Books that make you hurl

Sometimes a book is so bad I want to throw it across the room. In fiction it is usually the amateur writing mistakes or lazy attention to detail or grammar or spelling. The stilted dialogue, the poor descriptions, the characters acting against type or out of character also drive me nuts. Or gratuitous scenes or elements that are there only because the author was not strong enough to kill of his or her darlings.

In nonfiction I tend to start tossing books that don't get it right. A recent read caused me to hurl (the book) when the author solved all of the world's problems in less than 200 pages including global warming, overpopulation AND the ongoing discussion of religion vs science. It was not at all what it was marketed as. It was in fact an old man's rant. An end of life attempt to get his say in while he could still say it. Yes that sounds harsh. I realize I should respect my elders and that some day I'll be where he's sitting. I want to be heard, too. I could have accepted it much better if he would have marketed it as what it was -- a rant!

Today I worked on a book review for a book of fiction where the author got it wrong. She, a perky, lean, blonde of unending enthusiasm wrote about a woman of obese proportions. Or as the author likes to refer to her character and all women of similar body types -- fat women. I keep thinking about (and grinding my teeth) the fight people with disabilities waged and continue to wage to be seen. Can you not see that is a man in that wheelchair? A father? A brother? A person who has been wounded and yet he gets out of bed every day and lives his life just like the rest of us? That is to say 'he lives the best that he can.' So why is this woman any less deserving of being seen despite the layers of fat that envelope her? Why is she first of all fat? Where is her heart? Her pain? Her motivation? The cause and effect of her situation and her image?

Yes, I'm royally pissed at the treatment of this fictional character because the author has chosen to make her inert and unloveable as a fat woman but suddenly transforms her into a loveable, interesting, selfless human being once she loses the weight. Stereotype! Perpetrating a myth to the detriment of all who must live it.

So, what is the author's responsibility to get it right. Should she have researched the causes of morbid obesity? Should she have delved into this character to understand what conspired, even in her childhood, to lead her to the choices that she made? Should the author have done more than talk to a bunch of women and conclude that she knew all she needed to know about the subject? Should she have written a solution to the woman's obesity was simply that she stopped eating? Would she have written a book about an anorexic girl who was saved because she ate more? Rather simplistic.

I'd like to write about alot of topics. But I want to get them right. I want to know everything I possibly can before I create a character and I hope to all the writing gods that I do not ever make such a pathetic one-dimensional character as I just read in this book that I shall not name because I don't want anyone to purchase the book or help this author make money on the backs of every woman of obese proportions!

Maybe painting people as freaks sells books. Maybe that is perfectly all right. But I pray never to be guilty of such a crime. And if I do include an outcast in my book, I intend to understand why she's outside of the norms of society and make sure my readers understand, too.

In all fairness, I will add that this novel does not suffer from the usual hurl-causing deficiencies. It is well crafted. Just not well thought out.  

Flash-Fiction Addiction

Glen Binger, editor of 50 to 1, has a few words to offer about flash fiction and words of encouragement to all writers. Please welcome Glen to Observations. -- Dawn

The first time I referred to myself as a writer in conversation I shocked myself. I was probably a freshmen in college and still learning the ins and outs of how to gather an audience of some sort; whether it be my friends or people I didn't know. Then I discovered blogging. It seemed long-winded, but so did everything else. Blogging turned into Twitter. And thus, flash-fiction/nano-fiction/micro-fiction/whatever-you-want-to-call-it was born and evolved and grew tremendously in popularity. But now people's attention spams are limited. How does this affect the way writers write?

As the editor of 50 to 1, I try to keep this idea in mind. I know people want to read something short and still want to feel like they've accomplished something by doing so. It is the same for writing these micro pieces. It is definitely something that every writer should keep tucked away in the back of their brain.

I don't necessarily agree with the realm of flash-fiction storming literature the way it is, but I do see why it is gaining numbers. Don't get me wrong; I love reading a strong piece of flash-fiction. If you write something that short that is so strongly developed, then you have done a lot. That's what I look for as an editor. It is hard to write a 50-word story and still have it do something. When it works, its awesome. When it doesn't, its just a couple of words blotched together.

I just don't like to see the other forms of literature go unnoticed because of this. I want people to keep writing novels, poetry collections, short stories, etc. I want to keep reading them. As should everyone calling themselves a writer.

I guess what I'm getting at; don't let a good story or poem go unread because it is too long. And, in that same idea, don't shorten the length of your work because you want it to be published somewhere. Don't change your style to gain an audience; that's no fun. Most writers know they are readers first, writers second. So most writers understand the differences people have in style. Yes, there are writers who dedicate most of their work to flash fiction. And, vise versa, there are writers who dedicate their work to novels and lengthier fiction. But they understand the importance of the opposite category. Most writers I know dabble in just about any area they can; even though they'd like to call themselves a strict flash-fiction-ite or a strict novelist.

Maybe I'm not making any sense at all. I don't know. I'm certainly no expert on the area and I probably sound like an idiot. But hey, what the hell. I like all kinds of literature and, basically, I think that is what should be important to any writer. Just be open to anything and stay true to yourself. Have your favorites, write whatever you want, and read everything. Your audience will come to you and continue to grow if you just keep at it.

Glen can be contacted at: glenbinger@gmail.com

What if you cannot fail?

Ahhhh the possibilities.

What would you do today if you knew you could not fail?

What a fun question. And where does it lead you? What do I avoid for fear of failing? What do I put off doing because I might not do it well? What is the one thing I most want to succeed at?

But if you couldn't fail -- would you fly? Would you step outside of who you are today and become that other person that seems to come to life only in your dreams?

Would you approach someone who intimidates you or someone you consider a legend or celebrity or out of your league? Would you search for a soulmate or search for an answer to an ancient secret? Maybe a cure for a rare disease. Or maybe you'll write that creative piece of writing that your censor keeps warning you away from,

Conversations in Design Prove Inspiring

Writers keep lamenting and worrying and choosing up sides of the changes being seen in the book itself and the industry surrounding books and publishing. Here's a short video that quietly encourages writers and readers that the book is not disappearing nor going anywhere. It is not a sin to abandon paper and ink and the new Kindle is not a book, but it is about communication and networking.

The site Thirty Conversations on Design that houses the video by Ellen Lupton has taken on an interesting project. Described here in their own words:

We’ve collected the thoughts of 30 of the world’s most inspired creative professionals. Architects, designers, authors and leaders of iconic brands.

We asked them two questions: “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?” Their answers might surprise you. But hopefully, they’ll all inspire you. Discover what they have to say. Then share your thoughts. After all, this is a conversation.

 I particularly enjoyed the video by Linda Tischler about New York's Central Park and its designer. Perhaps their words will also inspire you or comfort you or reach out to see things in a new and different way.

The best writing class I ever took had nothing to do with writing.

I signed up for a fabric painting class: Playing with Paint taught by Lyric Kinard. It taught me about textile paints, Shiva sticks, wet painting, dry painting, monopainting and stamping to name just a few of the exercises. But along the way, I learned to look at just about everything differently.

The cheese grater in the kitchen became a great vehicle for rubbings. Lay a piece of fabric over the grater, hold it in place and rub a Shiva stick over it and the pattern that appeared added texture and interest to the fabric. Same with bubble wrap, a piece of wood, buttons.... Lemons became stamps. Cut one in half, dry it a bit on a paper towel, apply a little paint and stamp it onto the fabric. Same with just about any fruit or vegetable -- who knew they were so interesting, let alone tasty. No, don't eat them after applying the paint.

Whatever we made in that class was a success even when it didn't turn out perfectly -- and that was most of the time for me. Each effort produced an effect that I could document and say, "this turned out well because ..." or "next time I'll dry the lemon a bit better and the results will be more clear." Then we would save the fabric to a book we were compiling of what works and what could work better. No failures. Some we liked better than others. Some we would try to replicate. But throughout the whole class no one felt like a failure. We all had a good time, laughed alot and got to know each other.

So, you're saying, what has that got to do with writing?

During Playing with Paint I realized how long it has been since I ventured to color outside of the lines. Too long I've looked at the same things in the same way. A cheese grater grates cheese. A lemon makes lemonade. But after the class the whole world became filled with possibilities. I saw stamps wherever I looked. I combined unlikely textures and colors and came up with something that looked different from what everyone else was making. As I looked at the world differently, I wrote about it using a different approach, a different perspective, a more playful 'what if' attitude. And I'm having fun.

I'm not failing at anything these days. I'm learning what I like better and how to achieve it by experimenting and discovering what I don't like quite so well and how to avoid it. Most of all I learned that adults must find their way back to play. As Thoreau said, "Any fool can make a rule; and any fool will mind it."

Sometimes 'telling' works better than 'showing.' Sometimes passive fits the need of the passage. If it works, it works. If it doesn't you know what you did, how you did it, and how not to do it again. You've made an example to put in your 'sample' book. You can refer to it, see the various examples and say, "no, definitely not that one.... Or yeah, I think I'll write like that today. That worked so well.

But whatever you do -- make time for play. There is no faster way to learn something than to play with it. Maybe its time you started hanging out with artists -- fabric artists definitely see the world in a different light. If you can't find an artist, kids can teach you alot.

The photo accompanying this is by Lyric Kinard and has much to say about inspiration, experimenting, and making something beautiful that is your unique offering to the world. Now, that's the way I want my writing described.

Depend on your own judgment

Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if
this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem.
If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back
from everybody, then you make everybody your judge. -- Fritz Perls


I'm a sucker for a good quote. I rarely remember them, but when I read them I have this 'ah-ha' moment. It is the chicken-brain syndrome. Each quote is like a seed and each one seems new and profound and I peck dilligently at it until I spy the next one and rush to it as if it were something new and delicious.

Although I don't remember quotes, they often act as catalysts to move me toward something better. Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed. The universe conspires against us. Rejection comes from every direction. I feel invisible, nobody notices. Nobody cares. Days like these happen far too often, but I take heart in them because there is a balance in the universe as well as conspiracy. And just as awful as some days are -- others come along to balance it out. Instead of quotes, I've squirreled away a few memories of those exceptional days to keep me going. Much to my surprise many of them involve writing.

My first sale: I have this mind's snapshot of me dancing on the bed with my sleepy husband (who worked the night shift) gaping at me as I waved my first ever pay check for writing.

My first writing job: Another snapshot. This time of a paper flying out of the selectric typewriter and floating out into the newsroom after my timed writing test. It was the first time I had used a typewriter in several years. I forgot about the paper. I particularly liked the woman's face who was giving the typing test as she snatched up the page full of typing. I got the job. In a newsroom.

My first above the fold story
My first feature
My first AP award
My first $1.50 a word sale
My first anthology publication
My first acknowledgment in someone else's book
My first book review published on the back of someone else's book

And then there are the days when the words come together and no one sees or shares that moment. But I know. I KNOW how life affirming those moments are when you struggle to arrange the words, say in words what is swirling around inside of you. Find a way to communicate so others get it, really get it!

Writing has its perks -- not just in dollars and cents. But there is something especially rewarding to know that you've written something that someone else wants to purchase and share with their esteemed readers. Now, that's a good day. One to tuck into your memory bank to balance out that rejection letter coming your way.

If you're writing and sending out your work, there are bound to be rejections. Thank goodness for the balance in our universe!

But notice the photo accompanying these words -- a teeter totter requires two people or at least more than one. Writing may seem like a solitary business, but like the poet says, "No man is an island...." We need to be part of a community that will share our highs and lows and help us find our balance. A community that will make us think and grow. Laugh and groan. Share and mentor.

What Themes Can You Never Forget?

Quick without putting alot of thought into it, list five, no make it three things that have stuck with you from your readings. Any readings. Readings from childhood or school or newspapers. Three things! What were they?

Now think about why they've stayed with you. What about them keeps coming back and making you feel something whenever you remember? Why aren't you writing things like that?

My three:

1. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
2. Peggy Vincent's essay for Notre Dame Magazine about being part of a herd of deer
3. The Diary of Ann Frank -- I had nightmares for years about that. Actually almost anything Holocaust related -- especially Leon Uris's early books Exodus and Armageddon  

I'll admit that I had to think a little to get to the third one. And then when it clicked I realized that it was a topic I cannot turn away from. I began reading about it as a kid -- the Holocaust, I mean. The question that haunted me then, still gives me shivers. Until I read about the atrocities, I thought humans were innately good. I was a kid; I expected people to behave and be nice and love one another or at least be courteous. Then I read of people stripping other people naked, taking their possessions, humiliating them, starving them, and then lying to them as they marched them into gas chambers and killed them en masse. My German heritage scared me -- were some of my relatives responsible? Was it in the genes? I still can't explain why anyone does what they did. I guess mob mentality is probably as close an explanation as any.

What scares me is seeing that same mentality at work in large organizations, companies, and political parties. Just because someone tells you to do something, shouldn't you call upon your morals and ethics to help you decide whether you should follow those orders? Which is more important -- your morality or your paycheck? "It's part of the job." "We must make a profit." "You must please the boss or get lost."

And I would say it is also that same mindset that brings me again and again to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 or thereabouts. More than 150 workers (mostly women) died in that fire -- either from the flames and smoke or from the fall from the upper story windows as they chose to jump rather than be burned up. And I thought alot about this fire during the 9-11 incidents. What a choice to be left with. Die by fire or a 20-story fall.

It seems like REALLY bad news. People screwing up and costing the lives of MANY fellow humans sticks with me. But then, when I look at number two on my all time stick-in-the-brain stories -- it is pastoral. I think of that Debussy song "Afternoon of the Faun." I think of a human's need to be part of nature and how there is nothing more enthralling when something wild trusts you or accepts you. I'm thrilled when my cat wants to sit by me. And the time of the night -- a rather magical midnight (or wee hours of the morning) and the silence. The mist. The moment, not trapped in time, but set apart or removed from the normal life flow.

So I am drawn to atrocities, human cruelties, overcoming the worst, suviving -- maybe those all fit the two choices. And I'm drawn to those moments when a person is jerked out of their normal life and they experience something mystical and life changing and take note of an epiphany, never to be quite the same ever again. That moment of grace. I'm fixated on the 'worst of times and the best of times.'

Now why in the world am I not writing these stories?

I'm fascinated to know what your list tells you. -- Dawn

Think Evergreen! Not just for Christmas

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

.... I know, I know, it's October!

But I'm in the mood to make Christmas gifts and decorations and when my hands are involved in those kinds of projects, my mind turns also to ideas for Christmas stories and articles. Right now my other blog Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles is full of Christmas cheer as well. I just posted a few favorite projects I found around the Internet and some I've made at home. Then I went to Suite 101 and posted even more ideas for quick and fun fabric projects to make in the article I submitted today. It has been a most enjoyable morning. I may dig out my Christmas music!

October is probably the final date to submit articles and essays for December's publication. In fact, it may be too late by now. But then again, there's always next year! Evergreen articles aren't just about trees. They are timeless topics that you can recycle year after year after year after....

Just about anything holiday related can be used again and again. The piece I just posted to Subversive Stitchers will be viewed each year and will draw people to my site. The one I wrote two years ago and posted to Subversive Stitchers has gotten hits seasonally ever since. And if there is any doubt that the topic 'Christmas' has a following -- just look at the stats of my other blog -- 78 hits within minutes after I posted it today. For my little blog, that's darn good! And the numbers keep growing and growing.

All of this to say, think evergreen when you write -- whether it be fiction or nonfiction.

What's more evergreen than A Christmas Carol? We all have our favorite stories for this joyous season -- maybe you could write the next one! From baking Christmas cookies, to making stockings to the ten best ever Christmas gifts or finding romance during the holidays or -- the topics are endless.

Or maybe you should write down family memories to bring out each year and recall Christmases past. Not everything you write must be for sale. I know some of you are gasping in amazement that I of all people would say that! But I'm in a nostalgic mood, missing my babies and extended family, so I'm not thinking lucrative markets. I'm thinking of preserving memories. And well, if they turn into fodder for a lucrative market -- so much the better!

Evergeen of course is not just for Christmas stories. Any topic that is relevant year after year should be added to your repertoire of recyclable stories. Hurricanes and preparedness are oldies but goodies here in Florida. Anything about childbirth, nursing, babies, pregnancy -- definitely reusable and resalable! Just think about questions you have asked each year. What to use to clean your tile floors? Tile is sold everyday, someone is new to the upkeep and will welcome the info. How to recycle? What to recycle? Well, you get the idea.


Don't just go green, which is a very popular topic these days -- go EVERGREEN!

Reading: It's Fun-damental!

Reading is a major part of growing your writing. Or at least it has been for me.

I graduated high school, worked full time while taking one biology course, discovered I wasn't good at science and certainly wasn't good at handling a job and school at the same time, so I turned to tradition and married, starting our family two years later. But being a stay-at-home Mom wasn't a great fit either. Books and reading once again saved me. I say once again because as a kid, whenever things got tough at home I went next door to the library or I sequestered myself in my bedroom with a book. It wasn't high literary reading, mostly it was escapist stuff. But even at that, the more I read the more I knew. And some of what I was learning, I didn't realize, was about writing. I eventually returned to college and earned my degree -- we all know reading is a big part of any education. I did well. I particularly loved comparative studies. And all of the time I dreamed of writing my own work that someone would find worthy of buying.

I came to recognize writing that worked and definitely could spot writing that fell short. But knowing how to write it myself took more reading. This time I turned to Writer's Digest and The Writer and all manner of how-to books. Eventually I picked a publication out of the Writer's Market and sent them a manuscript. To my surprise -- they bought it.

The one thing I haven't been able to get past were my own self-doubts. But now and then something will come together and I'll know that I'm not just a hack. I'll know that I have good instincts. This week had a couple of those moments.

If you've been following this blog you know that I am writing for Suite 101, sent them an article about North Face Inc. and their lawsuits. And you'll also know that the editor didn't think it fit their criteria. But she left it on the Internet while I had a chance to think about a rewrite, which I made yesterday. In my efforts I looked at what was being written about that topic and to my surprise I discovered that I had beat the competition. I had scooped the Internet on the story! It felt good. It felt great! But the editor was still right. So I rewrote the story with a better focus and put it back out. The story would not have come about if I had not been reading.

I also maintain another blog: Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. I adore needlework -- all kinds. Just give me fabric and thread or yarn and needles or a hook and ... I'm happy. Writing about it and inviting others to write about their own work has given me great pleasure. I saw a message on another blog that they too appreciated what I was doing. It doesn't take a six figure income to make my heart leap with joy -- someone who appreciates what I'm trying to do -- that's my kind of wealth. My Subversive Stitchers site works because I acquainted myself with all kinds of needlework, am curious about everything, and read, read, read about them all. Recently I wrote about Sashiko for Suite 101. A few years ago I had never heard of it (and no, it is not a number puzzle!).

So, I say, the greatest gift a writer can give himself or herself is time to read.

• Pick a topic, any topic and research it. Surf, surf, surf. The tide is always right to surf the Internet.
• Read nonfiction. Find out new facts. Fiction is also based on facts -- the more you know, the richer your writing.
• Read the classics of fiction.
• Read opening lines of books, think about why they work, why they don't. Think about what you would write as the next line.
• Read magazines and publications you dream of writing for and think about what they need and give it to them.
• Read for fun. My latest edition of Diana Gabaldon's series arrived and I'm so enjoying the exploits of Jamie and Claire. I fear that this may be a bit darker than the rest. Villains are popping out of the woodwork at every turn of page. I fear for Jamie and Claire's lives! I can't stop reading. Now, if I could just put that into my fiction.
• Read everything even billboards and cereal boxes.

And while you're reading think about what is there and what is not. Why did a writer choose that word or that detail or that phrase? Why did they focus on that fact? Do you believe them? Does the story hold together? Do they write with authority? Does whatever they're doing work?

I review books and sometimes the writing is weak, sparse, lacks the sparkle that draws the reader right into the character's lives -- but sometimes that doesn't matter and I just keep reading. I just reviewed such a book. The writing was mediocre, but the storyline was alive with new information, possibilities, an exotic location, people stepping outside of their normal lives and living an experiment. The psychology of the situation was compelling. So being a master of the phrase isn't always the most important thing about writing.

Often I think writers, especially fiction writers, should take a storytelling class or work on their storytelling skills. And so I come to the secret weapon of great writers -- children's books. Read those beautifully illustrated picture books and let your imagination go wild.

Fight that whine!

Alot like flu, football or baseball, whine has a seaon. It just seems to come more often. Writers seem to get it about once every week or two. Or when they receive a rejection letter.

You'll hear them utter "Who am I kidding, I'm no writer!"

The proper treatment is encouragement to 'Don't Quit!' Best treatment -- send them a copy of this poem.

A dear friend and employee at that time gifted me with a mug bearing the poem. Perhaps he knew I was considering leaving his office? Or maybe he saw that I had decisions to make and was encouraging me to stick with it, don't give up. Or maybe he had forgotten and it was a last minute gift for whatever occasion had required a gift. Knowing him, it was not the last -- he was the most organized and thoughtful man I've ever met.


So, for all of you currently in the throes of whine season or about to move into it. This one's for you.



Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.


-Unknown

Writing Markets for Writers

Markets are tightening their belts and my old standbys are not quite such standbys any more. Yet most still accept submissions, they're just pickier these days. Here are two of my favorites that you may be interested in trying. 

Their pay is low, unless you think of it as an hourly wage. If it takes you an hour to write an article of 500 words about writing, then it is good money, excellent money! They are also easy to work with and seem apologetic when they must say no.

• Funds for Writers a web, blog and newsletters maintained by Hope Clark not only provide good information and markets for writers, it also offers a contest and accepts submissions for articles pertaining to writing. She pays $35 for about 500 words and is looking for something 'how to' that helps writers find success in various markets. She seems to focus more on nonfiction, essays and screen writing. She recently rejected my submission with the advice that she will write the inspirational essays. 
• Writers Weekly a newsletter associated with Booklocker and run by Angela Hoy requests similar articles as Funds for Writers and pays a bit better. The last time I wrote for her it was $50. Here are a few examples of titles recently published.
  
  
  
  
  
  FROM NURSING HOMES TO GRIEF SUPPORT GROUPS: ODD BUT SUCCESSFUL BOOK SIGNINGS By Kali VanBaale
  
  Building Block Book Marketing By Sharon Elaine
  
  "You Want Me to PAY You to Write?!" By Aline Lechaye
  
  Creating A Promotion Target List By Diane Crave
  
  
  
  Sometimes my quickest and best sales have resulted from simply reading a few issues of a publication and thinking, "They need an article about...." Then writing it. 
  
  
  Both of these women show that they support writers while also getting a bit of money from us, but their hearts are definitely in the right place. Writers Weekly newsletter is free. Funds for Writers offers a free and a paid newsletter. But even the 'paid subscription' is minimal. I recommend both sites for your reading pleasure and as a writing market. 
  
  
  Today, in all honesty, I will be rewriting that article I wrote about earlier in which I had such fun researching it. Apparently the editor at Suite 101 did not find it quite so fabulous and thinks it should be two separate articles, etc. etc. If anyone would care to read the article, Lawsuits Hover Around North Face Inc.,  and give me some feedback on it, I would be grateful.
  
  

North Face meets South Butt and I'm a happy writer

I had a blog all written. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow, but I have to tell you about my exciting morning. Yes, I'm working on yet another article for Suite 101 and it has been such fun!

I remember the enthusiasm in the newsroom when great breaking news came in. The kind of story you could work with. And then the motherlode -- two stories that you could put together into an even better story!

Today was a motherlode day! North Face Inc., retailer of adventure wear, shoes apparel and equipment for the climber and risk takers who like to hang off cliffs and dangle thousands of feet in the air. They've been around for 40 years and made a claim that the EPA could not tolerate. Shoes that killed bacteria. So EPA is suing North Face's parent company. You can read more about it in the article.

While surfing the EPA site and news sources for more information I came across an article stating that North Face is suing Jimmy Winkelmann for trademark infringement. Jimmy has a line of t-shirts with a 'South Butt' logo. I think North Face should win their suit, but who knows. Anyway, my excitement has nothing to do with any of these people and their suits, but out of the fun I just had mingling the two stories into one of my own: Law Suits Hover Around North Face Inc., which is available for your enjoyment at Suite 101.

Today the synchronicity was dancing all around me and I'm so pleased to be able to combine the two related but diverse stories. I love irony and humor and the unusual and when I can put them all into a staid old story about an EPA lawsuit -- its a happy day.

Writers who find a relationship for the unrelated, or find two sides of a story that turns it into something very different should put Butt in Chair and not stop writing until the article, story, essay is finished! They don't just fall in your lap. Sometimes it takes some searching. Knowing how to use keywords and which sites to cover help, but then again, sometimes it does just appear on the screen and you hear angels sing.

Today's Exercise: Search keywords, maybe a company name and see what comes together. Or pick a topic you know nothing about and learn something new today.

Writing when you’re stuck

Bob has been a voice of reason and inspiration on the Internet Writing Workshop for several years and has demonstrated with his writing success that he knows whereof he speaks. I welcome his guest blog and great advice. I hope you will, too. --Dawn

If you’re not a professional writer, then writing is one of those activities you wedge into your day when you can.

My friend Patty used to get up at 4 or 4:30 every morning to work on her novel until her husband and children got up. Then she would get herself ready for a full day’s work as a bank officer, come home to cook supper, then dash off to school committee meetings. Patty’s writing friends admired her, but we never wanted to emulate her.

Others keep saner schedules but set aside specific times for writing and perhaps specific quotas of words. Still others put writing on their to-do list or simply get to it when they can.

If you accomplish everything on your list, you have imposed a sense of order on your world (or your list is too short). Writing is usually one of the items on my list, but often it has no special priority and gets done after the daily errands or not at all.

Email is one of the great interrupters, followed by Twitter. I always marveled at the great advantage of email that we can write each other at any time, and we can read your messages at any time. But if that’s the case, why do I feel the compulsion to check for messages a hundred times a day? Maybe it’s a need for affirmation that there’s a cyber-someone who thinks I’m important.

Yesterday I decided to abandon Twitter and my 750 or so “followers.” It had seemed like a good venue to advertise my books, but in fact it’s a tsunami of trivia with little of value floating by. Simply checking out the invitations to follow others takes up time better spent writing.
This morning I determined to finish my monthly Southwest Senior column about Las Cruces writers before looking at my email once. While it wasn’t difficult, it did require a conscious decision on my part to disturb an ingrained habit. Now it’s finally done.

Now suddenly there is a vacuum in my schedule. It won’t last, of course. A jumble of jobs both worthy and unworthy of my time will try to fill the void, and eventually they will do just that. For now, though, my office is silent but for the hum of the hard drive. Even my neighbor’s dog isn’t barking—is she all right?

This should be the time when my fingers fly, pausing only occasionally to let the keyboard cool down. So why am I staring at the screen, waiting for the thoughts to come? Can it be that literary bête noir, writers’ block? Maybe I should stop for lunch and think about it.

That raises a question, though: What do you do when you’re stuck?

One trick that’s worked for me is to open a new file and write about the problem. In a draft of a novel I’d write a note to myself: This is the character and this is the situation, and now I don’t know what to do with him. He can’t just hang around, but has to earn his keep by advancing the story. Think about what the character wants and about possible roadblocks. Maybe your hero is having it too easy, in which case it’s high time for an unwelcome event. What if he wins the lottery? Think about the possibilities: he suddenly has too many friends or loses them all; he hosts a party where someone O.D.’s; he becomes a target for criminals. Meanwhile, all he ever wants is to retire and build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

In other words, if you get stuck that’s a good time to brainstorm. Ask yourself “What if?” and see where the answers take you. The event doesn’t have to be disastrous or even negative, but it should keep the story from moving in a straight line.
Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a knock at my door. I’ll be right back…

Bob Sanchez writes from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Visit his blog. Bob is the author of When Pigs Fly (an iUniverse Star book) and Getting Lucky, associate editor and webmaster of The Internet Review of Books, active in the El Paso Writers' League, Mesilla Valley Writers, and the Internet Writing Workshop.

Don't put off til tomorrow, what you can do today

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon--instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.-- Dale Carnegie

A few years ago I took a tour of an Old Florida theme park -- Cypress Gardens. It has fallen on hard times, closed, since I was there. But I remember growing up and thinking it was paradise and the one place I wanted to visit. I might have been influenced by my cousin who was a world traveler compared to me. She'd been there. She'd watched the ski show. She could even water ski. Me. I could read.

It only took me 40 years to get to Cypress Gardens. And it was just as magnificent as I had thought it would be -- more so. The banyan tree bigger (well, it had 40 years more of growth!) and the topiary garden pictured here absolutely magnificent. And I realized that Cypress Gardens wasn't just my dream destination. It was also someone's dream become reality.

Cypress Gardens began as Dick Pope's dream and became a premiere promotion for water skiing. "Founded in 1936 by Dick and Julie Pope, Cypress Gardens was a showcase for Central Florida and paved the way for other parks such as Disney and Universal to follow. Under his guidance, the beautiful botanical gardens became the backdrop for beautiful belles and peaceful boat rides, as well as many movies and thousands of advertising campaigns over the years. Familiar Starlets who have walked our paths include: Betty Davis, Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Esther Williams and Elvis to name just a few. Proclaimed the Water Ski Capitol of the World, Cypress Gardens became the birthplace of performance water skiing in 1941. " By the time I knew what it was in the 1960s, it was an internationally famous destination.

My little pea brain wouldn't know where to begin to create such a place, how to pull it together and make it work, market it, keep it open and welcoming and all the other things that such a venture requires. But then, that isn't true is it. I could write a fiction world. My own fiction dream of Cypress Gardens or whatever destination I can dream.

Then again, in fiction the facts must be there. I should be able to grasp the rudiments of running such a place. So fiction writers must be magnificent researchers. And we must make readers believe the fiction right along with the facts.

My point, a bit obscure I suppose, is that big ventures begin small. J.K. Rowling began with paper and pencil and a curiosity for magic and 'what if'. Mr. Pope started with a vision of a garden fronting onto a lake where his kids liked to swim and ski. He and his 'garden' influenced a cartoonist who eventually created Disney World. Even Dale Carnegie, quoted above, began simply with his belief and experiences. He shared them with others and generations later he's still an icon.

We can begin the same way these people and others have begun. But as another mover and shaker and genuinely nice guy who died too early said: "Whatever you want to do, do it now.There are only so many tomorrows." --Michael Landon

Today's Tip: Timed Writings get the creative juices flowing. Take 10 minutes, no make it 20, and just type. Don't craft, don't censor, just write whatever flows into your head, then sit back and relish the nuggets you mined from your own mind.

Fear -- what big bad wolf scares you?

Photo: From Alfred Hitchcock movie: Psycho.

Shower scene

Fear!

Fear is of the devil. --the Bible

We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. -- FDR

Helium offers 38 essays (short essays) on the topic. Each one gave me thoughts to explore. One played off of the "Who's afraid of the big, bad, wolf?" And went on to say 'the wolf I fear maybe different than the one you fear.'

Another spoke of fear of clowns. I've always been uncomfortable around clowns and for me at least it is indicative of my need to read people. I grew up in a house where reading people was a necessity. A false move could be detrimental to my well being. So I learned quite early to understand body and facial language. Not consciously, but it became as natural to me as verbal language -- and I've always been quite a talker.

But the clown in its baggy clothes and layers of makeup and wigs and gloves hides every clue to understanding the true language behind this fake facade. I feel vulnerable and fearful when unable to read a person's motives and movements.

Fear, according to the dictionary, is "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid." Or a fear or awe of God or anxiety....

So what do I fear about writing?

Fear of failure? Yes.

Fear of success? Yes.

Fear of finding out I have been kidding myself all of these years. So maybe fear of truth? Yes.

Fear that my love of writing will disappear. This thing I love will becomes work, become a chore. Yes.

Fear that my creativity will dry up or be superficial and that there is no next level for me to strive for. Yes.

Fear that it is too late. Yes.

So caught between fear of failure and fear of success, I seem to be stuck in the middle and we all know that purgatory can be described as limbo or for me -- mediocrity. How to move out of this quicksand that is sucking the life out of me?

One rather neurotic essay held a kernel of truth that seemed like a path out of my quagmire: "It wasn't until I started to meditate, and live in the present, did the fear go away." -- by Jaalah Dupont

I will try not to think about the consequences of my success or failure, these intangible consequences can disappear as quickly as a fog when the sun appears. I give them too much permanence, too much credence. So for now I will devote my all in the present moment and forget about everything else. I can only live one moment at a time and when it is gone, it is gone. Wasting time worrying about what could be is simply that -- a waste. So my new mantra:

". . . Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." --Matthew 6:34 or as I heard again and again that old cliche: "Don't bite off more than you can chew."

One day at a time.

No fear! NO FEAR!

Something I found inspiring: 50 to 1 I particularly loved the first line: "I remember wondering if my skin was burning." -- John Harahan. Ahhh the possibilities!

Just Have Fun!

Since leaving my lowly part-time page job at the library, I've sought to do a few things just for me. One was to take a fabric painting class through Quilt University.

The instructor, Lyric Kinard gave easy to follow instructions, so I quickly picked up on the techniques. Thankfully they are simple and more like child's play. And that's exactly what we did in the class -- play.

Several other things I learned from that class:

1. Use the right tools and materials. The class was relatively inexpensive; the tools and materials a bit more. Getting the recommended fabric paints, brushes, fabrics, etc. I learned a long time ago when decorating cakes as a cottage industry while my kids were young, having the right tools are essential. It was no different this time. And, to my surprise I could even use my cake decorating tools to make a flour resist. You'll see an example of it at my Subversive Stitcher site more than halfway down the right column. It works the same with any creative endeavor -- come armed with the right tools.

2. Get to know the tools and materials -- what they will do and what they won't. This is a step I often overlook. And it requires something I thought ended with childhood: play. Play with the tools. Use them up, buy some more and do it all again until you're comfortable with them and know all of the various ways to use them. For example I didn't realize that fabric paints work well when mixed with quite a bit of water, so those little containers can last quite a long way. I didn't know that the sun and wet painted fabric can work magic -- sun printing is the most fun! Leaves and wind chime decorations and even buttons and safety pins make wonderful designs. I didn't know that my food grater would make such wonderful textures for rubbings or my rolling pin....

3. Learn the rules that guide the use of those tools. Paints and brushes and fabrics and textures and moisture and color and even a bit of Newtonian law comes to play in fabric painting. Its important to understand what will definitely happen so it can be manipulated.

4. In play, there is only success -- no failures. Failures become experiences to learn from. Truly. Part of the class project is to make your own journal and include swatches of the fabric produced, what was done to produce it and whether it worked or didn't and why. An excellent reference tool.

5. Beauty can come out of ignorance, but more often out of choice. The first day was pure happenstance. The second day became 'what if.' The third day combined experience with what if and pleasing creations began to appear.

6. What we think we are creating can take unexpected (and rewarding) detours into something totally different. When manipulating the fabric and trying various ways to apply the colors to it, we were repeatedly surprised at results and depths and the way the colors ranged within one cloth. I'm sure the laws of the universe, if we had known them, would explain what we were seeing, yet there was the angel that turned out to look more like a happy monster and had everyone in the class chiming in with what they saw as if it were a Roschard Test.

I see how the lessons learned in this fabric painting class transfers readily to writing. The most important perhaps: Play. Give yourself permission to play and try new things and ask 'what if.' Timed writings are my play time when I take the censor's restraints off of my brain and fingers and give them free reign. Some of my best work came from a tiny nugget found within the pages of these free writings. Why don't I do it more often?

But for me there's the downside of enjoying my writing -- it feels like play --especially with fiction. Then my 'grown up' role models (the ones that reside in my mind) step forward and slather me with guilt. I really must learn to play again and get rid of those damn role models!

Perhaps the most unexpected epiphany of this class was a reminder of the return I get for investing in myself.

Gifts from the Sea

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book always gives me comfort, inspiration, or something to mull over. I found her book years ago when I had small children and needed to find balance and yes, some commiseration. I felt Anne's need to get away in the first words of her book and felt less guilty about my own escapist thoughts.

When she looks at a channeled whelk shell, she sees a home -- abandoned, rented by a hermit crab, and then abandoned again. It makes her ask "Did he hope to find a better home, a better mode of living?" and she compares this to her own situation. "I too have run away, I realize, I have shed the shell of my life, for these few weeks of vacation."

Everyone needs to get away. It doesn't always require elaborate plans. We have two bathrooms in our home. My husband and I share one, the other is for guests now that our children have grown and moved away. Recently we replaced faucets and I bought new towels and shower curtain, decorated with a container of sea shells and a couple knick knacks to remind us that we're in Florida. For most of the year it stands empty.

This weekend a restlessness overcame me. I didn't realize at the time, but I had a need to escape, to move out of my usual behavior patterns. I paced the house, searching for something, a place to go, a change. And the bathroom became just the location. Just enough difference. A fragrant soak in a bubble bath. Relaxing, enjoying the alone time, feeling pampered in a slight change of scenery. It filled a need that I didn't realize I had.

Anne moves on with her perusal of the shell and comments on its small perfection right down to the finest detail. And then she comments "My shell is not like this.... How untidy.... Blurred with moss, knobby with barnacles, its shape is hardly recognizable any more. Surely, it had a shape once. It has a shape still in my mind. What is the shape of my life?"

Good question.

I too often feel like I'm living the wrong life. Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years. I have a feeling that I've been following his lead. My favorite author, Diana Gabaldon, tells why she wrote that first novel: Outlander. She wanted to see if she could write a novel. And, if she was going to try to write a novel, she would give it her best effort, write it to the best of her abilities.

It seems to me, while I am wandering, trying to figure out what life I should be living, I can focus on doing one thing at a time and doing it to the best of my abilities. It isn't a bad way to spend a life, even the wrong one.

Stop Looking at your butt and see the future....

Author Anne Lamott has a way of putting things into perspective with an earthy, resounding turn of phrase that hits readers between the eyes. Her column in Salon magazine as well as her list of successful books leave me breathless with the energy and emotion that her writing exudes.

Her book about writing "Bird by Bird" gave me permission to write a 'shitty' first draft. Her book "Traveling Mercies" left me sobbing and speechless and so much more human. And in a recent interview for her latest book "Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith" she commented:

In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."

Anne is the only author, hers are the only books, that are classified as 'Christian' and are sprinkled somewhat liberally with four letter words, anger, dislike, self-dissolusionment and pure honesty.

But back to her butt comment. Time has been bothering me. I can't believe 2007 has finally ended -- a tough year for many of us. But more astonishing, January has come and gone. I still have no plans for the rest of the year. I haven't scouted out a writing workshop to attend, I haven't planned any travel so I can write about it, no weekend getaways. And most important, no plan on how to get this novel of mine written before this time next year.

My life stretches forward defined by what hours I work at my part-time job. It seems like there should be more to my life than that. A few deadlines for writing projects are sprinkled in, too few. And nothing at all in my weekly planner about the novel or goals. Part of me is afraid to set goals or a writing schedule because that just means I will fail and have the paper to prove it.

Visualization seems a reasonable alternative. I've tried seeing myself as a successful writer -- maybe I need to see myself as a 'working' writer. One with butt in chair (it doesn't matter the size of the butt or the chair) and writing, writing, writing. Maybe that's my downfall. I keep dreaming about the results of my work, but not the process. As Coach Lee (whoever that is) says, "The journey is just as important as the destination. Take time to enjoy the process."

Well, now how do I do that without laying out a work schedule? How do I do that without setting myself up to fail? And is it just possible that I am not a writer? That it is not the goal of my life that I should be pursuing? If not, then what? These are rather frightening questions at this stage of my life, is it time to follow another path on my life journey?

Maybe it is time to dust off my copy of "Bird by Bird" and see what Anne has to say.

Book Review: The Pirate's Daughter

Due to a contract that I couldn't bring myself to sign and a market that would not alter the contract wording to a kinder-gentler, less in your face, buy-all attitude, this review never saw the light of day.

Today I saw several reviews of Pirate's Daughter at Amazon and other online venues and think that this offers a bit more detail and information than those, so I'm posting it here. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it has stayed with me, so maybe that makes it better than I first thought.

I'm a sucker for titles that have the word 'daughter' in the title. And there seem to be a lot of them. I also stop to peruse books with 'wife' in the title and have several to be read. Too often the title is the best part of the book.

Another aspect that draws me to this book is Errol Flynn -- my husband is named after this swashbuckler -- but turned out to be a much better man than Errol Flynn, based upon Flynn's biographical information and my 35 years of marriage -- I could be a bit biased on this point.

FICTION
The Pirate’s Daughter
Margaret Cezair-Thompson
Unbridled Books, Denver, CO
392 Pages
Hardcover, $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-952961409

Two generations of women lose their innocence, face violence, rejection, and betrayals, while finding love and friendship in this coming-of-age story that reflects Jamaica’s own bid for independence. The family lineage follows Jamaica’s history from the Maroons, escaped slaves who set up communities in the mountains; to an influx of expatriates, British rule, and wealthy celebrities seeking a playground; to a discovery of balance and harmony and new birth.

The prologue, best understood after reading the book, introduces readers to May, a 26-year old young woman whose name reflects her questions – when May I, where May I, with whom May I find a place where I belong? Her I-centric mother, beautiful Ida, serves as the lynch pin on which this novel revolves. Men enter and leave the mother and daughter’s lives. Each character is allowed to be human, with flaws, strengths and mistakes to correct.

Ida, a child blossoming into womanhood and adored by her Syrian father and Maroon/Chinese mother, falls for the charming and aging Errol Flynn. The American swashbuckling movie star in real life did run aground during a storm in 1946, fall in love with Jamaica and build a home on a nearby island – a kind of Jamaican Tara. There the facts end, and fiction proceeds.

Ida gives birth to their daughter, May. Flynn flees and Ida heads to America to find work and a way to support her child. She leaves May behind to dream of pirates, hidden treasure and her movie star father. While at the mercy of caretakers who by turns ignore and abuse her, May endures the taunts of Jamaican peers “White witch! You white like duppy [ghost]!” Only her childhood friend and playmate, Derek, stands by and protects her, showing up when needed most.

Lies, drugs, and a violent tug-of-war for control of Jamaica’s government destroy the paradise. Each generation of women gains strength as the country also finds the power to rebuild. Ida and May share many of the same attributes as Scarlett O’Hara of the classic “Gone With The Wind” as they fight for home and family and men they love, but shouldn’t.

Cezair-Thompson, who teaches literature and creative writing at Wellesley College, weaves pirates and hidden treasure throughout the novel, adding another exotic element to an already rich setting. This, the author’s second novel, is told in a quiet, simple style, and sprinkled with Jamaican speech, beliefs, and details that the author learned during her childhood in Jamaica. It follows her first novel “The True History of Paradise,” a finalist for the Dublin International IMPAC Award.

The intertwining of Jamaica history and the characters’ lives elevates this novel from simply entertaining to truly memorable.###

(October 2006) Dawn Goldsmith

Where's Your Bookmark?

It's a frequently asked question on the DorothyL list. "Where's Your Bookmark?" This group brought together by mystery -- writing that is. Booklovers, authors, readers, reviewers, we all like to talk books, primarily mystery books. Seems like in most books, there is an element of mystery, even in the badly written ones -- the mystery there is how did they ever get published? It is a great place to chat with your favorite mystery authors, too.

The latest mystery I read was by Judy Clemens "The Day Will Come" and the review, if you're interested, is in the November issues of Mystery Scene Magazine. I've also read a few non-mystery genres. A nonfiction that's been out for a few years written by Erik Larson: "The Devil in the White City."

And in the spirit of working toward writing and publishing my own novel, I am reading everything I can get my hands on about the Gilded Age, thinking that might make a great time to set a book that I could actually write. I'm no Diana Gabaldon, though. Where she can find pages and pages of information to impart, I can only eek out a couple of sentences, so I need to fill my reservoir of facts while putting pen to paper.

Not surprising perhaps, my bookmark is back in "The Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. The fact that I am rereading a book, especially rereading it within the same year, within six months of having read it the first time, is extraordinary. There are so many books and so little time that rereading something just seems sacrilegious.

But I am so drawn to her characters, setting, storytelling. I began reading with the intent to study her methods, figure out her style, hunt down the clues that make her writing so addictive, I mean, delightful. I'm a writer hoping, praying, wishing and actually working toward publishing my own novel, so I thought it wise to study an author whose work makes me green with envy. I mean whose work I respect.

Wikipedia says this about Gabaldon: Diana Jean Gabaldon Watkins (b. January 11, 1952 in Arizona) is an American author of Mexican-American and English ancestry. Diana Gabaldon is her maiden name, and the one she uses professionally. Her books are difficult to classify by genre, since they contain elements of romantic fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction (in the form of time travel). Her books have so far been sold in 23 countries, and translated into 19 languages besides English.

Yep, that's who I want to be when I grow up!

I managed to get through the first sentence of "Outlander" with an eye toward technique. "Good hook," I mumbled. She set up the coming pages, the coming chapters with one sentence: "It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance."

Rereading it here, I see that it could be leaner, tighter, more active. Maybe "Looking around, who would have believed this a good place to disappear?" Begin with a question that she will answer. But, that first sentence is about all I remember as far as style or technique or how she fills those pages. Instead, I stepped through the pages and did a little time travel of my own right into the midst of her book. She brought me there at the speed of thought.

How does she do that?