre) that pushes an agenda, political, social, or economic opinion.<br />
<br />
But then there are some books whose sole purpose is to entertain. Many romances, horror, sci-fi and yes erotica, fall into that category. Yet even these books can unwittingly educate or promote an agenda. Even when the author’s aim is strictly to entertain the reader, there is still often a secondary purpose, subtle though it may be. Whether that purpose is to inspire, or teach, or expose something, it is there.<br />
<br />
So in my opinion, it does not matter whether or not a novel is written solely for the entertainment of the reader. It will still serve a secondary purpose of educating the reader in some fashion. Furthermore, the readers will take away more from the book that the author even intended.<br />
<br />
What do you think? Should novels have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader?<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-72471536294288355152019-03-15T01:00:00.000-04:002019-03-15T01:00:00.625-04:00The Wake of Charlottesville<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published August 27, 2017.</i></div>
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<br />
<b>By Amy Reade</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Let’s
get one thing out of the way right from the get-go: I do not write political
posts. I do not post anything political on any social media platform. And in a
way, what I’m about to write really isn’t political; rather, it’s a statement of
my beliefs about humans, having nothing to do with either or any political
party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
recent events that unfolded in Charlottesville, Virginia, following a
despicable display of hatred, bigotry, and ignorance were, simply put,
abominable. I grieve for the family of the woman who lost her life and for the
people, like me, who felt a deep sadness and icy dread when they saw the images
of the people carrying torches through the darkened campus of the University of
Virginia and the streets of Charlottesville.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
entire incident ignited in me a desire—no, a need—to spend some time in the
shoes of people who may not look like me, who may not think like me, who may
experience life in ways that are different from the ways in which I experience
life. And I’m not talking here about racial differences alone. I’m talking about
<i>any</i> differences, whether they be
racial, religious, social, economic, educational, or generational. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I don’t pretend that I’m
suddenly going to understand what it’s like to be anything other than a white
woman of early middle-age with a college education living in New Jersey, but I
mean to try. And I’m a writer, so what better way to spend time in other people’s
shoes than in books?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">With that in mind, I’ve
done some research into books that deal head-on with issues of separation: things
and ideas that separate individuals, that separate people who practice
different religions, that separate individuals from society. And I want to
share a short list of books that I think might be a good place to start in
bridging the gaps that exist in our communities. Some of the books I’ve already
read, but I intend to read them again with a renewed intensity and a renewed
urgency. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have to stop the hatred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Band-Played-Politics-Epidemic-20th-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B000V761ZA/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781604&sr=1-1&keywords=and+the+band+played+on" target="_blank"> </a></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Band-Played-Politics-Epidemic-20th-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B000V761ZA/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781604&sr=1-1&keywords=and+the+band+played+on" target="_blank"><b>And the Band Played On</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> by Randy Shilts</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Like-Me-Definitive-Griffin-ebook/dp/B0042JSLXI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781670&sr=1-1&keywords=black+like+me" target="_blank"><b> </b></a></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Like-Me-Definitive-Griffin-ebook/dp/B0042JSLXI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781670&sr=1-1&keywords=black+like+me" target="_blank"><b>Black Like Me</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
by John Howard Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b> </b></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cinderland-Memoir-Amy-Jo-Burns-ebook/dp/B00JNPF3UU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781935&sr=1-1&keywords=cinderland" target="_blank"><b>Cinderland</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cinderland-Memoir-Amy-Jo-Burns-ebook/dp/B00JNPF3UU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781935&sr=1-1&keywords=cinderland" target="_blank"> </a>by Amy Jo Burns</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Young-Muslims-Changing-World-ebook/dp/B01LXRNH3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781905&sr=1-1&keywords=generation+m" target="_blank"> </a></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Young-Muslims-Changing-World-ebook/dp/B01LXRNH3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781905&sr=1-1&keywords=generation+m" target="_blank"><b>Generation M</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>
</b>by Shelina Janmohamed</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Not-One-World-Differences-ebook/dp/B003F1WMAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781874&sr=1-1&keywords=god+is+not+one" target="_blank"><b>God is Not One</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
by Stephan R. Prothero<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="a-size-small"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></i></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Myself-American-Women-Muslim-ebook/dp/B005270XDU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781846&sr=1-1&keywords=i+speak+for+myself+the+american+woman+on+being+muslim" target="_blank"><b>I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> by <span class="a-size-small"><span style="background: white;">Maria M. Ebrahimji and</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="a-size-small"><span style="background: white;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Zahra T Suratwala</span>, <i>et
al.</i></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Short-Tragic-Life-Robert-Peace-ebook/dp/B00GEEB7LC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781813&sr=1-1&keywords=the+short+and+tragic+life+of+robert+peace" target="_blank"><b>The Short and Tragic Life of RobertPeace</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> by Jeff Hobbs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">8.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Towards-End-Diana-Athill-ebook/dp/B002AU7MV8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781787&sr=1-1&keywords=somewhere+towards+the+end" target="_blank"><b>Somewhere Towards theEnd: A Memoir</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> by Diana Athill</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">9.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harperperennial-Modern-Classics-ebook/dp/B00K0OI42W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781757&sr=1-1&keywords=to+kill+a+mockingbird" target="_blank"><b>To Kill a Mockingbir</b>d</a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
by Harper Lee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">10.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b> </b></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/White-Like-Me-Reflections-Privileged-ebook/dp/B005LXC9PU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781726&sr=1-1&keywords=white+like+me" target="_blank"><b>White Like Me</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
by Tim Wise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">11.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio-ebook/dp/B0051ANPZQ/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781703&sr=1-1&keywords=wonder" target="_blank"> </a></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio-ebook/dp/B0051ANPZQ/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503781703&sr=1-1&keywords=wonder" target="_blank"><b>Wonder</b></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> by R.J. Palacio</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This list is by no means
exhaustive, but it’s a good start. If nothing else, it’s at least one good thing that
came out of Charlottesville. It’s not what happened in the “wake” of
Charlottesville, but what happened in the “wake-up” of Charlottesville. A
wake-up call to understand “the other,” whomever that may be to each of us. I hope you’ll
join me, and I hope you’ll add your reading suggestions to the comments below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-45941494082646234592019-03-08T01:00:00.000-05:002019-03-08T01:00:07.328-05:00How Gritty Are My Mysteries?<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published May 19, 2017.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>By Maggie King</b><br />
<br />
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<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sN6b5uf6xC8/WR3q-qMgJoI/AAAAAAAAAfE/gqMGyz0Cj9MqvONGYO2etvsHAVmy42zQgCLcB/s1600/true%2Bgrit.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sN6b5uf6xC8/WR3q-qMgJoI/AAAAAAAAAfE/gqMGyz0Cj9MqvONGYO2etvsHAVmy42zQgCLcB/s320/true%2Bgrit.jpe" width="216" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">My panel topic at Bouchercon 2015 was “How
Much Grit Do I Want in My Mystery?” Violent content, bloody images, sexuality, and
tough language come to mind when I hear the word “grit.” Gritty movies are
rated R. One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of gritty is “harsh and
unpleasant.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Raymond Chandler, Michael Connelly, Patricia
Cornwell, Robert Crais, Henning Mankell, and Ruth Rendell are just a few of our
renowned authors who write the “dark stuff”—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noir</i>.
And they’re really good at it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I watch many TV shows where violence runs
rampant. The British and Swedish do it best—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luther</i>
is breathtakingly violent; the characters in the riveting Swedish drama, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beck</i>, don’t flinch at a little blood; the
American <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Animal Kingdom</i> had a mild,
if menacing, start but by the end of the season the violence had reached a
nearly unbearable level. Sexuality and language are a natural part of these
stories— the characters leave the bedroom door wide open and aren’t likely to say,
“Oh, fudge!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I love these depictions of a grim reality,
whether in print or on screen. But do I want to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">write</i> tales with a “darkness of the spirit?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">No, no, a thousand times, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no</i>! Maybe spending so much time with my
characters and story makes me fear all that darkness. I write cozies, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">edgy</i> cozies, but cozies all the same. My
violence happens off-page and is minimally described. In one story, I have the
killer picking up a weapon and using it. But I left the aftermath to the
reader’s vivid imagination<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In another story, a character gets killed in
a pretty horrific way, but all I mention is the murder weapon. Again, I let my
readers fill in the blanks. No </span></span>gritty details<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Sometimes
a well-chosen word here or there will paint a complete picture.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o6FfCAeyK0Q/WR3rVtAgLDI/AAAAAAAAAfI/zc3dFvMtAnAotgMAz3urJDCdNS0emVDZwCLcB/s1600/murder%2Bon%2Bbamboo%2Blane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o6FfCAeyK0Q/WR3rVtAgLDI/AAAAAAAAAfI/zc3dFvMtAnAotgMAz3urJDCdNS0emVDZwCLcB/s320/murder%2Bon%2Bbamboo%2Blane.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">My characters love sex and love to talk about
sex but when they “get right down to the real nitty-gritty” (see how well the
song title fits the subject?) they go off-page. I may sprinkle a mild
expletive—or two—into the dialogue. My readers object to profanity and I must
respect their wishes. There are ways to suggest swearing and mystery author
Naomi Hirahara is so skilled at this that you know the exact word she’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> using. Another mystery author, F.M. Meredith,
has this to say about the lack of salty language in her Rocky Bluff P.D. series:
“Oh, the characters do cuss, I just don’t quote them.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But Merriam-Webster has an alternative
definition of gritty: having or showing a lot of courage and determination.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My main
character, Hazel Rose, doesn’t consider herself to be brave and accepts her crime-solving
missions with great reluctance. But, once committed, she will run a killer to
earth. Mystery writers, regardless of how noir-ish or cozy their story is, want
a determined detective, one with an abundance of “true grit.” It’s true grit that
unites crime writers as we restore justice to our fictional worlds.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And it’s true grit that I want in my
mysteries.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Back to the Bouchercon panel: Laura
DiSilverio, Frankie Bailey, Lynn Cahoon, and I had a lively discussion about
grit in mysteries and pretty much covered the points I’ve made in this post. Author
Lise McClendon moderated. Here’s a non-very-good photo of us: </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svXKGuS4bTo/WR3qnYo3XCI/AAAAAAAAAfA/qozva9aTCgE-IDqHOHb6eeJG_GDhnePqQCLcB/s1600/Panel%2Bat%2BBouchercon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svXKGuS4bTo/WR3qnYo3XCI/AAAAAAAAAfA/qozva9aTCgE-IDqHOHb6eeJG_GDhnePqQCLcB/s400/Panel%2Bat%2BBouchercon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Writers, weigh in. How do you feel about grit in your mysteries? </span>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-90456575005668181422019-03-01T01:00:00.000-05:002019-03-01T01:00:02.965-05:00How to Not to Anecdote<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published February 7, 2015.</i></div>
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<b>By Che Gilson</b><br />
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-12571088834023651912019-02-22T01:00:00.000-05:002019-02-22T01:00:08.200-05:00Two Kinds of Writers<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published August 27, 2010.</i></div>
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<b>By Charles Gramlich</b><br />
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At our first faculty meeting of the year, a fellow named Jeff Howard, a social psychologist, spoke to us. Now, I often don’t find such speakers very interesting but I really enjoyed what Dr. Howard had to say. And though he was primarily talking about student types, I think his ideas apply to writing, as well. Of course, I tend to think most everything applies to writing. Below, I’ve extended Howard’s ideas to writing. These are my interpretations, not his, so I hope I got his basics down right. <br />
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First, Howard suggested that there are two kinds of people in the world: “Performance Oriented” and “Learning Oriented.” Performance Oriented (PO) folks come into every new situation looking to “prove” something to themselves and others. Generally, that means ‘proving’ that they are smart and capable. Thus, PO writers want to show others and themselves how smart they are in their work. PO individuals also tend to believe that writing is a “talent” rather than a learned craft, and PO folks tend to believe that if something requires a lot of “effort,” then that reveals less “talent.”<br />
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Learning Oriented (LO) folks come into new situations looking to improve themselves. Their main goal is to learn “how” to do a particular thing, and they don’t doubt their ability to learn that material. LO folks believe that “effort” controls outcome and is the key to success. They don’t equate less effort with a sign of greater talent.<br />
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A key difference between PO and LO folks shows up when a “failure” occurs. Say the writer approaches a major magazine publisher with a story and gets rejected out of hand. PO individuals take the failure as a sign of lack of talent, and often develop a sense of helplessness, which leads them to either quit writing or to lower their sights. The PO writer may think things like: “I just can’t do this.” If the same rejection comes to an LO writer, the response is quite different, something along the lines of: “OK, that didn’t work. What do I have to change to make sure I’ll sell my next story to that magazine?” The LO writer then begins generating ideas and strategies to improve his or her work to the point required for success.<br />
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Dr. Howard went on to say that Americans “take in the PO attitude with the water” as we grow up and that the vast majority of us are PO when we need to be LO. He does believe we can move people away from PO toward LO. Here’s my take.<br />
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The “two kinds of people” thing is always an oversimplification but it can be a useful one. I believe Howard is definitely onto something here. For his “taking it in with the water,” I suspect what he is getting at is that all children really begin life as PO. Most of childhood seems to be about proving oneself to others, both adults and peers. And children, being small and inexperienced, are going to have quite a few failures and naturally look to someone else to tell them how to do better. The LO attitude itself is a product of education and experience, although certain cognitive (thought) processes need to develop along with the training and experience.<br />
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I think I definitely began my writing life as a PO kind of person. I don’t think I was trying to show others how smart I was as much as I was trying to show myself that I was capable of writing material good enough to be published. Then came the failures. I definitely remember thinking, “I just can’t do this.” And if I hadn’t had a few small successes here and there I quite probably would have quit. I did understand, though, that the route to success most often comes through sustained and directed effort. I began putting in that effort, and was rewarded with more successes. I could see that I changed things and they “worked.” Out of that I really developed the LO attitude. <br />
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I’m not sure one ever becomes completely LO, though. I will always believe that there is an element of innate talent in many peoples’ successes. That’s the biologist in me talking. I also still suffer at times from self-doubt; I wonder if I really “can” do this. Most of the time, though, I’m going to try anyway. And if I fail, I’m going to study harder and try again.<br />
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How about you? PO? LO? SOB? Something else I haven’t thought of?<br />
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-47489445502341211442019-02-15T01:00:00.000-05:002019-02-15T01:00:05.646-05:00When is adultery romance?<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published March 9, 2011.</i></div>
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<b>By Jewel Amethyst</b><br />
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A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a divorced mother. On discovering I was a romance novelist, she proceeded to provide me unsolicited ideas for my next novel. One of her ideas involved a military wife who falls in love with a man on base while her husband was involved in covert ops somewhere overseas.<br /><br />I shook my head and said, “If I do that, I’ll have to make her husband pretty despicable and probably abusive. Readers don’t think of adultery as romance.”<br /><br />As I pondered the scenario, the writer in me wondered, “When is adultery romance?”<br /><br />Romance novels have clear guidelines. The leading character (especially the woman) should not be involved in a relationship at the time the romance begins. Beyond the guidelines, I have my own religious views, which do not condone adultery in any form or fashion. But as an artist, my mind was already thinking of scenarios that would work.<br /><br />One scenario that would justify the new relationship is an abusive controlling philandering spouse. But what if that spouse was actually a nice person?<br /><br />A few years back I was at a party when a friend of mine told the story of her friend, Jane, who called her in the middle of the night. Jane was driving aimlessly frustrated with no clear plan except that she was leaving her live-in boyfriend. Everybody in the group gasped. The consensus: he was such a nice man. He cooked, he cleaned, he took care of the bills and he was committed. But according to my friend, that was the problem. He took care of everything but he was a dud. Jane was emotionally frustrated and bored to insanity because her boyfriend offered no excitement or romance. He just took care of business.<br /><br />I of course didn’t know the man and was only slightly acquainted with Jane. A few parties later I met Jane and I understood why she was dissatisfied. She wanted the kind of romance I write about in the novels, where the man wines and dines her and offers emotional excitement. She wanted someone who made her heart throb and her palms sweaty every time he came near. I could imagine in a situation like that, Jane would be vulnerable enough to leave her boyfriend (or have a steamy affair) for someone more exciting who can meet her emotional needs. Could we make that adulterous affair into a romance story that readers would enjoy and even root for?<br /><br />Needless to say, Jane did return to her boyfriend, trading the excitement of the novels for the everyday mundane of a steady, comfortable, secure relationship. I have no doubt she had a laundry list of changes she would like to implement. But my question still stands: could we really make adultery so romantic that readers are rooting for the adulterous relationship, even though the spouse is a nice, committed person?<br /><br />What do you think? What scenarios would work?<div>
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-80504043025391736822019-02-08T01:00:00.000-05:002019-02-08T01:00:07.532-05:00So, you're a writer? Let me annoy you for a bit...<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published May 22, 2015.</i></div>
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<b>By Liane Spicer</b><br />
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Back in April Dayton Ward wrote <a href="http://novelspaces.blogspot.com/2015/04/that-10-things-people-say-to-writers.html" target="_blank">this post</a> about the things people say to writers, which gave me the idea to do my own version. Every question/remark below has been said to me--by relatives, friends, or total strangers. As you can tell from the responses I wish I had made, this sort of thing brings out the very best in me. I deserve gifts of chocolate for not strangling anyone--yet.<br />
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<b>Why don't you try to get your book on Oprah? </b><br />
Do you have any idea what I write? Do you have any idea what sort of book Oprah promotes? Do you have any idea how... Sigh. Never mind.<br />
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<b>I need some quick money to cover my bills while I wait for my severance payment to come through, so I'm going to write a book.</b><br />
ROFL. ROFLMAO. Bwahahahaa! That's a good one... Oh--you're serious?<br />
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<b>I'm not much of a reader but I'm writing a book. I'll send you the first draft and you can fix it up and get it out there for me as you know about this stuff.</b><br />
Sure I will, you lazy SOB. That's what friends do. Because instead of writing my own books, I'd like to spend a couple years polishing your first draft, researching markets, submitting to agents and editors, following up, promoting, etc etc etc. Yeah, that's what I do because, you know, I took about 15 years to learn this stuff so I could do all your work for you.<br />
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<b>So--you're writing the great West Indian novel?</b><br />
No, I'm writing the great Nahuatl erotic sci-fi lesbian vampire novella. I'll let you know when it's out.<br />
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<b>Can you get your agent or editor to read my manuscript?</b> <i>[Asked by total strangers]</i><br />
Of course. Because that is what my agent and editor do--read manuscripts by people their clients do not know, recommended by said clients who have no idea what or how you write. This is the way we build trust in the author-editor-agent relationship.<br />
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<b>So how much do you make? Give me a ballpark.</b> <i>[Said with a condescending smile.]</i><br />
Frankly, it's bad manners to ask people probing questions about their earnings. Even if you know them. Even if you're family. What possible use can this information be to you? Until such time as I ask you for a handout <i>[read: never]</i> what I earn is none of your <i>[expletive]</i> business. Upside: You've given me a great opportunity to practise concealing my anger behind my mild-mannered facade while fantasizing about planting my foot up your smug rear end.<br />
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<b>Are you getting a private jet?</b><br />
I'll let that pass because you're technically still a child. A money-obsessed pest of a child, but a child nonetheless. I doubt I'll ever be into ostentatious status mega-symbols so if I ever strike it rich you'd never know it--unless you sneak into my shoe closet, maybe. Now get out of here before I whup your precocious butt.<br />
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-39447311757952942822019-02-01T01:00:00.000-05:002019-02-01T01:00:07.741-05:00Be Aware Who's In the Room!<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published February 14, 2015.</i></div>
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<b>By Sunny Frazier</b><br />
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This is my favorite anecdote from my career so far.<br />
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There used to be a small writers conference called Bare Bones. The San Diego Sisters in Crime put it on and it was in a church camp in the hills of Julian, CA. The site has since burned down in one of the forest fires.<br />
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I was pretty distraught when I walked in to register. My friend J.A. (Judy) Jance was talking to someone and she motioned me over. She wanted to know why I looked so upset.<br />
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I told her that a week ago, I'd sent two of the narc detectives I worked with to go check out a chemical drop from a meth lab at one of the Indian rancherios. I was getting phone calls that children were playing in the river where the chemicals were seeping. On the way to the site, another call came from dispatch that a man was chasing his parents around with an ax. My detectives were the closest in the area and they responded. One of the detectives shot and killed the man.<br />
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"Today's the day he's coming back to work and I feel I should be there, not here," I explained to Judy. "They said it was a good shoot but what's a good shoot to a young Mormon kid?"<br />
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"Honey, sit with us and talk," said her companion.<br />
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I really didn't glance at the woman, but I declined. She insisted, patting the seat emphatically. I finally turned to look at her.<br />
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"You're Sue Grafton," I exclaimed.<br />
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"Yes, I am. Now honey, just sit right down and tell me all about it."<br />
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The rest of the conference she kept me close. She wanted to come and visit my narcotics team, but that's not allowed. Not even if you are the #1 female crime writer in the world.
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-25919987687575951052019-01-22T01:00:00.000-05:002019-01-22T01:00:01.473-05:00Putting a Little English on It<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published March 3, 2013.</i></div>
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<b>By Kevin Killiany</b><br />
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My wife, who grew up in rural coastal South Carolina in the 1960s, was one of four black students to integrate a white high school. She has lived through danger and repression I can only imperfectly imagine. I'm something of an aberration in her portfolio, which documents a lifetime of involvement in and championing of African American culture. One thing that makes her angry is novels by black writers in which educated, professional, upper-middle-class black characters are familiar with the drug culture, routinely drop the f-bomb and n-bomb in conversation, and have a casual attitude about sex and marriage. She gets particularly incensed at the depiction of black men as dogs. <br />
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A writer at a recent workshop presented a story set in a working-class urban community. The writer and the characters were black and, though the writer did not, all of her characters spoke in a cursing, slang-filled argot in dialog replete with phonetic spellings. A white member of the workshop admitted she'd had difficulty following some of the conversations and suggested the writer's work would be more accessible if she employed standard usage with only a few bits of slang. The writer questioned whether telling her to make her characters sound more white was a valid criticism. I cited the works of Caribbean writers here in Novel Spaces (with directions to their respective websites) as examples of incorporating elements of a culture authentically but in a way that was accessible to the widest range of readers and the conversation ended soon thereafter. <br />
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My native tongue is Southern English. This means that in the spoken language I know that 'child' rhymes with 'while'; that there's no need to enunciate the silent G at the end of words like readin, writin, children, or singin; and that an R following a vowel is softened (not eliminated, as some impersonators would have you believe). As a Southern writer I know the language is enriched by whimsical usage and the employment of words not currently in vogue; that initial articles are often superfluous; and that one should trust one's listeners and readers are intelligent enough to apprehend the occasional unspoken verb or subject.
However, I'm also aware that many folk outside the South assume that Southern usage implies the inability to master any other and may be evidence of limited intellectual acuity. If not inbreeding. More troubling to me is that for many people of colors other than beige a white person who speaks with a Southern accent is suspected of being a closet klansman, or to at least harbor prejudicial tendencies. (And I know from personal experience that a white writer who depicts black Southerners as speaking with the same Southern accent he speaks with can find himself vilified as a racist.)
With that in mind, I limit the dropped G in my characters' conversations to just often enough to establish locale and at no time call attention to the fact 'mild' and 'mile' are homophones. While I do exercise my cultural predilection for offbeat word choice and atypical sentence structure, I make a conscious effort to keep things simple enough for English majors to follow.<br />
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The assumption writing in dialect implies racism is not a new development; and it's not exclusively directed at white writers. I know my love for <a href="http://zoranealehurston.com/">Zora Neale Hurston</a> is on record somewhere—several someheres. According to Google Maps the Maitland, Florida, house I grew up in is four-point-three miles from the Zora Neale Hurston Museum in Eatonville, Florida. Never met her. I discovered her in college, and through her the Harlem Renaissance, but she had passed away the winter before the summer I became a reader. She did not, as I've seen reported elsewhere, starve to death in a homeless shelter. She was working as a librarian in Fort Pierce, FL, when she died of a stroke. However, it is true that due to lack of funds she was buried without a headstone. And the reason she had to work as a librarian and died too poor for a headstone is the direct result of the way she wrote. Or, more accurately, how her writing was perceived by others.<br />
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Hurston was an anthropologist by training – as in had degrees from Howard and Columbia – and a dedicated folklorist. She traveled to remote southern communities and as far afield as Haiti collecting legends and folk tales and recording them before they were lost to history. As a trained folklorist she wrote phonetically – because how a language is spoken shapes the sound and rhythm of the words. In other words, she wrote in dialect for legitimate academic as well as her own cultural reasons. However, many influential writers and social leaders felt she was betraying black culture and undermining black social progress by doing so. As Richard Wright (<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-boy-richard-wright/1100550794"><i>Black Boy</i></a> and <i><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/native-son-richard-wright/1100554472">Native Son</a></i>) wrote of what is now considered her masterpiece <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/their-eyes-were-watching-god-zora-neale-hurston/1100068704"><i>Their Eyes Were Watching God</i></a>: "her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought… her novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy. She exploits that phase of Negro life which is 'quaint,' the phase which evokes a piteous smile on the lips of the 'superior' race." Because her use of language offended such powerful voices in the African American literary movement her books were out of print for thirty years. No books in print meant no royalties, a low-wage job, and a funeral paid for by working class friends.<br />
(Which kinda puts my whining about being abused by internet trolls in perspective, doesn't it?)<br />
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There is no one right way to speak English. It's a living language, malleable and resilient. It's lost and gained words over the years. Nor is English homogeneous – it's not changing in the same ways or at the same rate everywhere. Or with everyone. There is no one white way of speaking, no one black way of speaking, no one Native American, or colonial, or Hispanic or Asian, or Australian, or Canadian, or American – and try telling folk in the UK they all sound alike. There's no one any way of speaking. However, there is an agreed set of general conventions that enable all of us divergent English speakers to understand and be understood. As writers who write in English, we need to hew close to these conventions if we are to reach the widest audience. But at the same time we need to be true to our own voices, and true to the voices of our characters. The trick is in finding the balance.<br />
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-40897976434796957662019-01-15T01:00:00.000-05:002019-01-15T01:00:00.396-05:00Dedications: Something New<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published July 26, 2011.</i></div>
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<b>By Charles Gramlich</b><br />
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I once had a book dedicated to me as a member of a writing group. This was Haiku Guy, a wonderfully witty book by my good friend David Lanoue. I felt pleased and honored. As my books have been published, I too have written dedications: to family members for love and support, to fellow writers I admire, to editors whose work and acumen I appreciated, and to members of groups who have helped shape my writing. The first Talera book was dedicated to my mom, the second to my father and my son, the third to my wife. I’ve dedicated works to my fellow Robert E. Howard fans, to my graduate school mentor, to my longest running writing group, and, yes, to David Lanoue.
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Recently I had a new experience in the dedication realm. It made me think about dedications in a different light because the experience was a shocking and unpleasant one. I had never imagined a dedication could be taken negatively, but now I’ll never consider one without a dark edge to my thoughts. My world is a little bleaker for that. I’m certainly not devastated, just a little saddened.
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Here’s what happened. I completed a novella called “Under the Ember Star.” When it came time for the dedication, I decided on a critique group I’d shared a number of chapters with. This group had been around a while and there’d been turnover. Some members who’d left remained friends and I’d even stayed in contact with them. Although these folks had not seen “Ember Star,” they had reviewed previous stuff from me and had impacted my writing. I decided I wanted to include them in the dedication. They deserved it.
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Because I didn’t want to hurt any one’s feelings, however, I actually decided to include all the ex-members of the group who had attended more than a meeting or two. To make sure I didn’t miss anyone, I sent the potential dedication around to the current group and asked for help double checking the names. As I hoped, and expected, most members were pleased to be acknowledged. That made me happy, reminding me of how I felt when I first saw David Lanoue’s dedication for Haiku Guy.
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Then a bombshell exploded. One current member of the group emailed the entire membership saying that my dedication “disgraced, not honored” the group. She insisted I remove her name from the dedication and that I had been “presumptive” to include it in the first place “without asking permission.” What floored me the most came next. She accused me of including the names of no longer active members as a way to: “inflate the number in ‘his’ writing group for his benefit; not ‘our’ writing group.” The email even suggested that I: “Check around the grave yards, maybe some more names can be found there.” I still can’t imagine what possible benefit I’d get in the publishing world from inflating the numbers in my writing group.
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I knew this individual didn’t particularly like my writing, but had no idea she loathed it so much. Most of what I’ve shared has been SF adventure stuff. There’s action and what is often called “gritty realism.” That means blood and occasional gore, curse words, and sometimes things like characters spitting. The scene this individual objected to the most was a single sentence describing a disgusting toilet: “The fetor was bad enough, but to be able to see the spattered sources of the stench made her glad her stomach was empty.” Our hero had to escape an ambush through that bathroom.
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No other members of the group write SF/Fantasy and most do not read it, but I think most have come to appreciate the effort I put into writing it. In the “email’s” aftermath, I’ve received an outpouring of support from most members of the group, although one other individual asked for her name to be removed from the dedication as well. I immediately did so.
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In a bit of irony, on the same day that this situation exploded, over a week after I first sent the “potential” dedication around to the group, I got the word that “Under the Ember Star” had been accepted by the publisher. There will be a dedication in that book, and the names you’ll see there will be those who didn’t feel “disgraced” to be associated with my writing. The two who did feel that way won’t get a mention.
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And wow, did I get schooled!
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<br />Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-2110324066457789582019-01-08T01:00:00.000-05:002019-01-08T01:00:01.002-05:00Why I write romance<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published February 24, 2012.</i></div>
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<b>By Jewel Amethyst</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHTpu2hBGDw/T0hPAiM_PhI/AAAAAAAAAV4/lsrLJMF3rA8/s1600/romance.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712902997919350290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHTpu2hBGDw/T0hPAiM_PhI/AAAAAAAAAV4/lsrLJMF3rA8/s200/romance.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 109px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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Some time ago during a blog interview I was asked why I wrote romance. The question came back a few days ago when a relative, after snubbing the genre, proceeded to ask me why I wrote romance. Here is my journey:</div>
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I read my first romance novel when I was ten years old. It was a Mills and Boon. At that time, my mother called them “dirty books” and forbade me to read them. I hid in the bathroom, under the bed; I climbed the Guinup tree and read it. Just before I got to the end of the book, one of my siblings ratted me out. My mother confiscated it. That was the end of that book, but it left me enthralled with romance novels. </div>
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The heroine in that Mills and Boon was tall and astoundingly beautiful with long straight hair and alabaster skin. The hero was tall and handsome with the body of a Greek god, and unbelievably rich. Those heroes looked nothing like me. They didn’t resemble my parents who were both of African descent. My father was less than six feet and my mother was only four feet ten inches and quite rotund. Most of all we were struggling to put food on the table. But that didn’t matter. The book transformed me to another world where all was perfect and beautiful women fell in love with wealthy handsome men.</div>
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By my early teens I voraciously read Sweet Dreams Romance and Sweet Valley High novels. The heroines were constantly compared to Carly Simon and Brooke Shields. I didn’t even know who those celebrities were; I just knew they were tall and beautiful… and they didn’t look like me. Of course when I wrote my first romance novel at the age of fifteen (unpublished and now lost forever), the heroine was tall and graceful with long legs, had long straight hair and creamy white skin. The hero was over six feet tall, exotically handsome and wealthy beyond the imagination. By that time I was into Danielle Steele romance.</div>
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I devoured Danielle Steele’s wealthy uncommonly beautiful characters: the slim shapely figure type, the long shapely legs, long straight shiny hair. I followed the characters as they traipsed from New York City and California to London, Rome, Paris, Nice, Greece, Italy, all the places I knew I could never afford to go. There were so many royal characters and moguls who presided over mega business empires. Again the common thread: none of these people resembled me.</div>
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Finally, in my late teens to early twenties I began to ask, “Don’t poor people fall in love? Don’t black people fall in love?” You see, before then, I had never read or even seen an African American romance. In the books I read, the characters were all upper middle class to rich and if they weren’t, they fell in love with the wealthy heir. Tired of the titled, the wealthy, and the overly beautiful falling in love, I stopped reading romance and devoured mysteries and suspense novels.</div>
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Then I discovered Arabesque romance. I read a few, and the lead characters were African American. But again the overly beautiful, the upper middle class dominated. The men always seemed to have some wealth whether it was self made or inherited. It seemed as if the average person did not fall in love. In fact, with the exception of having milk chocolate skin (for females) and coffee cream (for males) the characters could have been the same as any other mainstream romance I had read. </div>
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That’s when I decided this world needed more romance that reflected the average person. That’s where Tamara Fontaine, the heroine of “A Marriage of Convenience”, came in. I made Tamara short (originally 5’ 2” but later by the urging of the editor I added two inches to her height). I made Tamara overweight. Not “big boned” as some like to put it, but fat – over two hundred pounds of fat. And I made her jobless, the victim of a recession and corporate downsizing. She struggled financially, she struggled with her self image, she struggled with her weight. However, Tamara grows during the story and blossoms into a confident woman. Yes she falls in love with a very handsome larger than life, accomplished man (I have to leave some room for fantasy) and she does get the man. But somewhere in the story you stop seeing Tamara as a fat short woman. You see her as beautiful and sexy because you begin to see the inside, the wonderful personality and you are rooting for her to get her man.</div>
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Many reviewers of the book expressed their appreciation for a heroine that is not the stereotypical model thin or ultra rich. The most common comment I hear from readers is that they can identify with the characters. Tamara embodied the average person.</div>
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So to get back to that question, “why do I write romance?” Well, we all need a dream. We need heroes and heroines that look like us, feel like us and go through some of the struggles we are going through. Are all my heroines short and overweight? No. But they are average people who are underrepresented in the romance genre. There are enough writers writing about princes and dukes and wealthy people. Those who struggle financially, those who are not tall and ultra slim and overly beautiful need a happy ever after (HEA) too. That’s why I write romance. To give the average woman (and man) her (his) HEA.</div>
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Why do you write your genre? Did you pick your genre or did your genre pick you?<br />
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-5326432488170257802019-01-01T01:00:00.000-05:002019-01-01T01:00:00.391-05:00Not another top ten list<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published January 11, 2010. </i></div>
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<b>By Liane Spicer</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__prpLK188us/S0eTdHgZIkI/AAAAAAAABe4/mSO83Ji-kbk/s1600-h/new+year.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424466404631454274" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/__prpLK188us/S0eTdHgZIkI/AAAAAAAABe4/mSO83Ji-kbk/s320/new+year.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 288px;" /></a>'Tis that time again when we share our goals for the new year with everyone else. Sick of reading other people's lists? I'll be merciful - after all I could have subjected you to my <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Top 1000 resolutions that were made to be broken</span>. Instead, I'll just list my <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Top three writing goals</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> for this year</span>:
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Goal #1: Write more. </span>
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<a href="http://novelspaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/writing-must-haves.html">Phyllis' handy timer</a> gave me the idea of setting my cell phone to alarm when I sit down to write. I've begun by setting it for 30 minutes, and it's amazing how fast those half hours fly by! Invariably, I find myself resetting it to give myself more time. People, this works!
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Goal #2. Organize.</span>
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It's difficult for me to balance the various compartments of my life so that everything gets the attention it deserves. We all juggle a lot of stuff: day job, school, children, spouse or significant other, writing, household chores, correspondence, reading time, dreaming time. If I have a fairly structured schedule for doing each, there's a much greater chance of managing at least some of it than if I had no plan at all, and writing might not get edged out so easily.
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Limit Internet time.</span>
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I have to confess to 'net addiction. I simply can't rationalize any more the hours I spend flitting around on Amazon, for example. It occurred to me recently that a simple move such as unplugging the modem cable from my laptop when I sit down to write makes a whole lot of sense. (There are benefits to <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">not</span> having wireless access in the house.) At the very least, I won't be distracted by the chime of Google Notifier every time an e-mail drops into my inbox. <i>[Edited to update: Alas, WiFi is now ubiquitous and that Notifier went the way of the dinosaurs many years ago. Everything else is still relevant, though.]</i> Checking e-mail throughout the day has also got to go. Once in the morning and once at night should be sufficient.
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There you have it - three small goals (note that I'm avoiding the word 'resolutions') to revolutionize my writing life in 2010. <i>[And again in 2019!]</i> Happy New Year!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); color: rgb(68 , 68 , 68); font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 11px;">—</span><i><a href="http://lianespicer.com/">Liane Spicer</a></i></div>
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Liane Spicerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com1