Behind The Words

Happy New Year!

Barbara Wood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:09:05 -0600

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Barbara Wood — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:00:02 -0600

Is It Okay To Burn Books?

Barbara Wood — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:40:52 -0500

When I finished writing “The Divining” (a novel inspired by Soul Flame), I began research on my next book, “The Serpent and the Staff,” which takes place in the Middle East in the year 1450 BCE. For better frame of historical reference, this is during the reign of the great Egyptian Pharaoh, Thutmose the Third (stepson of Queen Hatshepsut), or for Biblical reference, roughly between Joseph and Moses. Therefore, my research calls for sources on daily life in early Bible times. One book I picked up was titled “Daily Life In the Old Testament,” and it tells us how Moses and Miriam would have lived, how they got around, what they wore, what they ate. It is a book aimed at young people (actually, it is a text book for Sunday school and Sabbath school), but I chose it because it is beautifully illustrated and helps me to visualize the world I am going to create.

I was doing fine with it until I came to the chapter on clothing. The author tells us that early Israelites made their clothes mostly from wool. But rich people also wore Egyptian linen and --- robes made of silk. This gave me pause. Silk originated in China and did not reach the Western world until Alexander the great (approximately 300 years before Christ). Although this error annoyed me, I continued with the book.

I came to the chapter on food in which the author assures us that people in Israel and Canaan four thousand years ago ate pretty much the same thing they eat today, and the two examples given are rice and corn.
This shocked me. Like silk, rice originated in China and did not reach the West until around the time of the Caesars. I was willing, however, to let even that error slip by, but I balked at corn. What was this author – and her editors – thinking? Corn is indigenous to the Americas and it was not discovered by Europeans until 1492 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus!

Three glaring errors in a textbook for children. Factual mistakes in fiction is bad enough (even I have been known to make one or two) but a Sunday school text should be taken for, well, Gospel! I got mad and threw the book out since obviously nothing else in those pages could be trusted.
I shudder to think how many copies of that book are floating around out there, and how many children and Sabbath school teachers think that Moses wore silk while he dined on rice and corn.

A Beautiful Quote

Barbara Wood — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:43:20 -0500

I thought: Hope still bears fruit. What a lovely quote. And how unusual for the character of Nick Stokes who tends to be a good ol’ boy with not much depth of thought. I stopped the DVD and went to my desk to write the quote down, thinking it was a good sentiment to remind oneself of each day, that hope still bears fruit no matter what. I thought I might even include it in my newest book, Serpent and the Staff, and have one of my characters utter it during a particularly stressful scene, a reminder that no matter how trying times might be, how dark things might look, one needs only hope and it will somehow bear fruit.

I went on to other tasks that day and did not return to finish the CSI episode until the next evening. I rewound the DVD a few minutes to refresh myself on the story, and finally came again to supervisor Grissom entering the lab and asking Stokes how he was coming along with the tree analysis. Stokes says, “Nothing yet, but oaks don’t bear fruit, so I am going to examine the tree rings next.”

I still think it’s a beautiful quote.

Frequently Asked Questions

Barbara Wood — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:27:16 -0500

A: While Dr. Hargrave is fictional and a product of my imagination, her character is based on women doctors who lived in the Nineteenth Century, therefore she is a composite of Elizabeth Blackwell, Ann Preston, Elizabeth Anderson, and others.

Q: DAUGHTER OF THE SUN vividly describes the Anasazi culture. Do we know what became of the extinct race that once lived in Chaco Canyon?

A: Although there are many theories, no one knows what became of a flourishing culture that vanished quickly and without trace. Historians and archaeologists cannot agree on a single theory. Daughter of the Sun is my personal theory and one which I believe is quite possible.

Q: In The Dreaming you have a steamship becalmed on the ocean. If it’s a steamship, how can it get becalmed?

A: When they run out of fuel to burn, which happened quite a lot in the Nineteenth Century. When the coal ran out, captains were forced to burn ship-board furniture or anything combustible, including precious cargo.

Q: In The Dreaming, does Karra Karra really exist?

A: No, I made it up.

Q: I visited Egypt and tried to find the house you describe in Virgins of Paradise. Where can I find Virgins of Paradise Street in Cairo?

A: Nowhere. The street, and house, are products of my imagination.

Q: I loved The Watch Gods and would like to know more about the mummies of Akhenaton and Nefertiti. Have they ever been found?

A: There are many mummies in Egypt still without positive identification and some Egyptologists believe that among them are those of the pharaoh and queen of the Amarna period. But so far it is all conjecture. While a few Egyptologists say that Mummy 61074, found in KV55 (an unfinished tomb in the Valley of the Kings) is Akhenaten's, so far no definite proof has been found. As for Nefertiti, finding her remains is every Egyptologist’s dream. A few years back, a claim was made and a mummy “positively” identified as that of the famous queen. But the claim was savagely shot down by the archaeological community, and I myself did not believe the claim (for too many reasons to go into here).

Q: As Kathryn Harvey you wrote Butterfly, about a house of pleasure for women. Does such an establishment really exist?

A: Not that I know of. But I think if it did, the line to get in would be around the block.

The Long-Lost Diary

Barbara Wood — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:07:28 -0500

Some entries are painful to read (“What is life? What is love? What is God?”), others nostalgic (“Dad took me out for my first driving lesson today), and many humorous (“Wonton licked Mike Manchen’s neck and then she threw up on the carpet”) A few are even written in French and German as I was studying those languages at the time. But one entry stands out. It is dated November 17th, and it goes like this:
     “Dear Diary, Guess what! Need I explain details except that we had lunch at Dupar’s, went to the museum, had fun and came home in a crowd. Oh heck, I’ll never forget this day, so why bother writing about it?”
    Well, of course I have forgotten that day. I have absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Dupar’s, as I recall, was a coffee shop on Ventura Boulevard, but I don’t know what museum I am referring to, and I certainly don’t know who “we” are. I also have a feeling I didn’t mean to write “crowd,” but rather “cloud,” (it seems to be one of my favorite words as a teenager – in a lot of the diary entries I describe myself as being in a cloud, which I take to mean I was happy).
     I looked at the entries leading up to and following that date – all dealing with school, girlfriends, books I was reading, driving lessons, and Johnny. But none illuminate me on what was so monumental about November 17 that I thought I would never forget it. And I certainly don’t remember who I was with on that unforgettable day!
     With luck, the “we” is an old friend who reads this blog, and maybe his or her memory is better than mine. Drop me an email, please. I hope that day was a little more memorable for you than it was for me. (And I hope there is no offense taken that I have forgotten our special day together!)

Image Source:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/laraz/art/6689299-walking-on-clouds

A Shared Dream

Barbara Wood — Tue, 24 May 2011 11:42:02 -0500

We had covered miles in silence, both of us in private thought. I had my window rolled down. My hair whipped about my face. I was thinking about my golf game – I definitely need to work on my back swing – when my husband suddenly said, “Hey honey, you know what we should do?”
     I smiled. “Yes, dear?”
     He said, “We should get ourselves a little vacation home. Nothing elaborate, just a simple get-away place we can go to a few times a year.”
     I said, “What a coincidence, I have been thinking the same thing.”
     He got excited. “Yeah! I'm thinking a little cabin on the Kenai River in Alaska where we can fish for salmon and drink beer all day.”
     I replied, “Well, my vision is pretty close to that, except it’s a small
condo on a Palm Springs golf course where we can sit by the pool and sip
margaritas all day.”
     I think we are going to have to work on this.

Adultery or Golf?

Barbara Wood — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:57:05 -0500

Golf is confusing and complicated enough. So are romantic affairs, for that fact. My point is, the English language can be tricky. Whether you are speaking it or writing it, you have to be careful in your wording. The difference between “a round” and “around” can mean drinks in the clubhouse or a trip to the divorce court.

By the way, as it turned out, Vicki broke a hundred while Bill played four over.

The Ingenious Ways People Sit

Barbara Wood — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:26:21 -0500

Finding a place to sit, however, is problematic. The rule of the golf course is you can bring a chair but you cannot leave it unattended, which means you carry it from hole to hole. If you want to be comfy, bring a nice big lawn chair, and I did indeed spot a few hardy individuals with such furniture strapped to their backs. I spotted tripod collapsible stools, legless “canoe” seats, armless and legless “stadium” seats – some of which even came with attached umbrellas and cup holders! I even saw people sitting on cardboard boxes and plastic grocery crates. The minimalists, of course, brought those strange little sticks with the two flaps that fold out – as if that would hold MY derriere! (Handy to carry, yes, but what if you unwittingly plant your tripod in soft soil? You sit, down goes the pole into the earth, and there you are smacksaddle on the grass.) Another problem is that golf courses are hilly. You find little flat ground around a Tee box or green. We were gathered at the tenth green to watch golf legend Lee Trevino sink a putt when the lady in front of me put her tiny little folding chair on the grass, sat herself down, and promptly fell over backwards, her feet going up in the air and over her head. Down the hill she tumbled, taking me and several others with her. I missed Trevino’s putt.

By the end of the day, I confess that my feet were killing me. I think I’ll take a bean bag chair with me to the next event.

Who Was Saint Patrick Really?

Barbara Wood — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:14:35 -0500

But who was this Irish saint? According to Wikipedia, in the Fourth Century Patrick was captured as a slave when he was sixteen years old and taken to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family in Britain. After entering the Church, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century Patrick had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland. However, most available details of his life are from later biographies, and are looked upon with doubt and criticism.

Although my research led me to realize that very little is known about one of the most famous saints in Christendom, and although there are many theories revolving around his life, his works and who he really was, it doesn’t mean we should cease to celebrate in his name on March 17. It is a fun holiday, after all, and gives everyone the opportunity to live it up and have a good time. I, too, like to join in St. Patrick’s Day revels – although I do draw the line at drinking green beer!

My Important Socks . . .

Barbara Wood — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:37:51 -0600

Why do we do it? I don’t have the answer to that. But I am always in search of tools to help me break that bad habit and get me back on my writing track. This is one reason why I collect words and sayings of inspiration, and I read them now and then to give me that boost to get me focused on my latest book (and away from my sock drawer). One useful tool that gets me going is to choose what’s important. Having ten things calling for our immediate attention can be overwhelming and so we end up watching TV. I might have a character who needs better definition, or an action scene that’s too slow, or a descriptive paragraph that is giving me grief. I can’t write them all at once and so I shy away. One way I overcome this is to choose just one and forget about the rest.

When I have selected that task, singled it out and put everything else on the back burner, my next handy tool is to just get started. Sounds easy, and it is! I employ two methods: sometimes I just plunge in and tackle that pesky chapter, or I take baby steps and work on one sentence at a time. Like the tortoise in his race against the hare, slow and steady gets the work done.

The third helpful tool that I use is reminding myself not to bite off more than I can chew. This is All-or-Nothing thinking, and I am frequently guilty of it. I have to remind myself that I cannot write a novel in a day (although I would love to!) but I CAN write a page or a sentence today – as I suggested in my last blog. Ryan Waggoner on lifehacker.com stated it perfectly when he said that any step, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction. And he is so right.

Okay, I have procrastinated enough. My socks are in order. Blog is written. Back to Chapter Three and that uncooperative character.

Happy Valentine's Day

Barbara Wood — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:14:08 -0600

Who Ever Loved That Loved Not at First Sight?

by Christopher Marlowe

It lies not in our power to love or hate,

For will in us is overruled by fate.

When two are stripped, long ere the course begin,

We wish that one should love, the other win;

And one especially do we affect

Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:

The reason no man knows; let it suffice

What we behold is censured by our eyes.

Where both deliberate, the love is slight:

Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?

Image Source: www.midwestpoet.wordpress.com

The 365-Day Novel

Barbara Wood — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:46:03 -0600

This is so true! I am frequently asked for advice on how to write a novel, and at the top of that list of questions is, "How do you manage to write so many pages? It seems an impossible task!" Yes, it does, if you look at the novel as a whole. But let's look at a book from a different angle - one page at a time.

I call it baby steps, and this is in fact how I myself write a book - one bit at a time. While I do keep a goal in mind, and the over-all arc of the book (that is, making sure the ending fits the beginning), I break my story down into little pieces and take care of one piece at a time. This way, the idea of writing a novel isn't overwhelming or daunting.

And so when people ask me how can they possibly write a whole book, this is what I say: "Can you write just one page?" The answer is always, "Yes." After all, one page is doable whereas a whole book might not seem so. Therefore, just write one page. That is literally all you have to do. Today, the first day of a brand-new year, sit down and write just one page of that novel you've been carrying around in your head. When you have finished that one page, put it away and don't work on it anymore.

And then tomorrow, do it again. Write another page! If you do this simple task everyday for a year, you will have your novel. Why? Because the average novel is 365 pages long! How cool is that?

Good luck, and God bless!

Happy Holidays!

Barbara Wood — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:15:11 -0600

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Barbara Wood — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:57:30 -0600