Purpose in writing

 

In a book's first pages is the ground on which all the rest is built. Who was this person? Why should I care about them and read their story? From where have they come? Why would a reader believe they might have something interesting ahead? As a writer, I ask myself the same questions. I will be putting a lot more time into these characters than it takes for a reader to read the book. I need to care and believe in them.

If the writer jumps right into the action, will the reader believe in the character’s abilities or reasons? There are, of course, books, with no real plot-- just a constant stream of thinking or talking with no seeming direction. Some people love such books. For me though, I want meaningful action in mind for what I read or write.

I also like hidden motives, characters who realize what they really want through time, based on what they experience; for me, this goes along with some fast action, and yes discovered love. My books are romances, but that alone wouldn't interest me. I want a reason for what is about to happen-- a reason I believe is possible. It's not always easy, but that kind of writing is the most rewarding-- the hidden purposes.

When writing about writing, it has to be from my perspective including some from how-to books that I have read. I often have ideas germinating for a long time before I begin writing. Writing leads to more ideas. I try to give that time to happen.

Although I never say the story takes over, I do discover things along the way, things I hadn't seen until the story begins unwinding. I never outline but do have a clear idea of where the story will end up. What I see to begin is not always what is real. All of my stories are fiction, sometimes with a real character or so inserted, but fiction has to feel like it could happen to make it powerful-- at least for me.

Look at the bougainvillea flower below. Most would assume it's the bright red, but it's not. It's that tiny white flower in the middle. The red is leaves. Discovering the unexpected is the joy of creating.

Step by step

 

When I thought about how to write about writing, my mind went blank. We are getting ready to head north to the farm, we dealt with the loss of a cat, and there's all the cultural stuff going on. Plus, I am trying to get all eight of the Arizona historicals improved, edited, and making them all I want them to be. Mentally, I am not even sure what's going on in my head.

I dream a lot and sometimes, I have to wonder from where did that come!. An example is a recent dream in what I call a movie type dream-- where I am not in them; but I am watching the story unfold. In that one, there is a young woman, who has a crush on a man probably 20 years older than her. She follows him and his woman friend through a door with no idea that it will bring her into a parallel world. Supposedly, the parallel world is alongside her world except you can't go back without finding that or another portal. 

In that dream, she begins to find that the parallel world looks to be great, except it's not. That world is dystopian with the way everything is controlled; with death sometimes the price people pay if they get in the way of the supposed perfect new world order.

From where do such events in a dream like that come as it got more and more violent. I have never watched any of those movies. When I woke up, I knew it was no book I'd ever want to write. How do I get such dreams??? It wasn't really a nightmare, because I wasn't caught up in the bad stuff, but still had to wonder as I know such ideas are out there.

So, back to writing and how a person puts together a book. I have had a few come from dreams but mostly just small scenes. I don't use dreams for overall plots. I can't really say from where my stories have come. Yes, they are all romances, but there is always a lot more I need to find to make a story worth spending time writing.

The first book I ever wrote was set on the Oregon Trail. The second was a contemporary rodeo story. The third was set in Arizona, again historical, but very different than the Oregon series. 

This is a  marketing mistake not to write in consistent genres that will draw readers to follow the stories. Genres are a big part of successful selling of books. I had one series where I called them paranormals. I got the idea for them while driving through one of Tucson's old neighborhoods and thought-- what if these interesting looking ordinary people had extraordinary powers-- what if they saw what the rest of us do not. Seemed like a fun idea for me but what genre is that? It went nowhere with readers as paranormals...maybe a sub-genre of fantasy.

So, I guess the essence of what I believe is find a genre you as the writer like. Select characters in which to believe. Then, come up with a meaningful and interesting plot-- ideally related to those characters. For me, books take a good setting that the writer knows well enough to describe and give the feel to the reader. Finally, some strong secondary characters-- a few might get a book of their own and some might be animals. 

For what I know of these issues, it'll come next in between driving north and trying to not feel all stressed by travel. I can only use my own stories to illustrate what I think, as right now not reading a lot of fiction.

When it's Time

 

I was undecided about writing about this because why make others sad about our loss. Whenever we lose a pet, the beloved ones, it's tough and we get reminders of that loss whenever others speak about their losses. Still, there was something about this one that seemed to me should be shared and so here goes.

 We knew Tigger had a serious disease with cat FIV, which is like human aids. But the information was that they can live a normal lifetime if symptoms are treated. We were doing that. When my brother visited, Tigger was on his lap every time he sat down. He seemed okay.

Right after Dan left, things changed. I won't go into details as they're not what this is about. We saw the end was coming. We called our veterinarian to ask if they gave euthanasia house calls. They did not. They recommended a mobile veterinary unit, which we had already found online. The unit no longer took calls for general health care for new pets, but they still did euthanasia calls.

Desert Paws

One thing we had learned in 2013, that if we had to have a pet put to sleep, we wanted it to be in our home. We waited though to see if he could cross over by himself. When we heard him crying in pain, we made the call. It was with great relief that they said they could be there within an hour and a half. Nobody wants a beloved pet to suffer when nothing can be done for them. 

The doctor arrived, we put Tigger on the sofa where he relaxed. She gave him first a shot to relax him and take away pain. Then after she saw it took effect, she gave him the one to stop his heart. It might have taken half an hour or less, but he was gone. We felt sad but also grateful that he didn't have to continue to suffer.

No photos of him here as I don't want others to feel bad. In a way, this was a victory. I don't know how old he was as we got him as a stray that had been around the farms for years, but not sure how many. We had had him since 2017 and he leaves a big hole in our life, as well as the little female that had followed him to our farm, who I believe was one of his offspring, but who can prove it. We left his body in the living room a day for her to understand he's dead, if they understand such things.

The stones at the top of the page are where he and our other male cat are buried here on our piece of desert. 

The photo below is from a card Desert Paws, here in Tucson, sent us sympathizing with our loss. We appreciated the care the doctor had given him and also her handwritten note about our loss. She added what he had gained for our love of him. That was sweet as is the image. We won't replace him right away as we have to travel north soon, and it would be hard on an adopted cat to deal with that kind of change. We will though when we return to the desert. Two cats is not enough *s*

I am writing this because I believe that sometimes we do have to let our beloved pets go and when we do, if we can afford it, it's very nice to have it done in the house where they live. We still cry, of course, but it helps to know we didn't have them die in fear as happens when they go to the veterinarian's office. We have done it twice now and would let go of them no other way. 

If there is a rainbow bridge for our beloved animals, I hope he traveled over it, maybe with the other one buried here, Blackie, who died without needing euthanasia but also was much missed. They all are.

 

Backlists

This time I have a question for readers. I know that most of you don't comment here (sad as I used to get a lot of comments but thus goes the times), but I'd very much appreciate it if you'd think about the question below for yourself and then share your answer for the benefit of other readers here, including me.

Here's the question: If you like an author, I don't care what genre, will you look for older books by that author or is it all about the newest books, perhaps even by that, author?  Along with it-- if you like an author and they change genres, say had been sci fi but now want to write mystery, will you give the new direction a chance if your favorite has always been where they had always written?

There is not a right or wrong answer, but I am curious how many readers do follow all the work by a favorite author-- even from years gone by. Should a writer consider pulling those older books or let them set with the hope someday they will be discovered? 

An adjunct to that question is for writers-- how do you deal with your own backlist? Most of us have one. One possibility is pull them and rewrite them with our current skills. I've seen writers do that, before working on new ideas.

 

one aspect of editing

 

For more than four months, I've been working on re-editing my Arizona historical romances. Because we needed to pull some, in order to have title changes, we decided to pull all eight in that series, re-edit and add onto them, as well as give them all new titles. Amazon said we must then bring them back as new books... 

To avoid reader confusion, I was not comfortable with that, but it's currently the only way when you know your titles are not working for the books. Amazon is following ISBN requirements. It makes sense but just a surprise-- if you don't read your emails.

So far, I have done four and am just finishing the fifth. I have actually enjoyed it since I hadn't read them in a long time-- and I feel I am a better writer today. In writing, you always improve-- if you keep writing. I also came up with some ways to add to their stories without losing the basic plots but instead elements to make them feel more complete and that there is something new.

We are in no hurry to put them back, as we attempt learn more about what launching a book should have meant when we originally brought them out beginning in 2013. There is so much I still do not know about the marketing end of books, but turns out there are a few things on writing that I also have had to look at.

For instance, using the word just too many times is a no no. I use it a lot in my ordinary life-- i.e. just in time, etc. etc. But writing is not so much about fitting what is 'ordinary' but instead what is readable to others. Yikes. I could see where I'd used it, and it wasn't needed. Other places it was better than writing a whole lot more words when one would do. I think I have cut out half.

I am going to ignore a few other rules that are claimed to be important-- like not using adverbs. I am not sure why a word that modifies a verb is bad but a word that modifies a noun is okay. I am going to keep my adverbs, as often to get rid of them would lose meaning or require too many other words. I also believe too many adjectives for a noun can seem overdone, but I was never fond of heavy usage of either. It can become humorous.

Another word the editing gods don't like is very. Often a different word will do but sometimes it doesn't fit the action. Other times, it's a word less people would know when romances are not supposed to be written with a lot of big words, words that often are perfect, but less known. Romance readers don't want to read their books with a dictionary in hand. 

Maybe I should say most as I've read their writing should be aimed at an eighth grade level for readability. At one time, eighth grade was pretty advanced in knowledge (I've seen what once an eight grade education meant-- good luck with passing such tests today). Now, who knows what even a college degree means for vocabulary. If it's dialogue, of course, then it depends on the background of the character.

For a while, I am going to be writing, in this blog, about the whole process of putting together books. The next one will involve a question that is of interest to me. I will though get more into the issues of editing-- as I know it.

snakes

Photos below all are related to snakes. If such bother you, skip this blog.

 It began the afternoon of April 7th. I went to the door to tell Ranch Boss, who was working in the vacation trailer, preparing it for the visit from my brother, that he'd had a call. When he walked back toward the house, he had news for me. On the front porch was a diamondback. 

We have been lucky here with king and gopher snakes but have only seen a rattler at the back of the property. I have worried about them despite having a fenced yard for the cats. They consider snakes playthings with no idea, from our part of Oregon, that they can be dangerous.

So, what to do? After spraying it with water, the snake curled up under a big rock. Ranch Boss said let it be and figured it'd go away. I worried with my brother coming and he'd use the trailer out front. So while Ranch Boss wasn't concerned, I called a snake removal company. They would come within half an hour but were a bit costly. 

 

Again, Ranch Boss said it'd be okay. It seemed pretty subdued after the water spray. I said, I want to do it even at $150. They remove them and put them in better places. So the guy is on the way and Ranch Boss sat out front keeping an eye on the rattler to make sure it stays where it is. The guy would have found it if it had left but better it stayed put.

Such a relaxing day until... I only hoped the guy would get here before snake left. It seemed satisfied to have the warmth and big rock for shelter. When the guy arrived, he came well equipped with snake tongs and a long stick that I guess is called as snake hook, tall boots, and a bucket with a locking top. He went right for it and captured it using the tongs and the hook to put it in the bucket within moments. 

 

 

He said it was what we had thought, more officially a western diamondback rattlesnake. He said males are out right now looking for females. The females will be out later looking for food. Because Ranch Boss had kept an eye on it, it was an easy capture, he reduced the cost to a regular customer. I hope we won't be one but was relieved this snake has been safely taken elsewhere (where it is legal for them to be moved as there are restrictions). I'd have been stressed if we hadn't done this; so definitely worth it to me for it to be taken away alive for hopefully a new life. He mentioned they have a one mile range... That might mean we will see it again *s*

 

The day after, we saw the other snake that looks like a diamondback, only is not. He's a gopher snake. You can tell by the head shape and no rattles. They are good snakes to have around although they do not kill rattlers. They do though compete for food, which might help to reduce the number of rattlers. We used to call them bull snakes but turns out they don't live in our part of Arizona. They look pretty much the same; so not sure how they are differentiated other than geographically.

 

Since then, we've seen no snakes but they are for sure here.

 

Horse stories

 

image from Stencil

This will probably seem way different from my recent blogs, but it's not for my life experiences and isn't that what blogs are about.

I came across this YouTube through one of those things we get if we are on YouTube-- recommendations. Not sure why but it's interesting to me and might be to some of you.

Five Friends who died with horse accidents.

Although I have had my own interests in horse, I have only a few experiences to share. In my historical novels, I have horses as part of the stories-- more rarely in the contemporary but also in the urban fantasy novels. I base some of that on my times on horseback--though i am not remotely a good horse person. 

Growing up, my favorite books were the Black Stallion series and had almost all of them from various Christmas or birthday gifts. Because my father was allergic to horses, we couldn't have them-- with one exception. He decided to give it a try and we got a gelding, which worked for a while before it began to make my father sick. I had enough experience with him (don't remember if I knew his name). One of them was life experience kind. I saddled him and rode up the dirt road on our property that led to the back of our 80 acres. All had seemed well, until I turned him to head back to the farm. He began to run. I had little control and pulled on the reins to stop him. He stopped all right and I went right over his head. I was not hurt but definitely got scared by it. Not long after that he was gone from the farm but not because I told anybody. I did not. it wasn't the horse's fault.

I had a couple of trail ride experiences in later years. One went smoothly, along the Metolius River. Lovely time. The second was heading into the pine forest in that area. The horse I was riding apparently was what can be called barn sour as when we all turned, he broke into a run to head for the barns. I remembered my earlier experience, thought I can never stay on and ahead was a paved road. So, I kicked my feet out of the stirrups and rolled to the right side of the trail, all loose dirt. If i hadn't been wearing a sleeveless shirt, all would have been well, but I was, scraped my shoulder and had to head to a nearby town for a tetanus shut.

Horses continued to fascinate me. I debated taking lessons when I was in my 50s but just never did it. Our Oregon farm wasn't good for horses, too wet, although we boarded a friend's horse for a few years before she died of old age. For our limited land, we had enough cattle and sheep, sometimes too many, and horses didn't make sense.

My other horse experiences were pretty much without incident. At my age, there won't be more as starting over with horses would make no sense now. I still love them but do see the need to know what you are doing with them-- and even then, things can go wrong as you will see in the link, if you read it. . 

spring and an important holiday

 

Although I had two possible blogs lined up, when I thought about this being Easter week, I delayed them for a week and then two because this is a holy week for more than just Christianity and the resurrection of the Christ. Passover is also this week. This historic celebration began April 5th and ends the 13th. It's not all that is right now. Ramadan began March 22nd and ends 30 days later. It is a time of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. As for religions without Abrahamic origins, check it out online as most have interesting stories and some coincide with each other.

 

I thought this article-- 7 Pagan Festivals we still celebrate was interesting for some of the origins of our own traditions. I know, we tend to think it's all about us, but studying history of spiritual traditions says it's not. It is a season of rebirth like you see in the photo below with the dove feeding her babies.

 

For my life, I've known many ways to celebrate Easter from Easter egg hunts for the family on farm where I grew up, decorating eggs, attending Mass, celebration at the cemetery above the country church at dawn, and as it is for me today-- very simple quiet, often with ham and deviled eggs.

Today, flowers and the time of warmer weather and longer days is a big part of it for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. It's a good time to be considering growth and new beginnings.  

 

However you celebrate tomorrow or whether you have other traditions important to your life, I hope you enjoy this time.

for the writers and readers

 Despite this being April Fools Day, this is not a joke. It's very real for what is happening.

 

Someone might think that wokeism shouldn't a big deal for authors today. I have an example of how it even applies to authors from the past.

Rewriting historical authors

So, if it's not okay to say certain words, rewriting what sometimes have been seen as classics, even when it takes all the spirit out of the stores, what about today's authors?

Recently, I read that a writer had their book ad removed for using the word alpha? That's not a sexual term but does relate to powerful male figures. It apparently does not suit the woke culture-- strong male figures to them apparently mean bullies and abusers? Men are supposed to be more feminine or what exactly?

Wokeism isn't the only issue for writers. For a long time, and this includes all of the arts, cultural appropriation has been the complaint. A writer should not write or paint a Native American theme unless they are Native American-- as what can they know about it like someone would who had lived it. This has gone so far as hairstyles, jewelry and clothing in any ethnicity. 

By that thinking, a writer should not have a protagonist from a culture unlike their own. Except, the whole idea of writing fiction is to get in touch emotionally with stories other than our own. I guarantee that in my books what the characters experience I generally have not.

Where does that leave me when I come up with an idea for the books I write? I have dealt with some of these issues with my previous books, before woke became a term. I have had three male protagonists who were half Native American. Two were raised away from reservation life and by their fathers. That saved some questions, although I had studied a great deal about the cultures of their mothers. I had chosen their heritage based on interest in how that works for those with such divided backgrounds. I have another book in mind to write but have held off on it due to some of my own mixed feelings as it'd be a Native woman. I could relate to her due to how she lived but still have held off. Maybe someday...

One more thing, involving woke is the belief writers have to choose whether to write to the market (which means the money) or to write to the muse (the inner vision) and accept choosing the latter may mean not as many sales. Some need to earn a living and there is no real choice-- as with many other ways we market our wares. I had a choice, which doesn't mean I don't want sales. Every writer does as it's a sign of work being appreciated. In the end though, sometimes you can't satisfy both. I always hope that I can. *s*

An historical presents a different problem. We live in one era but when we write about another, we have to research what it would have been like for the ones living there. We rely on what others wrote and that might be accurate-- but will it suit a different time with different customs?

When one of my historical heroes had a half black brother, it gave me an opportunity to get into the cultural differences from back then and that many don't understand all of that in today's world. The hero had fought for the South due to his family being there. I wasn't pleased when it was due to come out, as we suddenly were bombarded by feelings against the South and the Confederacy. That hasn't abated much, but I did not want to change the hero. I don't know if it hurt its ratings. You never really know with such things as to what influences popularity of books.

Regarding the new woke rules, I don't see they'd be a big deal to romance readers-- but who knows. I can't see how you could write a book with proper pronouns for the genders (if the word gender is even okay). They, them, their just would not cut it in most novels given people want to know what the characters look like. A trans woman could work, but it has to have the woman/man in there also to be understood and carry the action forward. In romances, no way could it be other than male or female whether it's two males or two females or whatever else relationships might come across.

For language, I have never used crude words for other ethnicities and that includes European ones. I don't much like the word "white" as who is white-- who in America is not a mix of various groups? We are mutts. That's good for strength and longevity not to be purebred.

 

 

code of ethics

 

After I wrote about woke, I felt I'd write about how it relates to writing books. Naturally, I can't go into it for all authors, just myself. I began thinking about the whole subject of ethics, which is to what I think this comes, which is why we decide a certain code of behavior is correct for us. 

That's when I came up with a different question. How do ethics influence my life and from where do my personal ethics come? That's no easier to write about than how it influences creative work. From where do any of us get our own code of ethics? Is it family, tribe, peer group, schools, culture, books, entertainment, or is some sort of code born in us? 

Today, I am relatively sure schools are having a huge role in teaching ethics, and some of that relates to both parents needing to work or single parent families. Both parents are gone more than I think was true in the past. 

Most likely, for today's kids, another big influence is social media, which didn't exist back in bygone eras. Game playing may be doing more of it than those of us who don't play games understand.

When I went to school, subjects were like English, literature, math, science, foreign languages, along with shop for boys and home economics for girls. No classes that I remember were about ethics. That was taught by our teachers' deportment, how well they taught, and the order that was expected in the classroom. They didn't tell us how we should vote, and I have no idea, even years later, to what political party any of them belonged-- if any.

So, I began to think from where did my own code of ethics come. Certainly my family, not just my parents but grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. As for a tribe, my parents mostly socialized with family-- both sides. We didn't go to church; so that wasn't much of an influence for things like Sunday school classes. I did though get my first Bible at a pretty early age. I didn't read it all the way through, until years later. I understood the basics--  you know, the words in red 

As for my tribe, it was likely mostly family, Growing up at the end of a gravel road in the country, there were no immediate neighbors. As a child, I was outside a lot; so nature was an influence and our animals, which involved pets but also cows at one time and then sheep. When you grow up around animals, taking care of them is a big part of how you learn what's okay to do. 

Guns were in my life always with rifles on the wall in the utility room. I got my first rifle when I asked for it as a Christmas gift. I was twelve. I was taught how to care for it and use it responsibly-- definitely an ethical value as responsibility has been a big deal all of my life. I wanted that rifle to protect our sheep from our nearest neighbor's dogs, who tore them apart too many times. I learned about death early, that way also, as farm life tends to do.

Books were another major influence in how I saw what was right to do. From the time I could read, I was in a library at my parents' encouragement. My parents both read also. I graduated from the little kid room, to the teen's room and then the adult room where I read all kinds of books from John Steinbeck, Janice Holt Giles, Zane Grey, Pearl Buck, Ernest Hemingway, and more. Probably books were the influence that today the internet can be. 

There were some romances too, but this was before sex entered into such books. They were more about how you treat a loved one-- presented generally in a positive sense. I don't know if books like Lolita would have been in my small town library. It was pretty controversial when it came out in 1955, but I preferred historical books anyway. I read a lot of those like Frank G. Slaughter's, and they did have ethical standards. If a major protagonist went against the right kind of behavior, they had to change by book's end, or punishment was their lot.

I doubt that peer group was much influence on me given my limitations in getting to town, until I drove. School buses might have been more so with strict bus drivers running the show. I was on them for a significant time, considering our stop was the first and then end of the line.

However it totally came together, I ended up with a code of ethics, which has been with me all of my life. This involved a sense of responsibility as well as consequences of actions. If ethics don't have an action component, they aren't really ethics. What I believe about that has influenced what I write and how I make my choices for themes. A bit more on that next Saturday when I also write about how the woke culture may change a lot-- or not.

 

new words and times

 

This week, it occurred to me that a topic I wanted to write about was the word 'woke.' Immediately, I next thought, are you nuts! I mean, this is a hot button topic, very incendiary. I have tried to avoid such... but then regarding some of my other recent topics, maybe I haven't avoided it. Well, either way, I am about to tackle what being woke means-- to one group or another. Also, how i feel about the word.

I started by looking for definitions online... not easy since it has various supposed meanings depending on who is putting them out. There is a racial context evidently originally to be woke, which meant "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination".

Then, there is the current usage of it by the intellectuals or those who consider themselves such-- ''well-informed' or 'aware', especially in a political or cultural sense.' And I assume by those who created the definition in terms of what you are aware of.

Where it comes to how I see the word woke, it basically comes down to those who have used it and what I think about what they've done or said. In general, I dislike the word, though what it should mean is positive as being socially aware and seeing where prejudice (a biased view as to what is true) might be still influencing too much of our culture.

Recently, we've seen where a dean at a university law school attacked a judge, who had been invited to speak, by spending his time tearing him apart as she saw it. The students who were in the audience also blocked listening to him. Very woke since he was the bad guy in their eyes.

Which led me to think of a word (which I also had to look up its meaning when I first began reading it), which I think has shaped at least some of how woke changed. Intersectionality, the theory regarding the overlap of social identities-- race, gender, sexuality, class, and how it contributes to a systemic oppression and discrimination as it's experienced by individuals. Mostly that's what woke and intersectionality seem to be today-- looking for oppression and ways to right wrongs that they see as past but also still ongoing.  

What it seems to me happens when people claim to be woke is they see there is one way to see what is fair-- to not be woke is to be wrong. Woke has often gotten to a point of not only being unwilling to listen to other viewpoints but to block others from hearing them also.

How can you be culturally aware if you only know one side of a cultural issue? To those claiming to be woke, it appears, there is only one side and the other side is bigoted, misogynistic, white supremacist (even if they are of another color), destructive. etc. No wonder they won't listen to the other side, to them it's evil. 

Where it comes to racial wrongs, it is in history and still seen today-- the question being how do you fix it? I thought that affirmative action was intended to address past unfairness, as well as other laws, where it comes to race, but it isn't even discussed today. I think it's still out there, but is it? Now it's about reparations-- first for blacks but maybe soon for many other areas where people there have been mistreated, like to the LGBTQIA (initials keep being added to that one) community. As it is used today, woke goes beyond race to gender identity where some don't like the words woman or man and want to refer to all as they/them/etc.

What I thought made this subject interesting for me, as a writer, is how this wokeism, which seems to be wide across the land, applies to the books we write, which often, when historical, were based in a very different time than our own. How do you stay historically accurate and still satisfy the desire to not offend? 

When I got interested in defining how I see my own writing-- ethically speaking-- and how today's cultural climate might influence me or other writers, I saw it as a separate blog, way too complicated to add onto more length here. Hence, it'll be next Saturday.

In the meantime, if you have definitions for how you see woke, I'd appreciate it being put into comments here-- pro or con.