I’m most proud of finding the love of my life 49 years ago and helping him raise his four children. I am also proud of having raised a foal and made him a good riding horse. And I’m quite proud of having published three novels and a collection of short stories since I turned 73. I’m not done yet, even though I’m now 82.
Category: Book Publising
Introducing the Charming and Creative Bill Furney
https://www.facebook.com/WCFurneyAuthor
If I remember correctly, Bill Furney and his charming wife Jeanette met me during the first Authors’ Sunday Event at the end of November 2022. Bill was dressed as a pirate replete with a crimson sash around his waist and pirate’s sword guarding his books. Jeanette was dressed as a damsel in distress. I wrongly assumed that all his books would have a pirate theme, but that turns out not to be the case.
I bought a copy of Ivy Moon, thinking she was the damsel in distress. Well, Ivy may be in distress, and she may be a damsel, but don’t think she needs help. She’ll end up helping you.
Bill and Jeanette live just past Fairfield Harbour on Pastures Creek close to Blackbeard’s sailing club. They spend many mornings and evenings on their dock watching the abundant wildlife in their natural marsh habitat…sometimes with a complementary adult beverage. But that is not where they started out.
Where are you from originally? Were you a bookish child, or did you do wild and daring things to challenge your boyhood friends? Or a bit of both?
Bookish? I read a lot growing up, but no one ever called me bookish. Back then, boys were men. Calling a boy bookish wouldn’t fly well and would probably lead to a butt whuppin’. Anyone labeled bookish would have been teased mercilessly and relegated to the girls’ table at lunchtime.
I didn’t have friends growing up. My mother used to tie a pork chop around my neck so the dogs would play with me. That was kinda wild, now that I think about it.
Tell us about what you did before you retired to Fairfield Harbour and why you chose this lovely neighborhood that calls itself part of the enchanting town of New Bern. I believe you said you had been a journalist? Where? And what did you report about? And why did you switch writing gears?
Whereas these skills prepared me for civilian life in metropolitan arcadias such as Chicago, L.A., and Philadelphia, I instead decided to go to a university of higher learning which I won’t name here for fear of sullying their good name. After arming myself with a BS degree in Journalism, I ventured out into the world as a reporter where I proceeded to hone my skills at pissing people off with the written word.
I actually did accomplish stuff along the way. I earned degrees in public relations and advertising; became one of the first five people in the country to become a Certified Communicator in Public Health; was a reporter and columnist with the Jacksonville Daily News; and became the director of communication for several government agencies. In 2001, I helped form and became communication director for the Office of the Public Health Preparedness and Response – the state agency created to respond biological attacks and pandemic outbreaks.
Upon retirement, Jeanette and I moved to New Bern mostly because nobody here knew who I was yet. Living on a creek is a big bonus because it allows us to escape by land OR sea. We’ve been here a little over six years, so we need to be prepared. (See “neighbors ban together” above.)
In regard to writing, I wouldn’t say that I changed gears. I knew that I wanted to write novels when I went to college. I’m also a realist. I didn’t want to starve to death waiting to become rich and famous. That’s why I majored in journalism with an emphasis on public relations. In terms of creative writing, the best thing about working for a newspaper for a couple of years was that it taught me discipline. There’s no waiting for “inspiration” when you have a daily deadline to meet. If I were giving writers one piece of advice, it would be this; write something every day. Even if it’s only a paragraph or two. Push through blocks by writing something. Anything. You can always go back and change it. But waiting for inspiration does nothing but give yourself an excuse to procrastinate. If you procrastinate you aren’t a writer because you are procrastinating. Which makes you a procrastinator. (Profound, right?)
Have you always been attracted to watery areas? No desert sands for you?
Nothing against the desert, but I was born on the coast and grew up around the sounds and ocean. Mountains are great too. I loved living in Colorado. It would have been a perfect state, if it had an ocean. Also, when I was a child, I would listen to my parents’ album with American folk songs. There was one song titled, The Keeper of the Eddystone Light that I played over and over. It went…
My father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light
And he slept with a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me
One night while I was a-trimmin’ of the glim
A-singin’ a verse from the evening hymn
A voice from the starboard shouted, “Ahoy!”
And there was my mother a-sittin’ on a buoy
“Oh, what has become of my children three?”
My mothеr then she asked of mе
“One was exhibited as a talking fish
And the other was served in a chafing dish”
I mean, that’s pure genius. Who wouldn’t want to live on the coast and be a writer after subjecting one’s self to a Clockwork Orange behavioral conditioning treatment like that?
As pretty much every writer/author is asked at some point on his or her literary journey, where do your ideas come from? Tell us the story of how you came upon Ivy’s story. She’s a very strong character, but also gentle and helpful. I’d like to be her friend.
The ideas come from anywhere and everywhere, usually when you least expect it and usually followed by a “what if?” The inspiration for Ivy Moon started after Hurricane Florence deposited a 36-foot Catalina on our back steps. One of my friends said, “I hope you checked inside for bodies.” And I thought, wow! What a great idea for a story. As you know, Ivy Moon starts with the sailboat being swept into a back yard here in the Harbour, but instead of a body, it’s a young teen (age unknown) with amnesia who is in the boat. But it was that little quip that started me thinking, “What if?”
Tell us about your swashbuckling characters, and how your lovely wife came to personify one of them.
Hahahahaha… The truth is, Jeanette isn’t personifying either of them. She’s sort of portraying the character Sweets Nightingale, a lady of the evening who plies her wares in Charles Town (now known as Charleston). I personify Bloody Bill Scarlette, one of Blackbeard’s (fictional) former lieutenants who is retried and living at Ocracoke. We started wearing period clothes after my first book signing at the Beaufort Pirate Invasion. All the other authors were in period garb and looked at me like I was a weirdo because I was in contemporary clothing. When in Rome…
The swashbuckling ladies you referenced are, of course, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two real infamous female pirates. I could talk about them for hours but suffice it to say that I was forced to write their story at cutlass point. The truth is, I kept seeing all these historical pieces about pirates that went into great detail about male buccaneers and then ended with…”and the two female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read.” The writer in me kept asking, so who the hell were they and why aren’t their stories included in the retrospectives? The answers to those questions are in my historical fiction, Black Hearts White Bones. I invite readers to pick up a copy and find out.
What do you do when you’re not writing and selling your books. I believe you said you have a dog? Or did I just make that up?
You know, the usual stuff, fishing, boating, plundering, insulting people on the Internet. But yes, we have a West Highland White Terrier named Finlay. We are very proud of him because he has become a famous international model who appears on the cover of Ivy Moon Last Girl on Earth. Being the Fabio of the K9 world is heady stuff, but we’ve worked hard to make sure fame doesn’t go to his head.
Do you have family you try to keep toeing the line? Or do they make you toe the line? And what line is that?
Sadly, no one in my family has toes.
I look forward seeing the pair of you on October 29th, which is just around the corner. Sarah
While I won’t be able to make this authors event, I wish everyone attending the best and hope to see you soon.
Note: All of my books are on Audible.com and are performed by wonderful voiceover actresses. For those who don’t listen to audio books I invite you to go to my website where you can listen to the five-minute samples of my books just for the fun of it.
In addition to Amazon and Kindle purchase options, my books can also be found at the Next Chapter Books and Arts downtown New Bern.
BUY LOCAL!
Sadly, Bill and Jeanette seem to have more adventuresome plans for October 29th, but I’m sure you will see them out and about.
You Think You’re Busy? Try doing all Rose Cushing Does in a Day.
I seem to have the busiest people to have on my blog. Whew, try doing what Rose does with her life. Not only does she write books, she runs a horse farm, writes and produces a podcast, participates in a critique group, and has just started up a publishing company. Whew, makes me want to take a nap just thinking about it. I bet she even cooks the meals at her house and cleans while the food is in the oven.
Hey there Rose. Please start with a bit about where you grew up. It’s a place that I now find dear to my heart. I was enchanted to hear about you walking over the Bridgeton Bridge across the Neuse from downtown New Bern. How many stories came to your mind as you made that journey? It reminds me of the walk I made most days in the small town where I grew up. We kids were charged with walking to the Post Office/General Store to get the mail every day. We were given a dime to spend on candy. How about you?
I grew up on Half Moon Road, a dirt road in Bridgeton. It was out in the country and every Saturday we made the weekly trip to “town,” New Bern to get groceries, pay bills, that kind of thing. When I was old enough, my mom let my friends and me walk to New Bern across the Neuse River Bridge. The river in New Bern is about a mile wide so it was a beautiful stroll into a thriving downtown. My friend and I would window shop, walk around and look at new fashions, have lunch, and take in a movie over at the Masonic Theater and walk home. (As you may know, the bridge Rose is talking about no longer exists. ed)
You didn’t start out as a writer, and I don’t think you’ve given up your other endeavors. But they do all seem to have been creative in one way or another. What other artistic endeavors have you pursued? I love horses! So when I got a job at a newspaper as a marketing director, I sold ads to trade for teaching me to write. I loved every minute of it. Ken Ripley, the Editor of the Spring Hope Enterprise, not only taught me to write but also taught me graphic design and layout. I was soon publishing the first equestrian magazine in North Carolina, Carolina Hoofbeats. I moved from there to a weekly equestrian television show, showing on channel 28 in Raleigh for about years. Carolina Hoofbeats TV. This was moved to streaming networks as technology grew and is still available on Farm and Ranch TV. Then onto Equestrian Expos, an equestrian podcast Today’s Horsewoman and COVID hit. Put me out of business for the most part. So once again reinvention.
I wrote a book, Fortunate Tides. I wanted to do something different as I had only written non-fiction. I got it published, made a thousand mistakes, and realized how hard marketing your book is.
How did you come to be a writer? Were you always making up stories? Or watching people to see how they differed from each other? I took a class at the community college on magazine writing. Submitted my story to the local newspaper and the editor hired me to write a bi-weekly column. Soon I was writing features, planning special sections, doing graphic design and management.
How did you become a publisher? What kinds of books do you publish? Do you do any children’s books? It was a logical evolution to publish. I have published magazines for years. I was the President of Triangle East Writers for a year. While serving I built the group up, did a six-workshop series and raised enough support funding-wise for them to become a 501c3. Since they were in good shape, I decided it was time to pursue this dream. There has always been magic in something in print becoming a paper you can hold in your hand. So often, it is hard for people to get their work in front of a publisher or an agent. I wanted to open new doors. So, I became a traditional publishing company. Authors do not incur any fees with me. I have an extensive marketing background and assist all my authors in their marketing strategy, book tours, etc. And, yes I will look at children’s books.
Please tell us a bit about the books you have written? Their titles and themes? Their age ranges? Genres? Dates they were published? Where they are available? Cover photos, please. A little bit about how the book came to you.
Fortunate Tides was self-published in 2021. It wasn’t on the market for very long due to all my errors. I took it off the market and retooled the original story to become Chasing the Wind.
Chasing the Wind was published by Cushing Publishing this month and will be launched on October 16! I am very proud of it and excited about the launch. Available on Barnes and Noble and wherever good books are sold. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-the-wind-rose-h-cushing/1144145994?ean=9798988957546
Both books are Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Adventure with a dash of Romance.
How do you come up with your podcast episodes? Whom do you do the podcasts about? And why do you choose the particular events/people to work with? How do people learn about your service and what do they have to do to an interviewee? Please give us the link to your service.
I look for podcast guests with stories that catch my eye. I don’t want their job resumes. I want to know about them as people. Make me want to know your story, about you, etc. My podcasts are available on every major streaming network in the world, and we enjoy an audience that is world wide.
I choose events and people because I like them, I believe in what they are doing. I like to give new authors an opportunity to get their books out there in the world. I encourage people to write to me and tell me about their work, their books, themselves and see if we can setup an interview. My podcasts can be found at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1976358/share Carolina Writers Speak
Speaking of Writing https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012980/share
While you do or have done all the stuff you already do, did you get around to having children of your own? I know your handsome devil helps you out a lot, but what else does he do? I believe you told me he also rides horses. Makes him a good person in my book.
In my first marriage I had a magnificent son, James Baxley who lives in Virginia. He has blessed me with 4 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren! Rodney, my husband, is a Maintenance Manager at AAF Flanders in Smithfield. In a previous marriage he had 4 children and 7 grandchildren! I am very proud that Rodney enjoys doing most of the things that I do so it’s fun to do together. He does ride horses, we raise them as well.
What else do you two get involved in?
We also garden and love to camp and cook! Rodney is a technology buff.
Be sure to stop by Rose’s table on October 29th where Rose will be selling her books, in addition to talking about her podcast service and her publishing company. But sadly, she won’t have any of her horses there. Maybe some pictures for us to ooh and ahh over. Sarah
Lookee What I Did!
Computers and I have a love/hate relationship. And I do mutter a lot while I’m using mine. It probably thinks things like: Yeah, ain’t my fault. Or, So learn, already. Or, Pfft, it ain’t THAT hard.
Sassy little machine, don’t you think? But all of that is true, which, sadly, doesn’t it make any easier.
So, thanks to my friend, Stanley Trice, who not only knows computer stuff but writes interesting and slightly off-center books, I now have a well-designed website with a much simpler name. Allow me to introduce you to https://sarahmauryswan.com.
According to Stanley, my old site’s name, https://sarahmauryswanlovesbooks.com was too wordy making it less likely to get computer search hits. I’m looking forward to seeing if I get more responses with the new name. I wanted to make
Computers and I have a love/hate relationship. And I do mutter a lot while I’m using mine. It probably thinks things like: Yeah, ain’t my fault. Or, So learn, already. Or, Pfft, it ain’t THAT hard.
Sassy little machine, don’t you think? But all of that is true, which, sadly, doesn’t make it any easier.
So, thanks to my friend, Stanley Trice, who not only knows computer stuff but writes interesting and slightly off-center books, I now have a well-designed website with a much simpler name. Allow me to introduce you to https://sarahmauryswan.com. According to Stanley, my old site’s name, https://sarahmauryswanlovesbooks.com was too wordy making it less likely to get computer search hits. I’m looking forward to seeing if I get more responses with the new name. I wanted to make it stand out from Sarah Swan, who is also a writer, though I’ve never seen any of her writing.
But one of the things that makes using someone else to do the computer end of things is to have a useful newsletter. I write the article and my computer smarty, Virginie, sends out my post through my newsletter. (BTW, don’t you just love Virginie’s name?) My blog is linked to my site now. Ain’t that the Cat’s Meow?
Since the purpose of this particular post is to entice people to stay connected, and because I sorta think I’m starting over, I’m giving everyone who signs up for my newsletter a chance to get a free e-book. Take your pick and I’ll send you the link for the e-version of either Terror’s Identity, 2015; Emily’s Ride to Courage, 2018; Earthquakes, 2019; or Little Bits: A Collection of Short Stories. After you get and read your book, please do let me know what you think of it. If you hate it, I’ll be a little sad, of course. If you love it, picture me doing a happy dance. But, in either case, I’ll learn from what you say.
Writing is always a learning process and the business of selling one’s books is the hardest part, at least for me. Still, the stories keep coming to my head from one source or another, which means I do have to tell them to somebody. And, no, not many people snore or find excuses to go elsewhere. Means I must be doing something right, if only for me.
Usually on my blog posts, I do reviews of children’s books I have read, but now I’m going to make changes. After 15 or so years, I am no longer reviewing for the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database: https://clcd.com. I’ll miss doing that, but I don’t relate to lots of modern children’s books. The grammar is way too confusing for an eighty-two-year-old woman. And my reviews probably don’t help potential readers find the books they’d like.
I am branching out to write books for “Grown Ups.” I have always loved reading spy stories, fantasy, and mysteries; particularly cozy mysteries. The first mystery is titled SERENDIPTY’S CONUNDRUM, which features an old woman’s adventures. I’m hoping to have the first one done by next spring and would like you to come along on my journey to being a literary grown-up.
Take care of yourselves and enjoy what you’re doing.
Sarah, the loquacious.
A New History Book From Oakley Dean Baldwin!
The next author to be saluted in our Eastern North Carolina Facebook Group is a fellow with a delightful name. The name itself has a history, I’m sure. Dean writes history about people and things that are connected to his family. So who cares, you might wonder. You will because he is related to people of note in the United States. One book is about ancestors of his who were part of the Hatfield/McCoy bloody feud.
But this book is about his family’s connection to Native Americans. Check it out.
Coming Soon in Print and now available digitally!
I have not been posting in the past few months because I’ve been busy writing books and organizing events. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. My latest book is a collection of short stories that were chosen for inclusion in the Next Chapter Literary Magazine for the past three years. But I also have been writing other stories and taking care of my sick husband, who is now as close to thriving as a 83-year-old can be after suffering from sepsis pneumonia last November.
The title of the book is Little Bits: A Collection of Short Stories, and it is now available through Smashwords and other ebook publishers.
So now that I’ve accomplished that, I’ll be back to writing about the books I’ve read and reviewed because, yes, I’m still doing that. Some of the books I’ve read most recently are by the authors who participate in the Authors’ Sunday events I’ve been organizing at the New Bern Farmers’ Market. So look for an eclectic group of reviews.
Please let me know what you think. Thanks, Sarah
Erika Bud Loves to Write about the Places She’s Visited
(815) 200-4977
Inspiring parents and kids to travel abroad with adventurous children’s books and motivational podcasts. To learn more or to sign up for discounts and updates, go to: www.bigworldpub.com
Erika has traveled to and lived in many countries because she thinks the world is cool. Starting at age 18, she has lived in, or traveled to, 30 countries. Before she settled down to raise her family and publish her books, she worked as an au pair. Now she’s focusing on teaching children about at least some of the places she’s lived and traveled.
Her first book, Mission to Australia, is about an intrepid foursome of young travelers visiting Australia. The group of children is interesting in its own right since one of the travelers must use a wheelchair, but is undaunted by difficult places to access. The group represents many different cultures and ethnicities.
Questions for Erika
What compelled you to dream of visiting and living in different countries? Honestly, I have no idea. I did not grow up around people traveling to other countries. I just thought it sounded interesting and after visiting my first country, I enjoyed learning about the culture, history, and seeing the new sites so much that I wanted to see as many as possible.
How did you become an au pair? What hoops did you have to jump through to? There was a program I found online. It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember the details, but I know I requested to be an Au Pari in Spain. I believe I was provided with some information about families who were interested in me, and it was up to me to select. My grandma spoke Spanish so she spoke to them, and that was it. I requested the time off with my boss and I headed to Madrid.
Did you have a friend who inspired you? Or did a book lead you in that direction? Neither. I did not have any friends or family who traveled abroad. In fact, several of my families asked me why I wanted to go out of the country. I really have no idea what inspired me. I’m assuming seeing certain movies or pictures of places around.
Did you have to convince your parents that it would be safe for you to pursue this dream? Yes, but I was 18 when I first traveled, so there wasn’t much they could do to stop me. So, they chose to support me instead.
How did you pick the countries you wanted to visit? If you’re referring to Spain specifically, I didn’t do a lot of research. I just knew I wanted to go and since I had the program looking out for me, I thought it was a safe option. For countries since Spain, I research how safe it is, the best time to travel based on the weather, and what sites I want to see / experiences I want to have (i.e., all tourist sites, more cultural experiences, art, etc.)
What research did you do about the countries you wanted to visit?
I chose Spain because I believed I was Spanish (only recently learned I am Mexican) and I wanted to learn more about my heritage. After that, I started looking into the countries that I had heard about from people I have met on my travels, through people I have met through FB/FB groups, and now through my travel podcast.
What were your duties? It honestly wasn’t a good experience, so I usually don’t go into details as I don’t want to deter others from doing it. I honestly don’t believe my situation was the norm. I was supposed to teach the children English, but I only did this once. The rest of the time was spent cleaning and taking care of the kids. I believe my host family took advantage of au pairs, unfortunately.
Do you still keep in touch with the families? No.
Did you stick to just English-speaking countries? If not, did you already know the host country language? I spoke a little Spanish because of what I had learned in high school, but I was not fluent. I definitely spoke better Spanish when I came back though!
When you decided to be an author/publisher, did you go to school to learn how? My degree is in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. I did not go to school specifically to be an author/publisher. I spent a long time doing my own research, joining author/publishing groups, taking online courses, and asking a lot of questions. Luckily, there are some authors/publishers who are happy to help new authors/publishers.
And do you plan to do more traveling with your family? What was your son’s reaction to visiting other countries? I believe you said he’d already visited two. Oh yes! We just got back from two weeks in Ireland. He had a wonderful time and came back with so many memories and experiences. When we asked him his top three experiences, he could only narrow it down to eight. Now we talk about him possibly doing summer camp in another country. We still have a long time to think about that, but that’s how much he loved the experience.
My son was only five when I first took him out of the country, so he doesn’t remember it as much, but he loves looking at the pictures and I know it’s helped to make him interested in other countries and cultures.
What is the next book in the series? Ireland!
And, lastly where are you and your family going next? This is tough because we keep getting different ideas, but I think it’s going to be southern Italy.
How Not to Write a Book if You’re Manic
My usual way of writing a book is to think out the blot in my head and then write it down, editing as I go. That way I have the skeleton of the story already to roll. Then as I write down what I’m thinking I go back and catch as many errors as I can.
That’s how I wrote my first two novels, Terror’s Identity and Emily’s Ride to Courage. The process took several years each, but I had pretty clean copy to send to the publisher. Keep in mind that nobody’s perfect and errors do slip in.
As I was writing those books, I had my critique partners look at each chapter and give me ways to improve the story. Since my husband and I moved half way through the writing time, I not only had my Maryland critique group help me, but then my North Carolina group weighed in. Thanks to them all.
Also, while I was writing the stories, I did the research to make sure the stories rang true. What? You didn’t realize that fiction authors have to do research? With my first published novel, Terror’s Identity, I had the main character move from very-high-scale Lake Forest, Illinois, to not-even-close-to-high-scale Dundalk, Maryland, because I follow the old adage of get your main character into trouble and then make the trouble worse. I also had to research whether the U.S. Secret Service had anything to do with investigating terrorists groups in our country. Fortunately, one of my neighbors worked in the Secret Service and was very helpful.
For Emily’s Ride to Courage I had to research more than I already knew about horses; easier, in a way, because we were living on our horse farm and I have studied about horse almost my whole life. Still, I had to make sure I had the medical parts correct. (Thank goodness for a friendly vet.) I also had to research American medical services being provided by Army personnel in Afghanistan where Emily’s mother goes missing.
Now on to how I wrote my third novel, Earthquakes. In November of 2018 I decided to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November as part of that year’s NaNoWriMo contest. Not something a manic person should ever do. Especially someone like me who likes to edit as she goes. But I put my editing aside and plowed ahead, writing 50,235 words by November 26th. (Good thing my handsome devil knows how to cook and is very supportive of my writing endeavors.)
Then I took a couple of days to bask in the glow of having accomplished my goal and to get my heart rate down to normal. Plus getting some much-needed sleep.
The next challenge was to see how much of the story made sense, where I needed to do research. Since the story takes place in 1942 Hollywood, CA, and though I was indeed alive and living there, I was only a bit older than one year. The people in my birth family couldn’t be of much help, being either dead or extremely forgetful, I had to go to history books and the internet. I also unearthed the family photo albums.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think. Sarah
Then my critique groups and said Handsome Devil, told me what was working and what wasn’t. When it was done and people had given feedback, I sent the manuscript off to my favorite editor, Teresa Crumpton of AuthorSpark. She’s never steered me wrong and is a font of advice and information.
Fast forward to October 2019 and I sent the manuscript to a small indie publishing house that promptly turned me down. In part, they turned me down because I hadn’t edited the book as carefully as I should have. Though they kindly said it was too intense for their house.
Then I sent it to Jera Publishing and they expertly formatted the story for publication and designed a dynamite cover. But the editor there has the patience of Job, since she has cheerfully made the changes I found each time I looked at the manuscript and hasn’t charged me a dime more. Even when the manuscript was sent to IngramSpark for printing, I found more errors. Now I think I’ve caught them all and the book will be a physical presence in hard copy and eBook formats on January 30th. But I will never write a book that way again. It’s best for me to plod along correcting as I go, so I’ll go back to plodding and keep the manic part at rest.
It’s a Dark and Stormy Night…
Writing the perfect opening is hard work. I’m reading a spy novel at moment because that’s the only way to learn a genre. I’m not a big fan of the author’s style of writing, but this is not the first book I’ve read that uses this format.
The book is Rules of Vengeance by Christopher Reich (2009, Doubleday/Random House, ISBN 978-0-385-52407-0) and is the second in a series about a doctor named Jonathon Ransom, who actually isn’t spy, but his wife is.
Anyway, the opening scene is a news announcement on Reuters news service of a car bomb explosion, then the action centers on Jonathon Ransom for a couple of pages.
And then the reader goes to Chapter 1, which describes in great detail an exclusive apartment building in a ritzy part of London, where the reader follows the intrigue of an intruder into one of the apartments. The owner of the apartment is murdered by intruder and then the detective who investigates what is considered a routine suicide determines is actually a murder.
Then we jump back to Jonathon and along the way get a detailed description of the workings of a ultra-secret spy organization in the U.S. In my view, there are a great many details that could have been left out, making this a much tighter and compelling read.
But I’ll continue to read so that I can understand what sells in this genre and how not to fall victim to this style of writing.
In the meantime, I have to figure out what’s going to work for my young adult spy/murder/romance historical fiction book set in 1942. At the moment, the title is EARTHQUAKES because it’s set in Los Angeles and my Jonathon has nightmares about the devastation an earthquake can cause. But also because of the metaphorical earthquakes Jonathon is experiencing in his young life.
The family has just learned their maternal grandfather died on Corregidor, Philippines and their father is now missing. Both men are Marine Corps officers and Naval Academy graduates. There’s one earthquake.
Earthquake number 2 is finding their next-door neighbor stabbed to death in his house. Plus, people keep breaking into Jonathon’s house to find some secret message.
I’ve tried several openings, such as having Jonathon wake up one morning from yet another earthquake nightmare and have to rush to get ready for school. First, though, he’s feel pressure to calm down the daily fight between his older brother and their mother about why he should or should not quit college to enlist in the military to save America from the invaders.
My editor says that publishers reject stories that start with dreams or with the protagonist waking up.
Also, I shouldn’t start with the first word being a sound. In this case “whump,” because his brother is pounding on the kitchen table below Jonathon’s bedroom.
One of my critique group women wants me to have a real earthquake described in the first page or two, but that’s not what I want. I want to focus on the metaphorical aspect.
At the moment I’m stuck, but I’ll keep mulling it over in my head and it will come to me. In the meantime, I’ll working on making the rest of the novel perfect. Or as close as possible.
I think the first paragraphs in my other two novels are good and compelling set ups. Terror’s Identity starts out with:
At sixteen, guys are supposed to tough, right? But when Mom
pounds of the stairs to our bedrooms shouting, “Aidan! Maya! This is it! We’re leaving…now,” tough is not what I feel.
My second novel, a middle-grade horse book, Emily’s Ride to Courage, starts out with:
Usually, the sweet scent of just-mowed grass and the
growl of a tractor cutting a hay field perks me right
up. Not this time. This time I only feel dread.
I hope those make you want to read further. Thanks for reading. And, as usual, I’d love to hear from you. Sarah
How to Make an old Lady Cringe!
I’m reading a young adult to review. The story line is decent, but the grammar is atrocious. The usual modern day practice of using a singular subject and plural object. “She put her books on their desk” kind of wording. Makes me cringe. But now, we’ve got the ambiguous gender language thrown into the mix. People who really aren’t sure what they are: male? female? a little bit of both?
So we end up with saying things like “She looked at Gingerpuss and kissed them on their lips.” Huh? Makes me visualize a three-headed person.
Couldn’t we come up with something that explains the concept without butchering our language too much?
Am I the only person who finds this annoying and confusing? Let’s all try to come up with a more compelling term that is at least marginally within the rules of correct grammar?
I feel sorry for anyone trying to learn our already confusing language without adding this kind of fallderol.
That’s my rant for the day. Aren’t you glad it is a short rant?
sarahsbookreflections 