Behind The Words

True Story

It’s that time of the year again, when my husband flies to Iowa to play in a PGA tournament. I am STILL embarrassed about a phone conversation I had a year ago with the lady who manages the lodge where my husband stays. The golf course is in the middle of no where, miles from civilization, and the accommodations are rustic. As my husband was going to be arriving there very late, I decided to call ahead and let them know of his late arrival and to please hold his room.

The following exchange took place . . .

Mom-Chairs

In my book, “This Golden Land,” the hero is a mid-19th century photographer, and while doing research on early photography I came across an interesting fact.

Because the process required that the subject sit still for a long time (up to forty-five minutes in some cases) it was difficult to photograph kids. So photographers came up with ingenious ways to get the little tykes to sit still. One of these was to have moms hold the wriggly child in place without themselves being in the picture. How?

Serpent And The Staff

My latest book is available for pre-order at amazon.com

Ugarit, Syria, 1450 B.C.E. Eighteen-year-old Leah, the eldest daughter of a wealthy winemaker, is past the traditional age of betrothal. Vowed to wed the wealthy but cruel shipbuilder Jotham, Leah declines his offer of marriage after discovering that he and his family suffer from “the falling sickness.” Enraged by her refusal and his ruined reputation, he blackmails Leah’s father, a punishment forgiven only by offering Leah’s hand in marriage. With no more options for another suitor and no male heir for her family, Leah must seek out the cure for Jotham’s sickness or her family will face permanent ruin . . .

Happy Mother's Day

To all the Moms out there,

Happy

Mother's

Day!

Dude!

Writing dialogue for a nineteenth century story can be a challenge sometimes because modernisms are bound to creep in. One contemporary word baffles me. “Dude.” What exactly does it mean? How did it get started? It can be a term of address, or a simple expletive as in, “Dude!” But it’s a word that only works today. History could not have supported such a term – in fact, I wonder which direction history would have gone in if “Dude” had been in use because it’s for sure you can never take a sentence seriously if it has the word “Dude” in it.

Howzat Again?

I just read a funny article on how kids “hear” the Pledge of Allegiance. I had these same problems when I was little. For the life of me couldn't figure out who “Liverdy” and “Justice Verall” were, but I knew that they must be important people. Or why we were pledging to four witches where they stand. (My older and wiser fourth grader brother laughed and said I was stupid. “Don’t you know it’s ‘For Richard Stands?’”) And why we were invisible under God – I mean, doesn’t He see everything?

Call 911

Disaster struck this morning as I prepared to tackle a particularly challenging chapter in my latest book. I discovered I had run out of cream for my coffee! This would not do. I cannot begin my day without my sweet, white java. So I jumped in the car and raced to the corner gas station that also has a small convenience store called “Expenso-Mart.” I scoured the refrigerated cases but found no cold dairy – not even milk. So I settled for a carton of “liquid non-dairy creamer.” It looked good on the carton and promised to be a great adjunct to coffee, as well as promising to be lactose-free and cholesterol-free.

A Word Of Caution

For those of you thinking of setting a story in an environment outside your own sphere, let me share a personal lesson: check the place out first before you decide where to set your fictional house!

During my last visit to Hawai'i, I fell in love with the Puna District on the Big Island, and decided I wanted to put my fictitious ancestral home there. After days of slaving over maps, studying geological and geographical features, and researching pivotal historical events to determine precisely where my characters were going to live, I had the following phone conversation with a friend living in Pahoa (I am consulting with him on research).

Me: “What do you mean I can’t put my house there?”
Larry: “Well, it’s in the middle of a lava flow.”

Now I have to start over, and take into account the blimmin volcano! I think, in the future, I will not write about a place where the landscape is constantly changing.

The Future Is A Surprising Place

Years ago, when I was young and wrote stories on a typewriter, or spoke to friends on the phone, watched TV, helped Mom cook dinner in the kitchen, little did I know that the commonplace tools I was using would someday have to be retro-fitted with adjectives to identify them as different from their future counterparts.

Our phone became a “rotary” phone. Our TV had to be specified as a black and white set. My typewriter became labeled “manual.” And while the oven in the kitchen remained an oven, we got “microwave” and “toaster” and “convection” ovens as well!

Can You Own Words?

I read recently that the Swedes officially added the word “ogooglebar” to their national language – it translates as “ungooglable” and refers to anything that cannot be tracked down in an online search.

But Google didn’t like their name being tied to a word referring to general online searches, and asked that the definition be amended to describe only searches performed via Google. The Swedes removed the word altogether from the official list of new Swedish terms.

I doubt that’s going to stop people from using it, though.

Are You Serious?

I am not making this up.

No research into the history of Hawai'i would be complete without knowing something about Sanford B. Dole, the pineapple king who helped overthrow the monarchy and declare Hawai'i to be an independent republic (of which he himself was President for a brief time). Reading the Wikipedia entry on Dole, I came to the Dole family tree, and my eye locked on Sanford’s grandfather.

Are you ready for this?

. . .

Writing Humor

I tried writing humor once but my agent wrote back, “Is this supposed to be funny?” Most humor doesn't travel well. By that I mean that something that’s funny in one place might fall flat in another. And a story that is funny when told orally, can be a bomb when written on a page (you don’t get the benefit of pauses, vocal inflections, gestures). Therefore I take my hat off to those who are successful in writing humor! Here are a few I admire:

Four Little Words

Every time I finish a chapter, I go through and cut out all the unnecessary words. It’s a challenge, but I believe in the old adage that “less is more.” Words carry more punch if you use fewer. What was it famous columnist Walter Winchell said? Adverbs and adjectives dilute your text the way ice cubes dilute bourbon.

Consider the amount of wisdom packed into only four words:

. . .

Samurais & Geishas

A reader who is writing her first novel (about feudal Japan) asked me how a writer knows when she’s done enough research and it’s time to start writing. The rule of thumb on research is, if you aren’t learning anything new, you’re done.

Several years ago I visited Cancun as a tourist, and while visiting the ruins at Chichen Itza, I wondered who had built this amazing pyramid. Even more intriguing was why, and how? A little research led me to a new interest, and out of that sprang the inspiration for my novel, “Woman Of A Thousand Secrets.”

Great Advice

Inspiring words from Jim Jarmusch, American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer:

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to.’"

An April Announcement

Dear Friends, I always welcome suggestions and advice. I don’t always implement them, however.

For example: communication. I have a mailbox on my street where letters and cards are delivered. I have a land line telephone that rings and stores messages on a machine. I have a cell phone that chimes when I get voice mail and texts. I have email that bings every time a message drops in. I have a website that I visit regularly to chat and retrieve messages. I have a Facebook page that I visit regularly to chat and retrieve messages.

But I draw the line and Twitter and Tweet. I worry that if I open one more line of communication my brain will explode.

Thank you and God bless.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY

EASTER

EVERYONE!!

Make It A Good Start

Crime writer Mickey Spillane said that, when you write a book, keep in mind that your opening sentence sells the book, and your final sentence sells the next book.

That first line in any book is the most important line in the book. It grabs the reader and drags him or her into the story. Boring openings mean boring sales.

Here are a few examples of opening lines from successful novels:

“In 1940, when I was thirty-one and an old maid, while the whole world waited for war, I fell in love with John Berringer.” SHINING THROUGH by Susan Isaacs

“Call me Ishmael.” MOBY DICK by Herman Melville . . .

It's Not About The Belly

A reader who wrote to me to say she had enjoyed “Virgins of Paradise,” added that she had once wanted to try belly dancing but the dance instructor told her she didn’t have the belly for it.

This mystifies me as the word “belly” has nothing to do with anatomy. It’s a corruption of the word “beledi” which is Arabic for “folk.” When Westerners were first exposed to Middle Eastern dancing in the 19th century, they mis-heard the word “beledi” and assumed that, since the dancer’s moves draw the audience’s eyes to her enticingly swaying abdomen, the word was “belly.”

I explained this to the reader who had given up dance lessons, and encouraged her to go back (Oriental Dance, as we call it today, is one of the best exercises I know) – although to a different instructor!

Secret Fantasies

I was invited to a book group to discuss my Kathryn Harvey books, and I led the twenty or so members in a lively and frank discussion on women’s sexual fantasies.

One lady, however, did not seem to approve. She wasn’t a member of the club but had come with one of them – she was a relative visiting from Spain, an older lady, elegant, her hair combed back in a bun flamenco-dancer-style. She sat with a very straight back, her hands in her lap, her face unreadable. For two hours I couldn’t get her to smile, even though the rest of us were laughing our heads off (the banter got quite racy at times). She made me nervous as I knew she didn’t like the sinful path I had led the others down.