Writer's Roost Backroom Chatter

Book Review: Harvard Yard

2011-12-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

Part of his Peter Fallon series, Willian Martin has crafted a fascinating novel that follows a Boston family with a secret through many generations.

In 1604, Robert Harvard turns to his friend Will Shakespeare, needing advice on just the right words to express his love for Katherine Rogers. Shakespeare conjures up a few phrases, such as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Two years later, Will Shakespeare gives the couple a gift for their new son, John: a handwritten play named Love’s Labors Won, a companion to another play, Love’s Labors Lost. In 1625, when the plague is about to take Robert’s life, he tells his son “a man is known by his books”, and extracts a promise that John will cherish all of Robert’s books, especially Love’s Labors Lost.

Twelve years later, John Harvard arrives in Puritan Boston, bringing with him his father’s books. Thus begins a story of the founding of Harvard College and a missing Shakespeare play that spans 400 years, told through the lives of the fictional Wedge family of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1638, John Harvard dies at 30 without an heir and wills his trunks of books to a student he had sponsored at the new college, Issac Wedge, and also gives an £800 donation to the college itself. When cataloging the books, Isaac discovers the play and decides it must be hidden from the Puritans, who believe plays are evil.

In the present day, antiquarian book dealer Peter Fallon is on the trail of the possible lost play. But, he soon finds others will kill to possess it. As Fallon discovers each new clue to its location, the scene changes to the past - and another Wedge descendant - where the origin of that clue is revealed.

Harvard Yard is a long read (600 pages or so), but well worth it if you like historical novels.

PNWA Author Panel: Poisoned Pen Press

2011-10-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

Last month, I attended the September member meeting of the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association. The program consisted of a five-person panel of authors who have published books with Poisoned Pen Press of Scottsdale, AZ, which is an independent publisher of various mystery genres. According to the panelists, the editors are Barbara Peters and Annette Rogers. Unlike the big New York publishers, they take unagented submissions. They accept works between 60,000 and 90,000 words.

The panelists raved about how the editors spent a lot of time with them to get their book just right. In general, they recommend that authors start out querying small, independent presses because the author has a good chance of receiving good feedback on their work, even if rejected. Like any other publisher or agent, 99% of submissions will be rejected; they receive a lot of poorly-written submissions.

Poisoned Pen’s advances aren’t large: about $1000. But, there isn’t a lot of deadline pressure, and they won’t necessarily drop you as an author because of poor sales. After your book’s first print run, they utilize Print On Demand for subsequent orders, and distribute through Ingram Publisher Services. This means your book never goes out of print. From day one, your book is published in hardcover, trade paperback, audiobook, and large print.

On the subject of marketing your book, the panelists emphasized the importance of sending out advance, pre-publication review copies to the big industry reviewers, such as Library Journal or Booklist. Poisoned Pen will send out the review copies. Once the book is published, these reviewers will not look at the book. They only review advance copies. Unfortunately, most newspspers no longer review books. Ones that do: LA Times, Seattle Times, Washington Post.

Also attending the meeting was a man (I didn’t get his name) from New Libri Press, a small publisher in Mercer island, WA.

Book Review: Operation Mincemeat

2011-09-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

The subtitle of this non-fiction book draws you right in: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory. Author Ben MacIntyre doesn’t disappoint in this true tale of British intelligence operatives who came up with an ingenious scheme to deceive the Nazis.

The year is 1943. The Allies have defeated the Nazi army in North Africa and are planning their next strike at the Axis: the invasion of Italy. If successful, they hope to knock Italy out of the war and secure Allied naval dominance of the Mediterranean. But the key to victory in Italy first requires the conquest of the island of Sicily, so that its large contingent of German and Italian troops and planes aren’t left in the Allies’ rear during the campaign. An attack on Sicily was obvious. Everyone knew it, including the Germans, who were expected to massivly fortify it in advance, making its invasion a costly, bloody affair.

Enter a couple of screwball-thinking intelligence officers in London: Ewen Montague and Charles Cholmondeley. They came up with an audacious and risky plan to make the Germans think the Allied attack would occur in Sardinia and Greece: dress up a corpse as a high-ranking military officer, plant fake invasion documents on it, drop it in the sea, and let it float into enemy hands. Operation Mincemeat was born.

MacIntyre’s book is filled with wry humor and short biographies of the numerous characters involved as he describes in amazing detail the operation’s inception, planning, execution and aftermath. He tells of the trouble finding and preserving a suitable corpse whose body won’t be missed; the planning for how to drop a corpse at sea so that it will drift to just the right target area (in Spain) where it is sure to be noticed by Germans (but not be too obvious); and the anxiety whether the Germans will buy the ruse and reposition their forces.

Once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down, finishing in just a couple of days. The research to uncover all the details seems to be exhaustive. The history is fascinating, and the characters colorful and believable. It even mentions the participation of a British intelligence officer named Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.

Even though Operation Mincemeat is non-fiction, it reads like a spy thriller and is definitely worth the read.

Point Of View Versus Perspective

2011-08-31T17:03:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

While reading some articles on the craft of writing, I noticed the terms Point Of View and Perspective used interchangeably, while other times they had distinct meanings. So, which is it?

Two concepts are at play here:

1.How does the narrator tell the story?
2.Which character (if any) tells the story in a particular scene?

I’ve usually considered #2 above as point of view (POV), but I’m not sure that is right. Sources I read online indicate #1 is actually POV, called narrative point of view or viewpoint by Wikipedia. This definition of POV means essentially the choice of a first, second, or third person narrator. Within a novel, the viewpoint usually stays consistent, but in rare cases an author may switch from one to the other between different chapters.

For #2 above, Wikipedia discusses narrative voice, which may be the same idea as perspective. This deals with whether or not the narrator of a particular scene is a specific character, knowing only what that character sees, hears, feels, and thinks (person-limited). Alternatively, the narrator may know everything about every character (omnicient), or tell the story only by observing from a distance, knowing nothing of characters’ thoughts (objective). Of course, there are variations of these types of narrative voices, such as a storytelling narrator who sticks to one character’s perspective in each scene, but is not that character himself.

For example, if Joe is a person-limited narrator, then the sentence

Joe didn't see the bus bearing down on him

violates Joe’s perspective: he can’t describe something he doesn’t see yet. But, an omnicient or objective narrator can tell this to the reader.

So, I have to ask myself if it makes sense to change my own usage of the the term POV, and whether to preach the difference at fellow writers who may not wish to be lectured. Does it really matter that much as long as the idea gets across?

Book Review: Strange Cargo

2011-08-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

A few years ago, I read Jeffrey Barlough’s House In the High Wood, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Recently, I read his novel Strange Cargo (third in his Western Lights series). It’s a great book, but not quite as good as the former.

Strange Cargo takes place in a frigid alternate Victorian-like world that in the past was rocked by the “great sundering” - a cataclysmic event that leaves mankind clinging to the mild coastal edges of an English-like civilization. The reader is introduced to three main storylines that crisscross one another as the novel goes on.

First, there is the Cargo family, from the town of Cargo, who learn from an attorney, Mr. Liffey, that they are to inherit the estate of Joseph Cargo, the grandfather of the clan. But, not all of the estate; some of it is left to an unknown Mr. Squailes of the town of Nantle. Mrs. Cargo is especially appalled at the Squailes bequest. So, they all book ship passage to Nantle to find and interrogate the “interloper Squailes.” The Cargos don’t know that Mr. Liffey is often haunted by some kind of sinister presence whenever he is alone.

Next is Miss Wastefield, who is plagued by a locked trunk that murmurs strange things to her. She cannot throw it away, because it always comes back. She travels to Nantle with her little monkey Juga after hearing from a Mr. Thistlewood who claims he can help with the trunk.

And then there is Mr. Threadneedle of Smithy Bank who, after buying some strange stones from a trader, discovers they have the power to levitate objects. So, along with his young helper Tim Christmas, he constructs a contraption within his carriage house that allows the building to fly like an airship. During test flights in the fog, a few people around Nantle spot the flying house, but aren’t believed when they report it.

As the three stories are told, the main characters cross paths with each other and numerous other cast members in and around Nantle, including a Mr. Lanthorne who seems to vanish and reappear at will; monsters called Triametes who eat humans; rooming house owner Mrs. Matchless and her other guests, and several lovable street hooligans.

Strange Cargo’s prose has a distinct old English quality that is captivating, but a bit hard to read when it reverts to the dialect of the lower classes. I found the Miss Wastefield storyline particularly unsatisfying in its resolution because it has a damsel-in-distress theme where she isn’t really saved by the hero. She does discover how the sundering occurred, but never tells anyone else (except the reader). The sundered alternate world created by the author is fascinating. His characters have an innocence and charm about them that is appealing. Strange Cargo is a definite recommended read.

It's Real Life, For Once - Part II

2011-07-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

In my June 3rd posting on this subject, I mentioned that my writing is far removed from real life. Mobsters, spies, con-men, Pinkerton detectives, extortionists ... not me, no way. But then, once in awhile, real life - even mine - provides material for a story.

This spring, an envelope from 49 years ago came into my hands. It was unopened, addressed in a kindergartener's scraggly handwriting - my own. What could be inside? Why was it never opened? I wrote a story about it that speculated on its journey. When I read it to my Thursday critique group, the response was so positive that I polished it up and submitted it to a local senior newspaper: Northwest Prime Time. Within hours I received a "Yes" - they'd like to print it, assuming the month's layout will allow it. If it makes the issue, it'll be my second non-fiction item published.

That's non-fiction 2, fiction 0. Hmmm ... not a lot of progress for a determined fiction writer.

Anyway, what was in the envelope? Ahhh ... stay tuned for the story's publication announcement.

Uhhh ... Where Are We?

2011-07-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

One of the things I often see when editing or critiquing a manuscript is that the author launches into a new scene or chapter without setting the scene. Instead, we’re subjected to paragraphs of dialog or narration about what the characters are doing. It’s like the characters are floating in a black void, detached from time and place. The reader will manufacture his own mental image of the scene, immerse himself in it, and then is later jarred out of the story when the author finally gives a hint of where or when the action is taking place.

What does it mean to set the scene? At the minimum, the reader should learn exactly where the characters are, and when the action takes place at the point the scene has changed. If a chapter ends with Suzie hanging on the 33rd floor ledge by her fingernails, and the next chapter starts with Suzie still hanging on, then little scene-setting is necessary. Mentioning Suzie and the crumbling ledge is sufficient. But, if the next chapter has Rex sipping a latte and scanning the newspaper’s obituary columns, the reader will be confused if Rex starts chatting with someone or the narrator discusses Rex’s angst over his business dealings. How much time has passed since Suzie’s unfortunate predicament? Is Rex walking along the sidewalk 33 floors directly below Suzie? Or is he about to turn the corner and stumble across her splattered corpse? Is he walking at all? Or is it days later and he’s reading her obit sitting in a cafe? The time and place set the reader’s anticipation of what may happen next.

Beyond the minimum scene-setting (“Rex walked along the sidewalk sipping his latte”), the author can provide richer detail of the scene. As Rex walks along the sidewalk, what does he pass by? Small storefronts nestled together in an ancient brick building, with smells of roasting chicken, garbage, cigars, bus exhaust? Do cars roar by? Does the wind kick up scraps of paper? Rain falls like a fine mist? Is he cold because he left his overcoat at the office? Are scary-looking homeless guys loitering about? As far as setting the timeframe, the narrator can give a hint that it is night (“the glare of a passing Taxi’s headlights”), and the reader knows Suzie’s trouble was at noon. Surely, Suzie is no longer hanging on. Or, Rex hears a streetside clock strike noon.

In my opinion, the scene-setting should begin within the first paragraph of the new scene. More can be added as the scene goes on, but the longer the author waits to set it up, the more the reader constructs his own time and place - maybe incorrectly. That can lead to confusion or frustration later, and diminished reader enjoyment of your story.

Move the Story Forward

2011-06-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

Keep the reader turning the page. I always try to keep that in mind when I write a short story or a chapter in a novel. In a critique group recently, I was reminded of that when one of my group-mates observed that my chapter ended by wrapping up a mystery, but didn’t provide any teaser to propel the reader on to the next chapter where, presumably, things will begin to unravel (not for the author, of course, but for the characters).

“Why should I turn the page?” she asked.

Ouch! She was right. Mystery and conflict remain for the reader to discover, but I failed to show that. When I read or hear stories from other aspiring writers in my little world, I often think the same thing. Here are some common deficiencies:

Description - The story is crammed with flowing, minute descriptions of people, their movements, things, the weather, sounds. Description is great if it is done right, if it sparks your mind’s eye (see my blog posting Descriptive Dalliances). But, is the story lost in all the picture-painting? After 10 pages of prose, will the reader say, “All those words just to pick up the bloody knife in his hand?”
Pleasantness - The story’s characters go on and on in pleasant conversation about what they plan to do later or what they just finished doing or what they wish they could do. At the end of the chapter, they might walk out the door to actually go do something. But, the chapter is stuck in neutral up to that point. Maybe somebody should cry, or yell, or argue, or faint along the way. Hints about coming trouble can trickle out. Dinner can burn and fill the house with smoke. Aunt Agatha can reveal something shocking. These incidents can be used to set up future tension, or flesh out the characters’ relationships, and to cause the reader to wonder what it portends in coming pages.
Fizzled ending - The chapter comes to an end, but it feels like nothing interesting will happen next. A couple sits on the picnic blanket gazing out over the lake holding hands. Okay ... so? What if instead, they hear a strange rattling sound, but dismiss it? The reader might think, “Oooh. A rattlesnake?” This is basically the art of the cliffhanger - adding it at the end of each chapter or scene to spur the reader to stay tuned.

Preaching - One of the biggest turn-offs in a novel is when the author fills the pages with some agenda they feel strongly about: religion, environment, politics, conspiracies. These subjects don’t need to be eliminated altogether, just included in a subtle way that doesn’t overwhelm the story or bore the reader.
Blandness - This may seem obvious, but it happens a lot for aspiring writers. Characters engage in mundane dialog, or speak in ways that aren’t realistic. The narrator tells us facts and figures that may be nice for a scholarly article, but don’t hold interest in a novel where the reader wants action or romance or humor. Or, the pages may be filled with continuous dialog with no scene-setting, gestures, pauses, description, or narration.

You can probably think of several more substandard writing aspects than this. The bottom line is: will the reader feel compelled to turn page after page? If so, then you’ve done something right.

Book Review: Bel Canto

2011-06-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Ann Patchett's award-winning novel Bel Canto takes place in a Latin American nation, where attendees at a birthday party in the Vice President's mansion find themselves taken hostage by a rebel force. The rebels plan to kidnap the President. But he canceled his attendance at the last minute to stay home and watch his favorite TV soap opera. The rebels aren't sure what to do, so they hold onto the most prominent men and the one woman at the party who matters: opera singer Roxane Coss, who was the party's entertainment. Weeks go by. Negotiations are stalled. The rebels' strict regimen toward the hostages slackens, and life inside the mansion becomes a small, insular world of its own as hostages and some of the younger rebels bond. Roxane Coss, deciding she must sing to keep her voice strong, practices her opera daily - delighting rebels and hostages alike. Life outside the compound is nearly forgotten. The standoff will never end, they think, so this is all there is.

The entire story takes place in the mansion. As the story goes on, we see numerous characters contribute their own skills to the smooth operation of their new world. A pianist. A cook. A translator. The Vice President, who essentially becomes the housekeeper. Many of the young rebels, who have lived only in the backwoods, learn about society and luxury they've never imagined before, such as watching TV for the first time. One character, a multilingual Japanese translator named Gen, falls in love with Carmen, one of the young rebels.

Patchett does a masterful job of developing each character without dumping loads of backstory on the reader. The reader feels sympathy for a General with the disease shingles, which causes an ugly, painful rash on his face. Or Cesar, who learns he can sing opera beautifully. Or Carmen, who helps Roxane Coss arrange an amorous tryst with a Japanese businessman. The reader begins to live vicariously in the little false world of the hostages, which is bound to come to a tragic end.

Patchett's language is lyrical, the descriptions rich and humorous at times. She does not stick to any one character's point-of-view, but rather lets it flow from one person to the next, paragraph by paragraph - and makes it work.

If you long for a novel that explores complex situational character relationships, Bel Canto is worth your time.

It’s Real Life, For Once

2011-06-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

I just sent off a short story for Writers Digest’s “Your Story” Contest #34. The rules specified to start off with the line of dialog, “You won’t believe what came in the mail today.”

My novels and short stories are based upon anything but my real life. After all, I usually don’t shoot at people, or steal wartime secrets, or blackmail my parrot’s previous owner, or time warp back to 1889 to chase down an arsonist, or wear clown makeup to bed. Although, come to think of it, the clown makeup sounds intriguing.

But, for the Your Story contest, the opening line immediately brought to mind my elderly aunt who passed away a few years ago. The postman’s arrival seemed the big highlight of her day, judging by the attention she gave to all the junk mail that poured in. Scams and gimmickry abounded in nearly every envelope - all clearly aimed at taking advantage of the elderly, who are often all too susceptible to emotional pleas. Added to that, her world was rocked when mail delivery was changed to 5:00 pm. Horror of horrors. What would she have to talk about if not the mail? What would she do with herself all day? The change to her routine drove her to distraction until, mercifully, the postal service moved her delivery back to late morning.

So, my beloved aunt provided the exact subject matter I needed for my short story. The precious pieces of mail, the scams she fell prey to, the junk she ordered, the altered delivery time. No guns or clowns or parrots or arson. Just real life put down on digital paper with a bit of author’s poetic license to weave it all together. Whodda thunk?

Literary Contest Update

2011-05-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've just updated my author website with the latest fiction contests I have researched for the rest of May 2011 and into June and July. Check back often to see any additions.

Book Review: Monkeewrench

2011-05-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Monkeewrench is a Minneapolis software company developing a macabre game: Serial Killer Detective. When real life corpses begin to appear exactly as depicted in the game's gruesome scenarios, Detective Leo Magozzi suspects one of Monkeewrench's five employees, who all carry guns and a puzzling past: they don't seem to have one.

At the same time, over in Kingsford County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Michael Halloran struggles to solve the murder of a couple whose bodies are found in the pews of the local Catholic Church. When he and a deputy go to search their house, a rigged shotgun on the back door kills the deputy. The dead couple aren't who they seem, either.

Author P. J. Tracy (i.e. mother and daughter writing duo Patricia and Traci Lambrecht), swap back and forth between these two unconnected murder storylines until they cleverly come together when Magozzi and Halloran both follow the clues to a Catholic School in New York. The Mother Superior there casually comments to Halloran's deputy that "in all the years she's been at the school they have never once gotten a call from a law enforcement agency before, and wasn't it peculiar that this morning she had two." The two cases spiral together after that.

The novel's characters display distinct attributes and attitudes. The detectives are suitably jaded, and the Monkeewrench people are dubious of anything the police might do. The author keeps you guessing as to the culprit, leading you down multiple paths of suspicion, creeping inexorably to the big climax. Along the way, the ride-along with Magozzi and Halloran is enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the ending breaks a cardinal rule (in my opinion) of a whodunit mystery: the murderer is a minor character who is hardly seen onstage throughout the novel. Thus, the ending feels too contrived, like a Perry Mason episode where the little-seen gardener suddenly confesses on the witness stand, having some heretofore-unknown motive. Regardless, Monkeewrench is well written; a great read and worth the time you spend with it.

Self-Publishing Workshop Post Mortem

2011-05-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Recently, I attended a self-publishing workshop at a local bookstore. The presenters were Bob Lanphear, a book designer, and Lorrie Harrison, an editing and publishing consultant.

Editing Process

Lorrie began by discussing the editing process your book should go through before self-publishing. 1) Self-proofreading to create a clean manuscript, 2) Peer review (critique) to make sure the story is viable, 3) Professional line editing.

She stressed that writers need to belong to a “tribe” of other writers and supporters, rather than write in isolation. One online proofreading tool that was mentioned is ErrNET, which is purported to take as input your PDF-format manuscript and will spit out errors it finds.

Layout and Graphic Design

Bob discussed the options for self-publishing. You can use Internet print-on-demand (POD) options, such as Amazon’s Create Space or Lulu. You can try do-it-yourself layout and design with software such as Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher, or GIMP. There are self-publishing companies that print as many copies as you want to pay for with little editorial input. Or, you can partner with a local creative team (which is what Bob and Lorrie are).

A number of time-consuming steps are taken during the self-publishing timeline: assembling graphic input, cover design, interior page design, page layout, proofing and prep for printing, actual print production, development of an eBook, and book promotion.

A book cover isn’t about what the author likes, but what will attract the audience. He often has to challenge the author’s preconceptions about design and recommends he/she browse the bookstores to see the designs of similar works. People do judge by the cover. And, depending on the type of book, the page design can influence the reader’s experience and appeal to emotions. Good cover art can carry over to other promotional materials, such as the book’s web site, posters, blurbs, bookmarks, audio CD.

He listed a number of reasons why a book can fail:

The book is unnecessary, already been done.
Bad cover design.
A lame title.
No professional editing/proofreading.
Thinking too small—not trying for large sales, give away too few review copies.
Old fashioned promotion.
Trying to do it all yourself rather than hire interns or professionals.

Marketing/Promotion

Lorrie talked about marketing your book. Ninety percent of a book’s success is author promotion. Two key things you must know before selling your book: 1) Why am I writing this book? 2) Who is my audience?

If you plan to use self-publishing to snag a traditional publisher, they will evaluate your book’s velocity—how many copies sold in 2 or 3 months. So, be prepared to create demand as soon as your book is published.

If your dream is to have your book on the shelf in Barnes and Noble or Borders, you will be working through a distributor. You will get paid when the distributor sells copies of your book to the retailer. But, any unsold copies can be returned after 12 months, and you have to return any money received for them.

Lorrie shared ideas for better ways to market the book:

Your website should allow purchases. This way, you keep 100% of the profit. Make sure to buy the Internet domain name for your book’s title. A web site also establishes your brand as an author.
Look at traditional, non-book retail catalogs who might be willing to carry your book (such as clothing retailers for a book about fashion). Knowing your audience helps identify these retailers.
Contact independent bookstore managers to arrange readings, signings and to provide promotional materials like flyers.
Give away lots of free copies, such as leaving in waiting rooms (doctor, dentist), or where people congregate. Same for promotional items like customized bookmarks.
Make sure your marketing plan is organized in advance, before the book hits the streets.

Some books about marketing and promotion Lorrie recommends:

“Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book” - Poynter.
“1001 Ways to Market Your Books” - Kremer.
“Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses” - Ross.
“Guerrilla Marketing for Writers : 100 Weapons to Help You Sell Your Work” - Levinson, Frishman, Larsen.

Spark Your Imagination With Writing Prompts

2011-04-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

Short stories, as with all fiction, require inspiration. Sometimes, real life can supply all you need. Scenes from movies or books can spark ideas. Or, you may have a fertile, twisted imagination.
For me, I’ve found that writing prompts are a great starting point. A writing prompt is a one or two sentence scenario from which a writer can construct a scene. Some are purely exercises, such as describing some object in your bedroom. Others place a character in a frightening or offbeat situation.

Here is one interesting prompt:

You have been captured by cannibals. How do you try to convince them not to eat you? If that fails how do you attempt to get away?

Here is one that is more of an exercise:

Write a scene where shadows or lighting create a mood.

Two writing prompts that particularly intrigued me turned into great short stories that received laughs and even applause at a writers workshop I regularly attend. I maintain a text file on my computer system to save interesting prompts as I come across them. I also jot down my own ideas, some of which are bare-bones notations, like:

An overgrown cemetery.

Or ...

A pet snake gets loose.

These are little things that flash into my mind or appear in a movie, and seem at the moment to have potential.

An excellent site to find writing prompts is Writer’s Digest. They add to them regularly and keep a long list of the older ones. So, if your imagination needs a jump start, take a look at it, or use your favorite search engine to find other writing prompts online.

Descriptive Dalliances

2011-04-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2011, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

My recent foray into short story writing has included an effort to construct eye-catching or offbeat descriptions of things. When I see that in other authors' work, the image they paint jumps right off the page and fully materializes in my mind.

Here are some descriptions I've read that caught my eye. They go beyond the obvious and mundane, or say a lot with little:

At the open neck of her white shirt, which revealed hundreds of freckles, Coy caught the gleam of a silver chain. - The Nautical Chart by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
Big John Masters was large, fat, oily. He had sleek blue jowls and very thick fingers on which the knuckles were dimples. - Spanish Blood by Raymond Chandler.
Back and forth in front of them, strutting, trucking, preening herself like a magpie, arching her arms and her eyebrows, bending her fingers back until the carmine nails almost touched her arms, a metallic blonde swayed and went to town on the music. - The King in Yellow by Raymond Chandler.
A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with complete isolation the figure of the host, who stood on the porch, his hand held up in a formal gesture of farewell. - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Sophie Winslow and her flamingo-pink lips stood between him and the restroom. - Border Songs by Jim Lynch.
The floor between them was mined with Subway wrappers, Burger King sacks, and Pizza Hut boxes, the coffee table an avalanche of grease-stained magazines and unopened mail. - Border Songs by Jim Lynch.

Here are a few of my own descriptive lines I've written recently:

Blanden's greasy black hair and skinny moustache looked uncomfortably like a certain German Führer from the past.
The nearest working streetlamp - more than a block away - stood as a lonely sentinel, winking on and off at random intervals.
Knee-high weeds gawked at him on both sides of the walkway, a ragtag lineup of lookie-loos anxious to see what would happen next.
Dull gray wings hugged rows of ribbed white feathers along his underbelly. Round white patches ringed his beady, push-button eyes.
A piss-colored circus-tent housedress bulged over her ample frame, its pattern of delicate blue flowers mingling with spatters of crimson pizza sauce.
Across the room, a huge hi-def TV hung on the wall with two potted fichus trees standing guard on either side. On screen, the Home and Garden channel flaunted images of ritzy beach condominiums.

One of the great benefits of participating in a critique group is to put such descriptions to the test. Do they evoke appreciative comments from the other writers? Or, do they miss the mark and serve only as distractions? Are they noticed at all? Either way, it can be fun to conjure up odd ways to describe ordinary things so they seem not so ordinary after all.

Book Review: The Treasure of Israel

2011-03-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Where do I begin with S. J. Munson's novel, The Treasure of Israel? From the first pages, the words sloppy, amateurish came to mind. The formatting is jarring, almost as if the author's rough manuscript was dumped into a book-espresso machine and vomited out as-is. Blank lines separate paragraphs. Scene breaks are marked (or is it marred?) by multiple blank lines and gaggles of asterisks. The use of dashes is seriously inconsistent (some long, some short). Was no editing done by the publisher, Revival Nation Publishing of Ontario? Well, considering their web site is defunct, it's hard to tell the quality of their products. One profile of them indicates they dedicate profits to Christian ministry work -- a laudable goal, but no excuse for a sloppy end product. Maybe it is strictly vanity publishing.

To say the novel's characters are thin is an insult to all thin characters ever created. To quote Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) from the movie Midway when discussing Objective A-F: "Thin? Damn near invisible!" The main character is Michael Grammaticus, not to be confused with his father from the opening chapter, Michael Grammaticus. The storyline has a poor man's Da Vinci Code feel to it, where a secret left behind by the deceased Michael Sr. propels Michael Jr. into danger and intrigue following clues among Rome's ancient churches. And we have, of course, the obligatory accidental female sidekick babe who latches on for the ride. The dialog among the characters usually consists of pointless arguments and dribbling banter that pretends to be clever but fails miserably.

The only interesting part for me were the flashbacks that detailed the history behind the treasures of the ancient temple of Israel. If those portions are true, then it represents a significant body of research. But, who knows how much is just made up?

Dive into a good Clive Cussler novel instead. The Treasure of Israel is definitly a book to skip.

Book Review: Summer's Lease

2011-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

I recently finished John Mortimer's literary novel Summer's Lease. At first glance, it would seem to be another tedious story of a dysfunctional family. I was pleasantly surprised when plot elements of mystery and intrigue were introduced early.

The main character, Molly Pargeter, lives in England. She is "big-boned", has led a dull life lacking in ambition, and admires Italian paintings. She arranges a long summer vacation in Tuscany for her family: husband Hugh and the children. The arrangements are made by letter correspondence with a mysterious S. Kettering, who gives Molly precise, detailed instructions about use of his villa "La Felicita", such as "Above all, avoid flushing the lavatory next to the small sitting-room more than once in any given half hour or serious results may follow." Much to her chagrin, her gadfly father, Haverford Downs, manages to invite himself along. He writes a declining column for a low-rent publication, the Informer, convincing the editor that Tuscany was just the place to inspire his writing.

Once in Tuscany at La Felicita, Molly begins to notice odd happenings, the most dramatic of which is the sudden lack of water at the villa, including the remarkable disappearance of the pool's water overnight. She also becomes obsessed with meeting her landlord, S. Kettering, after finding a cryptic note that seems to indicate his imminent murder.

The story pulls the reader along from one curious event to another, as Molly's determination grows to find answers to the mysteries she sees. Along the way, her father makes mischeif, a murder happens, and Molly finds out her husband has been hiding something from her. The language is deliciously English, and there is a good cast of bit-players who keep things interesting.

Summer's Lease will keep you turning the page.

Beta Testing Your Novel

2011-01-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

When I'm not writing novels or short stories, I develop software to keep the lights on and the fridge stocked. A key stage of the software development cycle -- the steps taken to engineer a software product and release it to the world -- is "beta testing."

There comes a time when the development work is essentially finished, but the product is in a rough, largely untested form. The engineers have run it through rudimentary tests, and the quality assurance team has subjected it to some of their battery of standard tests. But, it is still imperfect. That's where beta testing comes in. You send a series of these rough versions to your best customers, who have bravely volunteered to be Guinea Pigs, with the understanding they will use it every day and ruthlessly report back on its bugs.

This concept is also valuable to writers -- especially for novels and non-fiction books. Once we have edited our first draft into a readable second draft, we are at the stage where we need honest, knowledgeable "beta readers." These are people you trust, who will dedicate themselves to read through your manuscript, cover to cover, without delay, and make detailed notes on its flaws and charms. I have been trying to find a few "right" beta readers for a long time, but as yet without success.

Family usually doesn't qualify because they will feel compelled to say nice things to you or, conversely, they still hold a grudge from when you were 11 years old and will rip your work apart just for sport. If they say, "It's great. I loved it," are they really cringing inside about how lame the story was and how it's better suited for insomniacs?

I've tried local librarians and booksellers, but they insist they and their staff are overwhelmed by required reading. Writer friends ought to make good beta readers because they have more knowledge of the mechanics of writing. But a writer whom you barely know, and who doesn't care if a friendship ever develops, may be the ideal beta reader. They have no axe to grind either way. They'll let the chips (and worn out clichés) fall where they may. And you should get the honest feedback you really need.

Steampunk Genre

2010-12-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've seen the term "Steampunk" lately, referring to a form of fiction. It is a sub-genre of science fiction or fantasy that is generally set in a Victorian time period - the industrial 19th century - where anachronistic technology of the time (such as steam power) is adapted in ways more common to our modern time, and alternate histories are often presented. Think of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, or the futuristic gadgets used in the TV series Wild, Wild West.

"Steampunk" is derived from the term "cyberpunk", which refers to noir-like technology in a near-future world. The steampunk genre emerged in the 1990's, and has inspired enthusiastic subcultures in art, design, and fashion.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's 1990 novel The Difference Engine is often credited with bringing widespread awareness of steampunk to readers. Seattle author Cherie Priest's Civil War-era novels Boneshaker and Dreadnought - part of her zombie-infested, alternate-history Clockwork Century series - are other examples of the genre.

Book Review: Border Songs

2010-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

Jim Lynch’s Border Songs is a work of literary fiction set in the Blaine, Washington area along the USA/Canada border. The main character is an unlikely Border Patrol agent named Brandon Vanderkool. He stands out from everyone else at six-eight, and seems to have some sort of dyslexic problem that causes his speech to get mixed up when he is flustered. Despite his size, he isn’t a tough-guy character; instead, he is uncomfortable with most social situations, and has a love for the area’s birds, which draws his attention away from his job. He also has an artistic streak, often taking time out from his patrol duties to construct works of art from leaves or driftwood. His walk is described as a “lope”, and his behavior is a source of amusement and wonder by everyone who knows him.

The border area is plagued by marijuana smuggling and illegal immigration. There are no border fences. Much of the line between the two countries is simply a ditch, with Boundary Road spanning along the USA side, and Zero Avenue running parallel on the Canada side. Some of the characters are dope smugglers, and the reader is taken inside their world of hidden indoor pot farms and hazy, drug-laced parties and business meetings.

Brandon’s father, Norm, struggles to keep his dairy farm afloat despite the aches and pains of age and his wife’s onset of Alzheimer’s. Across the ditch in Canada are dozens of estates that overlook the USA side. Immediately across from Norm, in a modest home, is his America-hating neighbor, Wayne Rousseau, who often incites political arguments across the ditch, just to irritate Norm. Wayne’s daughter, Madeline, is up to her neck in the pot trade. As the story goes on, we learn that Brandon is in love with her. She regards his attempts to woo her with annoyance and worry because she fears the contact is related to his job as a border agent. But, Brandon is oblivious to her involvement in the smuggling business.

Brandon’s love of nature leads him into remote areas where most border agents never venture. This results in a number of spectacular, accidental arrests that only serve to increase his local celebrity. But all he really wants to do is watch the birds and construct spontaneous works of art.

Brandon and the other characters are well developed, but the middle of the book drags; many of the chapters come across as character vignettes without a clear, consistent story line to pull the reader along. I didn’t always feel the “Oooh, what’s gonna happen next?” impulse to turn the page. But, I persisted, and the story picked up in the final one quarter of the book, leading to a thoroughly satisfying ending that has Brandon finally appreciated for who he really is.

Scare Quotes

2010-11-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

It's Halloween, so I figured this topic was damned appropriate: Scare Quotes.

What is a Scare Quote? Here is the definition from Wikipedia:

Scare quotes are quotation marks placed around a single word or phrase to indicate that the word or phrase does not signify its literal or conventional meaning. In contrast to the nominal typographic purpose of quotation marks, the enclosed word(s) are not necessarily quoted from another source.

In other words, the phrase enclosed in quotes is not dialog and is not a quotation of someone else's words. Instead, the phrase is quoted to indicate that its meaning is not to be taken literally by the reader. The intention of the writer is to indicate sarcasm, skepticism, derision, irony, or doubt over accuracy.

Scare quotes usually show the attitude of the writer, or of the point-of-view character, about a certain subject.
Some examples:

She demonstrated her "knowledge" on the subject by citing Oprah.
The driver turned on a hip-hop station and pounded his hands against the steering wheel in time to the "music".
A reporter began to recite his "objective" account of the incident.
Our Great Imperious Leader signed an order giving the military full authority to engage in "population control" of undesirables.

When writing scare quotes, you use the same quotation marks that occur throughout your manuscript when writing dialog or including literal, quoted material. That is, if your dialog uses single quotes ('He's dead, Jim.'), then scare quotes use the same. If double quotes ("Take that, sucker."), then use doubles. Single quotes tend to be British formatting, doubles for American. Of course, when inside dialog, the opposite quote mark is used ("Oh, your 'music' is really great.").

An aspect of scare quotes that I consider controversial is this: does sentence-ending punctuation belong inside a scare quote as it does in dialog? Consider these examples:

Dialog: "Take that, sucker."
Scare quote: He hated Eddie's "music".
Versus: He hated Eddie's "music."

In the case of dialog, the ending period is clearly part of the dialog, and thus belongs inside the quotes. For the scare quote, the ending period is not part of the sarcasm, but simply terminates the narrator's sentence. Strict grammarians insist that, for American English, the punctuation must reside inside the quotes. To me, it just plain looks wrong; the punctuation is not part of the quoted phrase. And, one can find all over the place where authors do place the punctuation outside the quotes. So, it seems to me that this has now entered common usage.

One last thing. Some assert that writers shouldn't use scare quotes at all. The quotes can be replaced by phrases such as so-called, supposed, purported, self-styled, or alleged.

References:

Wikipedia, Scare quotes
Guide to Punctuation, University of Sussex (UK English), Scare Quotes
The Chronicle of Higher Education,What's 'Scary' About Scare Quotes
The Victorian Web,Punctuation Matters and Matters of Punctuation
Writer's Relief , Odds and Ends: Scare Quotes, Exclamation Points, Almost, and Plural Compounds

Another View of 'Show, Don't Tell'

2010-10-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2010, Steven E. Houchin

Recently, I attended the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) monthly member meeting in Bellevue. The guest speaker was local book doctor Jason Black (http://www.plottopunctuation.com/), who gave an excellent presentation on the topic "Show, Don't Tell" Demystified.

He began his presentation by explaining that showing versus telling is a contrast between the meaningful and the mundane. It is acceptable, even necessary, to tell the things that are mundane in your story. For example, you can tell that your characters are meeting for dinner, because that is a mundane detail. You can tell where the characters are after a scene change - they're standing on the sidewalk outside the hotel. You can tell that a character turned on a lamp. But, for those things in a scene that are meaningful, it is better to try to show it. For example, instead of saying "Hubert felt affection for her", you would have Hubert come close and give her a tender hug.

Jason said that showing is the process of manifesting the invisible. The show should cause the reader to draw an inference from it, rather than telling the reader what to conclude. As an example, he displayed a photo of two smiling women at some sort of public event. What can be inferred from the photo? Their teeth were white and straight, thus they may come from an affluent background. They were leaning close, so they must be friends. People in the background wore identical plastic bracelets, so they may be at some paid event. In our written scenes, can we get the reader to draw an inference from what we show? Think about this scene:

Hubert's eyes followed the curvy woman as she sashayed across the restaurant. His wife griped her knife, white knuckled, and stabbed into her steak.

Is Hubert a philanderer? Is their marriage already on the rocks? Will the wife murder him in his sleep? Is the other woman a hooker?

When to show? To cause an inference, to draw attention, to evoke a feeling.

When to tell? At a scene break, jumps in time (i.e. "Three days later ."), to summarize mundane events ("They drove into town").

Jason gave these general steps for adding shows to your scenes during the editing process:

Figure out the meaningful invisible facts in the scene. For example, A hates B, C fears dogs, D drinks too much. These are things you could tell the reader, but they have an invisible quality from the other characters' point of view, versus a lamp or a blue dress, which are obvious and visible.
Find the moments in the scene where these invisible facts come into play.
Determine the visible consequences/manifestations of the invisible facts. A always sneers at B, C cowers when dog approaches, D staggers with drink in hand.
Write down these visible manifestations (the show).

Other examples of tells:

Information dumps and backstory.
Some dialog tags, other than said and asked.
Adverbs, which tell a manner of action. Better to use stronger verbs.
Exclamation points in narration!

Other things that show:

Dialog.
Inner monologue (i.e. POV character's first-person thoughts).

Book Review: Stein On Writing

2010-10-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2010, Steven E. Houchin

I recently finished reading Sol Stein’s book Stein On Writing. Its chapters are divided into seven sections, allowing the reader to zero in on the subjects he/she cares most about. Stein’s writing is straightforward and the chapters are peppered with excellent examples, both good and bad.

I concentrated most on the Fiction section, where each chapter presents different concepts and techniques, such as Plotting, Characterization, Suspense, Tension, Dialog, and Point of View.

I especially liked two of the chapters.

A) The Crucible: A Key to Successful Plotting. This is the situation that binds the characters together even as things go terribly wrong. What is it that keeps them together until the end, rather than running away? It can be something like a marriage, a blood relationship, a closed physical location, a business, a competition, etc. The crucible can exist for one or more scenes, or may define the whole novel. When used, it can breed plenty of character conflict and be a device for the character to grow or change.

B) The Adrenaline Pump: Creating Tension. The chapter starts with the great notion that “Writers are troublemakers”. Rather than seeking to relieve stress, we wish to give our readers the sense of more stress and pressure, like stretching a rubber band. He makes the point that, once the author creates the tension, he/she shouldn’t let go too quickly; let the stress linger - drag it out as long as possible. The tension can come from a single chilling sentence, or by setting up a stressful situation, such as a ticking clock to an ominous deadline.

Stein’s book should be a valuable reference I can refer to again and again to get my novelist’s juices flowing anytime my writing feels stale.

It's Soooo Obvious, I Didn't See It

2010-09-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2010, Steven E. Houchin

I read a posting on Anne Mini's excellent blog "Author! Author!" titled The dreaded Frankenstein manuscript, part XXI: Millicent holds these truths to be self-evident. Trust me.

It discusses two aspects of editing your manuscript to eliminate phrases that drive agents (or their slavish manuscript-reader underlings) crazy. One she calls "statements of the obvious". These are phrases like "nodded his head" (what else would he nod?) or "shrugged her shoulders" (what else would she shrug?). The second is the "Walking Across the Room" (WATR) problem, where you describe your character's every movement as she rises from the chair and walks across the room and bends over to pick up the tray of biscuits. Once you tell us she rose from the chair, the reader can fill in the rest until she picks up the tray. That is, unless she has suddenly suffered a stroke and is now dragging her left leg.

The examples Anne gave prompted me to scan my latest manuscript - the one I am currently shopping around - for these terrible language faux pas. It was an enlightening exercise, even though I found only a few of the bad phrases. Some of the phrases that didn't cross Anne's lines, did have other things wrong with them, or could be written better. Here are the words I searched for:

* Blink
* Wave
* Nod
* Shrug
* Walk

I noticed "blinked rapidly" several times. I tried to do that, and found it thoroughly unnatural. So, the word "rapidly" rapidly got the axe. I had used "waved her hand", one of Anne's obvious no-no's, and discovered a few bad nods and shrugs as described above. But, the exercise caused me to reevaluate many of these gestures in context and rewrite them slightly, or caused me to notice that I'd overused them in a particular scene.

As far as examining "walk", I was able to eliminate a few altogether, and to change some to other words, such as "stroll" or "saunter" to better fit the feel of the action.
When I was all done, one hundred words had vanished from my manuscript, which I'm struggling to keep below 120,000 as I continue to do edits.

Useful Rejection?

2010-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2010, Steven E. Houchin

I often wonder what I’m doing wrong when I hear another author gush about the nice, personal, detailed rejection letter received from an agent. Why don’t I get those? What are they doing in their query that I’m not? Is there some magic “useful critique” potion they sprinkle all over their query before sending? Was it sealed with a special kiss?

My rejections read like they’ve been downloaded en-mass from Rejections-R-Us, every one nearly identical:

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately I do not think this novel would be a good fit for me/would not know how to present it to an editor. Please remember that this is just one agent’s opinion, and another agent may feel differently about your work. Best of luck/keep trying elsewhere.

Ahhh! Okay, but why? Did the story premise not work? Was the writing style flat? Were the characters thin? Do you not handle this genre this week? Did you drink too much last night and can’t remember? Do you only like New York-centric locations?

I know - agents get hundreds of unsolicited queries. But I even get form rejections after partials or full manuscripts were requested. Those of us who have studied the craft, had our works critiqued, and polished the manuscript, hunger for real feedback to improve even more. Providing feedback is not an agent’s job, but making those kind of quality judgments is part of the process. Even a few words about their unique take on the novel would be nice. Either that, or give a hint where I can buy the magic potion.

For the agent’s perspective, Nathan Bransford provides insight into his side of the story in this blog posting of June 24, 2010, titled Why I Write Vague Rejection Letters.

"I" Gotta Go!

2010-06-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009-2010, Steven E. Houchin

A few months ago, I received a critique from an agent I'd queried. She offered me a unique criticism of my writing that hadn't occurred to me. It was a repetition in my structure that got on her nerves. The solution to the problem was vexing.

My story is written in first person, so it is peppered with "I", "me", "my", "we", "us", and so forth. Use of these words is inevitable for first person. But, the agent saw too much of the pattern " 'I' plus verb". Looking at the writing sample I'd sent her - and keeping her critique in mind - I suddenly saw the annoying pattern, too. It was especially glaring when used to start a sentence. The agent had just added a new rule to my arsenal of "don'ts" for writing: spare the "I's".

So, now my task becomes removal of a bunch of those pesky I's. But, how to reword "I did something" into a new sentence sans the "I"? Here are some examples of before and after:

"They woke me on Sunday mornings when I craved sleep" becomes "They rudely woke me from a peaceful sleep on Sunday mornings".

"I reached over to her side of the bed, feeling only empty space" becomes "Her side of the bed felt cold and empty".

"I hurried to the window and peered into the night, the cold floor sending my spine a brisk shiver" becomes "The cold floor sent a brisk shiver up my spine as I peered through the window out into the night".

"I lit the bedside lamp and checked my pocket watch: one forty-five" becomes "After lighting the bedside lamp, a glance at my pocket watch showed one forty-five".

"I bundled up for the late-January deep freeze" becomes "The late-January deep freeze required plenty of bundling up".

"I descended Lake Avenue toward the harbor and the railroad tracks" becomes "Lake Avenue descended steeply toward the harbor and the railroad tracks, making for treacherous footing".

Some of these changes are definite improvements. Others are so-so, and probably need more work. In one case, the dreaded "I" remained, but moved inland. These examples are all from the first few pages. Jeez! I've got 470 pages in the damned book. Four pages took an hour to fix. Does that mean I have 118 more hours of re-editing to go? Ugh!

Quick! Somebody get me a carton of Oreos - and keep the pizzas coming!

Something from Nothing (Part II)

2009-12-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

In my last posting, I extolled the virtues of setting aside a manuscript when the story isn’t coming together. My latest novel, Snowbound, reached that point last summer.

In the meantime, I read Stephen King’s great book, On Writing. The first section of it confused me a bit because it seemed to be just a rambling (and humorous) account of his childhood and his troubles with booze. Okay, but what about the craft of writing? Well, he got around to that later in the book and I better understood why he gave us his background.

I received four great inspirations from On Writing:

1) Be persistent. I already knew that, but it helps to read about another writer’s determination to get noticed and published. In my case, I continue to send query letters to agents, despite a couple dozen rejections, trying to sell them on my second novel, Double Fire. As of this writing, two agents have shown interest and have the full manuscripts in their hot little hands.

2) Write short stories and submit them for publication in literary journals or magazines. This is vital to getting noticed. I’d add my own corollary: submit your novels and stories to major contests. I recently wrote a couple of short stories and submitted one to a magazine and the other to an online journal’s contest. Earlier this year, Snowbound was chosen as a finalist in PNWA’s literary contest.

3) When you’re working on a manuscript, set a word count goal for each day. I made a new goal of 1000 words per day in a push to move Snowbound forward. Once I became un-stuck on how to move the plot forward, this goal allowed me to plow ahead and (yippee!) finally get the first draft finished in October. What a relief.

4) Eliminate tag lines (e.g. he said, she replied) from dialog as much as possible. You ought to use action, gestures, and facial expressions to indicate who’s speaking. Here’s how it looks: “No problem,” Joe said. -- versus -- Joe flicked the ashes from his cigarette. “No problem.” This is something I am now incorporating into the editing phase of Snowbound. I’m also doing another pass (ugh!) through Double Fire to make these kinds of changes. It’s amazing the difference it makes.

It’s no wonder so many writers rave about King’s On Writing. It keeps you entertained while dropping these nuggets of literary wisdom right in your lap.

Something From Nothing

2009-10-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

This summer, I thought I was well on my way to completing my third novel, Snowbound. I figured I ought get it done soon, seeing how it was chosen as a finalist in this year’s (2009) PNWA Literary Contest. But a funny thing happened on the way to the finish line: I didn’t have an ending, it was too short, and the middle didn’t have enough oomph (a technical term meaning giddyup). Other than that, it was a masterpiece. I desperately needed ideas to move it forward.

My critique group grumbled when I arrived each week empty handed. “Just write!” they’d say. “It all comes out crap,” I responded truthfully, having suffered brutal critiques of obviously rotten prose the last few times. I was stuck. Drastic action was necessary. So, I formulated a bold and decisive plan: do nothing. Nothing! Put the damned thing away and wait. Let the story rattle around in my head for a few weeks, or even months if necessary. So, I did.

For the next several weeks, mid-story plot scenarios played out in my mind, coming and going like bad TV sitcoms and stale leftovers. My exasperated critique group-mates threw out ideas. I felt pressure to keep writing. But it just felt ... wrong. So, the manuscript sat, forlorn and unloved - the lousy piece of #*!{%!~$">#$.

But, doing nothing begat real inspiration. After a couple of months, a new plot idea bubbled up from the muck and said, “Look at me! Ain’t I pretty?” I thought it through and said, “Why, yes you are!” Once again, my manuscript was loved and adored as I pounded out the new story line into the middle of what existed before. The chapters flowed out and the story revved up as I added new action, suspense, bumbling, and shootouts (you simply must have shootouts).

I still need an ending, but the ball is rolling again. Amazing how one can get something out of nothing.

Book Review: The Coffee Trader, by David Liss

2009-10-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

The Coffee Trader is set in Amsterdam in 1659. It tells the story of Miguel Lienzo, a trader at the town's raucous commodities exchange. In the opening chapter, we learn that Miguel is badly in debt due to a collapse in the sugar market. This problem haunts him throughout the book as he dodges his creditors, handles family dissention, and solicits new partners to reverse his misfortunes. As a Portuguese Jew, he is a second-class citizen in Gentile Amsterdam, and is subject to ethical scrutiny by the Ma'mad, the local Jewish council. A bitter rival, who is a member of the Ma'mad, seeks to ensnare him in some scandal and haul him before the council for punishment. With all this turmoil surrounding him, Miguel stumbles upon a new, exotic commodity that might restore his fortunes: coffee.

What makes this book great is that it maintains a sense of growing intrigue and mystery without the usual "corpse and detective" story line. The characters are well developed and believable. Miguel is no heroic protagonist; he plots and schemes, seduces the chambermaid, manipulates other traders, and makes promises he likely can't keep. But the reader is drawn to his vulnerability and precarious situation. He must keep up appearances of success while penniless and living in his disapproving brother's dank basement. Along the way, you never know who will betray whom, and whether Miguel's scheme to manipulate the coffee market will succeed or ruin him.

The Coffee Trader starts out a bit slow, but soon has you eagerly turning the page. It also does an excellent job of transporting your mind's eye to 17th century Amsterdam.

What’s In a Synopsis?

2009-05-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

I had the privilege this year to be a first-level judge in the 2009 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest. It was an interesting experience that I enjoyed. I saw my own start at writing five years ago in the obviously newbie manuscripts I read, and liked some of the clever plot ideas. I can’t detail them here since they’re confidential, but a few had great potential.

One thing was clear to me: the idea of a synopsis is sorely misunderstood. I’ve also run into this in a weekly writer’s workshop I attend. For the contest, it didn’t help that the PNWA posted an online document “Writing a Synopsis”, which was truly misleading. It gave the impression that a synopsis should be written in structured segments: here is the protagonist and antagonist; this is their motivation; this is the theme; here is a sentence about the plot. That doesn’t make a synopsis; those are the elements that make up a query letter to an agent/editor - a completely different thing.

I won the PNWA contest two years ago with a synopsis that simply and concisely told the story, from start to end, in two pages. In doing so, the characters and their motivations were revealed naturally within the story. That should be true whether the synopsis is 80 words or 800. Write it like the inside of a book jacket, except tell the whole story - even the surprise ending.

On the subject of word count, a local panel of agents/editors recently claimed they wanted no more than a 50-word synopsis in a query letter. They have no time for anything longer. Holy cow! I tried that with one of my books, and only got to 80. Anything less, and I don’t think the agent would understand what’s compelling about the story. So, then, what about all those agents out there who advertise that they want a query letter, a one-page synopsis, and the first 50 manuscript pages? I’ve read on some blogs that agents are getting cynical about the perfectly crafted query letters they receive because the art of querying is being “workshopped” everywhere. Poor writers are learning how to write great queries. The only way to know what is any good is to read some of the manuscript itself, and judge if a more substantial synopsis makes sense.

I wrote an article recently about proper synopsis writing for a newsletter I edit. Here are the main points:

1. Write it in present tense, even if your story is in past tense (as most are). Write, “Gretchen sees the ghost float in”, not, “Gretchen saw the ghost float in”.
2. Tell the whole story. A synopsis is not a teaser, as is the case for what you often read on a book jacket or in a book review. Give the start, middle, and ending. Subplots are usually left out.
3. Be concise. You don’t have to include everything, just the important points. An agent may specify an interest in a one-page (or less) book synopsis only. Brevity is beautiful. But, getting across the main plot points is crucial. And, you still need to hook your reader. A book jacket or book review description can be a good example of conciseness.
4. For a whole book/story synopsis, include the main characters and their motivations. Minor characters are unnamed or left out. The first time you use a character’s name, put it in all uppercase.

And ... no dialog. Just tell what happens, and make it compelling to read. You may make an exception for a just couple of spoken words, but normally there is no dialog at all.

So, what does an agent/editor really want to see? The answer seems to be “it depends”. Follow whatever guidelines that person/organization posts. If in doubt, I suppose a simple, one-page query can’t go wrong.

Oh Joy! It’s “Investment” Day!

2009-04-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

Another April 15th, and another reminder that government is out of control: overregulation, inefficiency, overspending, overtaxation, over-unionization, and crushing debt. We see it in DC with ObamaBush and the Republocrats. We see it in many of our states, where taxes are massively higher, and government pleads such poverty that they’re unable to build roads or fund fire and police.

California is a perfect example. It has an income tax of 9.3% for people making $47,000 and up (i.e. the rich). Its sales tax rate is, at minimum, 8.25%. And … the state is broke, working families are leaving, and illegal immigrants are flooding in to take advantage of the generous welfare benefits. For the first time ever, California may lose a congressional seat after the 2010 census. Tax paying families are leaving faster then illegals can pour in!

Here in Washington State, we do not have an income tax, but businesses pay a tax on their gross income. No, not the net income … they pay even if they’re losing money. Our sales tax was just jacked up, with local additions, to 9.5%. And, of course, the government always insists it is not enough. Never mind that they massively expanded government over the last 10 years. I grew up in this state. In the 1960s and 70s, we built our modern highways, built the new schools for the Baby Boomers, and funded government with a 5.5% sales tax rate. Now, we’re facing an $8 billion budget shortfall in the next two years. Like California, we have become a one-party “D” state; no checks and balances. The ruination of Washington is likely a decade or so behind California, but seems inevitable given the matching political climate.

And then there’s DC (the other Washington, as we say). To the Congress and the Administration, we are simply a credit card they can run up, a flock of sheep to be sheared. [ After all, we keep sending them back after each election. ] Special interest money to fund reelection is paramount. Doing the right thing is rare. Obama lectures us to stop using so much credit to fund our lifestyles, chides Bush for running up deficits, but fails to see that his reckless spending plans are the exact same thing. Actually, he is worse: he’s not on the hook to pay the bill. We are. And this is a credit card we can’t cut up.

A friend sent a few great quotes to me recently:

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -- Voltaire

Oh, that’s right. It’s not overspending or reckless debt. It’s “investment”. Is this what they mean by government “going green”?

Never mind. I think I’ll go make myself some tea.

Manuscript Formatting Tips

2009-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

Writers often encounter frustrating manuscript editing and formatting problems when using an editor such as MS Word. Sometimes I'll see the problems in their manuscript, or they come to me (a software engineer in my other life) and ask, “How the heck do I ...?” Below, I list some of those issues and a solution. I use Office 2000, so the directions apply to that. But newer versions have analogous features.

Adding Headers and Page Numbers
Whenever you pass your manuscript (or portions of it) to someone else to read, you should have title headers and page numbers on every page. In MS Word, this is done with the “Header and Footer” feature.

Headers place text at the top of each page. Footers place text at the bottom of each page. In MS Word, they are created or modified by selecting “Header and Footer” under the View menu, which pops up a little toolbar. Usually, you will want to put your name and book title at the upper left. For my novel Double Fire, I have: Houchin/DOUBLE FIRE

The page number is usually placed in the upper right, but some put it on the right in the Footer. [There is a button in the toolbar to switch between Header and Footer.] To put the page number on the right, press the Tab key in the Header until the cursor reaches the right-hand border, then press the “#” button in the toolbar. That will cause all your pages to be auto-numbered. When you’re done, press the toolbar’s Close button.

However, you’ll want your manuscript to have a title page, but won’t want a header or a page number on it. So, how do you accomplish that?

Go to your title page in the manuscript. Then, open the “Header and Footer” toolbar again, and press the little button that looks like an open book. The Page Setup screen opens. Check the “Different first page” box, then press OK. If you had any title page headers, they vanish! If you don’t have headers yet, you can now insert them on page 2.

But, a problem remains: the page after the title page is numbered 2. You’ll want it to be page 1. To fix this, select the Insert menu, then open “Page Numbers…”. On the Page Numbers screen, choose the Position and Alignment for your numbers, and clear the “Show number on first page” box. Next, press “Format…”, select the “Start At:” option and type in 0 (zero) as your first page number. Finish by pressing OK. When you add your page numbers in the Header (or Footer), the page after the title will be number 1.

Automatic Paragraph Indentation
Editors expect to see the first line of each paragraph in your manuscript indented. I’ve noticed that many writers do this by simply typing a few spaces. However, MS Word provides for automatic indentation, which should provide consistent looking paragraphs.

To enable this feature, open Word’s Format menu, then select Paragraph. Under its “Indents and Spacing” tab, look at the settings under “Indentation”. Select the “First line” value under the “Special” drop-list box. If you don’t like the default 1/2 inch indentation this provides, you can enter a different value in the “By” box.

The “Left” and “Right” settings will indent the whole paragraph from the left or right margins. This might be useful if you’re inserting a quotation or poem within a story.
Note that these settings apply only to the currently selected paragraphs (and any new one added immediately after). Unfortunately, to fix your manuscript, you must remove the spaces you manually inserted, highlight all paragraphs you wish to change, open the Paragraph menu, select the “First line” value, then click OK.

Paragraph Spacing
Have you run into the situation where blank lines appear in your manuscript between paragraphs? There they are, but you never intended to put them in; and they won’t go away.

Well, here’s the problem. Open Word’s Format menu, then select Paragraph. Under its “Indents and Spacing” tab, look at the settings under “Spacing”. The “Before” and “After” values specify how much space to add before/after the paragraph. Zero means no space between. To fix your manuscript, you must highlight the space between all incorrect paragraphs, set these “Before” and “After” values to zero, then click OK. You must do this for each paragraph that is wrong.

Unwanted Horizontal Lines
Have you ever discovered that unwanted horizontal lines have magically appeared in your manuscript? Word may create these lines automatically in response to certain things you type, such as ‘***’. It assumes you really wanted to insert a horizontal line, so it does.

First, you need to eliminate the lines that already pollute your manuscript. To do this, highlight a line of text before and after the horizontal line, then under the “Format” menu, select “Borders and Shading...”. In the pop-up window, select the “None” box and click OK. The line should go away. If you intended to insert a scene break here, replace the now-removed solid line with a blank line, then type the break characters WITHOUT PRESSING THE “ENTER” KEY AFTERWARD. You’ll need to do this for each unwanted solid line you find.

To turn off this automatic line-insertion nonsense, open the “Tools” menu and select “AutoCorrect...”. In the pop-up window, choose the “AutoFormat As You Type” tab, then uncheck the “Borders” box under “Apply as you Type”. Then click OK. You’ll have to do this for every doc file you have. After this, typing asterisks for a scene break should not mess up.

"Conflict" - Love It Or Hate It?

2009-03-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2009, Steven E. Houchin

Every time I hear someone say, "I don't see any conflict in this scene", I want to strangle them. Ahhh, yes ... now there's conflict! To me, the "conflict" criticism always comes across as formulaic, like an item on a generic checklist: flawed protagonist, check; no clichés, check; no adverbs, check; conflict, check.

I was at an author event recently where the subject of conflict came up, where it was said you must put "conflict on every page". Ugh - there it was again: the hated formula. But, as the discussion ensued - and some objections were raised - I realized that the "conflict" formula was really a misnomer. It doesn't mean that a fistfight or shouting match need break out on every page, which seems logical to qualify for conflict. Instead, it encompasses a lot of things we don't usually associate with conflict. I think the idea centers more around avoiding scenes that are nice, pleasant, pretty, and bland.

I jotted down ideas that might suffice to portray conflict in a scene:

Accident
Flirtation
Obstacle
Adversity
Foreboding
Oppression
Anger
Grief
Pursuit
Anxiety
Hate
Rage
Attack
Indecision
Revenge
Bewilderment
Injury
Reversal
Bumbling
Insecurity
Slapstick
Denial
Madness
Stress
Disappointment
Miscue
Teasing
Disbelief
Mistake
Tension
Exhaustion
Misunderstanding
Fear
Mystery

Looking through these ideas, I can see things that represent inner turmoil (denial), or an external force (attack). It can be shown through inner dialog, external dialog, body language, or action. Nods and smiles, sitting around, and mundane chitchat ("Hi, how are you?") are the enemy of conflict. Still, I don't like the term "conflict" for this concept. I think "tension" or "stress" works better for me.

Now, if I hear "conflict" one more time, I might just . . . just . . . . Well, you get the idea.

Mixed Up Persons

2008-10-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin

I recently read The Mark, a suspense novel by author and editor Jason Pinter. I attended his author reading at Third Place Books a couple of months ago. As I read through the book, I discovered something surprising and unusual about the way he wrote it. To see what I mean, let's take a look at a few excerpts. *

The following is how Chapter 6 ends, which is roughly how the whole book reads up to that point:

I ducked into an alleyway, saw a homeless man sleeping under a cardboard box. My head throbbed. I couldn't run anymore. I sat down, and pulled my legs up to my knees. I heard faraway sirens, and the blackness overcame me.

Then Chapter 7 begins with the following:

Joe Mauser couldn't sleep. His torso was warm under the covers. His legs were naked, cold. He eyed the finger of scotch on the nightstand. He left one there every night. Sometimes it worked. Often it didn't. And often he found himself going for a refill.Sitting up, Mauser squeezed the sleep from his eyes and looked at the clock -- 4:27 a.m.

Later, after we hear about Joe Mauser's lousy morning, comes the start of Chapter 8:

You wake up in a sun-dappled alley. Your ribs hurt. There's a knot in the back of your head that throbs nonstop. You feel dizzy. A man wearing a cardboard box for a blanket blinks at you, his eyes adjusting to the sight of this stranger sharing his alley. ... You think it has to be a dream. There's no rational explanation. You have a bed. You live in an apartment ...

See the difference? What we have in these three passages is narration in first person, then third person, then second person. When inside FBI Agent Mauser's head, the narration is third person ("He"). When inside the head of the poor, harried main character, Henry Parker, the narration is always first person ("I") - except at the start of Chapter 8, where the narration slips temporarily into second person ("You"). At the end of Chapter 8's first page, it switches back to "I" as Parker regains his wits. The second person form seems to be a device for portraying a dream-like state of mind for the character. This is something I used in one of my novels, Linear Descent, where a lowlife character has a nightmare where he's caught by the cops. But in that case, it is an actual dream.

I can't recall ever seeing mixed narrative forms like this in a published novel, though I've heard that it has been done. If any of us wannabe-published writers dared to try this, could we get away with it and be taken seriously, or would an agent or editor see it as amateurish? It does not come across that way in The Mark; Pinter manages to make it work.

Sigh! Once you've been successfully published (or make the right inside contacts) I suppose you can break all sorts of writing rules, and everyone will say, "Dahling! You're soooo brilliant!"

* Excerpts reprinted with permission from Jason Pinter.

Suppose You Met an Agent ...

2008-08-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin

A few months ago, I attended a reading at Third Place Books by new author and attorney Ken Isaacson. He was hawking his book, Silent Counsel. I forked over some cash for the book and, along with the author's autograph, received a free bookmark. Oh goodie! Of course, the bookmark advertised the book and included various accolades from reviewers.

Not wanting the marker to go to waste, I actually used it, but didn't really read any of it until recently. I noticed it also included a brief description of the book's plot. Much to my surprise, it looked just like an agent pitch. Its style was one I used myself at Willamette Writers a couple of years ago.

I tried to explain this pitching style, when asked to do so, at a Jessica Morrell workshop I attended earlier this year. Since my brain had long ago forgotten my own pitch, I mumbled and stumbled when explaining it. Now, there it was - that style - on Isaacson's bookmark. Here's how he presents his story:

Suppose the unimaginable: What if your child were killed in a hit-and-run? And the one person who knew the driver's identity - his lawyer - couldn't tell you his name because of a legal technicality? Suppose you were the lawyer, hired to negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecutor for that hit-and-run, but the client had directed you to not reveal his name until he's satisfied with the deal? And the court ordered your silence because the name was thus privileged information? Then the mother finds you, and she's determined to make you talk - at any cost... *

Oooh ... makes you want to know more, right?

Notice that the style isn't just a simple recitation of the plot. It doesn't even name the characters. It is presented as a series of vexing questions: "Suppose ...", "What if ...". Then, at the end is a statement, the zinger: She knows who you are and she's coming to get you!

This is the style I learned in "pitch practice" at Willamette Writers. You build curiosity by posing the book's initial premises as questions and suppositions. Then, you present the critical turning point that wreaks havoc for the main character, or causes everything to unravel.

This example is not your "five seconds in the elevator" pitch where you summarize your book in a sentence or two. Instead, this is what you'd use if you had five minutes face-to-face with an agent, and he/she says, "Tell me what it's about." The pitch doesn't necessarily have to explain the ending (as should a synopsis). If the agent likes it, he'll ask you, "Okay, what happens next?" Ahhh... music to your ears.

[ You can find more about Ken Isaacson at http://www.kenisaacson.com, and Jessica Morrell at http://thewritinglifetoo.blogspot.com. ]

* Reprinted with permission from Ken Isaacson.

Etiquette In the Old West

2008-07-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin

I've recently done more research into styles, phrases, and slang from 19th Century America. I found a great book at the library tailored for this purpose: The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s, by Marc McCutcheon (1993, Writer's Digest Books). It lists all sorts of things by category, such as Slang, Fashion, Travel, and Crime. In the section on travel, there is a great sidebar entitled "Stagecoach Etiquette", which is from an 1877 Omaha Herald article. Here is a fun excerpt from it:

"... Don't smoke a strong pipe inside especially in the morning; spit on the leeward side of the coach. If you have anything to take in a bottle, pass it around; a man who drinks by himself in such a case is lost to all human feeling. Provide stimulants before starting; ranch whiskey is not always nectar. ... Don't swear nor lop over on your neighbor when sleeping. Don't ask how far it is to the next station until you get there. ... Never attempt to fire a gun or pistol while on the road; it may frighten the team and the careless handling and cocking of the weapon makes nervous people nervous. Don't discuss politics or religion, nor point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed, if delicate women are among the passengers. ..."

Book Review: The Godfather, by Mario Puzo

2008-06-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 1 June 2008 )

Critiques of my first book, Linear Descent, revealed that dialog among my Mafia characters needed some additional color. So, I bought a ratty, old paperback copy of The Godfather (possibly an original 1969 edition) at Half Price Books. After reading it, I had a few thoughts about its construction as a novel.

First, the main characters are superbly developed. Their Sicilian ethnicity pervades their psyche. Each character has his/her distinct personality, fears, problems, lusts, faults, and desires. They are believable. Unlike most books that have a clear main character, The Godfather is a conglomeration of characters and subplots whose lives are affected by their relationship to the Godfather, Don Corleone. A whole chapter may focus on some aspect of one character's life, then the next will switch to another character. But always the story is moved forward.

Second, the book has a definite turning point in the middle: Don Corleone is gunned down in the street. Though he survives, his life, and the future course of his organization, are irreversibly changed. There's no going back to "business as usual" for The Family. The organization careens into a tragic mob war, and must compromise -- temporarily -- to survive.

Third, the author completely ignores the rules on point of view. You, the reader, are in everybody's head within each chapter and scene, even changing from paragraph to paragraph. It takes a bit of getting used to, but Puzo seems to make it work. I've recently discovered that this isn't all that unusual in books of this genre. So, clearly, POV violations aren't absolutely fatal for publication, or even success.

Fun With Numbers; To Hyphen Or Not To Hyphen

2008-06-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 14 April 2008 )

I tend to spell out most numbers in my novels (the main exception being dollars and cents). There are definite, but sometimes conflicting, rules for how to spell out numbers in a manuscript. There are several web sites that attempt to deal with this subject. One is Tina Blue's Grammar and Usage for the Non-Expert. Another is at edufind.com.

I'll try to summarize some of the points here.

1. Hyphenate compound numbers from 21 through 99. For example: sixty-five, thirty-one. But, larger numbers aren't hyphenated: one hundred fifty-six (not one-hundred-fifty-six).

2. Hyphenate fractions. For example: three-fifths, one-tenth. But, there are exceptions. If there is already a hyphen present in either the numerator or denominator, no other hyphen is added. For example: twenty-five thirty-eighths (not twenty-five-thirty-eighths). Also, no hyphen is used when the fraction is used as a noun: They were scoreless after three quarters.

3. Hyphenate numbers when joined with a unit of measurement to form an adjective. For example: twenty-five-minute walk, thirty-six-year-old man, fifty-yard pass, seventeenth-century historian. This rule also holds true when using digits: 25-minute walk. But, when not used as an adjective, the joining hyphen is not used, as in: walked twenty-five minutes (not twenty-five-minutes), passed fifty yards (not fifty-yards).

Clearly, describing these rules is quite complicated, but if we write numbers this way, it is a subject we need to understand.

Murderous Prose

2008-04-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

It seems I just can't get enough of author Raymond Chandler (1888-1959). His portrayal of the hard-bitten, working class Private Dick may only be matched by his contemporary, Dashiell Hammett, with his starring ace detective Sam Spade.

Chandler is famous for his gritty detective protagonist Philip Marlowe, who prowls the streets and environs of 1930's and 1940's Los Angeles, richly transporting the reader headlong into that era. Two of his most famous Marlowe novels, Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and The Big Sleep (1939), were also successful movies.

I'm currently reading Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder (Vintage Books, 1988), which begins with an essay - often scathingly critical - on the state of the "detective story", and his disdain for its many practitioners. He says, "The average detective story is probably no worse than the average novel, but you never see the average novel. It doesn't get published." The remainder of the book is a series of - you guessed it - short detective stories.

What amazes me most about Chandler is his stunning descriptive phrases. For example, his story Spanish Blood begins:

"Big John Masters was large, fat and oily. He had sleek blue jowls and very thick fingers on which the knuckles were dimples."

Or, the first paragraph of I'll Be Waiting:

"... Carl, the night porter, turned down the last of three table lamps in the main lobby ... The blue carpet darkened a shade or two and the walls drew back into remoteness. The chairs filled with shadowy loungers. In the corners were memories like cobwebs."

Wow!

Meet Your Perpetual Agent

2008-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008, Steven E. Houchin

So, you’ve finally been published, but your agent has lost interest in you, or you’re not getting along. It’s time to find a new agent, someone you like, who is enthusiastic about your career potential. So, you terminate your old agency agreement. Your new agent can now aggressively move forward selling your book’s rights into new markets, right? Well ... maybe not. You may be hampered by “The Interminable Agency Clause”.

An Interminable Agency Clause, also known as an “Interminable Rights Clause” or a “Perpetual Agency Clause”, essentially gives your old, unloved agent all rights to represent your book as long as the book’s copyright is in effect. That’s your lifetime plus 70 years - a very long time - and a big problem. Normally, the agent would only have rights during the life of a publishing contract. So, if your publisher drops your book, your new agent can’t re-sell it to a new publisher because your old agent has perpetual representation rights. Even if your old agent agrees to cede representation to your new agent, he can still demand commissions for any new sales.

Many professional writers groups warn against this practice. Even if you love your agent, agencies that own the rights can change personnel or be sold, leaving you out in the cold with strangers.

My main source for this is novelist Victoria Strauss’ blog entry at:
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2007/12/victoria-strauss-interminable-agency.html

The Interminable Agency Clause: don’t let it happen to you!

In the Dark During Bowl Week

2008-02-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.
( Originally written 27 December 2007 )

Okay, I admit it. My time spent writing has been almost non-existent during the holidays. I’m not one of those “up at 4 a.m. and write for three hours” kind of superheroes you read about in author interviews. It’s Christmas, after all, with shopping, wrapping, cards, sugary cookies (zzzz…), and a slippery, snowy drive across the state and back. Am I expected to pour out paragraphs while creeping across the pass in second gear at 10 mph?

Oh, and now it’s Bowl Week. How am I supposed to work on deep character development when BYU and UCLA come down to a last second, failed, chip-shot field goal? Or when Boise State ties East Carolina on a miracle fumble recovery with 90 seconds left, only to lose by a field goal with zero left on the clock? I’M ONLY HUMAN!

Maybe it’s the dark, short, gloomy days. Yeah, that must be it. The weather sapped my creative energy and drowned me in winter’s funk. It raps at my window with big wet drops and whipsaws my trees more than I think they can stand. Can I really write when a huge cedar may crash into my house at any minute? Plus, there’s moss spreading all across my yard….

Then I look at the schedule of literary contests coming up in the new year. A whole bunch have January and February deadlines, and me with nothing to submit. So, do I quickly slap something together, throw it into the pile, and hope that my possible competitors were ... let’s see ... watching BOWL GAMES? I’d really hate to just write off (so to speak) these early 2008 contests.

Oh, Oregon State and Maryland are about to kick off. Let’s see, if I just get up tomorrow morning at 4 a.m....

I'm In a Blue, Blue Subjunctive Mood

2008-02-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.
( Originally written 13 December 2007 )

I recently had my Linear Descent manuscript critiqued. A number of my sentences were marked for incorrect grammar. The problem involved use of the word “was” when “were” was the correct usage. I had descended into a bad subjunctive mood. Now, I must admit, I do often get moody, but I never realized my subjunctiveness was so out of whack.

Usually, the use of these words is obvious. For example: “The clown was squeezed into the tiny car”, versus “The clowns were squeezed into the tiny car”. This is a singular versus plural past-tense usage, where the proper word to use must match the subject “clown(s)”. Although, I do sometimes have trouble with phrases that seem ambiguous, such as “The pair was up to no good”, versus “The pair were up to no good”. Hmmm....

And then there are phrases that describe situations that depend on probability or likelihood, such as “If I was a rich man ...”. However, “was” is grammatically wrong. The correct phrase is “If I were a rich man...”, even though “I” is singular. Why?

This is an example of a subjunctive clause. A verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual. In this example, I am not really rich, so the verb “was” - normally the singular past tense of the verb “to be” - is really in subjunctive tense. In English, the subjunctive past-tense of “to be” is “were”, not “was”, and the plurality of the subject “I” is irrelevant. “If we were rich men...” uses the same word, even though the singular “I” has changed to the plural “we”. It is still subjunctive mood.

So, as I slog through my latest manuscript looking for occurrences of this error, my mood quickly turns blue, blue, blue.

Puzzled

2008-02-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin. All rights reserved.

( Originally written 11 November 2007 )

Having nothing better to do one evening, I watched a television program on people who take part in an annual crossword puzzle competition. The speed with which these contestants whizzed through them was truly amazing. During the program, it showed bits and pieces of clever clues and their answers. Now, I’m not interested in expanding my small universe of skills to include competitive puzzle solver, but it got me thinking whether tackling the daily newspaper’s crossword puzzle might prove useful for a writer. As writers, we are constantly confronted with the need to find different ways to say the same thing in order to avoid word repetition. For many puzzle clues, this kind of thinking is exactly what is required. For example:

“Promised to give up” -- Swore Off
“With wisdom” -- Sagely
“Cast a spell over” -- Enchanted

Beyond that, you can just plain learn new things you never knew before.

“Brine-cured cheeses” -- Fetas
“La Vie en Rose singer” -- Piaf
“City on the Rhone” -- Lyons

So, if I were to do the crossword every day, would it make the words, phrases, and cultural references in my writing richer and more varied? Other than taking up a little bit of time (they get harder through the week), it seems as though it might. Who knows, it may even help with those frustrating moments when I get stuck, grasping for ideas on how to move the story forward. Putting on my hat as an engineer, though, I doubt there is any effective way to actually measure any benefit from doing this unless, of course, my story’s plot would turn nicely on some brine-cured cheeses.

So, Ya Wanna Get Published?

2008-02-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 6 December 2007 )

Last month I heard new local author speak at Third Place Books. In addition to telling us about his novel, he spoke bitterly about the process of getting published. His experience was so frustrating that he stated he has no desire to write another book.

After dozens and dozens of rejections, he put the book away for a few years. It was ultimately published due to a chance meeting with a book critic who spoke at the UW bookstore. The critic read his manuscript and put him in touch with someone he knew in the publishing business. Eventually, the author signed with a small, on-demand publisher who put out his book in paperback. “On-demand” means that the publisher can print his book in units of ones and twos if needed, rather than traditional publishers who must print thousands at a time. Getting published had taken five long years, which he was told is about average.

With book in hand, he visited a local Barnes & Noble, ready with his best speech to convince them to stock his book. The B&N person turned to the inside back page and examined the bar code, then promptly told him they couldn’t accept it. The code contains an identifier that shows it was print-on-demand, and they have a corporate policy to not handle them. Same story with Borders. Why? Because they can’t return the unsold extras to on-demand publishers, who don’t carry inventory. So, to market his book, he can only count on independent bookstores and online sellers.

I suppose this is something else we need to add to our list of Bewares for the industry.

Web Musings #2 - A Tangled Web

2008-02-13T16:24:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 21 November 2007 )

While writing my first two novels, I did a lot of geographical and historical research using the World Wide Web. A couple of incidents served as a reminder how cautious and skeptical one must be when dealing with online information.

In the first incident, I had scoured the Web for the names and descriptions of various county sheriffs who held office during 1889. After I found them, I wrote their characters into my story. But I wanted to know more about them. So, little by little, I continued to dig. In three out of five counties, I ran into a troubling problem: new sources named a totally different person as sheriff for that time. I was right back at the beginning. Who really was the sheriff? I would think it ought to be a simple, knowable fact. But, in today’s world, there are facts... and then there’s The Web.

I figured that local brick and mortar libraries in each individual county must have the answer. But, did I really want to drive down to Tacoma or fly to Duluth, Minnesota? What I discovered instead was that many libraries have an e-mail address for their reference librarian. So, I sent messages explaining my dilemma. Both Tacoma and the Duluth were incredibly helpful, quickly looking up old records and replying with specific information -- no charge. Sometimes, we exchanged rapid e-mails back and forth, sorting through facts to find the right answer. I think the researchers may have become as curious as me. However, not all libraries are so open and helpful over the Internet. For example, Spokane’s library requires you to have one of their library cards before you can submit a question. So, I went there in person, which is actually the best option if you have the time or are already in the area.

Once I found the truth, there remained the problem of the inaccurate websites. I could just ignore them, but then I’d feel like a heel. So, I decided to spend time researching who to contact to clean up the online mess. In one case, the offending party was our own Secretary of State’s office, whose online biography of our second Secretary of State, who had been Pierce County Sheriff in 1889, contained numerous inaccuracies. Another offender was the Sheriff’s Department of St. Louis County, Minnesota, whose own list of sheriffs for the 1880’s was wrong. In both cases, I contacted them with my facts. Neither has yet completely fixed their sites.

Another incident involved geographic research. In my first book, I placed the law offices of one character, who is a sleazy attorney, in a particular historic building in downtown Pittsburgh. Recently, while doing some additional research, I discovered that the building had converted to condominiums a few years ago. Ooops! I changed my story to use a fictitious office building.

The bottom line is, if you can’t have your boots on the ground where your story takes place, it’s not too hard to get into trouble with information gleaned exclusively from the Web.

A New Craft

2008-02-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 10 July 2007 )

I recently attended a dinner meeting with a small Seattle area writer's organization. The guest speaker for the evening was a prominent local mystery writer, whose remarks two years earlier about her craft inspired me to begin my own journey as an author (see my earlier post entitled Liberation). [As an aside, I had the opportunity to mention that story during her Q&A session.]

The talk she gave essentially focused on the writer as a salesperson. She related personal anecdotes about situations where she had been invited to speak, but her would-be hosts were unwilling to allow her books to be available for sale at the event. When you're a published author, she said, you're in the business of selling your books -- not to freely give away your time for speeches. Therefore, no sales, no speech.

While on the face of it, this may seem obvious. But still, her practical presentation of the subject was very enlightening. I intellectually knew that, at some level as an author, I would need to peddle my works. But she brought home the point that basically everywhere you appear as an author, you need to be prepared to sell.

It's a fact: some people know how to sell better than others. The guest speaker has a background in the insurance industry, and thus had been trained to break down potential customers' inclination to say "No". Thinking about it later, I remembered that, in an earlier life, Tom Clancy was also in the insurance business. Does this mean that people with formal training and work experience in sales have a much better chance at long-term sales success as an author, versus somebody from another field, such as homemaker or engineer?

Another fascinating tidbit that our speaker mentioned was the idea of focusing your early career sales efforts in your regional market. This allows you to build up a following without the time and expense of a national travel schedule, and still show your publisher that your work is viable. If you continue to have a real job to support yourself, this kind of strategy seems especially appealing.

The transition in one's life to become a writer is a definite learning experience by itself. We accumulate bits and pieces of knowledge about our craft and constantly roll them into our work, refining every page and every word to be just right. But once we've written that great novel or how-to book, there's a new transition waiting for us out there once we are published; the role of salesperson. If we haven't been there before, it's a whole new craft to learn.

Web Musings #1 - Is Everything Online Now?

2008-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 11 April 2007 )

The amount of information on the World Wide Web never ceases to amaze me. I was reminded of this again recently while doing research for my second novel, Double Fire, I needed to know who held the position of Sheriff in certain counties of Washington Territory during the late 1800's. As far as I can tell, there's no neat, clean database of this information. I found that persistent digging with various search engines would eventually produce the answer on some deepy obscure site. In addition to the sheriff's names, I was startled to find photos of these men - sometimes more than one - and biographical sketches! Two of the sheriffs of particular interest had gone on to higher office in the new State of Washington. In two cases, I found the names of their spouses.

I also discovered some surprising items, such as details of a visit to Washington Territory by the poet/novelist Rudyard Kipling. This small factoid allowed me to work him in as a minor character who crosses paths with my protagonist and helps solve a puzzle. For a historical novelist, this was a welcome, delicious morsel to stumble across in the cupboard of my nascent plot ideas.

Another example has to do with a long-departed hotel in old Tacoma. I wanted to describe it, at least minimally, to my reader, but only had its name. Again, through persistent digging, I actually found a site with a postcard that contained a color rendering of the very hotel, accompanied by a description of its location.

I have been able to find all of this information, and much more, without ever having to part company with my trusty (if aged) computer. But, as with any reserach, I have to remind myself to double check the facts with other sources. Mistakes (and misinformation) are sadly all too common on the Web. Eventually, I will make that trip out of the house - squinting at the unfamiliar bright sunlight - and pry open the musty old books and papers that await in the region's libraries and historical societies.

Liberation

2008-02-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

Copyright © 2007, Steven E. Houchin
( Originally written 18 January 2007 )

Writing fiction is for "real writers" who have studied for years under the great masters, and have stacks of credentials from prestigious universities. Isn't that right? People who have those credentials may, indeed, become great writers. The rest of us who have a good grasp of the language and dream of writing ... well let's be realistic here. Writing is for the pros.

The problem with this is that average people do become fine writers, and even make money and gain some measure of fame. They become pros. Is it possible that the "only real writers write" syndrome inhibits most of us from pursuing that dream? For far too long, that was the case with me. As an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, I always said to myself, "I would love to write something like this." That sentiment slowly evolved into, "Gee, I ought to be able to write this stuff." But then, I wasn't a "pro" and didn't know how to take that first step. Where would I get a story idea? How would I turn it into a book?

One evening four years ago, I attended a short talk given by a famous Northwest author. Someone asked her, "How do you go about getting started on a new book? Do you first make an outline?" An excellent question -- one that had been nagging me. The "pros" create elaborate outlines and "story arcs". I didn't have anything approaching a full story in my head -- just a couple of bits and pieces. And I certainly didn't have any intention to sit down and grind out an outline.

The author's answer stunned me. "I don't outline," she said. "I just don't have the patience for it. I just sit down and start writing." How could she say that? She's a "pro", isn't she? The proverbial lightbulb went off in my head. You mean, I can just start writing a novel and not know everything about the story beforehand? Yup. At that very moment, I said to myself, "Well, hell ... I can do that!"

It has been said, "Write what you know about." I know genealogy, among a few other things. I thought, "How can I possibly make genealogy be interesting ... or even suspenseful?" I had a small idea and began writing. I wrote a lot, and the story just flowed from my brain through my fingers. Characters and subplots popped out of nowhere. The pages and chapters piled up.

But, I had made a mistake . Writing fiction is a definite skill which must be learned, like any other. It's more than pouring out sentences and dialog. It's more than writing alone in a vacuum. I found that out when I began attending a writer's critique group. My writing needed lots of polishing, and I'd broken many of the rules of good fiction writing. Thus began endless rounds of critique, rewrite, cutting, and editing. I took classes and attended workshops. I discovered what I'd done wrong, and began to learn what to not do wrong in the future. It has been a process of incremental improvment of my craft, which has enhanced the sheer, liberating, enjoyment of writing fiction.