Flower Sparks Hope

You might wonder what this photo of a beautiful white orchid has to do with me or my writing. Was the plant synergetic or inspiring? Yes. At least I think so. A year ago I brought an orchid home in full bloom, just like the photo.  If you know anything about orchids you know that the blossoms last a long time and then the plant goes into a dormant stage. It can bloom again though, in theory that is.

 

At the same time I was enjoying my orchid, I was editing a stand alone contemporary novel using a secondary character from my previously published series as the heroine of my WIP. Many of my readers had clamored for Tante Margaret to have a story of her own and this novel was to be Margaret's story. I entitled it SAFE HARBOR. Often I would gaze at the  plant's lovely blossoms as my work in progress slowed  and was in the final stage. I felt badly when each blossom gradually folded up and dropped off, but I continued to nurture it through the winter months. I have a lucky green thumb, so I followed suggestions for my Phalenopsis care diligently, hoping to coax it to bloom again.

 

It seemed my writing career was going through a dormant stage as well. I had submitted Safe Harbor to a print publisher and was going through the waiting game that we writers suffer through. In late spring my plant developed tight green buds along it's stem and one by one, gradually they opened beautifully just as you see them in the photo above.Thirteen perfect blossoms, creamy, white petals surrounding a  dot of gold and crimson in its center!

 

While my eyes feasted on Mother Nature's work, I received a note from a writer friend encouraging me to take heart, be confident in me, and maybe to keep trying other publishers. I took her advice and soon received a request for the full manuscript. As a seasoned writer I know that is not always a sure thing, but I don't lose faith or hope easily. Like my Phalenopsis,another year could produce delightful returns for Safe Harbor.

Selecting the Right Title by Jacqueline Seewald

I believe that a well-chosen title helps to sell a writer’s work. The first impression a book or story creates depends on several factors, one of them being the title. The title will set a certain tone or expectation. Whether you write literary work, genre fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc., the title should fit the work. If it’s not appropriate, the reader may rightfully feel cheated.

I have a few suggestions that I think might prove useful:

First suggestion is to do some initial research. For instance, visit Amazon and Google. Check out titles for the kind of work you’re writing to get a sense of what is appropriate.

All right, let’s assume you have formed some ideas for titles. Second suggestion, go to World Cataloging and type in your title under the keyword heading. See what pops up. If your title is used by many authors many times, you might want to try for something different. Ecclesiastes states that there is nothing new under the sun; however, you can do some variations that are unique. Also, keep in mind that titles are not copyrighted unless there’s a trade mark involved. You can, in fact, have the same title as another author, although if possible, it’s best to distinguish it in some way. My next Five Star/Gale novel is a mystery entitled THE THIRD EYE. There are other books with the same title. However, my full title is: THE THIRD EYE: A PINE BARRENS MYSTERY. This differentiates it.

Several people have asked me if the title of my novel THE INFERNO COLLECTION (http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=27895&cid=) was taken from Dan Brown’s new bestseller. I responded it’s more likely Dan Brown’s INFERNO title was borrowed from my work since my novel was published originally in hardcover in 2007-- although it came out in a new paperback edition from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery two months ago. However, although the themes of our novels are different, Dan Brown and I both wrote serious mystery suspense thrillers. Also, the term “inferno” directly connects to Dante’s Inferno for both books. In fact, the initial quotation that starts my novel is a quote from Dante’s Inferno.

Dan Brown observes in “10 Questions,” an interview with him which appears in the May 27, 2013 issue of TIME Magazine, that an important theme of his new bestseller is overpopulation. In my mystery novel THE INFERNO COLLECTION, the title refers to a banned book collection, and in part the theme of censorship.

This brings us to my next suggestion: consider if the chosen title can properly characterizes a theme of your book, story, poem, article via your word choice. This can make the title more meaningful.

Another suggestion: keep your title short if possible. Modern titles are generally brief unless you’re writing an academic dissertation. Otherwise, a few words will suffice. For example, the title of my last suspense thriller was DEATH LEGACY.

Last suggestion: Try for a clever use of words which will make your title in some way memorable, interesting, intriguing, and/or provoke curiosity. Example: for the third novel in my Kim Reynolds mystery series I used the title THE TRUTH SLEUTH. http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=27323  Kim is an amateur detective. So the title fits the main character. The bit of rhyming hopefully makes the title stand out.

As a reader, what titles stand out in your memory and why? If you are a writer, how do you select your titles? Are there some that have been memorable and increased your sales?

Dear Daddy...

While I was sitting here wondering what to write for you this month my thoughts turned to "fathers in literature." Being a big reader and a movie buff I sometimes get them confused. Some of my favorite fathers though have been in the pages and on the screen both.

Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird"is probably my all time favorite. Gregory Peck portrays the father in the story so well. He is perfect as the wise and kind father, with hidden strengths and obvious integrity. I never tire of that story or Gregory Peck, for that matter.

Mr. Bennet in "Pride & Prejudice" is another favorite, although not as inspiring as Atticus, he has a patience that is unmatched in that household of diverse women. Would that our own fathers could put up with such craziness? Mine certainly wouldn't. I love Mr. Bennet's wit, which doesn't spare anyone, including himself.

Now, as for some of the not-so-nice fathers. Mr. O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind" wasn't such a bad sort to start out with, but he went quite mad when his wife died and left his daughters to fend for themselves. Not good, dear old dad. I'm afraid I lost patience with him when he did that. Much like the father in "The Poisonwood Bible," who was a royal pain to not only his family, but to the Africans he ministered to. I disliked him immensely.

Mr. Craven in "Secret Garden" unfortunately started out just about as bad as Mr. O'Hara. Ignoring his son after his wife died, when he son needed him so desperately. Thankfully, dad came out of his funk when his ward, a difficult child at best, pulled his son out into the garden, where he grew stronger and she grew as lovely as the flowers they tended. I can appreciate a character who grows with the story and Mr. Craven did.

Who are your favorite fathers in literature or film?

--> A lifetime resident of the Midwest, B.D. Tharp graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications, Women/Minority Studies and Fine Arts.  Her award winning women’s fiction novel, Feisty Family Values, is available on her website, Watermark Books, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. Feisty Family Values was chosen one of the 150 Kansas Best Books, a finalist for the USA News Best Books of 2010, and winner of the J. Coffin Memorial Book Award for 2011. 

Reading with a Purpose

Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of reading for research. Most of the books are on technical matters, to help me recall terms I used to know but have mostly forgotten. Some of the more commonly used ones came back right away, but others still look a bit funny. This got me thinking about other purposes for reading.

When I began writing fiction I had to unlearn writing like an academic. I had written a novel and short fiction in college, and been published in student literary and humor magazines. I turned to scholarly work in graduate school, and focused on academic work for years. Returning to fiction meant unlearning one style of composing and recovering other ways of thinking on paper.

Of course I read a lot of crime fiction over the years and that certainly prepared me. I thought in terms of clues and characters, and laying things out in a pattern. But I found that I was terse in narrative passages. To overcome this I turned to writers who were almost prolix. I read classic mysteries such as Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone, Anthony Trollope’s The Eustace Diamonds, and A. Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. I also read Anne Perry’s mysteries for the leisurely way she sets a scene or builds up a location and setting.

For capturing character and the sinister feeling of a stranger I can think of no better writer to study than Edgar Allan Poe. He goes so deeply into his characters’ feelings and attitudes that I sometimes wonder if he was slowly driving himself mad. Ruth Rendell achieves much the same effect with her many novels. One of the best in my opinion is Judgment in Stone, which follows the inevitable path to murder of an illiterate housekeeper.

Other writers have taught me other skills. Some writers are strong in dialogue, and others can explain the technical working of anything. The latter is a skill no writer should fail to learn. Once I learned the sequence of steps in making a particular machine work, I could see other processes more clearly even if I wasn’t writing about them. I think of this as understanding the bone structure in a face while you are sculpting or painting a portrait.

Setting a story in a location not well known to all readers requires a judicious use of details, knowing what to include and what to omit. James Lee Burke is well known and admired for his rich depiction of Louisiana, and Dana Stabenow has made Alaska her own as well as a vivid location accessible to readers. Nevada Barr explores the natural world in various parks, and Agatha Christie has set novels in ancient Egypt and then contemporary Middle East. I have learned from all these writers how to make a location come alive and ground the mystery. I use India as the setting for the Anita Ray series, a country I for the first time visited in the 1970s.

All books teach us something but not the same thing. Writers have to read as widely as possible, especially in areas that don’t normally appeal to them, if they want to ensure that their work is as strong as it can be. I try to read against my interests to broaden myself. At present I’m reading about a certain sport. I’m not a sports enthusiast but I want to be sure that my descriptions are accurate and that my character’s behaviors are plausible.

Reading with a purpose, as a writer, is far more than reading good literature to expose ourselves to the best the written word has to offer. Reading with a purpose is a way to absorb the skills and abilities of other writers we do not ourselves possess.

Susan Oleksiw is the author of the Anita Ray Mystery series, featuring Indian American photographer Anita Ray, as well as the Melingham series featuring Chief of Police Joe Silva. www.susanoleksiw.com 

Reading with a Purpose

Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of reading for research. Most of the books are on technical matters, to help me recall terms I used to know but have mostly forgotten. Some of the more commonly used ones came back right away, but others still look a bit funny. This got me thinking about other purposes for reading.

When I began writing fiction I had to unlearn writing like an academic. I had written a novel and short fiction in college, and been published in student literary and humor magazines. I turned to scholarly work in graduate school, and focused on academic work for years. Returning to fiction meant unlearning one style of composing and recovering other ways of thinking on paper.

Of course I read a lot of crime fiction over the years and that certainly prepared me. I thought in terms of clues and characters, and laying things out in a pattern. But I found that I was terse in narrative passages. To overcome this I turned to writers who were almost prolix. I read classic mysteries such as Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone, Anthony Trollope’s The Eustace Diamonds, and A. Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. I also read Anne Perry’s mysteries for the leisurely way she sets a scene or builds up a location and setting.

For capturing character and the sinister feeling of a stranger I can think of no better writer to study than Edgar Allan Poe. He goes so deeply into his characters’ feelings and attitudes that I sometimes wonder if he was slowly driving himself mad. Ruth Rendell achieves much the same effect with her many novels. One of the best in my opinion is Judgment in Stone, which follows the inevitable path to murder of an illiterate housekeeper.

Other writers have taught me other skills. Some writers are strong in dialogue, and others can explain the technical working of anything. The latter is a skill no writer should fail to learn. Once I learned the sequence of steps in making a particular machine work, I could see other processes more clearly even if I wasn’t writing about them. I think of this as understanding the bone structure in a face while you are sculpting or painting a portrait.

Setting a story in a location not well known to all readers requires a judicious use of details, knowing what to include and what to omit. James Burke is well known and admired for his rich depiction of Louisiana, and Dana Stabenow has made Alaska her own as well as a vivid location accessible to readers. Nevada Barr explores the natural world in various parks, and Agatha Christie has set novels in ancient Egypt and then contemporary Middle East. I have learned from all these writers how to make a location come alive and ground the mystery. I use India as the setting for the Anita Ray series, a country I first visited in the 1970s.

All books teach us something but not the same thing. Writers have to read as widely as possible, especially in areas that don’t normally appeal to them, if they want to ensure that their work is as strong as it can be. I try to read against my interests to broaden myself. At present I’m reading about a certain sport. I’m not a sports enthusiast but I want to be sure that my descriptions are accurate and that my character’s behaviors are plausible.

Reading with a purpose, as a writer, is far more than reading good literature to expose ourselves to the best the written word has to offer. Reading with a purpose is a way to absorb the skills and abilities of other writers we do not ourselves possess.