The Writers in Residence

Once upon a time…

by Jackie Houchin

Once upon a time, in a WAY long time ago, before I had a smartphone, a computer, an online presence, or even a typewriter, I wrote with a pencil, on lined school paper. I wrote letters (to pen pals and cousins), stories (mostly tragically romantic vignettes in far-off places), and I wrote in small daily diaries.

You know those little books, about four by five inches, with a strap that wrapped across the pages and fit into a lock on the front, and had a half-inch, flat key to secure it. I mean, even a fork or a good slap could open them!

The pages were dated, but you had to fill in the year. And you had to write quite small if you had a lot to say, like I did. Wow, did they hold secrets! And souvenirs – another good reason for that little strap and key. I wrote about feelings, events, boys, teachers, embarrassments, fights, dreams, disappointments, and things or people who made me mad, jealous, or envious.

One day, I found and opened a thirty-five-year-old diary like that. Oh, my goodness! I slammed it shut and looked around me. Then I carried it to a small chair in a corner of the bedroom and opened it again.

I wrote THAT? And that? Oh, my!

I laughed. I cringed. I even cried a little. A couple of times, I gazed off into space, seeing and reliving a sweet incident. I’d smile and sigh.

How would my life be different if THAT had happened? Or hadn’t happened? Or if I’d said something else? Or acted quickly, nicely, or at least not selfishly? What if….?

What if?

That’s the way fiction writers often dredge up a story idea or outline. What if such and such happened, or someone said or did THAT?

I glanced down at the diary and thumbed through the pages, stopping now and then to read a heavily underlined passage. WHOA!

I eventually put the little book back into the cardboard box with maybe eight others like it. I’ll read them all, I promised myself. I’ll write a story or two. Is there enough for a book, I wondered?

I stretched the duct tape tightly across the flaps and penciled “diaries” on the front. Tomorrow we will take the last of these attic finds to our new house. After all the unpacking and settling in, I will dig out these diaries and sit at my computer, and type, “What if….?”

Halfway down the busy freeway to the new house, traveling at 65 mph, our heavily packed pick-up truck hit a pothole. In the passenger side mirror, I saw a small box jump and pitch itself over the truck’s railing. When it landed, the box split apart. Small square objects flew out and bounced into the bushes growing close along the side.

“OH!” I cried.

“What?” my hubby asked.

“My diaries! Didn’t you tie the boxes down?”

“I did!”

“But…”

There was no place to pull over. No going around. No going back, either along the freeway… or to that youthful time long ago.

I sat stunned. Then I laughed, imagining some homeless dude living in the bushes finding and being entertained by my teenage drama and angst. Or maybe a gang of miscreants wearing orange vests and carrying plastic bags would come by to clean up the roadside trash, and find them.

Hey, my stories could be read in jail! Perhaps even traded among the inmates for snacks or phone calls. Juicy sections could be copied on the backs of old envelopes and reread a hundred times. Pages might be torn out and passed on to new inductees as the old timers were released. My audience would grow! I might become “a best-selling author!”

Well, maybe not.

Anyway, that’s why I never wrote the “Great American Novel.”

Did you ever write in diaries? Do you keep a journal now? If so, is what you write “stream-of-consciousness” or does it have a specific purpose? Have you ever reread your previous ones from a year ago, or many years past?

Free Write Your Way Out of Writer’s Block

By Maggie King

Writer’s block. Many writers suffer from this condition. I used to scoff at the very idea of writer’s block, regarding it as another way for writers to procrastinate. But the creative slowdown I’ve experienced for several months has humbled me.

I’m not blocked for ideas, I have them by the dozen. The problem lies in creating a story, one people would actually want to read. My writing skills have gone on hiatus.

My solution: free writing. According to Matt Ellis in his post in Grammarly.com, “How Freewriting Can Boost Your Creativity,” freewriting is a technique in which the author writes their thoughts quickly and continuously, without worrying about form, style, or even grammar.

Mr. Ellis extols the benefits of this practice: “The benefits of free writing revolve around organization, brainstorming, and inspiration, as well as beating writer’s block and relieving certain anxieties. Just getting anything written, even if it is imperfect, can jump-start creativity.”

Author Natalie Goldberg also encourages free writing, or “first thoughts” in her parlance. In this excerpt from her classic Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within she explains how to write first thoughts (#6 is a tough one!):

Keep your hand moving. Don’t pause to read what you’ve just written.
That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying.
Don’t cross out. That is editing as you write. Even if you write something
you didn’t mean to write, leave it.
Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. Don’t even care about
staying in the margins and lines on the page.
Lose control.
Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
Go for the jugular. If something comes up in your writing that is scary or
naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.

Sometimes I write from a prompt (maybe not technically free writing, but who’s nitpicking?); at other times I simply write whatever comes forth. I set a timer on my smart watch for thirty minutes and go, without stopping. At first I went for ten minute sprints, but soon found that half an hour worked best. My thoughts and words flow. When the timer goes off, I pause, then go for another thirty minutes. At that point my hand needs a rest!

My free writing is turning into a memoir. Nothing organized or even chronological—whatever occurs to me ends up on the page. What occurs are often experiences from my past: family, people I’ve known, jobs held, schools attended, challenges faced. I’ve devoted pages and pages to my summers spent with relatives in a rural part of upstate New York.

It’s been an enlightening process, especially as I discover how my perspectives have changed over the years. Frankly, there are memories I’d like to keep buried, but I’ve found it liberating to get them down on paper (See #6 of Natalie Goldberg’s list above).

Since I started this process in July, I now look forward to writing each day. I can’t yet report much creative writing activity, but last week I was invited to submit a short story to an anthology. I have a great idea for a story (remember, I have no dearth of ideas) and now feel up to the challenge of actually writing it.

And now, please excuse me … it’s time to free write!

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Naming Characters

by Gayle Bartos-Pool

Sometimes the name of a character a writer uses just pops into their head. Other times they use the name of a friend or relative. There are also times when the writer changes the name they started with when they realize it doesn’t fit the character anymore. But how is that possible? The writer is just making up the name and the story.

Well, it’s like this…

When a writer is creating a story, they are creating a new world. It will be filled with things everyone will recognize or at least understand if the writer gives good descriptions. A space odyssey might be made-up, but there will be enough things explained so the reader can follow along. Hey, the people who wrote the Star Trek episodes imagined fantasy gadgets that were actually invented many years later by real scientists who used roughly the same concept and style for actual things we use today… “Scotty, beam me up!”

But character names can be tricky.

If one is writing a story that takes place a hundred years ago, names like Tiffany or Jaiden might not work. Watch an old movie and check out the names used. Or maybe read an old book. But something interesting is happening now in the first quarter of the 21^st Century. Names from fifty to seventy-five years ago are making a comeback. This will probably mean that you can use any name for a contemporary story. But there still is the problem of fitting the name to the character.

In most cases you wouldn’t want the “heavy” in a cops and robber tale to have a cutesy name like Willy or Felix. They would more likely be the comic relief characters in another story. The same is true with the hero’s name. It would have to be something a bit stronger like Max or Duke. Remember, studio executives and a director changed Marion Morrison’s name to John Wayne to fit the type of characters he would be playing in the movies. And that’s a fact.

Female names have the same concerns. The female lead in a romantic story could be called April or Amber, not Bertha or Myrtle. Wilhemina could definitely be the name of the amateur sleuth in a cozy mystery. She could be a librarian or maybe an older sleuth like a Miss Marple.

Names can do as much to define a character as what he or she does within those pages. If you start off by introducing your main character with his or her name linked to a strong action, it will help the reader understand the part they are playing. But that is only if you want the reader to know who they really are from the start.

If, for some reason, you wanted to gradually introduce your hero, you could peel away certain aspects of your lead character by letting him show the reader those special qualities a little at a time, but that method is usually meant for the villain who starts off as just one of the boys or maybe some influential person in the plot, but who knew he was actually the bad guy? The hero will finally see the real person under all that finery and expose him.

As for the hero, usually the reader knows who he is from the beginning, but the hero might have to discover that truth about himself by peeling away his own fears and finding his own strength when push comes to shove at the end of the book. The reader will be rooting for him, but he has to do the work.

But establishing the name for that character will still take some planning. Now that we have access to the Internet, you can type in the name that you have cleverly come up with. It fits the parameters of your story. It isn’t too quirky or too cumbersome. But “what if” there is some famous person with the same name out there? Just about every name I have come up with has two or twenty-two people with the same name on the Internet. I have a rule: If it isn’t some current name in the news and I like it, I’ll go with it.

I seldom use the actual name of a friend in my stories. If I only use their first name, I’ll do that, but I have added little changes to their names just for fun. The reason I do this is because I do want my characters to have a life of their own. After all, my friends have their own lives. But it’s fun to use their first name for a character who makes a “special guest appearance.” I even used a version of my dad’s name in my spy novels. Dad dealt with spy planes and did some rather interesting things that are still classified, so calling my character “Ralph Barton” instead of “Ralph Bartos” worked. And dad got a kick out of it.

I probably do keep the names of my characters fairly simple. If they are all wildly intricate with too many syllables, the reader might get lost in the multi-syllabic confusion. And several odd names might confuse the reader as well. They might think Henrietta is Hildegard and not understand why the wrong one riding in the taxi with the killer.

So, I keep the names a little simpler and do something else. I don’t have three or four characters in the same story with a name that begins with the same letter. This makes it easier for the reader to follow, and it actually makes writing the story easier, too. I don’t want to confuse my characters while I’m writing.

And I do try to fit the name to the character. One of the fun names I picked was for my second private detective series. It came about this way. I always liked the old detective shows on television back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. And the private eyes from the old black and white movies I watched on the movie channel. I wanted this new character to be a tribute to those guys. Too bad they don’t have good detective shows on TV anymore. Our loss.

I started with Sam Spade. That was the name of the character Humphrey Bogart played in The Maltese Falcon based on the 1930’s novel written by Dashiell Hammett. A classic. I also liked the television series, “Richard Diamond,” starring David Janssen, that ran from 1956 to1960. I was a fan of “Hart to Hart,” starring Robert Wagner that ran from 1979-1984.

So, I liked all these cool detectives. I noticed that their names were like the different suits in a deck of playing cards – Spade, Diamond, Heart. I needed a Club, but that name wouldn’t work. Sounded like a caveman or something.

Then I thought: what’s another word for “club”?

There’s gaming club, gambling club, and a gambling casino!

How about just casino?

And Johnny Casino was born.

The name fit this character who took a chance, changed his name from Cassini to Casino after he worked on a gambling ship near Maimi and had to leave in a hurry. He then took another chance and moved to Los Angeles and after getting his life together, he became a private investigator.

But I worked on getting his name and his life right…Three books later, I guess the “chance” I took paid off.

And you know what? There was one more chance in this story. Another character was working his way into my head. His name: Chance McCoy. He got a second chance in life himself. There are three books in his detective series.

You see, names do matter. If they fit the character you’re writing, they can lead you to many new places. Write On!

PLOT, PLOT, PLOT

by Linda O. Johnston

We’re all novelists here at Writers in Residence. That means we all tell stories that may have some origin in fact, or not. But what we finish up with is fiction.

Whether I’m writing romantic suspense or mystery these days, the genres I’m into most, there always needs to be a plot. I’m not sure what the best definition of “plot” is, but in my estimation it’s how a story starts and continues and develops, with one thing that happens leading to the next until the grand finale, and then the wrap-up.

Where do my plots come from? My mind! I ponder them a lot as I plan a story and then write it, with things sometimes changing from what I originally intended. I make it somewhat easier on myself by plotting in advance, and I’ve even developed my own plot skeleton, pages with blanks to be filled in with people and how they interact and what they’re up to, whether it’s romance or murder, or a combination!

So, you other writers here. How do you plot? Do you enjoy it? Are you usually happy with the result when you finish a draft or manuscript?

I’m usually happy. But any issues may be the key to my figuring out my next plot.

A DILEMMA OF BOOKS…

by Rosemary Lord

There I was, puffing and panting in the 90-degree sun, lugging box after box of books out to the car….

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I have always felt that one can tell a dedicated writer by the books with which they surround themselves. Although I know that nowadays, if you’re technically and digitally proficient, you can do and find everything on your computer or even on your phone.

But it’s not the same. Not for real writers! You need to READ books to be able to WRITE books. Real, actual books, that is – with carefully designed crisp paper pages, glued and sewn together – or however they do the spines now. Enticingly designed covers, beautifully matched colors, and perfect fonts. There’s a lot of work that goes into every book.

Many of those who dedicate themselves to the magical world of writing have fascinating, eclectic book collections.

I recently culled 432 books from my overwhelming assortment. And I still have many left!

How did it ever come to this?

In my defense, as a book lover, I began with just a few small (only 6”x4”) volumes I brought with me when I moved here from England: ‘Poetical Works of Tennyson,’ some Edgar Allan Poe tales, Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and a worn 1915 printing of Gene Stratton Porter’s Girl of the Limberlost, that I knew would not take up much space.

Over the years of attending so many writers’ conferences all over North America, I kept those heavy bags filled with the new books publishers gave us.

To support my fellow writers, I loyally bought the latest book by the authors I knew.

I’m a sucker for an appealing jacket cover, too – especially when Amazon made special offers so affordable, as a way to discover new writers.

I still buy books for my writing research. I have a great collection of books on Old Hollywood. And then there was my late husband, Rick’s, assortment of books on motor racing, motorbikes, animals, snakes (don’t ask!), music, finances, and the Stock Market.

And so my library grew.

But my small apartment didn’t.

I had seven tall bookcases crammed, with more books stacked on the floor in front of them.

Time for a serious cull.

I kept books that fellow writers had inscribed to me. I boxed up Rick’s books. I found several duplicate copies of paperback mysteries and ‘cozies.’ Out they go.

Of course, I kept my rare and special Hollywood books. But I was strong in my intent.

No, it’s not: ‘make room for more books,’ I tell myself!

But then, knee deep in book piles, I realized they had to go somewhere. Most of the charity shops where I donate clothes or household items are not taking any more books.

Hmmm. Where?…

Then I remembered The Last Bookstore. Years ago, my brother and I had schlepped half a dozen bags of books there to donate. It is downtown Los Angeles, at 453 Spring Street in an old bank building with marble columns and vaults filled with vintage books. Owner Josh Spenser has created an intriguing world of not just shelves and stacks of books, but enthralling shapes – a tunnel of books, higgledy-piggledy towers of hardbacks and paperbacks, with comfy armchairs and leather couches to sit and gaze and get inspired by the fantastical displays of books, vinyl records, gargoyles, and dolls.

The Last Bookstore has a free community service called Re-Book It: to ensure that books don’t end up in landfills. They will pick up your unwanted books and find new homes for them, dispersing books to schools, charities, hospitals, and retirement homes. Currently, they’re focusing on getting books into the hands of children and families who lost homes in the L.A. fires.

“Hooray!” I had found such a great solution. Then came the fun task of packing the books in boxes and bags, counting and labeling them. Of course, lots of lifting is involved, squatting and bending, too. Quite tough on the knees and the back! But I reminded myself that I was getting a free workout! And lots of empty apartment space.

The 432 books packed into 24 boxes and bags were amassed by the front door, ready for collection. Then, I learned that Re-Book It was short-staffed and could not complete the pick-up that day.

“Why don’t you bring it to our store on Lankersham?”

“Okay,” I foolishly agreed, anxious to complete this project.

It was about 8 boxes in that I began to regret my fervor of “I can do this!” The books were VERY heavy to carry across the patio, to the front lobby, and then outside to my car. What was I thinking? And it was the hottest day of the year – of course. Over 90 degrees.

I had to stop every so often, sit down with a large glass of water, and cool off in front of a fan.

But once my car was overstuffed with boxes and bags of books, I made it safely to the Valley location of The Last Bookstore on Lankersham Boulevard, just past Universal Studios.

Just as the Downtown store was a magical, mystical store – so is this one. Odd, beautiful old doors, parts of wonderful, vintage walls surrounded by an eclectic mix of books and, well, just fascinating ‘things’ to look at, curios to examine. And, of course, books: from best sellers to first editions. A book-lover’s treasure hunt. Had I not been so exhausted carrying all those books earlier, I could have easily spent an hour or three browsing there.

I was very happy that my books were going to such a lovely new home. And I returned to my apartment happy I had made more space, promising myself not to fill it back up with more books. I wonder how long that promise will last!

So, this is where we came in. My exhausting but therapeutic adventures in book culling ….

Have you ever tried culling your book collections?

…………………….

HOW TO GROW A STORY

by Miko Johnston

I wish I could take credit for the title of this post, but the idea came from one of my favorite books on writing, How To Grow A Novel by Sol Stein. So instead, I’ll focus on what I’ve learned from the parallels between gardening and writing.

Know your regional growing zone

Trying to create a desert garden in the Pacific Northwest makes no sense. If you aim to sell what you write, be sure you have, or can create, an audience for it, otherwise write for your own pleasure.

Plant your seeds at the right time

In gardening, as in writing, timing can be everything. When I began working on my Petal in the Wind series in the early 2000s, I found little information about WWI’s eastern front (in English). That changed when the 100^th anniversary of that war approached. We’re a year away from significant anniversaries: our nation’s 250^th, the 25^th of 9/11, and (looking at you, Mad) the 100^th of Route 66, any of which should stimulate interest in books inspired by these events.

Know when to use seeds and when to use starts

With my local climate, anything slow-growing, like bushes, tomatoes or delicate herbs, takes too long to grow from seed, so I buy them as starts. Ideas also can be seeds, which require a lot of development, or “starts”, inspired by an existing story. If you like the thrill of seeing a workable idea break through the soil of your imagination, then go with seeds. Otherwise, get a head start with a pre-sprouted concept.

Plant them in the right place

Some plants need protection from the late afternoon sun while others thrive in hot, sunny conditions. Planting the latter in a place that provides some shade for the former benefits both. In writing, that’s called rhythm, which keeps the scenes flowing at a good pace, with moments of intensity/drama relieved by moments of relief/humor.

Nurture your seedlings, then toughen them up

In early March I plant some vegetable seeds indoors and set them on a south-facing windowsill to sprout. By the end of April, I’ll gradually acclimate them outside once the threat of frost has passed. If they don’t die, they go into the garden. I figure if they struggle a bit to survive, they’ll taste better. Do the same with characters; create them and then challenge them. It gives them, well, character.

Sacrifice the weak for the strongest

Thinning out your seedlings allows the remaining plants ample room to thrive, and lessens the competition for water and nourishment. Overloading your story with too many characters or too much (or a too convoluted) plot will starve out the best parts of your manuscript.

Know when to harvest

Whether flowers, fruits or vegetables, some need to be picked at their peak of ripeness, some slightly earlier and left to ripen on your kitchen counter. Leave a plant too long and it bolts or rots. Then all you can hope for is to collect seeds for next year.

A story must be tended and nurtured until it’s “ripe” for picking. Sometimes that means tackling a second draft while it’s fresh in your mind, other times it’s better to let a finished manuscript sit on the shelf awhile. Just don’t let it linger too long, but if you do, take a seed from it and start again.

Like planting a garden, a great pleasure of writing is growing your seedling into a full-fledged idea, nurturing it and watching it take form until it’s complete. The food we grow feeds our bodies, while the stories we grow feeds minds. But stories have one advantage over garden products.

My writers group used to sell our books at the local farmer’s market. We’d always remind shoppers that unlike the berries, tomatoes and lettuces they’d purchased, our products wouldn’t rot if left in a hot car awhile (insert laughter here).

***

Miko Johnston, a founding member of The Writers in Residence, is the author of the historical fiction series, “A Petal in the Wind”. Her fifth and final book in the series is about to be published. She’s also a contributor to several anthologies, including the bestselling “Whidbey Island: An Insider’s Guide”. Miko lives in Washington (the big one) with her rocket scientist husband. Contact her at mikojohnstonauthor@gmail.com

GROUP QUESTION #3 – Settings & Research, Where & How Much?

By WinR members & guests

Where & when do you set your stories?
How much research do you do on that time & place?

MIKO JOHNSTON: I’ve done extensive research for my historical fiction series, set primarily in and around Prague during the first half of the 20th Century, to give it authenticity. That includes using real places, people, events – even moon cycles accurate to the day – alongside my fictional characters. Some information has been unobtainable (at least in English), so when I can’t make it accurate, I aim for plausible.

G. B. POOL (Gayle): The setting I use in my novels or short stories depends on what the story is. So many of my private detective stories are set in Los Angeles because that city is known for its “high crimes and misdemeanors,” as we saw in these old black and white detective movies from the 40s and the great TV detective series from the 60s and 70s. I watched them all. I like having my contemporary private detectives walk that same turf. My spy novels are set in various countries during WWII, the Cold War, and into the later part of the last century. That might sound like a long time ago, but I lived through part of that time, so I know the later era.

As for how I write about those other times before I came on the scene, I watch a lot of old B&W movies and see what places looked like back when they filmed them and how they dressed. It’s a great way to “see” history when you didn’t live through it.

JACKIE HOUCHIN: My dozen stories for 4th to 6th grade kids are set in present-day Malawi, Africa. However, many of the people in the surrounding areas still live in very primitive circumstances. My goal in these stories was to show upper elementary kids in America how a missionary family (with 6 children) would live among and interact with less than modern circumstances, and still have fun. (And get into trouble!)

Most of the research I did was hands-on. I visited Malawi five times, spending a couple of weeks each. I went into villages, watched kids doing chores, caring for babies and animals, and playing primitive games. I ate the food and learned a few words. I cringed at the sight of humongous insects and scary witch doctors. I lived with a missionary family each time, seeing how they “made do.” I had lots of fun, asked questions, and took copious notes! I also never caught malaria, meningitis, typhoid, or HIV. Whew!

DIANE ASCROFT (Guest): My Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries are set in Fenwater, a fictional small town in Canada, during the 1980s. The place is far from where I now live in Northern Ireland, but I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and often visited the real town of Fergus that Fenwater is inspired by. I loved the place and thought it would be a great setting for my stories.

For my series, I wanted to create a place that beckons readers to step in and stay a while, so a fictional version of Fergus was perfect. Setting my books in Canada during the 1980s is also a nostalgic journey back to my homeland. It was forty years ago when I was a young woman, so it’s a pleasure to spend time writing about the place.

JILL AMADIO: I set my contemporary mystery series on Balboa Island, Newport Beach, CA. My amateur sleuth is a British gossip columnist banished for a year at the request of the royal family, tired of her perceptive comments. She is from the fishing village of St. Ives, Cornwall, my own hometown, which allows me to recall its pub built in 1310, my school, the beaches, my father’s pharmacy, my mother’s dance academy, and the pantomimes she produced every Christmas.

My research to jog my memory is a delight as I have several travel books on the British Isles, reminding me, too, of London, where I was a newspaper reporter. I also keep up with the news in Cornwall.

ROSEMARY LORD: I have been writing mostly about Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s. I’ve always been fascinated with this era, and learned a lot more when researching my non-fiction books, Hollywood Then and Now and Los Angeles Then and Now.

I do a lot of research, which I find fascinating, and sometimes get far too carried away with that! I love to show how either simple or how difficult life was one hundred years ago, compared with today’s world.

I must confess that writing mysteries set today, when crimes may be solved using cell phones and today’s technology rather than old-fashioned “gum-shoe” sleuthing, leaves me cold!

MAGGIE KING: My stories are set in Virginia in the present day. Most take place in Richmond, the state capital. It’s a city rich in history and culture, and it boasts two major universities. Many of the residents, myself included, moved here from other parts of the country and the world.

Charlottesville and Fredericksburg are also Virginia cities featured in my work. A few months ago, I posted here about a research trip I took to Charlottesville. It’s important to get the details right!

To date, I’ve been content to set my stories in contemporary times. But contemporary times are distressing, so I’m tempted to try my hand at something historical that will involve significant research.

LINDA JOHNSTON: These days, I set all my stories in the present, although I used to also write time travel romances. But these days. my romances, romantic suspense, and mystery stories are set today, since I now enjoy the present more than the past.

I’m currently writing mostly romantic suspense stories, in my own successive miniseries for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. They’re all set primarily in fictional towns, so my characters can get into different kinds of trouble with the law and get out of it without my stepping on real law enforcement toes. My recent mysteries, though, were set in real areas in Alaska, for fun. And of course, I’d visited Alaska.

Thank you, ladies!

Superfluous Phrases – What Do They Mean & Why Do We Use Them?

By Jill Amadio

Often writers allow a well-known and well-worn phrase to trip off the tongue- or rather, onto the keyboard – to mark a particular moment in a story, just as we do in real life. In fact, to catch a moment in time, as in, “At this moment in time.”

What does that mean? Obviously, the first three words refer to a specific time frame, to the exact fraction of a second that is being noted. Exactly. It is a method for stating, or pointing out, that a moment is to be marked. All well and good.

So why do we also need to add the words, ‘in time?’ Surely we are already talking, or writing, to pinpoint something that requires noting as to time. We want to make it stand out, with our ‘at this moment’ that alerts the reader to note the moment. Why, then, employ the redundant ‘in time’ to add to the statement? When else would it be happening if not ‘at…this…time?’

If the ‘something’ happened earlier or later, the writer will be sure to note it, probably with a detailed following sentence or paragraph to explain the time lapse or hint at a future action.

Another hackneyed phrase that rather galls me is ‘Right now.’ This second phrase, in itself, poses another question – what do we mean by ‘right?’ The ‘now’ word is fully understood, but whence came ‘right’ in this sense? We often use ‘right’ as a confirmation in place of ‘correct,‘ to signify to the other person their words ring true, but it is rather inelegant.

Here are other common phrases I don’t catch in my stories until perhaps my second or third draft:

Open any book, skim a few pages, and you are fated to come across ‘faded jeans,’ ‘a pale face,’ ‘the rugged terrain,’ or ‘winding road.’ These are all beautifully simple descriptions (a couple from Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls) that tell the reader in easy terms what we want them to know without going into unnecessarily exotic language. Just writing a well-known phrase in the correct context can provide the reader with an instant understanding of what is meant.

One of my favorites is ‘standing pat.’ It makes no sense whatsoever on its face. Yet, it has a sense of mystery because ‘standing’ and ‘pat’ appear to have no relevance to each other, yet they belong together. And, incidentally, could provide us with the basis of a plot.

One can assume the phrase to be a description of someone named Pat. Was she standing up when the phrase was created? Was the word ‘with’ missing so that phrase may originally have been ‘standing with Pat?’ It does suggest a sense of loyalty, of being at the side of Pat. Yet, the word ‘pat’ has many meanings, as well as a person’s name, although I doubt it means ‘to pat’ as in patting a pet.

So many other phrases we use are hackneyed but perfect for the moment in time (sorry). Trying to find a substitute to avoid sounding boring can take up too much time, and even sound unnatural.

A foreign character’s use of phrases in their own language often introduces an interesting change of pace as long as there is a way to translate it, if necessary. This can easily be undertaken in conversation, while other remarks may not need any translation at all. In fact, we don’t realize that many words have become part of our own English language. Someone told me that English is based on German, while someone else swore it was based on Latin.

All that writers need to remember, I would say, is how rich and versatile English is, and how fortunate we are to be able to dive in and select whatever we choose.

I recently bought an ebook from Amazon for my Kindle Fire, selecting a mystery at random. Not until the second chapter did I notice it was set in Norway and authored by a Norwegian. Bravo!

This article was posted for Jill by Jackie Houchin

Listening to Stories: Why I Love Audiobooks

By Jackie Houchin

The first audiobook I ever listened to was Robinson Crusoe, from Books On Tape, way back in the 1970s. I was cleaning multiple horse stalls twice a day back then, and I needed an escape! An adventure on a deserted island with a guy named Friday had me hooked. I rented hundreds more.

Then I found Audible and began cautiously buying digitally recorded books. Currently, I have an account that allows me to buy 25 books per year for a nicely discounted price. Others are available through Amazon/Audible.

Later, I discovered Chirp, a deeply discounted audiobook seller. Sometimes I can get a book for as little as $0.99!

Libby is a library app that allows you to rent books and audiobooks at no cost. But friends tell me they usually have to WAIT for books to become available.

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For this post, I decided to try Libby. The app is free, but you need a library card. I put in my Mission Viejo Library card number & pin. Thousands of book titles appeared.
I narrowed my choices to “audiobooks,” “available,” and “juvenile” to get a list of 4th-6th grade books. (Quick to read for this blog post.) I selected “The Sherlock Files: The 100 Year Old Secret” and pressed “Borrow.” And there it was, with cover, synopsis, reading time, volume, and speed controls. I could keep it for 21 days. FREE. Okay, not bad.
I finished the 3-hour book. It was fun, and the narration was good. When it was over, I simply pressed “Send Back,” and the book was gone. Easy-peasy.
I did search for other books, and of the three that I wanted, none were stocked at my library. So that’s a bummer. But I will definitely go back to Libby.

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Yes, I am addicted to listening to books. Here’s why.

AVAILABILITY. I can listen to books anytime and anywhere. I have Bluetooth, so I do not wear clunky headphones. No one can tell if I am on a spaceship to Mars, helping Lane Winslow solve a murder in 1941 British Columbia, or learning about Extra Virgin Olive Oil. While I walk, drive, wait for appointments, wash clothes (or floors), and cook, I can be entertained or educated.
NARRATORS. Good narrators transport you to times and places far away. (It is the next best thing to travelling.) In a series, a repeat narrator immediately puts you into the familiar setting with people whose voices you already know.
NO EYE STRAIN. Audiobooks don’t stress your eyes. These days, my eyes become blurry and sting when I read print too long.

Okay, there are downsides too, and you have probably guessed the first big one.

COST. A newly published audio bestseller can cost $25.00 or more. Yes, you own it, but you cannot share it with a friend, give it away, or sell it.
The annual fee at Audible averages $9.15 per book, so I usually save these credits for new, popular (expensive) books throughout the year.
Chirp is far more reasonable, but their books are not as new, and often are a genre I do not want to read.
But now, of course, I’ve found the Libby lending library. I suspect the choices are limited. But I’ll give it a try. After all — FREE!
NARRATORS. Some are horrible. Sorry, but it has to be said. I will not buy or rent a book narrated by Scott Brick. And there is a woman too… Audible is good about that and will refund the cost if you return the book quickly.
BOOK REVIEWING. If you are a book reviewer like me, audiobooks make it harder to pick out quotable lines or memorable details. With print books, you can bookmark, highlight, or pencil in notes. But, unless you want to immediately jot down a note, it is difficult to find details you missed (or forgot) in an audiobook.
When reviewing one, I usually write out a rough draft immediately after finishing the book. Then, to ensure I am spelling characters and place names correctly, I will often check them on the website.
Unfortunately, “hearing” something doesn’t stick in your mind the way “seeing” it does.

Yes, I still read print books. I have to; not all books are recorded! But I try to avoid fine print and extra-long tomes. Hence, the middle-grade books. (HEY! Some of them are fantastic!!)

I also read digital Kindle or Book Funnel books, where I can adjust the font size. However, on my phone, that means flipping pages quite often. (I don’t have an e-reader.)

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So, do you prefer audio, print, or digital books for your reading? What are your reasons? Do you have a favorite audiobook you can recommend? How about a favorite narrator?

***By the way, CHIRP now has THREE audiobooks by our own Linda O. Johnston on sale for just $3.99! “3 Pet Rescue Mysteries”

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PS: I know it’s difficult to comment on this website, so if you like, you can respond to me via my email at Photojaq@aol.com, and I’ll post your comment here.

A Writer Wastes Nothing

by Maggie King

“A writer wastes nothing.” This saying is attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The renowned writer mined his college years to create his debut novel, the autobiographical This Side of Paradise.

I recently attended an outdoor event in a local park and feel inspired to write about it—in fiction form.

The crowd at this event was large, the air heavy with humidity. Virginia is a steamy place in the summer! I drank little water as I was unsure if facilities were available or even nearby (they weren’t). After standing for over an hour, the crowd started to leave—slowly.

A feeling of lightheadedness came over me and my vision blurred. To say I was frightened was an understatement. I was with friends and the crowd was friendly, so I wasn’t in danger. But the feeling of losing consciousness is scary and uncomfortable under any circumstances.

One of my friends let me lean on her until we came to a tree where I sank to the ground and sat back. People gave me bottles of cold water to drink and press against my wrists. I ate one of my melted protein bars. In no time I felt revived, grateful that I hadn’t passed out. A couple of EMTs showed up and took my vitals (they pronounced them fine!). I opted not to go to the hospital. Dehydration was named the culprit.

One of my friends left to get the car. The EMTs parted the crowd for me, and one of them stayed with me until the car arrived. While we waited, she asked what I did for work.

“I’m a writer, and I’m already planning to use this experience in a story.”

After all, a writer wastes nothing.

As I know how frightening it is to feel on the verge of losing consciousness, I can bring a visceral feeling to the story. My imagination will ratchet up the danger, raise the stakes. Possibly elements of a Hitchcock film I’ve seen is inspiring me as well.

My preliminary idea is based on a series of what ifs: