Tag Archives: writing

Creative Words of Wisdom

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Recently I’ve been recentering myself on creativity and the creative side of writing. I just finished Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, which discusses creativity and the creative process, and decided to dive into the KZB archives for more wisdom on creativity.

Unsurprisingly, I hit paydirt.

First up is Joe Moore on the qualities of creative personalities. Then, James Scott Bell talks about both creative time and how it can help keep your brain youthful. Finally, Garry Rodgers lays out how to behaviors that help creativity and those which hinder it.

There has been active debate on whether creative genius is dependent on mental illness or insanity. This debate continues further by stating that madness alone cannot suffice as Source for creativity. Nay, nay. An openness to experience, intelligence and wisdom complete the mysterious formula. They are actually writing papers on the subject. The bottom line: Creative people make creativity a way of life.

We can all name artists, musicians, writers, scientists, etc. who inspire us with their fascinating and divergent thinking. (Look at our own Basil Sands, for goodness sake.) The argument for creative personalities presented by Hal Lancaster during the late 90’s in The Wall Street Journal stated six basic qualities exist:

  1. Keen powers of observation.
  2. Restless curiosity.
  3. An ability to recognize issues that others miss.
  4. An ability to generate numerous ideas.
  5. Persistently questioning the norm.
  6. A talent for seeing established structures in new ways.

Do you see yourself in any or all of the above? I do, which is fun. But, what really appeals to me is the recurring theme of madness in creative beings. After all, if you’re considered a little crazy you need no excuses for your behavior. I like that.

Joe Moore—January 31, 2012

I have long taught the discipline of a weekly creativity time, an hour (or more) dedicated to pure creation, mental play, wild imaginings. I like to get away from my office for this. I usually go to a local coffee house or a branch of the Los Angeles Library System. I also like to do this work in longhand. I mute my phone and play various games, like:

The First Line Game. Just come up with the most gripping first line you can, without knowing anything else about what might come after it.

The Dictionary Game. I have a pocket dictionary. I open it to a random page and pick a random noun. Then I write down what thoughts that noun triggers. (This is a good cure for scene block, too.)

Killer Scenes. I do this on index cards, and it’s usually connected to a story I’m developing. I just start writing random scene ideas, not knowing where they’ll go. Later I’ll shuffle the stack and take out two cards at a time, and see what ideas develop from their connection.

The What If Game. The old reliable. I’ll look at a newspaper (if I can find one) and riff off the various stories. What if that politician who was just indicted was really an alien from a distant planet? (Actually, this could explain a lot.)

Mind Mapping. I like to think about my story connections this way. I use a fresh blank page and start jotting.

After my creativity time I find that my brain feels more flexible. Less like a grouchy guy waiting on a bench for a bus and more like an Olympic gymnast doing his floor routine.

Now, I’m going to float you a theory. I haven’t investigated this. It’s just something I’ve noticed. It seems to me that the incidence of Alzheimer’s among certain groups is a lot lower than the general population. The two groups I’m thinking of are comedians and lawyers.

What got me noticing this was watching Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks being interviewed together, riffing off each other. Reiner was 92 at the time, and Brooks a sprightly 88. They were both sharp, fast, funny. Which made me think of George Burns, who was cracking people up right up until he died at 100. (When he was 90, Burns was asked by an interviewer what his doctor thought of his cigar and martini habit. Burns replied, “My doctor died.”)

So why should this be? Obviously because comedians are constantly “on.” They’re calling upon their synapses to look for funny connections, word play, and so on. Bob Hope, Groucho Marx (who was only slowed down by a stroke), and many others fit this profile.

And I’ve known of several lawyers who were going to court in their 80s, still kicking the stuffing out of younger opponents. One of them was the legendary Louis Nizer, whom I got to watch try a case when he was 82. I knew about him because I’d read my dad’s copy of My Life in Court (which is better reading than many a legal thriller). Plus, Mr. Nizer had sent me a personal letter in response to one I sent him, asking him for advice on becoming a trial lawyer.

And there he was, coming to court each day with an assistant and boxes filled with exhibits and documents and other evidence. A trial lawyer has to keep a thousand things in mind—witness testimony, jury response, the Rules of Evidence (which have to be cited in a heartbeat when an objection is made), and so on. Might this explain the mental vitality of octogenarian barristers?

There also seems to be an oral component to my theory. Both comedians and trial lawyers have to be verbal and cogent on the spot. Maybe in addition to creativity time, you ought to get yourself into a good, substantive, face-to-face conversation on occasion. At the very least this will be the opposite of Twitter, which may be reason enough to do it.

James Scott Bell—July 8, 2018

Improving creativity starts with a foundation of subject knowledge, learning a discipline, and mastering a proper way of thinking. You build on your creative ability by experimenting, exploring, questioning assumptions, using imagination, and synthesizing information. Learning to be creative is like learning a sport. You need a desire to improve, develop the right muscles, and be in a supportive environment.

You need to view creativity as a practice and understand five key behaviors:

  1. Associating—drawing connections between questions, problems, or ideas from unrelated fields.
  2. Questioning—posing queries that challenge common wisdom.
  3. Observing—scrutinizing the behavior of others in, around, and outside your sphere.
  4. Networking—meeting people with both common and different perspectives.
  5. Experimenting—constructing interactive experiences and provoking unorthodox responses to see what insights emerge.

Read this as — listen, watch, ask, mingle, and stir. Sir Richard Branson has a mantra that’s bred into the corporate DNA of his Virgin staff — A-B-C-D — Always Be Connecting Dots. Branson swears that creativity is a practice and if you practice these five behaviors every day, you will improve your skills in creativity and innovation.

Now, if these five behaviors put you in the right direction for improving creativity, then there must be behaviors to avoid. I found eight:

  1. Lack of courage—being fearful of taking chances, scared of venturing down new roads, and timid about taking the road less traveled. Fear is the biggest enemy of creativity. You need to be courageous and take chances.
  2. Premature judgment—second-guessing and early judgment of outcome severely restrict your ability to generate ideas and freely innovate. Let your initial path expand and follow it to its inevitable destination.
  3. Avoidance of failure—you can’t be bold and creative if you fear failure. Creativity requires risk and making mistakes. They’re part of the process.
  4. Comparing with others—this robs your unique innovation and imagination. Set your own standards. Be different. Something new is always different.
  5. Discomfort with uncertainty—creativity requires letting go and the process doesn’t always behave rationally. Accept that there’s something akin to paranormal in real creativity.
  6. Taking criticism personally—feedback is healthy, even if it’s blunt and harsh like 1&2-Star Amazon reviews. Ignore ridicule. Have thick skin, a tough hide, and don’t let criticism get to you.
  7. Lack of confidence—a certain level of uncertainty comes with any new venture. Some self-doubt is normal but if it becomes overwhelming and long-lasting, it will shut down your creative abilities. The best way to create is to first connect with your self-confidence.
  8. Analysis paralysis—overthinking renders you unable to make a decision because of information overload. “Go with your gut” is the answer to analysis paralysis.

Aside from positive and negative behaviors, there is one overall and outstanding quality that drives successfully creative people.

Passion…

Passion is the secret to creativity. It’s the underlying feature that’s laced the successes of all prominent creators in history.

Garry Rodgers—June 29, 2023

***

  1. What qualities do you believe creative people possess?
  2. What ways do you like to let your creativity play?
  3. What behaviors have helped your creativity? What ones have hindered you?

Is This Writing Good?

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I’m always intrigued when I hear someone say, “That was a really good book” or “This is great writing.” I’ll ask, “What makes it so?” Inevitably, I’ll get varied answers.

Probably the first response is, “Because I liked it.” Or, “Because it held my interest.” Or, “I could hear the voice as if it were talking directly to me.” Or, “It made a lot of sense.”

One of the greatest compliments a writer can get is, “I couldn’t put it down.” I’ve had a few of these over the years, and they really made my day. The best one was, “You. You kept me awake until four in the morning, and I had to go to work the next day.”

So, what makes writing good? I stumbled upon a meme the other day that made me reflect on what good writing is. Timeless storytelling techniques that still hold true and probably outclass most of what is taught to, and produced by, modern scribes.

It was a page by JRR Tolkien, the father of modern fantasy, who wrote The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1954-1955. I read it and reread it, paying attention to what Tolkien was pulling off. Here’s the image.

I’m not going to critique Tolkien, but I see touches I would have never considered.

Like using an exclamation point in the middle of a sentence. Repeating a sentence in the same paragraph but reframing it in backdrops. A single sentence of three repeated words…

World building… invented languages… unique and memorable character development… superb, captivating storytelling…

I can’t accurately explain why I think Tolkien was a good writer. It’s like Supreme Court Judge Potter Stewart said in his landmark ruing on obscenity, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it (pornography) when I see it.”

Kill Zoners — What are your thoughts on this Tolkien page? And what makes for good writing? BTW, you might have to open the page image in a separate tab to enlarge it for clarity.

Voice Revisited

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Voice Revisited
Terry Odell

Travel gods willing, I’ll be in the air much of the day, on my way to Hubster’s Bucket List trip of a Mississippi River cruise on a paddlewheeler with a few extra days in New Orleans to enjoy the sights–and the food. I’ll respond to comments when I can.

In my last post, Dr. Doug Lyle spoke about voice being the most important thing that sells your next book, so I’m revisiting a post I did on the subject of voice back in 2021, with some additions and other modifications. (There’s a free short story read in this version.)

I’m looking at two aspects of voice: Character and Author.

Part A. Character Voices, or “Give Them Their Own.”

I recall reading my first book by a best-selling author. A male character discovered a young girl, about 5 years old, who had been left to die in the woods. He brings her to his cabin and finds she cannot or will not speak. I was impressed with the way the character spoke to the child—it seemed exactly how someone should deal with that situation. However, as more characters entered the story, I discovered that he spoke that way to all of them. Not only that, almost every character in the book spoke with that same “Talking to a Child” voice. Obviously, it doesn’t bother the millions who buy her books, but it bugged the heck out of me. And it’s consistent with all her books in that series. It wasn’t just a one-time deal.

It’s important in a book that characters not only sound like themselves, but don’t sound like each other. That means knowing their history, their age, education, as well as occupation, nationality—the list goes on. Ideally, a reader should be able to know who’s speaking from the dialogue on the page without beats, tags, or narrative.

Cowboys don’t talk like artists, who don’t talk like sailors, who don’t talk like politicians. And men don’t talk like women. They’re hard-wired differently. I’m a woman, and in my first drafts the dialogue will lean in that direction. After I’ve written my male characters’ dialogue, I go back and cut it down by at least 25%.

A few tips to make your characters sound like themselves.

Don’t rely on the “clever.” Dialect is a pitfall—more like the Grand Canyon. If you’re relying on phonetic spelling to show dialect, you’ll stop your readers cold. Nobody wants to stop to sound out words. You can show dialects or accents with one or two word choices, or better yet, have another character notice. “She heard the Texas in his voice” will let the reader know.

Give your characters a few simple “go to” words or phrases. For me, this is often deciding what words my character will use when he or she swears (since I write a lot of cops and covert ops teams, swearing is a given). Then, make sure he or she is the only person who uses that word or phrase.

Keep the narrative “in character” as well. This especially includes internal monologue, and even extends to narrative. Keep your metaphors and similes in character. If your character’s a mechanic, he’s not likely to think of things in terms of ballet metaphors.

What your character says and does reveals a lot to your readers. Workshops I’ve attended have given out the standard character worksheets (which have me screaming and running for the hills), but it’s the “other” questions that reveal your character. What’s in her purse? What’s in his garbage? What does he/she order at Starbucks? Would he/she even be caught dead in a Starbucks? James Scott Bell’s workshops include excellent examples.

How do you keep your characters distinct? How do you get to know them? Do you need to know a lot before you start, or are you (like I am) someone who learns about them as you go?

Which brings me to Part B: Authorial Voice, or “Stay the Hell off the Page.”

After  a presentation I gave for a local book club, one member said she’d read one of my books. Her comment was, “You write the same way you talk.” And, after I sent a chapter to my critique partners, one said, “This sounds very Terry.” That, I think, sums up “voice.”

Any author starting out tries to write what she thinks a writer should sound like. She might work hard to make her characters sound unique, and true to their backgrounds, but all the other stuff—the narrative parts where the character isn’t speaking—sounds stilted. It sounds “writerly.”

But what the characters say isn’t quite the same as “Authorial Voice.” Think of all the renditions of the national anthem performed at sporting events. The words are the same, the notes are the same, but each singer performs it in their unique voice.

The author’s voice is all the other words, the way the sentences are put together, how the paragraphs break. Can anyone confuse Harlan Coben with Lee Child? Janet Evanovich with Michael Connelly? Even Nora Roberts has a distinctive voice that is recognizable whether she’s writing a romance as Roberts, or one of her “In Death” futuristics as JD Robb. There are those who say the authorial voice is the writer’s style.

When I was a fledgling writer, I experimented. One such experiment was a short story in a voice that seems very different from the way I write now. Perhaps it was because I’d been reading a book my cousin recommended, which was not what I usually read. At any rate, it’s a very short story, and was almost my first paid writing gig. Alas, the magazine folded before the offered contract was issued. When I wrote it, it was more of an exercise in POV; first his, then hers. It’s called “Words” and you can download it for free here. For those of you locked into your Kindles, you can find it here. (Amazon is cranky about freebies.) I’d be curious to know if anyone sees my current voice with the one in this short short.

Your authorial voice will develop over time and (one hopes) will become recognizable. It’s important to learn the ‘rules’ of writing before trying to be distinctive. In the art world, we recognize artists by their style. The Star Spangled Banner opens countless events, yet even though the notes are the same, they presentations vary. Immensely.

Before artists of any format—music, poetry, prose, acting, create their own recognizable style, they learn the basics. Before your voice will develop, you have to write. And write. And write some more.

Try looking at your manuscript, or the book you’re reading. Find a passage that’s filled with narrative. How do you, or the author in question deal with it? Is it in the same vein as the dialogue, or do you get jolted out of the story because all of a sudden there’s an outsider taking over? If it’s a funny book, the narrative needs to reflect that sense of humor. If it’s serious, the author shouldn’t be cracking wise in narrative. If your character speaks in short, choppy sentences, then he’s likely to think that way, too. Again, the narrative should continue in that same style.

You want your voice to be recognized, but not intrude on the story. If you want the reader caught up in the story and the characters, you, the author have no business being on the page. Every word on the page should seem to come from the characters, whether it’s dialogue or narrative. You’re the conduit for the story and the characters. You’re there so they shine, not the reverse.

It takes practice—and courage, because you have to put “you” on the page, and not the “writer.” But when you finish, you should have your own special work. You won’t be a cookie-cutter clone. Rule of thumb—if it sounds “writerly”, cut it. When the words flow from the fingertips, that’s probably your own voice coming through. Let it sing.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Danger Abroad

When breaking family ties is the only option.

Madison Westfield has information that could short-circuit her politician father’s campaign for governor. But he’s family. Although he was a father more in word than deed, she changes her identity and leaves the country rather than blow the whistle.

Blackthorne, Inc. taps Security and Investigations staffer, Logan Bolt, to track down Madison Westfield. When he finds her in the Faroe Islands, her story doesn’t match the one her father told Blackthorne. The investigation assignment quickly switches to personal protection for Madison.

Soon, they’re involved with a drug ring and a kidnapping attempt. Will working together put them in more danger? Can a budding relationship survive the dangers they encounter?
Available now.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

The Diary of a CEO

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Steven Bartlett is an interesting young guy, He’s a self-made, multi-millionaire entrepreneur and host of a highly popular podcast called The Diary of a CEO. Recently, he released a book with the same title, subtitled The 33 Laws of Business and Life.

I just read Bartlett’s book, and I can say it’s no run-of-the-mill motivational, self-help spiel that promotes the law of attraction, manifestation, and unicorn-inflated fairy fluffs. This is an outlier look at what works and what doesn’t work. And there’s good stuff in here for writers.

Here’s the jacket copy:

Steven Bartlett has never been one to follow conventional rules. He’s achieved extraordinary success and emerged as one of the greatest marketing minds of our time by doing things differently. But there is a method to his maverick style.​

Between founding and running a global digital marketing agency, investing in over forty companies, creating a hit podcast, and launching a venture fund for minority businesses, Bartlett has learned valuable lessons about success and failure, discovering a set of principles that he uses to guide him on his journey from strength to strength.​

In The Diary of a CEO, he presents these thirty-three fundamental laws for the first time. Inspired by his own experience, rooted in psychology and behavioral science, and drawn from the conversations he’s had on his podcast with the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, artists, writers, and athletes, these laws will ensure excellence and help you take real steps toward achieving your most daring goals.

From the power of ‘leaning into bizarre behavior’ to learning to ‘out-fail the competition’ to ‘never asking for consensus on creativity’ to ‘making pressure your privilege’ to understanding why ‘you must be an inconsistent leader,’ Bartlett provides counterintuitive and fresh insights to lead you on the path to success.

These laws will stand the test of time and will help anyone master their life and unleash their potential, no matter the field.

There’s a lot to digest in this work. A lot to ponder, and a lot to make you say, “That’s a different way to look at it.” But there’s one law (#27) that hit home for me as a writer.

It’s The Discipline Equation: Death, Time, and Discipline. This law teaches you how to be disciplined in anything you set your mind to through a simple “discipline equation”, and why discipline is the ultimate secret to being successful in any ambition we have. Like writing.

Discipline involves the strict allocation of time—the one resource we all have equally in a day, a month, a year. Bartlett uses an analogy called Time Betting where we’re issued poker chips of time blocks and can bet (gamble) upon the results of how we use them. He does this to make you realize how vitally important, precious, and valuable each chip—each minute and hour of your day—truly is.

Setting aside Bartlett’s figure that the average person spends 3.15 hours per day on their smartphone, he offers an intriguing formula for discipline:

Discipline = Value of Goal + Reward of Pursuit – Cost of Pursuit

Bartlett says that success is not complicated, it’s not magic, and it’s not mystery. Luck, chance, and fortune may give you a wonderful tailwind, but the rest will be a byproduct of how you choose to use your time. Most of it hinges on finding something that captivates us enough to persevere daily and use a goal that resonates profoundly enough to remain steadfast in our pursuit.

Success, especially writing success, is the embodiment of discipline—though it may not be easy, its core principles are beautifully simple.

Kill Zoners — Thoughts?

Left Coast Crime Report

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Left Coast Crime Report
Terry Odell

I’m back from Left Coast Crime, and I just know that you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to see how things went on the “Behind the Badge” panel.

Even if you’re not, I’m going to tell you anyway.

The four panelists covered a broad range of police stories. We had a time travel book where the cop lived in the past, another protagonist in the present, but they discovered a time portal (by accident) and could communicate with each other. The author’s challenge was getting the police procedures in place in the 1930s right, since the present-day protagonist wasn’t connected to law enforcement.

Another book was set in Pittsburgh, where someone had called in a crime, giving no more information than it was “under a bridge.” Given the city has over 400 bridges, the author had to figure out what the cops would do. (Hint: bridges all have their unique sounds, and they had the recording of the phone call.)

The third panelist’s book was set in Hong Kong in the 1960s, and since he’d lived there, he had a good idea of how things worked. As a reader, I accepted he’d done his homework, since I didn’t have any idea how cops operated in a totally different culture. Lots of corruption going on.

Then there was me, with my current-day, small town police force.

All in all, the moderator did a good job of asking questions that let us talk about the topic while keeping our answers related to our books, since this was a reader’s conference, not one focused on the ins and outs of doing the writing.

Audience questions were also relevant and fun, especially the one about why I set my book in a made up town. My answer was basically, “Because if I set it in a real town, I have to get everything right.” I went on to explain the problems I had writing Nowhere to Hide, which is set in Orlando, where I was living at the time.

But perhaps the best part of the panel for me was when the moderator said he’d read one of my books and was impressed with how I’d nailed the police procedures, and that he thought I’d done a wonderful job with my characterizations and descriptions.

The only panel I attended that was more geared for authors was one on marketing, and how much there is to do, and how much it can cost. I think most of us in the audience were taken aback by the marketing professional who said how much we should be spending on a book launch. (Note: I won’t be spending close to that figure.)

We don’t get into politics here at TKZ, but I’m merely reporting on what happened. There were a lot of apologies given to attendees from Canada.

In presentations given by the Guest of Honor, Sara Paretsky, she said she had almost called to cancel her attendance but decided she had to come, and prayed that there were enough air traffic controllers on the job for her flight. I have to say, she’s pulled me out of my writing slump. She feels as terrible, angry, and scared about the current situation in our country, but she said it’s important for us to keep our voices out there so we’re not giving in. When I finished writing Danger Abroad, (Available for preorder!) I wasn’t sure I could write another book, but now I’m back at the keyboard.

And speaking of being back at the keyboard, I decided the next book would be another Mapleton Mystery, the 10th novel in that series. In getting started, I realized my brain couldn’t handle a months-long hiatus while I was writing Danger Abroad, which is a Blackthorne, Inc. novel. When I started writing the new book, it took almost a full page before I realized that I was writing from Angie’s POV, not Gordon’s. Had to fix it. Luckily, it was only one page that needed fixing, and I’m an author. I know how to do that.

OK, TKZers. The floor is yours.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Danger Abroad

When breaking family ties is the only option.

Madison Westfield has information that could short-circuit her politician father’s campaign for governor. But he’s family. Although he was a father more in word than deed, she changes her identity and leaves the country rather than blow the whistle.

Blackthorne, Inc. taps Security and Investigations staffer, Logan Bolt, to track down Madison Westfield. When he finds her in the Faroe Islands, her story doesn’t match the one her father told Blackthorne. The investigation assignment quickly switches to personal protection for Madison.

Soon, they’re involved with a drug ring and a kidnapping attempt. Will working together put them in more danger? Can a budding relationship survive the dangers they encounter?

Available for pre-order.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Timeless Writing Advice from C.S. Lewis

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By all accounts, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis was a writer’s writer. He was a British literary scholar who penned fiction and non-fiction along with many, many assorted pieces. Think Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, Witch, Wardrobe) and Miracles. When C.S. Lewis died in 1963, he was famous world-wide as a brilliant man and a decent one, too.

Recently, I was Facebook scrolling and an image popped up in my feed. It was a copy of short letter Lewis wrote on 14 December 1959 to a schoolgirl in America whose teacher contacted Lewis asking him to give writing advice to her student. Here’s the image:

I read this four times to let the simplicity, yet depth, of his words to sink in—the timeless writing advice from a true master. While several of his 1959 points are modified by sixty-six years of technological advances (replace radio with smartphone, but don’t dismiss the hushed computer keyboard as a clackity-clack mechanical typewriter).

The main points C.S. Lewis sets forth are eternal. Read decent stuff… filter crap. Avoid distraction. Use the ear. Evoke personal interest and imagination. Be clear. Bake the manuscript. Get in the zone; the flow. And know the meaning (or meanings) of every word you use.

Kill Zoners — What timeless writing advice can you give to today’s schoolgirl in America?

BTW, visit the S.S. Lewis official website for a complete catalog of his works.

Dialogue And The Times

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Dialogue And The Times
Terry Odell

Book covers of Huckleberry Finn and James

We are warned to take it easy with dialects in dialogue, because they make things harder to read, and the last thing we want to do is slow things down for our readers. These are a few snippets showing how I handled it years ago in Where Danger Hides.

“Well, what do we have here? You want to come on out, darlin’?” The voice was deep, warm, and decidedly Texan.

***

From her brief encounter with Texas, she was certain he’d be dressed like every other man here—in a tuxedo. She’d never pick him out in the crowd. Unless, of course, he opened his mouth, and that slow, honey-rich drawl flowed out.

I left it up to the reader to fill in the blanks as to what they heard while reading.

Or, in Rooted in Danger, where my protagonist was an Aussie, I used expressions rather than try to spell out the way he sounded when he spoke.

The man’s soothing tone penetrated her fog. He didn’t try to take the gun away, but he walked her to the kitchen and, guiding her hand with his, opened a cabinet.
“How about in here?” he asked. “Or shall we toss it down the dunny?”
Finally, his words registered. “Dunny?”
“Loo. Head. W.C. Toilet. Although that was more of a figure-of-speech question because it would ruin your plumbing.”

***

“Told you it would be a bucket of piss.”
“What?”
“I think you’d call it a piece of cake.”
“I definitely like that better.”

***

“Thanks, Wally. You’re a right fine bastard.”
“You got no call to say that about me,” Wally said with a scowl.
“Sorry, mate. Where I come from, bastard means a damn good friend.”

***

We’re also told to watch profanity. But there are always exceptions to everything.

(Note: I am not going to get into book banning or censorship in this post. Nor am I going to give spoilers for Everett’s book.)

But language evolves. Tastes change. Conventions change.

Our book club voted to read James by Percival Everett for this month. We meet tomorrow, so I don’t know what the other group members will have to say about it, but this is my take.

James is based on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, a book I read countless times as a child—I’m thinking it was in my elementary or junior high school days. I thought Huck was cool (although that wasn’t the slang in those days.)

It was also assigned reading in high school English. (Can we get away with that today?The “N” word was used extensively in both Huckleberry Finn and James, as appropriate to the times.) Good old Mr. Holtby had us discussing whether we’d rather be a raft or a riverboat. He was all about symbolism. But he made us think.

At any rate, after reading James, I went to the library for a copy of Huckleberry Finn, because I’d been under the impression that James was a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s point of view. There were so many things I didn’t remember, given the elapsed time between high school and today, but—duh moment—it didn’t take long to realize that Huck and Jim weren’t together through the whole book, so seeing what transpired for Jim while he was apart from Huck made for a very different story.

Huck’s grammar (or lack thereof) was prevalent in both books. Likewise for Jim. True to the times and the vocabularies of the characters. I wonder if Everett blew up spellcheck and any grammar checking software. I’m not going to try to transcribe passages from Huckleberry Finn. Instead, here are two image. (Sorry about the quality. I took it from a very old, yellowed paperback.)

This is Huck:

page from Huckleberry Finn

Here, Jim is talking to Huck.

page of text from Huckleberry Finn

Did you have trouble reading either passage? Did you have to slow down? Was it more the spelling, grammar, or vocabulary? Would you try writing that kind of dialogue today to show a character’s accent or dialect?

What are your thoughts about dialect in dialogue? Everett’s book was not only published (Sorry, I didn’t think to grab a picture or two before I had to return it to the library, but a lot of the dialogue was very much the same) but won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction. It’s also been optioned for a movie, and I’m curious to see how it’s handled.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Danger Abroad

When breaking family ties is the only option.

Madison Westfield has information that could short-circuit her politician father’s campaign for governor. But he’s family. Although he was a father more in word than deed, she changes her identity and leaves the country rather than blow the whistle.

Blackthorne, Inc. taps Security and Investigations staffer, Logan Bolt, to track down Madison Westfield. When he finds her in the Faroe Islands, her story doesn’t match the one her father told Blackthorne. The investigation assignment quickly switches to personal protection for Madison.

Soon, they’re involved with a drug ring and a kidnapping attempt. Will working together put them in more danger? Can a budding relationship survive the dangers they encounter?

Available for pre-order.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Refining a Cover

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Refining a Cover
Terry Odell

Last time, I mentioned that my cover artist, Kim Killion at The Killion Group, was working with a background image I took of a waterfall in Vágar in the Faroe Islands. This was the image I sent.

Picture of the Vagar Waterfall, blowing from the wind.

In keeping with the Blackthorne, Inc. series “branding” (see them here), I also sent her the stock image of the hero for the cover. We’ve talked before about how a cover should make the genre obvious, and these are romantic suspense books which fall under the “romance” umbrella. Once I admitted that cover design was a marketing task, I had all my previous Blackthorne covers redesigned to fit this basic look.

This is what she sent.

Now, had this been one of my former more “traditional” publishers, that would have been that. The title and my name were spelled correctly. Accept it. In fact, I probably would have approved this cover. However, Kim allows for some back-and-forthing, and I wanted to look at it more carefully. I also enlisted the opinion of one of my critique partners, who suggested the cliffs were too dark.

I let Kim know, and she came back with this comp.

At this point, I asked my editor for her opinion, which was that the white t-shirt was distracting. I agreed, and thought it would call attention away from my name, so I asked Kim what she thought. She thought those points were valid and sent this.

These were all subtle changes, but I like the final product. There’s also the fact that three comps are included in the price, but any more than that will incur extra charges.

With a cover, I can move forward with more of the dreaded marketing, such as working on promo images (memes?) to use on my blog, newsletter, and social media.

I also had to create the book’s page on my website.

But now, I’m busy going through my editor’s feedback.

Oh—one last thing (nothing like burying the lede, eh?)

Danger Abroad is now available for preorder at many of your favorite channels. Release date is set for April 17th.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Double Intrigue
When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

What Makes a Book Good?

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What Makes a Book Good?
Terry Odell

woman in front of library shelves reading a book.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

It’s done. But not really. Yes, I reached “the end” of the manuscript, which is a major part of the writing process. I wrapped it up at around 76,500 words.

Now what? I have 16 days before I have to send it to my editor. I print it in my ‘fool the eye’ (and save paper) format. Different font, single-spaced, two columns, print on both sides of the paper. I also have my board of sticky notes to go through.

lined paper with blue writingAnd I really created extra work for myself this time around, because I didn’t write chapter summaries and time stamps as I finished each chapter. My bad. So, as I’m reading and marking up my printouts—and adding more sticky notes as I run across things that need elaboration or deleting—I’m also writing my chapter summaries. Longhand. I hope I can read them when the time comes!

But getting ready to deliver the best manuscript I can to my editor always makes me wonder if it will be good enough. Will she send it back after three chapters and say it’s not going to work? Or will she say it’ll work if you change your characters, move the setting, cut this thread, add another one. All of which made me think about what makes a book good. Eventually, it’s in the hands, eyes, or ears of the reader. Which then led me to thinking about a recent read. I’m not mentioning title or author, or the overall story, because I don’t think it’s fair to the author, and that’s not the point of this post.

I belong to a neighborhood book club. To pick what we read, each month, someone suggests about 4 books, we vote, and majority rules. The vast majority of the selections are not what I’d choose on my own, but I have found some books I’m glad I read. A couple, I’ve even bought to add to my bookshelves. (Mostly, I get the books from the library—yay libraries—because I don’t like spending money on something I’m not likely to keep.)

Usually, the books would be categorized as literary, women’s fiction, or—who knew this was a genre classification?—book club books.

This month’s read had me befuddled. It was classified as a mystery/thriller/crime novel in reviews, so I thought I’d like it. It came in at almost 500 pages, and at least 300 of them were superfluous. I finished it, because I kept waiting for it to live up to the bazillion accolades and awards from sites like the New York Times, Time Magazine, New York Public Library, Washinton Post, Boston Globe, NPR … the list goes on.

I went to Amazon. The book ranks in the top 25 in the overall Amazon store. Not too shabby. I scrolled down to see what readers thought. What I generally do when I look at reader reviews is zero in on the 3 stars and under to see what people didn’t like about the book. For this book, the feedback from those matched my thoughts perfectly.

I’ve already returned the book to the library, so I can’t go back and count the POV characters, but I’d estimate at least 10. If not that many, it sure felt like it. There was one I sort of liked. The others weren’t worth the ink on the page as far as I was concerned. Nothing to like about any of them.

Then there was the overall structure. Some POVs were written in 1st person, others in 3rd. I don’t think there was a JSB ‘mirror moment’ for any of them. If so, it was buried so deeply that I never noticed.

Chronology? The book covered several decades in time. The author had a list of the decades/years as chapter headers, and the “now” for that chapter was in bold. (I confess, it took me a while to figure that out, and even if I had, my brain couldn’t put things in chronological order to keep track of the story. I’m a linear writer and reader.) If you could keep things straight and remember them, you could follow character arcs, but I don’t want to work that hard when I’m reading fiction. Or take notes.

Overall, I got to the end—which wrapped things up, but seemed silly and contrived. Book club meets next week, and I’ll be curious to see whether anyone else was bothered by the same things I was. The writing was fine. The overall story, had it been written in a more linear fashion, with fewer POV characters (and pages!), was fine. But the book, to me, was anything but fine.

Which, in the end, reminds me that not everyone likes every book, and once mine is the best it can be, I should let it go and move on.

What about you, TKXers. What turns you off in a book that others say is fantastic?

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Double Intrigue
When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

When Characters Get Together

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When Characters Get Together
Terry Odell

As writers, we spend a lot of time with our characters. But what do they think of us?

Open book in a forest reading The Other Side of the Page When I finished writing FINDING SARAH, the characters, Randy and Sarah, wouldn’t leave me alone. I ended up writing a sequel, HIDDEN FIRE.

At the time, I belonged to an online writing group, and every Monday there was a writing challenge. Often, it included using specific words or putting a character in a particular situation. For fun, I decided to  incorporate some of the “behind-the-scenes” aspects of being a writer, which I recounted in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE. I hope you’ll enjoy this peek.

The Other Side of the Page

“You know, I’m getting sick of just sitting around here at the mercy of my writer,” Sarah complained. She squirmed, trying to get comfortable on a fallen log. “Look at me. Stuck out here in the woods in the middle of the night, freezing my ass off in a wedding dress while she tries to figure out how to have Randy find me and save me from that creep.”

“Hey, who are you calling a creep?” Chris popped out from behind a nearby tree and sat on the ground next to Sarah. “It’s not like any of this was my idea. And all that perverted sex stuff. What baloney. Hey, I like women. Women like me. I had no problems with women until she decided she needed a nastier villain.”

“Oh, be quiet you two.” Maggie appeared in the clearing, bundled in a heavy parka. “I’ve got some hot tea in this thermos and cookies in my backpack. And a blanket for you, Sarah, since she’s managed to have you lose yours. Maybe she won’t notice.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” Sarah said. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders, wrapped her hands around the cup of tea Maggie had poured for her and tried to keep her teeth from chattering so she could take a sip. “Mmm. What kind of tea is this?”

“How the hell should I know? I just bought some cheap tea bags and added boiling water. All those fancy teas Terry keeps writing for me—what a crock. I would have brought some booze but I was afraid you-know-who,” she glanced skyward, “might notice if you got drunk.”

“Shhh!” Chris said. “I think I hear the keyboard clattering again. God knows what she’ll have us do next.”

“I’m out of here then,” Maggie said. “I’m not in this scene and I don’t want to be, thank you very much. Finish that tea, Sarah, and hide the thermos. If she finds it, you’re in big trouble.” As quickly as she had arrived, Maggie scurried away.

Sarah gulped the rest of the tea and tossed the cup behind a tree trunk. “Get out of here too, Chris. You’re not supposed to find me yet, although I must say, I wish you would. I saw her looking up hypothermia on the Internet and I’m afraid I’m going to be in bad shape.”

“Sorry about that. But at least you’re the heroine. She can’t really harm you. I hope she doesn’t have a shootout planned for me. I don’t think she has a clue that I’m a crack shot and she’ll have my brains blown out instead.”

Sarah jerked upright. “What’s that? Did you hear something? An animal? You don’t think there are bears out here, do you?”

“Bears?” He shook his head. “No. Maybe an owl. She’s not going to put anything out here that will hurt you. Hang in there—I’m sure she’ll bring me back before that beanpole cop finds you. She’s got him stuck in Pine Hills all exhausted and frustrated.”

Sarah wrapped herself in the blanket and watched Chris disappear into the darkness. This character business wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. When she’d answered the ad, she thought it would be fun—be the heroine of a romance novel. Ha! Aside from one really great night with Randy, it had been one disaster after another. Now here she was, stuck in the woods, waiting around to see what her writer could possibly come up with next.

At least it ought to start happening soon. Chris had been right—the keyboard was clattering at a rapid pace.

Without warning, a calico kitten appeared from underneath a nearby log and climbed into Sarah’s lap.

“What the—?”

A voice from above echoed through the trees. “Hey, I can’t help it. This week’s writing class assignment is a killer. I have to use specific phrases in a story, and they’re all unrelated. They gave us six to choose from. I have to use three of them.”

“Let me guess,” Sarah said. “One choice was ‘calico kitten’, right?”

“Right. Now I need two more. Hmm. Untied sneakers won’t work—Chris already took yours away. Same goes for wool socks. Mouthwash? No, that won’t fit. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to dream about herb-roasted potatoes or feta cheese before you pass out from the cold, would you?”

Sarah sighed. “I’m at your mercy, Terry.” She closed her eyes and conjured up a vision of a five-course dinner including the requisite foodstuffs. “But how hard would it have been to use the wool socks instead of the damn cat?”

Ah, but where’s the challenge in that!

OK, TKZers. What are your characters doing when you’re not around?

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Double Intrigue
When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”