writing – The Writers in Residence

“Thank You For Your Service” – a Group Post on Veterans Day.

Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day, honoring the temporary end of World War I, which officially took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill changing the name to Veterans Day to honor all American veterans from all wars.

Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May, honors those who died in service, while Veterans Day honors ALL who served, living or dead.

Veterans swore an allegiance not to a person or politician, but to the Constitution of the United States.

The U.S. Armed Forces has six branches: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force. (The first five also have Reserve branches; part-time service members, many of whom are former active-duty troops.)

We at The Writers In Residence would like to honor our Veterans by sharing answers to one of the following questions.

Share the name and a short memory of a veteran or service member in your family (past or present).
Do you have a favorite movie, book, or story that features a veteran?
If you could ask a veteran one respectful question about their experience, what would it be?

LINDA O JOHNSON: I’m sharing the name and memory of a veteran who was very dear to me, my father, Steve Osgood.

My dad was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army in Europe. He was proud of his service, though he didn’t talk about it much. When he did, though, it was fascinating. For one thing, he was awarded a Bronze Star for his valor during the Battle of the Bulge.

Years later, I worked for him, writing ads and doing public relations at his advertising agency. He’s been gone for a while, and I miss him. But I’ll always be proud of him.

MAGGIE KING: My brother, Lt. Colonel Ed Gabler, fulfilled two tours of duty in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star. During his long career as an NJ Deputy Attorney General, he served in the Army Reserves. Sadly, we lost Eddie in 2010.

GAYLE BARTOS POOL: America recognizes many holidays that celebrate what not only made America the country it is in the first place but also what keeps it strong. Independence Day got the ball rolling, and then Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and U.S. Armed Forces Day celebrate those who not only served to keep America great but also honor those who died in the service of our great country.

I have many family members who contributed to this marvelous quest to keep America the strong, powerful country it is. First is my grandfather, Charles Miro Bartos, who was born on the Fourth of July. It took years before I figured out that all the fireworks and parties weren’t just for good, ol’ gramps. He was a wonderful, learned man who taught me many things about this country and its future based on all the books he read and his own common sense.

Then there’s my dad, Major Ralph M. Bartos, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and the Korean War, flying a troop carrier plane to the places our soldiers needed to be in wartime. His plane didn’t have machine guns to ward off the enemy. He had to maneuver his plane around the attack planes in the air to get those troops to and from the battlefields. Around 1947, the Air Corps was separated from the regular Army, and Dad went on to serve for another fifteen years in the Air Force. He handled a little plane called the RF-101 Voodoo when we were stationed in France. The “F” version of the plane was for Fighter. It had anti-aircraft guns mounted on it. The “R” version was for Reconnaissance. These were aerial recon planes. Spy Planes. That’s what my dad handled. And you wonder why I wrote three spy novels…

My cousin Jim Mudrow was a Marine and served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War.

My husband’s brother, Thomas J. Pool, also served as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Tommy died over there. His name is on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. God bless him.

So, I keep all these dates in my mind and heart and celebrate them every year. We wouldn’t be America the Beautiful without those who did so much for our country. God Bless America!

JACKIE HOUCHIN: My father, Robert Welty Love, served in the U.S. Coast Guard; my oldest brother, Tom Love, was in the US Army, and my youngest brother, Jim Love, was also in the U.S. Army in Okinawa, in the codes dept. All served in peacetime and returned to live full lives, thank God.

Question #2: One author, Mark de Castrique, wrote a series of books featuring Sam Blackman, who was a Chief Warrant Officer in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the U.S. military. He lost a leg in Iraq. While in the military hospital in North Carolina, a fellow amputee challenges him to become a criminal investigator in civilian life. He puts aside his anger and becomes a top investigator and the hero in nine novels. The series is a bit dark, but you may like Sam’s push for justice in any case he gets.

MIKO JOHNSTON: I can’t single out a person to honor, so I’ll thank every veteran who fought for freedom, against tyranny, and made the world a little safer. For those who fought in the American Revolution, who won our independence; To the men and women who battled fascism in WW2; A belated apology to the Vietnam vets, who were treated so poorly both on the battlefield and when they returned home; To all who have fought justly for a just cause, we remember you with gratitude.

ROSEMARY LORD: I have such respect and gratitude for our military. I have the privilege of working with some of them at The Hollywood American Legion through the Woman’s Club. Over the years I have been able to host the army, navy, marines and airforce for different events and had some wonderful medal ceremonies there with Generals and Admirals from the Pentagon. I love to be able to thank them all for their service.

I am a “navy brat.” Our maternal grandfather was in the Merchant Navy and served in World War 1. Our dad was in the Royal Navy and served in World War II. He was away a lot when my older siblings were little. We moved around a lot, too. But I was very happy when Dad was stationed on the island of Malta, where we able to live with him. It was sunny all the time and we had grapes growing in the garden!

Dad was very shy and rarely spoke of his time in the navy, especially during World War II. Our oldest brother Peter told me that Dad had been quite a hero – but never thought of it that way. He was just “doing his job.”

It was during World War II and Dad was serving in the Mediterranean on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. The ship was torpedoed by the Germans, so everyone was scrambling to get off the ship as it began to sink.

But Dad was Paymaster and took his job very seriously. So, as everyone else was scrambling upwards to get off the ship and escape, Dad pushed his way down through the exiting men and climbed down below into the bowels of the ship. This is where the safes were. So he rescued the money in the safe – so that he could pay his men. But he also rescued the code books and destroyed what he could and stuffed the other pages in his pockets, so the Germans wouldn’t find them. Then he climbed back up to the main deck. He was a great swimmer and some men were trying to swim ashore, others in life boats – as they were being shot at. But the money and documents in his pockets were heavy and made it difficult to swim, so Dad had to row ashore – under fire from the German guns.

The press reported the ship had been declared sunk by the Germans with no known survivors, so once Dad got safely back to land he needed to let mum know he was alive. But he could not put anything in a telegram that the Germans might intercept and discover there were survivors. So, being a country of tea lovers with every household always having a pot of tea on the go, Dad sent an unsigned telegram simply saying “Put the kettle on.”

Mum was obviously so relieved and always smiled as she retold that story. What a clever Dad we had!

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MARK TWAIN’S I-Mac

by Miko Johnston (standing in for Jackie Houchin)

Have you ever wondered how the great writers of the past would have handled today’s technology? How would they have incorporated it, not only by using it themselves to research and write their novels, but also by giving some of that technology to their characters?

Mark Twain called Tom Sawyer his “hymn to boyhood”. Can you imagine what that boy would have done with a cellphone? Or if Captain Ahab had GPS (or, for that matter, a rocket launcher) to hunt the whale? Moby Dick might have been a short story. What about the Bennet family from Pride and Prejudice watching YouTube videos to help them with their financial struggles? Perhaps they’d decide to forego marriage and sell handmade items on Etsy.

It does sound ridiculous, but this is the reality we have today. It would seem anachronistic to read about characters who, unless they’re living off the grid. don’t have cellphones, computers, or internet access. We no longer even consider earlier developments like electricity, indoor plumbing, and motorized vehicles, which would have been unheard of 150 years ago, to be “technology” anymore.

We might think the intrusion of technology would ruin a good story, but consider how many old stories have been “modernized”. For every silly interpretation like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you have thoughtful versions like West Side Story, Cruel Intentions, Kiss Me Kate, and Clueless. In each case, the plot, characters, and theme are timeless. So technology becomes a tool, and like any tool, it can be useful, even necessary, as long as it isn’t misused.

What story from the past do you think could be updated to include modern-day apparatus without sacrificing the essence of the original work?

Miko Johnston, a founding member of The Writers in Residence, is the author of the historical fiction series, “A Petal in the Wind”, as well as a contributor to several anthologies. Miko lives in Washington (the big one) with her rocket scientist husband. Contact her at mikojohnstonauthor@gmail.com

.Posted by Jackie H. (Thanks, Miko!)

Second Time Around: The Joys of Re-Reading

by Maggie King

Do you re-read your favorite books? If so, which ones have you turned to again and again? If you don’t re-read, what is your reason? Do you think your time is better spent discovering something new? Perhaps no story has moved you enough for a second go around (I can’t imagine such a thing!).

I find much to learn about writing from my favorite books. If a story is good enough to re-read, there has to be a reason. And discovering the reason can only enhance my own craft.

I’ve read, and re-read, countless books throughout my life, but for now I’ll pare the number down to a few selected titles.

I went on a classics binge in the early nineties and revisited some favorites from my high school English classes. I found a new appreciation the second time around for Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and A Separate Peace.

Willa Cather was a new-to-me author in the nineties and Song of the Lark may be her standout title. I was delighted to read it again years later for a book group. The same book group selected Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, paired with Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and I found nuances that had gone unnoticed on my first reading of both books (another good reason to join a book group … uncovering those nuances).

How many times have I read If Morning Ever Comes? Four? Five? This is Anne Tyler’s debut novel, published in 1964 when she was only twenty-two. Read the New York Times review here.

I know I’ve read Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk three times. Despite the perhaps outdated message and unsettling ending, I love Marjorie Morningstar. Veteran author Herman Wouk somehow delivers a feminist and non-feminist message at the same time. Sometimes you just can’t explain why a story moves you.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is the tale of the joys and sorrows of a poor girl of Irish descent growing up in Brooklyn in the earlier part of the century. It was well worth it to flip through the pages a second time.

As a child, I couldn’t get enough of Nancy Drew and probably left the books in tatters.

Then there are my “teachers,” the authors who helped me to become a mystery writer: Thank you to Agatha Christie, Gillian Roberts, and Joan Smith. More tattered pages from countless readings. In 2014, as I was about to release my debut mystery, Murder at the Book Group (re-released as Death Turns the Page), I posted my appreciation for Ms. Roberts and Ms. Smith here.

Now what shall I re-read next? It won’t be War and Peace! In contemporary parlance, I just don’t have the bandwidth.

Note: I previously posted this article on another blog that, unfortunately, was discontinued.

Authors’ Themes in Stories

by Linda O. Johnston

As I’ve said here, and elsewhere, many times before, I’ve been writing for a long time. My stories have varied from paranormal romance to mysteries to romantic suspense and more.

The backgrounds and themes in each series have been primarily different— but one theme appears a lot: dogs.

No, this isn’t the first time I’ve written about special themes here, but that’s a topic always on my mind as I write, and as I read what other writers write.

My first mystery series, the Kendra Ballantyne Pet-Sitter Mysteries, featured a woman named Kendra Ballantyne, of course. She was a lawyer who lived in the Hollywood Hills, and she had a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lexie. I was a practicing lawyer then, I lived in the Hollywood Hills, and one of my Cavaliers at the time was named Lexie. My Lexie was definitely a good model for the one in my mysteries.

I’ve also written other mystery series and several series for Harlequin, including Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and they usually feature dogs. Plus, I also wrote paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne, which no longer exists, and they featured Alpha Force, a paranormal military unit of shapeshifters—mostly werewolves. Yes, canines.

Other writers use different themes, of course. How do we choose our themes? However we want to choose them!

How about you writers reading this? Do you focus on any particular themes? If so, how do you decide which to use?

I’m sure I’ll keep writing about dogs, and most likely other animals, for a long time!

HAVE PEN – WILL TRAVEL

by Rosemary Lord

On one of my recent visits to London, my brother Ted and I took a leisurely walk from Chalk Farm, north London to Convent Garden – that colorful, 16^th Century vegetable and fruit market; the iconic setting for the opening of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.

As we turned the corner into the famous piazza, a massive onslaught of blank-faced people advanced towards us. Wall-to-wall bodies. Shoulders squared. No, “Excuse me…” or “After you…” We had to push our way through. But these young tourists, weren’t hostile. Just focused on moving forward, as one, cellphones and selfie-sticks held high. Seemingly unaware of the beauty of the surroundings, they advanced like automatons. Expressionless faces. Moving forward, as one.

We were taken aback. And we’ve never forgotten that intimidating image.

Where did all these people come from?

Outside Selfridge’s Department store on London’s Oxford Street, it happened there, too. An impenetrable wall of seething humanity, rolling forwards. Same thing at the Galleries Lafayette store in Paris. Tourists en masse. In a block – shoulder-to-shoulder – determinedly edging ahead. Crowds everywhere.

It reminded me of those scenes in Dr. Who, when the hundreds of scarecrows came alive and marched, military style, into the town.

I’d never seen such large numbers of people on the move, in unison. No snatches of excited observations peeking through. Just a rumbling monotone. Cellphones were held up to record their movements, becoming their digital set of eyes. They watched their own progress through the tiny mobile phone screens, instead of looking around as they walked, missing the actual, historic, fascinating surroundings, soaking up the atmosphere and the magic of the moment.

A similar thing occurred in a Portuguese railway station when my siblings and I descended from a suburban train line. A cacophony of voices, train whistles and traffic noises met us – and masses of passengers pushing forward, regardless, staring straight ahead, offering no gaps to get through as they poured out onto the street. They were everywhere! And that was in a small Portuguese town – not London or New York.

Where did they all come from?

Somewhere, I thought to myself, there are towns and even countries that must be EMPTY! Because these folks are coming from somewhere. In large numbers. Hordes of them. All at the same time.

What happened to the solo travelers, the adventurers, the observers, the investigators, the recorders, the note-takers? These blocks of people today weren’t looking at their surroundings, admiring the architecture, noticing street or shop signs, or even checking out items in shop windows. Just blindly following the crowds and instructions on their cellphones, like a rag-tag army that cannot linger for a moment to appreciate.

These walls of human flesh advanced across Europe in their masses, crowded into cheap airline seats, packed like sardines.

I blame it on the cheap bargain holidays flights across Europe. They cost less than the price of a restaurant meal. That, and the ubiquitous use of credit cards. So of course, the kids are going to take advantage of it. If one does it – the rest have to follow.

What happened to individualism? Why is everything ‘group think’? What about following your own star, your own direction?

And what happened to ‘getting away from it all’? You can’t – because everyone is there, too! Perhaps a visit to a convent or a monastery is called for?

I’ve always loved to travel. I started exploring other countries fresh out of school as a teenager. Back in those Dark Ages, I would board a coach, train or boat and encounter a handful of fellow passengers, also off on some wonderful adventure. I’d wander quiet back streets in countries where I didn’t speak the language. I would drink it all in, occasionally taking a photo with my modest little camera, protecting the spent rolls of film until I had time to get them developed. I’d scribble on scraps of paper or in a small notebook – place names, what I’d seen, people I’d met. These would much later become fodder for my grown-up world as a published writer.

And wherever I travelled, I would notice other lone souls on park benches or sitting at sidewalk cafes, nursing a coffee or something stronger, writing, thoughtfully in notebooks. Perhaps another Hemingway, Steinbeck or J.K. Rowling in the making?

And so, I worry about today’s young, sponge-like minds seeking wisdom and experiences to steer them through adulthood. They will never grow if their youth is experienced through traveling in huge numbers, being told – on TikTok or other Social Media sites – where to go, where to stay, what to eat, wear and think.

As adults, we step into unknown territories and make mistakes along the way. That’s how we learn and grow. Life is a wonderful adventure when we can wander alone to new places. Or maybe with just a friend or two, fellow adventurers.

I tend to see life through a writer’s eyes. To me, there’s a story to be written about everything! I wonder how today’s young people travelling in large groups, instructed by a digital program, could ever think for themselves and develop into great writers or artists, if they have not experienced life firsthand and learned to keep questioning.

I am sure those born with a writer’s or artist’s mind, will find their own way through; their own star to follow, their own inner voice to listen to. And find their own, peaceful corner of the world where they can create their own literary magic. Be it a proper writing room, studio, shed at the bottom of the garden, a cozy nook, or even a corner of the kitchen table. A place to write.

And with all the travelling I have done, I am always so pleased to come home again. Return to my own little comfy home, with all my writing tools to hand. It’s my retreat – far from, as they say, ‘the madding crowds.’

What’s your writing retreat like?

What Writers Need Most

by Miko Johnston

What would you guess? Perhaps a concept or workable idea. A grasp of proper grammar and punctuation. A good dictionary, thesaurus, or style manual. A viable marketing plan. A platform. A publishing contract. All important, but none of these top my list.

A while back, Jackie Houchin made an observation: “It’s no wonder that I’ve been asked by other writers if they could join our group – there is some great writing here.” As a founding member, I know this to be true, but it’s an incomplete assessment. As gifted as both present and past members may be, our greatest strength has been our support and encouragement of each other.

***

Long before the Writers In Residence existed, a core group of us – mostly talented amateurs aspiring to getting published – gathered to share and critique our writing. We met through established writer’s organizations such as the late Alameda Writers Group and our local chapter of Sisters in Crime. Eventually we spun off and formed our own group. Gayle Bartos-Pool, Jackie Houchin, Bonnie Schroeder and I met through the AWG; Gayle brought in Rosemary and Jackie Vick, and the Writers in Residence was born.

Each month, one of us would send out thirty pages of a manuscript for critique, then we’d meet at a library to discuss it. We’d book the room for two hours and spent half the time socializing. We admired each other’s work, but we truly liked each other and over the years we’d become friends. Those library meetings changed to meeting for lunch at a restaurant, with critiquing on a “by request” basis. When we began, only Jackie V, Gayle and Rosemary had books published and Jackie Houchin, a journalist and reviewer, had her work printed in a local newspaper. Now the rest of us have had at least two books published, and as our membership changed over the years, bringing Madeline Gornell and Kate Thornton, then Lynda, Jill, Maggie and Hannah into the fold, our list of publications has grown.

That pool of writing talent led to a second critique group, comprised of former WinR Bonnie Schroeder, Heather Ames (an occasional guest contributor to our website), and myself. Our writing genres differed but our goals aligned. We met in person when we all lived in SoCal, then switched to online. Now we all live in different states in the Pacific Northwest, but we’ve continued our online critique group to this day.

I measure our success not only in quantity (of publications), but in quality. I can honestly say my writing has improved over the years in no small part to the WinRs and its online offspring. I believe the others in our groups have benefitted from the feedback and support we give, as well as the respect we have for each other. I’ve relied on my fellow WInRs for everything from back cover blurbs to beta reads to a simple “go for it”.

I can’t imagine accomplishing as much as I have without the help, support, and encouragement of these women. I’ve been, and continue to participate, in other writers groups, but it’s not the same. Whether because of those early years, struggling together, or the ensuing years when we’ve counted on each other for camaraderie, counseling and courage, we remain … strong, committed and together.

We’ve helped each other in other ways as well. On more than one occasion I’ve written about how much our posts have benefitted me, from the instructive series to the topical pieces that make me ponder aspects of writing. Readers, if you’re new to the blog I suggest searching through our archives for a wealth of information and suggestions on how to get ideas, start a story, polish a manuscript and overcome writers block – just put your query in our search box.

I hope those of you who follow our blog have benefitted from the posts we’ve presented for more than a decade. Some of you who visit us may have writing communities of your own that you’ve come to depend on. If so, how has it helped you in your writing, personally and professionally? Or if you’ve ventured into writing solo, have you found community through the Writers in Residence? Let us know – we’d love to hear from you.

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.

Reading For Writers

By Maggie King

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Some writers disagree with Mr. King’s reading advice. They fear that by reading they’ll be influenced by other author’s voices, thus compromising their writing. Mr. King has this to say about that choice:

“You may find yourself adopting a style you find particularly exciting, and there’s nothing wrong with that. When I read Ray Bradbury as a kid, I wrote like Ray Bradbury — everything green and wondrous and seen through a lens smeared with the grease of nostalgia. When I read James M. Cain, everything I wrote came out clipped and stripped and hardboiled. When I read Lovecraft, my prose became luxurious and Byzantine.”

Whether you agree or disagree with this renowned author’s view, you can’t deny his success.

Stephen King has more advice on the subject of reading in this article from VPM. His bottom line: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Joyce Carol Oates, another prolific and respected writer, also encourages writers to read. I took a Masterclass course she taught and will never forget her suggesting that we read Ulysses! “If you read Ulysses by James Joyce, for example, chances are your vocabulary will improve (or, if nothing else, you’ll want your vocabulary to improve). Your work won’t necessarily come out sounding like his, but your process will be informed and elevated by him.”

More than once, I tried reading Ulysses and never made it past the first chapter. Ulysses was penned in the stream of consciousness style, a technique used to look inside a character’s mind and examine their every thought, action, and motivation. Other authors who used this style are Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison. It is not a style that appeals to me, but I did enjoy Mrs. Dalloway. Perhaps I found the thoughts and actions Virginia Woolf gave her main character especially interesting.

But Ms. Oates is focused on James Joyce’s vocabulary, not his writing style. I didn’t get far enough in Ulysses to enhance my vocabulary. And she only offers this author as an example. She suggests studying the ways many writers compose their sentences, how they structure their stories, and how they handle dialogue.

As for James Joyce, I suggest reading The Dubliners, a fine collection of his short stories. They are not written in the stream of consciousness style. I took this on my trip to Ireland many years ago.

Masterclass offers courses on a variety of subjects. For writers, I highly recommend Joyce Carol Oates’s class on short story writing (I think her course works for novels as well). Here’s the link.

Many, if not most, writers read widely. Over the years, I’ve read classics, short stories, literary fiction, non-fiction, plays, bios, romance, and, of course, crime fiction. What I read is high-brow, low-brow, and everything between. Recent favorites are Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller, Miss Marple, The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie, and Betty Hechtman’s series of crochet mysteries.

Writers, do you read widely? What are you reading now? What are your thoughts on the stream of consciousness style?

MISSING….

by Rosemary Lord

I really miss the writers’ conferences we used to have. We were lucky in California; we had at least 2 each year – sometimes more, lasting from Friday through Sunday. Sometimes starting Thursday.

They were usually in Culver City or Pasadena – occasionally downtown LA or in Long Beach.

Our Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America chapters would often pool together to present these. California Crime Writers Conference was another popular convention.

They took a lot of organizing. Planning would start at least a year ahead, sometimes longer. The writing community would be notified of the theme – there was always a theme. One of the Left Coast Crime conferences was called ‘Southwest Sleuths’, ‘Trouble in Tucson” another they called ‘Murders a Beach.’

Way, way ahead the organizers would start a Nominating Committee for attendees to vote on their favorite or best authors in different categories. The culmination of the conferences would be the Saturday Night Banquet, when awards would be given out for each category attendees had previously voted on.

Volunteers were sought – to do everything from greeting attendees, manning the check-in desks, monitoring each of the workshops and running the onsite bookshop where attending authors could sell their books. They’d thought of everything.

The buzz would start about guest speakers and who the keynote speaker would be. The late great ‘alphabet’ series author Sue Grafton was a popular choice. Canadian writer Louise Penny another. Scottish-born Catriona McPerson was always a crowd-pleaser. They would speak at the evening events including the final night banquet.

The conference would open with a big breakfast event: a chance to see who was attending and catch up with long-lost fellow writers.

Each day, the schedule was filled with different ‘tracks’ or workshops and lectures. There was usually a series of workshops on the craft of writing: guest writers and teachers on the ‘How To…’ aspects of actually getting something on paper. Then a Promotion Track. Once you’d sold your book and were about to be published, the lectures were on how to promote your book and yourself. This would include different publicity and promotion ideas. Do you need to hire a publicist, or can you do it on your own? That sort of thing.

Other tracks included Forensic workshops. I found these were the most fascinating. They dealt with actual crime scenes, secrets of the morgue and so on. Pictures of gruesome crime scenes – then a talk with the people that clean up all this gore. Who knew that was a job? “And what do you do for a living?” “Oh, I mop up the blood and clean up murder scenes…” How’s that for a party-stopper?

There’d be a workshop on how to murder someone – fun things like that. Discussions on the efficacy of different poisons – and how quick-acting they would be – or not. Painful deaths or a quick ‘you’re dead.’ We must sound quite mad – but when you get all these writers minds together, sparks really do fly! And amazing new thrillers and tales of murder and mayhem get spawned.

Investigation talks from FBI agents, detectives and private investigators would discuss their different approaches and what their work entailed. FBI agents and private detectives talked about their procedures and presented a mock-up of a crime scenes with questions and answers.

The Nick Harris Detective Agency enthralled attending writers with tales going back to their origins as the first detective agency in in Los Angeles starting in 1906. Would love to have been a fly on the wall then!

Agents from the police department would discuss police procedures and answer the writer’s many questions.

There would be field trips. One that I went on was to the city Forensic Lab, where we were shown investigations in progress on different murders. There was a set up with dummies and infra-red lights working out the trajectory of bullets in a dummy corpse. Another was a bench where a young victim’s clothes were set out for examination. Brown grocery bags were stacked with evidence. Other field trips would be a tour of local murder sites and other fun things!

There would be workshops on historical novel writing, historical research and marketing the same. Aspects of writing novels set in foreign countries. Other ‘tracks’ would be on the publishing side of a writer’s world. Agents, editors, publishers would offer their expertise. Of course, the unpublished writers all hoped to get taken on by one of them. Everything a mystery writer or novelist could want.

One of the best things about these long weekends at the conferences is that we writers would all get together. Writer friends from all over the world would congregate for the weekend. A chance to meet authors of new books we’d read. A chance to compare notes, compare writing methods and swap ideas. We’d catch up with out of towners at the hotel bar – or over the New Authors Breakfasts served in the ballroom, where novice writers were introduced. At the lunches (served in the same room) it was a chance to sit with someone new, make new friends. The Saturday night Banquet was when everyone would dress up and applaud the nominees and winners for the Best First Novel, the Best Historic Novel, Best YA (Young Adult) Novel. And so on. And a grand time would be had by all.

And so, the Sunday morning departures were often bitter-sweet. Time to get back to the real world.

But that was then. It’s a different world today. The Covid shutdowns changed everything. Now the ‘conferences’ are on Zoom.

On the plus side, it’s a lot cheaper. No-one has to travel and people all over the globe can attend. But it’s not the same. Seeing familiar faces in a little square on your computer screen is not the same as the shrieks of joy when you spot an old friend, a fellow writer from far off lands that you haven’t seen for a year.

So, I miss all that razzmatazz of the in-person conferences. Whatever the cost.

And you can’t do hugs on Zoom.

HOW TO GROW A STORY, PART TWO

by Miko Johnston

Those of us who cultivate a vegetable garden should be enjoying the bounty of our spring and summer labor, perhaps getting ready to plant heartier vegetables for the fall. I thought I’d covered all the parallels between gardening and writing last year around this time, when I posted HOW TO GROW A STORY, but I’ve found more. The comparisons continue in PART TWO:

Choosing what to plant

Your local farmers market sells produce that thrives in your growing zone and the majority of shoppers want to buy. That means you must decide what’s worth planting yourself and what you’d rather purchase. I grow less popular crops as well as those best eaten when they’re fresh picked.

A writer must decide whether working in the more popular genres and following current fads, which might be more profitable, should outweigh the desire to write stories we want to tell, even if sales won’t be as strong.

Support your plants

Some plants need structure, literally – cages for tomatoes or trellises for climbing vines. In writing, the plot or premise provides structure on which to build your story. Aside from physical structure, plants also need healthy soil amended with composted material and fertilizer, ample sunlight and water to grow and thrive.

Writers can fertilize ideas with the works of other writers. Reading books that successfully carry a story through from Once upon a time to The end, as well as books about the craft of writing, provide inspiration and insight on how to make it happen in our own stories. Listening to well-told stories teaches us how to make our written words more visual and captivating. A critical eye, like sunshine, allows us to see what’s best kept in and what’s best weeded out. We can sidestep preventable errors with technical books like the dictionary, thesaurus, and the Chicago Manual of Style (for fiction). Also, a good fiction writer knows sometimes adding a little – ahem – manure helps.

Protect your plants

From seed to harvest, many pests out there can ruin a crop. Netting prevents birds from eating the seeds or destroying sprouts. Good fencing keeps predators like rabbits, deer and snails out of the beds (sometimes). Weeds must be pulled, plants sprayed or constantly inspected for signs of disease and insects.

Likewise, cliches, repetitive or pointless scenes that divert from the plot, formulaic characters, and excess verbiage can ruin a good story. Rigorously weeding out these elements in our revised draft will strengthen our work.

When in doubt, ask an expert

I’ve learned a lot about gardening through trial and error: Harvest vegetable seeds only from organic plants. Rely on starts for slow growers like basil and tomatoes. Never grow more than one zucchini plant, and monitor it daily unless you want baseball bats and truncheons (same for cucumbers). Many of the lessons I’ve learned about writing came from trial and error as well. But if you’re having a problem in the garden that you can’t solve, go to a nursery, arborist or a master gardener for help. That’s how I discovered why my watermelon radishes didn’t grow – I planted them at the wrong time.

The same goes for your writing. I’ve gotten marvelous advice from my fellow writers, as well as other sources you might not have considered, like a local bookstore owner, history professors who specialize in the era I write about, my doctor, police officers, and librarians. Conversations with family and friends about loved ones in our past have reminded me of personal traits or events that have worked their way into my stories and books. And my grandson helped me murder someone and get away with it – okay, that came out wrong. He’s majoring in forensic science and helped me kill off a character in my novel.

Many readers know a great deal about a great deal, so even in fiction, one false step in a story will put them off. I helped one author correct some technical flaws in his globe-trotting novel because I’d been to the places he’d written about. A sci-fi writer checked a plot point with my husband, a physicist who understands what would really happen to humans outside Earth’s atmosphere. He explained an astronaut would freeze, not burn up, in outer space. Use whatever resources you can to make your story as viable and believable as you can.

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Even if you don’t have a garden, you can rely on these tips to plant the seed of an idea, then support and nurture it into a fully-fledged story that satisfies the reader’s appetite as much as the bounty of summer.

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

A Writer Writes

by Rosemary Lord

I’ve had a hectic few weeks writing my new Los Angeles Then and Now book, as I realized the June deadline was looming. Why do we think we always have more time than is really available?

I’d been in England and Greece with my family – which was lovely. But even when I was there, I was mentally figuring when and where I could grab a couple of hours to research and write. Even half an hour would help. But I’m not one of those writers that can sit down – plonk! – and start writing. I’ve come to realize that I need to come down from my everyday life. Then time to mentally flatten things out, before I can switch into writer mode.

I think this is because I am not currently writing fiction – where I find I can, if I need, plonk myself down on the corner of a table and scribble inspired lines, and even paragraphs. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have to eventually sit down for many hours at a time, day after day, to actually write the novel I promised. But I can also write it in bits and spurts.

But writing this particular, nonfiction, book requires a lot of research. The physical – driving all over in heavy Los Angeles traffic, checking if a building is still standing and in what sort of condition, who the neighbors are and how the neighborhood is looking. But I also do research about any construction or new plans for the building in question and the surrounding area. Thank goodness for the internet – but I still have to find physical documents from in-person library and record-office visits as well. That is after I have investigated the entire history and Government records.

I’m still begging our local offices for more information on the upcoming Olympic Games to be played in Los Angeles in 2028 – just after my book comes out. No one seems to know where any of it is really happening. They tell me they ‘hope’ but are still not sure. So I have to get very creative to sound as if I have actual facts, locations and dates! Which I don’t! And I have to write in a timeless way so that the book, which is to be published in late 2027, is not out of date and does not sound as if I wrote it in 2026. It needs to be readable for years to come and not sound dated. If that makes any sense.

That writing project has to be my main focus currently, as I have a publisher and a deadline.

But I’m also still fighting to save the Woman’s Club of Hollywood and have spent a lot of the past 3 years appearing in court, fighting off greedy people that suddenly decide that they should own the historic landmark property! I was even sued by one of them for trying to stop them claiming they own the property now. I have learned far more about the law than I ever wanted to. But I’ve also learned a lot of legal lingo and how attorneys and court officials write and speak. And how to make them listen and believe me. I just wish I could get inspired to write some legal drama – as a lot of writing has been involved. I have written copious ‘statements’ and ‘declarations,’ addressing dishonest or bizarre claims, cleaning up witness ramblings and creating documents that swiftly and cleanly explain the current situation, precluding any wiggle room for misinterpretation. Just the facts, ma’am! It is a specialized form of writing. But not enjoyable, other than the knowledge that I am fighting for justice for an historic landmark.

But I do snatch time for my fun writing, as I clear my head of the other ‘stuff.’ My fun writing rambles, but sometimes results in an unfinished short story, another chapter in my second Lottie Topaz book – as yet, unfinished. Writing is therapeutic. Sometimes I just write 3 or 4 pages of what may be an essay on something. Whenever I have the time, I shall go through these scribblings and decide if I think they’re worth publishing. I have a lot of unpublished writings!

It was good to escape to Greece again, as I always manage to clear my head while I am there, and decide what in my life and my writing is worth keeping and what needs to be discarded. I get surprising clarity.

It could be the sound of the ocean just yards away from where we stay. Or the serenity of the old house we rent, where every room has many windows, all with amazing views of treetops and the ocean, or mountains on the other side, or terracotta roofs amidst the endless olive trees, and that characteristic yellow brick of the local houses. Every room has a view. There are verandas that scream for writing time, and a small, tranquil garden. What’s not to like? The challenge is, when one does sit down to write there, is to not be lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. Especially when this follows some wonderful Greek meal. So, the struggle is enormous. And I noticed on so many occasions there, that when the house was quiet, my siblings were all reading – before they were lulled to sleep. Everyone got through several books while we were there. We always do.

So now it’s back to reality – and writing deadlines. But I’m grateful to have a deadline and a writing deal – after so many years of chasing publishers and literary agents. That agent bit never came to fruition. But my book writing did. And so, I write on. And as long as I can write – even if it just for my eyes – I am a happy camper.