#NO ONE writes romance like zane grey

[hearts-hunger]

giggling and blushing over a western romance published in 1916

[pollyssecretlibrary]

“How to Train Your Earl”, by Amelia Grey

I read this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

RELEASE DATE - APRIL 27TH, 2021

I’m giving it 3/5 stars

This is the third book in the “First Comes Love“ series

This is the first book of Amelia Grey’s I’ve ever read so I didn’t have expectations at all. To sum up, I had a lot of fun reading Zane’s and Brina’s story.

The story starts in Paris. There is a masquerade ball that Mrs. Brina Felt a widow of five years attends. She’s prim and proper and she’s still devoted to her husband’s memory, she wouldn’t do anything like this, attending a masquerade in a very bright pink gown, had she been in London. But she’s in Paris, nobody knows her and she’s wearing a mask so, what could possibly go wrong? Everything, because when a drunken man chases her she hides in a room only to find herself in the company of a very handsome and very rakish-looking man, in a state of dishevelement… tied to a chair. The man tells her a story that could or couldn’t be true, she unties him and he, all of a sudden, embraces her, kisses her hard and then flies.

He’s the very same man that, after seeing her in London and learning her name, goes straight to White’s and offers a wager: that he would marry her at midnight at the last ball of the Season, that’s 4 weeks of courtship. She knows now that he his the new Earl of Blacknight, a man named Zane Browning and she knows that he his the man who kissed her in Paris nearly two months before. So trying to gather her dignity, she agrees on several conditions:

No gambling

No drinking

No swearing or cursing

No women

Kisses, after a little negotiation, are allowed, for one can’t go about not kissing ladies’ hands on meeting them. But she didn’t foresee that that would include passionate kisses.

This book was so much fun it felt like witnessing a game. They bet on their hearts even if Brina despises gambling, or better said, not being able to live without. And Zane is stubbornly set on proving her wrong. Also the book was supposed to have Brina teaching Zane how to behave as an earl because he’s new to the role and he barely knows how to be proper or how to follow the rules of society. But in the end we get very little of that, actually what we get is Brina and Zane teaching each other to deal with whatever situation they are in and they’re not very rigid about propriety. No, we have Zane’s uncles for that (they’re great).

There are two main subjects aside from the love story. One of them is dealing with grief and anger after a very traumatic loss (Brina’s husband had died saving other people in a shipwreck). The second one is about gambling and addiction, both giving up on it and dealing with a relative who can’t, doesn’t want or doesn’t know how to give it up and when. How easy is to fall prey to temptations like gambling and how hard it is to stop. And both of the subjects are very well portrayed and handled, Amelia Grey has done her research.

What I didn’t like was how she wrote the passion scene. All of the kisses were incredibly well written. They were hot, passionate, sweet and spicy or everything at once. But I had to read the “is this a bed scene?” scene twice to realize that it was indeed the scene. Now, when the romance is a good one, and this one was, I don’t care for it to have bed scenes, I can go without. And I don’t like when a bed scene is too crude. It is difficult to write a bed scene properly, and I can understand when a writer isn’t comfortable with these scenes, there is an audience for that kind of books, it’s fine. But when a bed scene is written in half measures, and I mean, when the characters are quite passionate and the environment feels hot, and then… that’s it, and the reader needs to read twice… that’s bad. Write bed scenes or don’t, but should never mislead your readers. That’s simply not done. It doesn’t work for me and it kind of angers me.

Also I would have liked that Brina trusted Zane a little bit more by the ending, she should have listened to him. But I can deal with that just fine.

It could have been an amazing story. As it is, I’m happy because it was good, it was interesting, it was somewhat exciting. It was just not amazing.

[jackdaniel69nice]

Ninjago OC’s

I don’t really make ocs unless it’s plot specific but here are a few I have because it’s oc day I guess (this got so long I’m sorry)

Side Characters

Brody Grey and the Oppenheimer gang

Description: mid 20s, tip-dyed black hair (color is subject to change but he likes red), likes to wear tie-dye and anything from the 80s, average adult male height, Gay

Personality: overdramatic but with a rational head, energetic and likes to tease, gives good advice and father figure I guess?, love of reading and writing, can be flirty and cocky at times

Backstory: Was disowned by his parents when he came out and has had to make it on his own, Theater major at the Oppenheimer and successful too, was Cole’s roomate (they didn’t get along at first)

Plot Purpose: Cole-centric backstory exploration, Brody and co. reveal a lot about Cole’s past to the other ninja (more about the emo depressed grieving version in the pilots) and helps him come to terms with it, Also tell them you’re gay Cole, yeesh. The other friends are important to expanding the other ninja like Alex (non-binary, quiet, goth, Violinist) helps Jay deal with that he’s trans and coming out of the closet, Persila (bi, short blond, actor, excitable conspericy theorist and fandom queen) Probably figures out Jay is Cliff Gordon’s son, Melissa (lesbian, singer, Mom, sweet thing but easy to anger and holds a grudge) Was the first one Cole latched onto in the group because she reminded him so much of his mom [there are other things too with Nya and Kai and Zane but I don’t feel like elaborating more now], ANYWAY Jay takes Cole to see a musical and recognizes Brody (who he hasn’t been in contact with since he left) and they talk after the show leading down the road of all Cole’s old college friends meeting the ninja

Random Facts: He’s dating Vinnie and NO ONE CAN STOP ME, he’s sorta supposed to be Cole’s foil (where Cole is blasting My Chemical Romance and AC/DC he’s blasting Boogie Box High and SOS Band), he’s a mash of all the other ninjas personality’s not gonna lie

Tony Tabloid

Description: 12-14ish, shorter side but gets a major growth spurt when older, short black/brown hair, missing tooth, classic news boy hat that’s to big for him

Personality: Bright young boy with plenty of street smarts, will talk your ear off, full of himself and would fight anyone or anything no matter their size, very energetic but with a cool attitude

Backstory: Orphan at Walker’s Home (Jay’s rich and built an orphanage cause he’s nice like that) in Ninjago city, was on the street since young age, ex-thief, turned around at Walker’s though and now is head of the Ninjago city newspaper delivery (probably knows Nelson)

Plot Purpose: All the ninja seem to have a child that gives them advice at one point or another so here’s Jay’s, Jay has the rights to the Star Fairer enterprise (unknown to the other ninja) and when Lloyd mentions they should make new movies but can’t he goes about making it happen, he makes it all seem like he’s uninvolved but somehow gets them vip passes to see the movie in action (he says it’s from his ex-acting career connections), Tony is playing the younger version of Fritz’s son (our main character) in flashbacks, Jay is the one who got him his “gig”, he ends up revealing a lot of stuff Jay would rather keep hidden and probably almost dies doing something stupid and Jay has to save him

Random facts: Tabloid obviously isn’t his real last name (not sure wheather he chose it himself or people just started calling him that) it’s obviously related to his work, speaking of work he wants to become a journalist or reporter when he grows up, Jay gave him one of his smile buttons and he put it on his hat, I like to think in the future he gets adopted by Brody and Vinnie

Fievel Schmidt

Jay’s old friend, knew him before he transitioned, I mostly only use him in movie!verse BUT..., in show his mother is a mecahnic who buys parts from Ed and Edna, boyfriend ran off so she’s a single mom, the walkers always take a weekly trip into ninjago city to trade and sell so she’s a regular, Edna takes Jay and Fieval to the arcade and does grocery shopping, unfortunately his mom got seriously injured and can’t do mechanics anymore so they lose touch, plump and short, very sweet boy

Next Master of Sound

I feel like everyone forgot Jacob died in season 4 so here’s a reminder, he never had any children so it went to a random kid, little girl, Long black hair, she accidentally killed her parents when she caused their house in her small village to collapse from crying and activating her powers, selectively mute from fear of her own voice, Cole adopts her, becomes a next gen ninja I guess?, the only time she uses her power is when she sings (which Cole taught her to do)

*Witch doctor, Percy

Male, Lives in the Departed Realm, takes care of it sorta?, knows good magic, hangs out with whisps, helps the ninja (usually Cole) get home by telling them about a portal

Old Man

Grocery market clerk from ignacia, payed off hospital bills for Kai (14) after Nya (10) had an allergic reaction to perfume, Kai had work for him moving veggies and such for several months (got to keep some food though)

Snake Fam

Venomari lesbian who lives in the woods with her wife and 3 adopted kids (one is human), she (her kids) rescue one the ninja and bring them home to heal up so they can go save the others

Tagalong

Jay’s cat he had growing up...Not gonna talk about her right now [if you know, you know]

Villains

Felicia Blake

Scientist obsessed with trying to understand magic and elemental powers, thinks she can figure out how to channel elemental power like the First Spinjitzu Master did, very confident, only concerned with progress and no concern for individual life, ends up capturing Jay and experimenting on him :(

*Ali

Referenced in the Amulet of Ali which channels pure evil/dark magic, was the first sorcerer ever and basically made magic, was banished to the realm of madness and gained power there bringing back his learnings to ninjago, he wrote the book of spells which clouse and and garmadon studied under Chen (which is how garm knew the realm would give him power), Probably killed by Libber (previous EM of lightning) who sacrificed herself to stop him [but did she really kill him?!], Clouse gets the amulet from Borg Tower which boosts his power and now him and Jay have to duke it out like their previous versions did

???

Someone had to make Mr. E, I wonder who?, Jay took Echo back to Cliff’s flat to live after skybound and fixed him up, he might of done a few to many upgrades though and someone saw this as an opportunity, he was attacked while Jay was away and barely got away hiding in the secret room, unfortunately Jays blueprints were stolen (unknown to him) and the rest destroyed, Jay took Echo to the his parents but after seeing Mr. E he’s worried, now someone is throwing out new nindroids based on his designs and they are still searching for Echo, this mystery person plans to build an even stronger nindroid army to sell, prove they are a worthy inventor, and maybe take down the ninja along the way [do partially sentient multicolored nindroids based on the ninja count as ocs?]

*subject to my whims and could change to fill similar plots

[p---leia]

Ancient Writer of dreams and nightmares: I am 71 (-one month), and have been writing (making up tales) since I was three. I can still remember my Pawpaw whittling a pencil for me, and Mawmaw tearing a piece of brown grocery bag for me to write on. They weren't 'poor', but writing paper wasn't to be wasted on a 'kid' just for fun. I carefully scripted my first short story.

Of course my 'letters' looked more like ancient Hanguel, so I had to read it to my "captured" audience. I really don't remember the story, but as my grandparents had a yard full of chickens and my dog, Mutt, liked to chase them (because of this we 'both' got into trouble -- because I always joined the chase) I most probably wrote about that.

My Pawpaw was a story-teller. For several years I thought there really was a baby found in the wilds of the African jungle and raised by the great apes. I thought he was the luckiest babe, EVER!

Then I found Pawpaw's books about three years after he died. I was eleven when he died, and felt that my best friend had abandoned me. But when I found those books I realized just where Tarzan actually came from and went to. I read everyone of those books and got the complete picture. THEN..

Well, Pawpaw also told stories of Daniel Boone and Davey Crocket...before I saw them on Disney. Then, of course, I went to school and learned what I already knew. Pawpaw was an excellent story-teller and never mixed up his facts, time-lines, or characters.

Growing up under his influence had a lot to do with how I developed as a story-teller. At family gatherings when I meet cousins I haven't seen in decades, they STILL remember me and the stories that I used to tell them. My children and grandchildren have grown up with me re-telling Pawpaw's old stories, and sharing many that I made up on the spot.

But I think what I read in my early years developed my writing style.

I was just turned eight when I read my first Shakespeare, MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. He was my first favorite author. Then I was forced to read Romeo and Juliet. I was disgusted by the fact that TRAGEDY was made famous as a ROMANCE! Even at the innocent (then) age of fourteen, I was disgusted with the idea that it was considered romantic for 'anyone', let alone 'teenagers' to commit suicide over unrequited love.

My sister (now 68) and I recently discussed this play. Because she had a 'forbidden' teenage love, she said that she related to the story (even though she had never read it). GASP! It was required reading in ninth grade!

I remember our dad breaking up my sister and her boyfriend, who was really cool. He was a hard working farm boy who had saved his money to buy a motorcycle. AND his own car. But he wasn't good enough for my sister. smh

I always thought her story would make a great LifeTime movie. But I'm not touching it. She would 'skin me' for sharing with the world her broken heart. And if I added the stuff that sells today, she'd scalp me for lying. Not a win situation at all. So, I will write notes in my "Random Jottings Journal" for future decendants who might grow into writers or story-tellers.

By the way, the title "RANDOM JOTTINGS" came from a sci-fi book that I read as a kid in the fifties. I don't remember the author, although I'm pretty sure it 'might' be from a Heinlein juvenile book. But I've never found a reference to any sci-fi books using that term. SO!!! If anyone recognizes "RANDOM JOTTINGS", which was a note book that a professor/scientist/genius used to keep his 'thoughts', PLEASE share the author's name and the title of the book!!! Thank You.

In the meantime, I referenced Shakespeare. James Oliver Curwood wrote about Kazan, the Wolf Dog, and later Baree, Son of Kazan. From those two books, read when I was eleven, I searched for and found other books about Canada. Later there was Walter Farley, author of the Black Stallion, and the Island Stallion series. I think I met my FIRST friendly alien in the Island Stallion Races.

Of course, Edgar Rice Burroughs taught me much false history about the jungles of Africa, as well as the Moon and Mars. But I loved every 'read-under-the-covers-with a-flashlight' minute! I believe he was a contemporary of Zane Grey, because he wrote a few non-jungle and non-space stories, too. Which led me to Zane Grey.

Having read both of their biographies at a young age, I learned about the hardships of being a writer. I should say 'the hardships of a struggling writer'. I have never had a problem writing. Since I write for 'fun' and not 'profit', the few short stories I've had published were by local press, and a State magazine.

No, my struggles have centered around graduating high school, and completing college, stuggling to satisfy my husband, a 'Mr. Spock in the Flesh' personality, and later raising two children without benefit of parental support or child support. But we survived in the middle of laughter and many tears. And my made up stories about children lost in the woods who were rescued by a great friendly bear, or wolf. Or dog. And sometimes by a great Black Panther - a by product of one of my Pawpaw's 'local historical tales'.

I understand that publishers detest stories that begin with "It was a dark and stormy night.." But let me tell you, some of the BEST bedtime stories occur on stormy nights when the power has gone out, and it's too hot for candles or lanterns. That shadow that stands darkest in the corner and seems to be moving towards the bed is actually grandma come to check on the kids, and stands quiet so not to disturb the kids if they're already asleep. But since they are awake, and they see her 'shadow', she becomes the old crone who lives in the castle dungeon, and has slipped her chains to visit with the 'wee folk'. But there are no fairies out on such a blustery night, so the old crone comes to visit with the 'wee bairn', who fall all over themselves to get out of bed and sit around her to hear her stories of 'long ago' and other 'dark and stormy nights'. Again -- unpublished, because publishers don't like ... LOL

Of course there's always On-Line publishing. But that involves more work than actual writing.

Back to the writrs who influenced my writing:

While I enjoy a good Western, an adventurous space trek, or time travel, I also enjoy the occasional Historical Romance. Georgette Heyer was my first! I still re-read her amazing books. Of course there's Jane Austen.

There are a myriad of modern writers that I have read over the last five decades. Heinlen, Asimov, Norton, Bradley, McCaffrey, Moon, Stirling, Krentz/Castle/Quick, and Moening, just to name a few of the ones whose books I have in my personal library.

Those older authors did affect my writing style to develope as I read their stories. The later authors helped me to move into the late 20th century. But I'm not so sure that I like the 21st century so much. It's all about being politically 'correct'. If you aren't ashamed of your gender, your race, your country, your religion, your culture, your family, your history, then you are prejudiced. That's just too much guilt to have to live with.

I'm still dealing with my mom's death from ten years ago. I was her care-giver for five years. Her doctor had given her nine months. I still worry if I did enough for her in those last years.

And though my children are grown with their own families, I worry that I wasn't a good enough parent. And I worthy as a grandmother? How was I as an older sister? I was responsible as a moral guide when our parents were at work. Was I a good neighbor? A good support in our Church? And Hollywood wants me to feel guilt about something I can't change?!!

I'm an old woman who still likes being a woman and enjoys liking men. I'm not just white. I'm also mixed with a bit of Native American, and even a drop of -- OMG!!! --- Black. snicker.

That's a serious joke, because as a kid I had a recuring nightmare that I was a black man being judged by a group of people in white hoods I was hanged amidst their fiery torches. I always thought those white hoods represented the Catholic Church, because at that young age I didn't know about the Ku Klux Klan. Even though I grew up in the South, my family was not involved with that group of out-lawrey. Thank God!

Still, I'm supposed to feel shame? For something not even my family supported.

I've always believed there's a hint of Fae in my DNA. Because I love dancing in the light of the full moon, and flying with the owls who perch outside my bedroom window and call to invite me to follow the moon's shadow. If I am part Fae, I know it came from my mother's people. They were Irish mixed with Alabama Indians who believed in the Nunnehi aka Immortal, and the Yunwi Tsunsdi, aka Little People.

ALSO, while there's no DNA proof of ancestry, I've always been a 'closet Chinese'.

In the Fifties, when WW2 was still fresh, and we were involved with the 'Korean Conflict', and at odds with China, I would sneak around the radio, turn down the volume, and tune into 'that wierd channel' that sometimes played Opera, or Chinese music. Ahhh. I would close my eyes and wander through the few visuals I'd found in books, or the occasional movie. (before color tv)

A year or two ago I was totally depressed and disgusted with American TV. Hollywood has become so political, so wierd. Their programming is no longer for entertainment, but to 'educate, enlighten, or to inform'. zzzzz

Then I found KDrama!!!!! Korean TV. Japanese Tv. squeal!!! Chinese TV.

The rom/coms are sweet and 'pure'. Okay. I'm realistic. This is not a reflection of real life on any planet. But the innocence of the early 1950s programs is there. Similar to Disney's 'Summer Magic'. I'm happy with those dramas that remind me of thati nnocence. I have found a few dramas that shared more than I cared for, and I do enjoy an occasional 'romp'. But I've always preferred the Lady and Gentleman characters.

And watching these programs have reminded me of those fairy tales and legends from my childhood that had been sprinkled with the Occasional Oriental myth, legend, and children's tale.

Then I remembered my FIRST historical legend. "The White Stag" by Kate Seredy, is the tale of Atilla the Hun!

I recently found a copy of that book and am waiting for a quiet time, when the power is out and there's nothing to do. Then I will use one of the many flashlights I bought for a huge hurricane, and relax on the sofa beneath an open window and read this legend once again. I live in Florida. The odds of this happening increases as the summer progresses. I can't wait to learn if my memory of this tale of Atilla the Hun remained true, or has been distorted in the last half of a century.

Most of the tales that I write involve space adventures, the occasioanl ghost, and encounters with fairies, the evil ones, not the romantic ideal fairy. smh

I've never been very good with romance or comedy. But thanks to the recent influence of the Asian productions, I have re-formatted one of my dark adventures and turned it into a rom/com.

I love a good joke, but very seldom get the point or see the humor. And I can NEVER remember the punch line if I try to share a joke. My family have said they will write on my tombstone --

"I don't remember the punchline ... but it was funny."

But as I write humorous lines or events I find myself laughing. Or crying at sad events. And I am all 'giggly' when I write what is supposed to be innocent romance between a young and shy couple. But I have never felt that my own reactions were a true guide to how the story might come across to a 'reader'.

As it happens, I have two sisters younger than I am. My middle sister is bored easily and immediately redirects our conversation to something about 'her'. Okay. I understand. She is lonely, needy, and maybe a bit selfish? Not judging. She's the 'middle child' and that's her excuse. ROFL..

But the youngest sister is my greatest fan who declares that I am an awesome writer. "I love you, sister, dear."

So she visited me last week and patiently listened as I read the first chapter. She listened quietly, and I wondered if I had 'read her to sleep'. sigh. Boring books are often the best sleeping pill. Then I heard her laugh.

Squeals/Dancing/hooting/flying around the room in ecstasy!!

Okay! At least one person has laughed. And she's not that easily 'tickled'.

So, I will always carry on and write. But now I feel that at least I might be following a path strewn with "Black-Eyed-Susans, honeybees, butterflies, and bunnies".

I don't know if anyone will read this, or will enjoy it. I hope so. While sharing bits of my youth, my worries, and my concern about certain ones of my 'stories', I actually had ideas for developing 'new' stories.

I am always amazed when writers say they are 'blocked'. I have only to open my eyes to see a world around me that no one else can envision. I listen to a song, and I'm in a different world, time, planet. A gift from Pawpaw, and Mother's DNA.

It is my oldest granddaughter's birthday this month, and I don't know what to give her for her birthday. But when she was younger, she always asked me to tell her a story. I think that I will pull out one of my OLD/ANCIENT tales that I wrote when her dad was her age and make it into a book for her.

p---leia aka Mamma KayeLee

7/19/2020

[starburstonlayaway]

for @elizabroadwaytrash and i

Current word count :

40,813

Basic summary:

Tyler and Ethan’s family goes through a lot of changes following their marriage. They lose people, take others in, and new journeys are ventured on every day, no matter how scary or exciting.

Title? WIP? Alternate titles?

“Leave a Message.”

Yes, it is a work-in-progress.

I don’t believe we had any alternative titles, and if we did, I do not recall them.

Favorite character and how they are introduced:

Tyler. He’s introduced at the beginning of the first chapter, seen before anyone else.

Favorite ship:

Rose/Victor! I haven’t gotten to writing their relationship and build-up, but from our plans and how we’ve designed Victor’s character to be, I’m excited.

MC’s biggest mistake:

Rose is probably more of an MC than the others, despite it being a Tyler/Ethan fanfic.

Her biggest mistake was probably refusing to give up on Carter. While he was her boyfriend, his actions toward her (and later, Jazzy) were unacceptable after she came out to him. She isn’t to blame at all, but it’s definitely the thing she regrets most.

Inspiration:

A webcomic on Webtoon called “Always Human.” The comic explores the events happening to the girls Sunati and Austen throughout the course of their relationship. Beautiful art, realistic problems (despite being set in a futuristic utopian society), representation, and well-written romance. I wanted to incorporate these factors into LaM to make it similar to a story I enjoyed very much that left an influence on me.

Underrated character appreciation:

Jazzy! Rose’s best friend. Even in the separate story where she’s one of the main set of characters, she’s still very overlooked. She’s very upbeat and friendly, with lots of knowledge on wlw pop culture and history!

A few favorite dialogues:

“I’m ready, but we’re not in a rush or anything.” “Of course we’re in a rush, you slut! The sooner you guys get married, the sooner you have kids, and the sooner I’m an uncle!“ “Aren’t you occupied enough as it is? If you’re so involved in the idea of having a family, then why haven’t you and Jack had any kids of your own yet?“ “Don’t roast us like this.”

(spoken angrily) “Hey, Mister, that’s my soup!”

“That’s Amy! She’s probably Chica and Henry’s favorite out of all of us, but WE SHOULD REALLY SHARE CUSTODY OF HENRY.”

“Uh, I like to read, mostly, but watching older cartoons is also fun.” “Ooh. What cartoons do you like?” “My current favorite is Adventure Time!” “Adventure Time is considered an older cartoon now?” “Guess so.” “Damn, we’re getting old.” “We’re already old, dude.” “Thanks I feel worse.”

“What kind of cancer is it again?” “Leukemia.” “The survival chances of that aren’t terrible.” “Wow. Thanks.”

“You punched Jazzy?! You fucking punched Jazzy?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why would you punch someone for standing up to you when you were the one being a dick?!” “She wouldn’t get out of my face—” “I don’t wanna hear that bullshit! Carter, you can hurt me all you fucking want and I won’t care, but you’ve crossed the fucking line. Jazzy is the only person that’s been nice to me all year. She’s supported me and loved me no matter what, something you never fucking did!” “What the hell are you—” “We’re done, Carter! I never want to see your ugly transphobic douchebag ass again!”

MC moodboard:

N/A

MC’s fondest memory:

Probably when she was adopted. It was the most exciting day of her life, and lead down a journey of self-discovery.

In close second is the day she became friends with Jazzy. She was there for her when she needed her most.

Songs that remind of LaM or the characters:

“What About Us” by P!nk, probably definitely because it’s the song I used for Tyler and Ethan’s first dance.

“Leave a Message” by gnash, the song I named the book after! This one doesn’t need much of an explanation.

“Party Tattoos” by dodie. I plan to use this song in the closing chapter, sung by Rose.

Enjoy torturing the characters?

Not really, but I do it anyway. Good for character development, which there’s a lot of. But I don’t enjoy it, no. I love the characters in this book like my cat and dogs: with all my heart.

MC’s biggest fear:

Being unaccepted. This fear makes itself evident after what happens with Carter. Her mother’s reaction enforces this more.

Goals:

To finish LaM by the end of sophomore year, editing and all.

To be proud of the finished product.

To use this book as a reminder that I can do it. I can write.

Characters’ secret talents:

Ethan, despite not playing for many, many years, still excels at playing the ukulele. This becomes not so much of a secret later on in the book.

Rose is surprisingly good at tic-tac-toe. Not necessarily a talent, but definitely something she’d want you to note.

Turned into a media? Cast?

Seeing as LaM is a piece of fanwork, I don’t believe I would turn it into a media.

If it was to be a media, however, along with Tyler Scheid and Ethan Nestor to play Tyler and Ethan, as well as Mark Fischbach, Amy Nelson, and Kathryn Knutsen to play their friends, a few choices I would make would be to cast Janet Mock as adult Rose Scheid and Elliot Fletcher as adult Adrian Garcia.

MC’s basic morals and general beliefs:

Rose’s number one moral is to never make someone feel shut out. Having been rejected (as well as accepted) many times in her life, she knows that she never wants anyone to feel like that, and makes an effort to be the reason.

How MC found out the tooth fairy doesn’t exist:

She never really believed in it, to begin with.

Best name:

Jasmine “Jazzy” Hinojosa-Mills.

Least favorite OC:

Carter. Abusive transphobic asshat that left Rose with lots of insecurities and trauma for years to come.

Snippet:

Mark really had gone all out with making the altar just like Tyler had wanted it to look. The arch was made out of ebony wood that had been painted white with golden accents. Flowery vines were twirled all around the wood, the flowers colors of black, grey, purple, and blue. The chairs surrounding the aisle were all made of the same wood as the arch, the cushions blue and grey. Both Ethan and Tyler’s family alike filled those chairs, chattering away with one another. Tyler quickly scanned the side filled with Ethan’s relatives, and wasn’t surprised to see Ethan’s aunt and uncle were not present. He hoped to god that Ethan wouldn’t notice. The guests quieted down and turned their heads to look at Tyler, and he felt put on the spot. Most of the guests smiled at him, others clapped quietly. He could see that two people in particular were both smiling and clapping. Seeing Jack and Kathryn so supportive of him was majorly comforting to Tyler. He exhaled, and glanced at Mark behind him. Mark was already smiling, and nudged his head towards the arch. Tyler walked down the aisle and received praise from just about everyone sat in chairs. He high-fived Jack on his way to his place next to the officiant. The lady smiled at him, and he returned the gesture. She opened her book as Mark took his place next to Tyler, gazing over his friend’s tux and wiping off some dust quickly. Mark gave Tyler a thumbs-up, and Tyler couldn’t stop smiling. Now that he was actually out in front of the guests and standing where he was meant to be, his nerves relaxed. In fact, every thought he’d ever had in doubt of this marriage before that moment vanished, as soon as Ethan walked out.

WIP representation:

LGBT

Tyler/Ethan

Rose is trans

Jazzy is pansexual with two moms

Adrian is trans with two moms

Marcus has two dads

POC

Rose and her mother are black

Adrian and his mama are Mexican

Disabilities

Marcus has leukemia (cancer of the white blood cells)

Standalone or part of a series?

Standalone. Although I suppose you could call it a spinoff of one of our other works, the reader does not need to read that series to understand this story.

Biggest character development:

Definitely Rose. Seeing as the story follows the changes through most of her life, there’s a big difference in her character comparing the first chapter she is introduced to the closing chapter, where she takes center stage.

People who know of the WIP:

My co-writer, Caroline. Though I’ve done most of the writing, Caroline and I brought the idea for this story to life together, creating a unique cast of characters such as Jazzy, Rose, Adrian, Marcus, their families, Victor, Rose’s mother Aaliyah, and Ethan’s uncle Zane. Without her, the story would not have been written in the first place.

The lovely readers on AO3. I’ve uploaded chapters of the WIP onto there, updating at least once a month. It feels good to be putting some of my work out there for other people instead of just keeping such a joy all to myself. Of course, this is just a personal opinion.

Characters’ annoying habits:

Jazzy’s very short-tempered. Make one wrong move, anyone could get shouted at, lectured, maybe even a blow to the face.

Marcus feels a lot of self-pity and spite. He wishes his parents wouldn’t baby him so much just because he has cancer. This, later on, leads to him participating in multiple illegal activities to antagonize them.

Adrian grows to be more selfish as he gets older, even going out of his way to go into the military and disappear from Rose’s life out of the blue one day without telling her. He later regrets this.

Rose has plenty of autophobia to go around. After her mother gave her up to the orphanage at a young age and Carter’s abuse towards her in her late middle school years, followed by Adrian’s sudden leave after high school, she always fears being alone or abandoned by the people she cares about.

Tyler and Ethan both never seem to recover from the grief of their first child’s loss. This makes them closed off to people who ask about the incident, and could sometimes bring them back to their depressive state.

Very last three lines (with context):

“Unsure was she on how to approach this. She’d felt it since that first night she met him, but it’d grown more and more out of hand since. They’d also became closer as friends, even now sometimes hanging out without the needed assistance of Marcus and Jazzy by their sides to ease the tension.”

Context: Rose had just come to the conclusion she had a crush on Adrian.

Characters: Based off IRL people(through looks, personality, or habits)?

Tyler, Ethan, Amy, Kathryn, Mark, Jack, Chica, Henry, and all of the parents in the story are based off IRL influencers. The characters have only been switched and changed a bit, as well as the relationships, of course, to fit the story.

Impossible friendship:

Carter and Jazzy. Don’t really need to explain it if you’ve read the work. They hate each other’s guts more than anyone, and they could never kiss and make up. As characters, they aren’t the types to do that at all, especially with each other.

Am I proud?

Yes. Leave a Message has been my most dedicated piece of work so far, and I’d say I’m well on my way to reaching my personally-set deadline next year if I keep it at the rate I’m going. Not to mention the characters and plotlines are exciting and realistic, in my own opinion. There’s still a lot left to be written, but I’ve got everything planned out. I don’t plan on stopping until I’m finished with it.

[ginnyzero]

Motivations to Write

In my last discussion post, Ideas, Squeaky Toys of Doom, I touched upon a few motivations of why people write. And I guess, it’s the next natural thing to talk about, once one has an idea, there has to be some sort of will to go forward with it, other than tossing it in the bin as useless. As in all things, from going to the grocery to store, to committing a crime, one must have a reason! And if you want to sound sinister (or overly legal) we call it motive!

Before I start meandering, the dictionary describes motive as an inner drive or impulse that causes one to act. A motive is an incentive. It’s the stimulus that gets us out of our chairs (or into them) and doing something. They are the reasons that provide us with the stress to change our ways. (Yes, I said stress. There is positive stress and negative stress, just like there is positive criticism and negative criticism.) Motivations affect us and can be as varied from “I need to eat” to “I have a dream.” Eating is something solid, dreams, are the exact opposite, ephemeral. And having both is important. (I’ll just leave this here.) Motivations are what take you from where you are now, to the future of where you want to be if you want it.

And motivations, these reasons, are as varied and broad and different as the people that come up with them. These are a few I know it. Whether or not the writers you know fall under them may or may not be the case. Just like there is no bad idea, there is no wrong motivation to write. At least, I’m not holding any judgements. And all of these can be combined and used to fuel each other.

Basic Motivations: Money, Fame (Power), Love

Firstly. Let’s get these three fundamental motivations out of the way.

Money, everyone wants to write a book and get rich just like JK Rowling. They want their own house, a swimming pool and a private jet. (Hey, don’t we all want to be rich. No judgement.) Or, you’ve got the other writers, who want to make enough money just to pay their bills and live comfortably. Money is a big motivating factor. The world seems to go around on money and it’s hard to do anything without it. We’ve all got to eat. We need roofs over our heads and as a society we’ve become very dependent on this thing called electricity.

Fame, and I lump fame with power. Writers, just like everyone else, want to be known. They want to be recognized. They want to leave behind a great body of work that people can come back to over and over again. This is a way to become immortal. Fame also brings other perks. Fame can bring television or movie deals. Fame has public appearances and interviews. Fame has people coming to you instead of you going to them. Fame gives you influence and power. Influence and power can change things. Some people like the idea of it.

And love, there are writers that actually just enjoy writing and want to do what they do. They love to come up with ideas, string together plots, hack through scenes and what characters grow and change. I feel, and this is just my feelings and opinions, that all people should love what they do in one way shape or form. And if writing is what makes someone happy and that’s what they like to do above all others, then that love can be a great motivation.

Now, there are five other motivations that I have thought of/remembered and there are probably many more, but these are ones that I see talked about by other writers.

Motivation: “I like this.”

These are the writers who just plain like a concept. I don’t think Louis L’amour and Zane Grey would have wrote so many westerns if they didn’t plain just like them. (Err, that was unintentional, and I’m leaving it. Homophones!) These are writers who will take their idea and just pound it into the ground until you have to wonder if they ever had another idea in their head. Brian Jacques wrote 21 Redwall novels before his death. Mercedes Lackey has written 30 tales in Valdemar (and as far as I know is still writing in that universe.) Jim Butcher is on his 16th Dresden File (of a proposed 28, I think.) And Anne McCaffery’s son has taken up where Anne left off in Pern. And that, ladies and gentlemen is just in science fiction/fantasy. To write that much material for one universe or genre alone takes dedication. Formula writers (by which I mean the structure of their story is the same for every single book/trilogy they write,) genre writers and romance writers can fall under this motivation.

But then there is the opposite.

Motivation: “I don’t like this. I want to see this instead.”

This motivation is often reactionary. This is the cry of disgust from every reader who has thrown a book across the room, got up and went to their computer and sat down and tried to write it better. There are also things that some writers just don’t want to see or write in their novels, so they don’t.

This writing can often be derivative. But you say, what writing isn’t? That’s a real good question. But this motivation uses a lot of things in the public domain such as Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, fairy tales and legends. Historical Alternate universe can also fall under this, such as ‘His Majesty’s Dragon,’ by Naomi Novak. In fact, I feel almost anything considered ‘historical’ can be considered this. A ‘I don’t want to see the battles of the war of the roses, I want to know about the love lives of the nobles instead!’

I also find that this motivation can also be used as sort of a research tool. For instance, when a writer likes things from two or three different (but similar potentially or even not) novels, but doesn’t like how any of those novels actually used their ideas. So, the writer takes the ideas they like, combine them into one thing and wah lah, they have their own universe to play in.

“I don’t like this, I want to see this instead,” is a huge motivation in fan works. A huge amount of fan work is either exploring romantic pairings that wouldn’t happen in canon, expounding upon things that weren’t seen in canon or even changing the setting completely and seeing what the characters will do. Continuations, prequels and the children of the main cast are all very common stories that happen in fandom. Given how huge fanfiction.net, mediaminer.org and AO3 are, plus the stuff on journaling sites, private sites (including forums) and tumblr and so on. This is a huge stimulus for people of all ages to write.

Motivation: “I have a story I want to tell.”

The ultimate, “I have something I want to talk about.” By golly, these people have something to say and they’re going to say it, whether you like it or not. They may have a message to get out there.

There is the personal side of this. These are the autobiographies, biographies and ‘based on a true story,’ writers. They’re using their story to spread a message or theme that they think everyone should hear. Which isn’t a bad thing, everyone who writes has a message whether or not they know it. These writers are just more aware of it than others.

Then there is the not as personal aspect of this motivation. These are writers that have a story in their head that they want to tell. And they’ve looked on the shelves and it’s not there, or it’s there in similar form but not how precisely they would do it. They see a void in the market place that they want to fill. Or sometimes, they just have a story in their head trying to get out and they need to get it out so they can move onto something else! There is usually a heavy dose of ‘I like this,’ involved in this type of writing.

Motivation: “I want to help others.”

Ah, the selfless motivation to write or the pretentious one depending on how you look at it.

This can go hand in hand with “I have a story to tell.” These writers hope that by telling their story that they can inspire, help or warn others. Stories about overcoming adversity. Stories about reaching out to others. Stories that show the bad side of life. Or conversely, the stories that show the good side of life. These writers want whoever reads their story to take away something from it, something that will hopefully make the reader a better person.

I have to say that a lot of Christian fictional literature falls under this heading. I’ve read quite a bit of it and not a lot of it has stayed with me, because there isn’t a lot of Christian fictional stories (or at least not when I was reading them) that focused upon walking the life of a Christian. They were usually much more focused upon converting the reader and if you’re a Christian already it feels like they are preaching to the already converted (aka the choir.) Or they were trying to show what a good Christian marriage was with varying degrees of success. Pick one.

And lastly,

Motivation: “I want to feel better.”

This motivation is where writing hits the pure emotional level. This type of writing is cathartic. It releases the feelings inside the writer and gives them a voice. A lot of emotional writing comes from a place of anger and despair. How the writer chooses to translate that anger and despair in their writing is up to them. There are those who will through the guise of writing graphically describe incidents that happened to them so that they can use the characters as a method of coping. They take back their power and control in their writing and use the fictional world as a cipher of the real world to change things. There is also the opposite, those who take that anger or despair and write silly happy things as a way of making themselves feel happier. It’s a way to make themselves laugh while in the undercurrents of the writing they are also often dealing with the deeper issues in their life. In emotional writing, an audience isn’t necessary and may or may not be helpful.

Emotional writing can go along with “I have a story I want to tell,” and “I want to help others.”

Now on the other hand, some people write dark, angry, disturbing stuff because they like writing dark angry disturbing things. And other people write funny silly things, because they like writing funny silly things and they don’t need to feel better. (So, I don’t recommend you call out anyone on the motivations for their writing if you feel it’s coming from an emotional place, because it may not be and you shouldn’t assume anything.)

A lot of these motivations for writing are the same as the motivations for publishing. There is a huge difference between writing something and publishing that something. Just because a writer creates a story, doesn’t mean that they will want to or are going to put it out there in a public manner. That’s their choice and no one should try to take it away from them.

Motivations are tricky things. They can change over time or be joined by other incentives. If you desire to write, there is no wrong reason to do so! They’re your reasons and no one has the right to call them bad ones. It might be because of one of the reasons I posted here or because of others. Whatever the reason is, we writers have to feed those Squeaky Toys of Doom and keep on plugging away.

[art-of-manliness]

The Libraries of Famous Men: Louis L’Amour

Welcome back to our series on the libraries of great men. The eminent men of history were often voracious readers and their own philosophy represents a distillation of all the great works they fed into their minds. This series seeks to trace the stream of their thinking back to the source. For, as David Leach, a now retired business executive put it: “Don’t follow your mentors; follow your mentors’ mentors.” When digging in to the best novels and authors in the Western genre of literature, there are a few names that pop up over and over again. Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, Zane Grey, and of course, Louis L’Amour. Over the course of his prolific career, L’Amour published over 100 books — most of them novels, but also over a dozen short story collections, and one brilliant autobiography, Education of a Wandering Man, which is more of a journal of his prodigious reading rather than a life telling (note: all quotes in this piece are from that book). Amazingly, not a single novel of his was published until 1951 when he was in his early 40s, though he had been writing poems and stories his whole adult life. Though he’ll rarely be praised for writing beautiful or lyrical prose, L’Amour is one of the top 25 bestselling authors of all time, and when you ask grandpas — yes, as a whole category — about their favorite authors, he seems to almost universally top their lists. L’Amour writes with a realistic quality that isn’t easily matched in the genre, balancing both the romance and realities of Western life. His action scenes are superb, but more striking are his lifelike depictions of the landscape, the horses and horsemanship, the movements and habits of American Indians. Few have ever researched and truly lived the West like L’Amour. As a reader, L’Amour’s only match may have been Theodore Roosevelt himself. The Western writer had a library of over 10,000 books, and averaged reading 100-120 books per year — “reading approximately thirty books a year on the West in its many aspects” both for pleasure and in order to stay on top of his writing game. And it wasn’t just books either — he regularly read magazines, newspapers, and even small town pamphlets and brochures. He noted that it was in those smaller collections of the printed word where one got into the nitty gritty of understanding things and that “They are often valuable additions to the larger pages of history.” He was also an avid collector of Little Blue Books — small, pocket-sized informational booklets — noting “I carried ten or fifteen of them in my pockets, reading when I could,” and that he had “read several hundred” of them. Louis L’Amour’s life story is in fact primarily a love affair with books. He had this to say about his motivation to be a successful writer: “To me success has meant just two things: a good life for my family, and the money to buy books and continue the education of this wandering man.” Before we take a look at the specific books that influenced L’Amour, let’s take a brief look at his story, and how he came to be such an avid reader. The Origins of Louis L’Amour’s Love Affair With the Written Word Louis was born in 1908 in Jamestown, North Dakota, the 7th and final child born to Louis and Emily LaMoore (it was later that the younger Louis changed the spelling of his last name to L’Amour — its original rendering — to honor the legacy of his French ancestors). As a child, his family had a modest collection of books, but it was at the library that his love of reading really came to life. His oldest sister, Edna, was a librarian, and Louis spent long hours in the stacks exploring subjects that his schooling only tangentially covered. At home, that learning was cemented with further reading and discussion: “Ours was a family in which everybody was constantly reading, and where literature, politics, history, and the events of the prize ring were discussed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” In fact, he said that “reading was as natural to us as breathing.” Because of economic difficulties, the family moved to Oklahoma in 1923, and Louis dropped out of high school to become an itinerant worker; though he doesn’t give many personal details, it’s likely he struck out on his own because he didn’t wish to be a financial burden at home. From logging in the Pacific Northwest, to cattle skinning in Texas, the young man traveled all across the country (and the world), taking any job that would put a meal in his belly, and fund his reading. L’Amour was in fact tramping around the Far East on freighters — Singapore specifically — when his old high school classmates graduated. At that time he specifically remembers reading Departmental Ditties, a poetry collection by AoM favorite, Rudyard Kipling. Until WWII, L’Amour’s life was a series of manual labor jobs. He was an abandoned mine caretaker (guarding against thieves and vagabonds), ditch digger, cargo officer on ships, logging inspector, amateur boxer, and more. Through it all, the bachelor noted, “I was never without a book, carrying one with me wherever I went and reading at every opportunity.” Even then L’Amour knew he wanted to make his true living as a writer — preferably as a poet. So when he wasn’t reading or working, he was writing. When his poems didn’t catch commercially, he tried his hand at short stories, in a variety of genres — Far East adventures, boxing tales, Westerns. He wrote about nearly everything. Finally in the late 1930s, his stories started being accepted by the pulp magazines that were popular at the time.   Then WWII came. While at age 35 he was too old to see active combat, Louis served stateside as a winter survival instructor (employing skills learned from growing up in North Dakota), as well as two years in Europe commanding a fleet of gas tankers. During the war, as you can imagine, he avidly consumed the Armed Services Editions of the popular books of the time. Upon returning from the war, magazines and publishers were looking not for the adventure stories that Louis previously had success with, but mysteries and Westerns. They were all the rage. Given the traveling and working L’Amour did in the West, that’s the direction he followed, not out of passion necessarily, but because that’s where the market was leading him and where he ultimately found success. After getting over 100 short stories published in the next decade or so, he finally landed his first novel in 1951, Westward the Tide. From then on, he cranked out multiple books a year. He found love and married Kathy Adams in 1956, and together they had a son, Beau (1961), and a daughter, Angelique (1964). Details about his family life are not easily found (he was a rather private fellow), but Louis kept up his torrid reading and writing pace until he died in 1988. Louis L’Amour’s Philosophy of Reading 1. Reading is your education. Even though Louis didn’t graduate high school, and his only college degrees came much later in life in the honorary form, he received quite an education, entirely of his own doing. He realized that to be successful, he would need to be educated, and that college was not in his cards. So he pursued an autodidactic curriculum of his own volition:    “The idea of education has been so tied to schools, universities, and professors that many assume there is no other way, but education is available to anyone within reach of a library.” And what did he expect of his self-made education? What was he hoping to gain? He explains: “If I were asked what education should give, I would say it should offer breadth of view, ease of understanding, tolerance for others, and a background from which the mind can explore in any direction. Education should provide the tools for a widening and deepening of life, for increased appreciation of all one sees or experiences. It should equip a person to live life well, to understand what is happening about him.” Reading should expand your worldview and open you up to new ideas. It can and should provide frameworks and the basic foundation of a life well lived. That is why Louis credits books with saving his life — without them he would have been a permanent vagabond, perhaps dying too young in a work accident or a street fight (as many acquaintances of his did). 2. You have time to read. Make time to read. “Often I hear people say they do not have time to read. That’s absolute nonsense. In the one year during which I kept that kind of record, I read twenty-five books while waiting for people. In offices, applying for jobs, waiting to see a dentist, waiting in a restaurant for friends, many such places. I read on buses, trains, and planes. If one really wants to learn, one has to decide what is important. Spending an evening on the town? Attending a ball game? Or learning something that can be with you your life long?” Life’s many spare moments are packed with possibilities. Don’t let them be wasted on scrolling through Instagram or playing the latest fad game. The next time you find yourself with a small gap of time, crack open a book, and snatch a spot of reading. 3. Read what’s in front of you, and what’s fun and entertaining. “Whatever the book, a reader reads.” For Louis, his reading was largely determined by what was available wherever he was working. From small bookshops overseas, to borrowing titles from shipmates, there just wasn’t much choice in what he was reading, especially in his earlier years. For most of us, our modern situation is a bit different. There are books everywhere. In fact too many books perhaps. You can go to a used bookshop or a Goodwill and grab a paperback for a buck (or even less sometimes). Our problem is more that we actually have too much choice, and it paralyzes us. My personal library — both physically and digitally — has perhaps hundreds of unread books, and I often just stare at it, wanting to pick the perfect title to dig into next (sometimes even before I’ve finished something). Don’t fall into that trap of being overwhelmed by endless options; just pick something and start reading. This goes against the grain of Emerson’s reading advice, but if you’re someone who just needs to read more or who needs to get started reading in the first place, this is the way to go. Just read what’s right in front of you and what you’ll truly enjoy rather than searching for the perfect book that will perhaps make you seem cultured. As L’Amour suggests: “For those who have not been readers, my advice is to read what entertains you. Reading is fun. Reading is adventure. It is not important what you read at first, only that you read.” 4. Think about, and share with others, what you’re learning. “It is not enough to have learned, for living is sharing and I must offer what I have for whatever it is worth.” Living is sharing. Isn’t that a wonderful idea? Whatever you’re reading and learning about, make a point to share it with others. Start a book club (my wife and I have been in one for a few months now, and it’s wonderful). Write a blog post or just a Facebook update with some good quotes. Share your insights or questions or thoughts at the dinner table with your family. Beyond just sharing your reading, make a point to think about it throughout the day, especially in moments of solitude: “A book is less important for what it says than for what it makes you think.”   When you’re taking time to think about what an author (or character) has said or done, you’ll have more insightful tidbits to share with others. You’ll be able to construct fuller mental models, and connect different ideas to each other in creative ways — something in high demand in our Google-driven world in which rote facts are accessible in mere seconds, but deeper analysis is rare. It’s especially easy to do this when performing menial manual tasks like weeding or washing the dishes. L’Amour noted that “Often when chipping rust or touching up paint, I thought about what I had been reading.” You’d be well-served to do the same. 5. Read what others have read! “I have enjoyed digging into the reading habits of many great men and women and have tried where possible to get a list of the books in their libraries. . . . I hoped that by understanding the books these men and women read I might grasp at the basic sources of some of their ideas.” I was thrilled to find out that L’Amour himself was a man who dug into the reading habits and libraries of people he admired. That’s what this series is all about, and I have to think he’d be proud of the fact that folks are diving into his habits and collections in order to grow and find some reading inspiration. What makes the reading list below unique is that for many of them we get not just a title, but what L’Amour thought of and took away from that title. It’s a real joy to peruse the list. This is truly but a small fraction of the books mentioned in Education of a Wandering Man. If you’re a reader, and you should be, I cannot recommend enough picking up a copy. Mine is riddled with underlining and marginalia, and I know I’ll be returning to it again and again. A Very Partial Louis L’Amour Reading List * The Annals and Antiquities of Rajahstan by James Tod — “a source for several planned books” * Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays * Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson — “one of the first books I read” * History of the World — he doesn’t mention the author, so I’m not exactly sure which book this is, but his memory of it was too good to pass up: “when my father came home I would sit on his knee and tell him what I read during the day.” * Black Beauty by Anna Sewell * “A dozen Horatio Alger novels” * A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs * Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott * Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace * The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas — “It was a great day when I discovered on the shelves of the library a set of forty-eight volumes by Dumas, and I read them, every one.” * Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Man Who Laughs, and Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo — “The last-named was my favorite.” * Leatherstocking Tales (a series of 5 novels) by James Fenimore Cooper — “Enjoyed them.” * The Bar Sinister by Richard Harding Davis — “a story about a dog, and a good yarn.” * Martin Eden by Jack London — “prepared me for the rejections to come, and the difficulty I would have in getting published.” Also by London: The Sea Wolf, The Call of the Wild (“another great dog story”) * The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle — “an exciting, romantic story.” * The Adventures of Gil Blas by Alain Rene Lesage — “I read it not once but twice on the plains of West Texas.” * Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes — “marvelous stuff.” * Hamlet by Shakespeare — “[Shakespeare] was the ultimate professional, a writer who knew what he was doing all the time.” * The Odyssey and The Iliad by Homer — “I often thought how like some of his characters were men whom I had met.” * The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell — “without doubt one of the greatest biographies in the English language. It was a book I read slowly, often returning to reread parts of it.” * Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad — “I have read several times . . . and which for me was a real discovery.” * Ecce Homo, The Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and The Will to Power by Friedrich Nietzsche * Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky — “surprised by this book — surprised and very impressed. Several times I turned back to reread sections of the book.” * Kim by Rudyard Kipling — “read it twice.”   * Candide by Voltaire — “it was a revelation. I loved it, rereading it at once.”   * Commerce of the Prairies by Gregg — “one of the basic books of the westward movement” * My Life on the Plains by George Custer * The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Military Institutions of the Romans by Vegetius, On War by Carl von Clausewitz — “military tactics had interested me since my youth” * The Case of Sergeant Grischa by Arnold Zweig — “the best novel to come out of World War I, although Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front attracted more attention and was a good book also.” * Lives by Plutarch — “In several of my western novels I have had characters reading Plutarch. I believe more great men have read his Lives than any other book, except possibly the Bible. … In reviewing the reading histories or libraries of great men, I have come upon him again and again, and justly so. His is a sophisticated, urbane mind dealing with aspects of leadership.” * The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli * The Red and the Black by Stendhal * Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte * Walden by Henry David Thoreau * To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway, also his story “Fifty Grand” — “one of the best fight stories every written. Jack London’s ‘The Mexican’ is another.” L’Amour wrote that he “enjoyed Hemingway’s short stories more than his novels.” * Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade by Joseph McCoy — “an excellent book and one of the basic books on that aspect of the west. J. Frank Dobie’s The Longhorns is another.” * The Log of a Cowboy by Andy Adams * The Life of Billy Dixon by Olive Dixon — “I managed to stay awake most of the night to finish the story . . . Recently I reread the book and found it every bit as good as I had remembered.” * Six Years With the Texas Rangers by James Gillett * The Koran — “I find it has much to offer” * Journal of a Novel by John Steinbeck * The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler — “read, but by too few” The post The Libraries of Famous Men: Louis L’Amour appeared first on The Art of Manliness. http://dlvr.it/Prv6Sc

[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper Interviews Sarah Sundin

The Sky Above Us by Sarah Sundin is a historical romance novel focusing more on the history than the romance.  Throughout this series she intertwines World War II military history with a developing relationship.

The series follows three brothers who are all fighting in Normandy. The first book highlighted Wyatt Paxton, the oldest, who joined the navy. This one is about Adler Paxton, the middle brother, who enlisted in the Air Force, and the next book will emphasize the youngest Paxton brother, Clay, who is an army Ranger.

This story highlights how Lt. Adler Paxton has been numbed by grief and harboring shameful secrets, while shipping off to England on the Queen Elizabeth to fight with the US 357th Fighter Group in 1943. After arriving he battles the German Luftwaffe in treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for control of the air before the D-day invasion. These scenes are authentic, intense, and capture the struggles of the allied forces as they have dog-fights over the skies of Normandy to protect the bombers.

On the Queen Elizabeth, he meets Violet Lindstrom who serves in the American Red Cross. Adler and Violet will reunite at the Air Base where she is assigned the duties of entertaining the troops at the Aeroclub and setting up programs for local children. As war rages and D-Day approaches, life has a way of drawing two people together.

This story is about friendship, love, and life choices.  It delves into how a feeling of betrayal can lead to forgiveness and the need for people to look within to find peace and happiness.

Elise Cooper:  This series surrounds D-Day?

Sarah Sundin:  I have been fascinated with D-Day and wanted to write a series that will cover it from the sea, air, and ground.  I thought how those in the Red Cross and the military were separated from family and friends, while living in unpleasant circumstances.

EC:  Adler is a fighter pilot?

SS: He is with the 357th fighter group.  I enjoyed writing the fighter pilot mentality.  I read many stories by those and was able to understand what it was like when fighting on a mission.  Chuck Yeager, the pilot who broke the sound barrier, was in this group.  He along with his peers had a very lively and colorful memoir.

EC:  The Queen Elizabeth became a transport ship?

SS:  I went and toured her sister ship the Queen Mary.  I had an incredible tour and found out lots of history.  Both these ships were troop ships.  It is incredible how this massive luxurious ocean liner had 15,000 crammed on them.  I had Adler and Violet sail over in November 1943.  As I was doing my research I found out that the US Rangers also went over on that ship at that time.  This allowed me to have Adler and his estranged brother Clay come close to seeing each other.  

EC:  How would you describe Adler?

SS:  Rough around the edges, very driven, ambitious, and competitive.  Chivalrous when he rescued Violet from this predatory type, Riggs who had no boundaries at all.  Adler’s attitude is that no one should have a right to just grab a strange woman and force a kiss on her. I think Adler is two different personalities, one gregarious and outgoing, and the other where he just shuts down.  Because of the tragedy he experienced he tries to keep a side of himself secret, which is a protective mechanism.

EC:  How would you describe Violet?

SS:  A typical good girl who was sheltered.  She wants to do something big overseas so she joins the Red Cross.  I think she thinks of herself as trusting, innocent, and pure.  But she is also judgmental and self-righteous as she looks down on others.  

EC:  There was a shout out to westerns?

SS:  Both the hero and heroine loved westerns.  They read Zane Grey.  My family also are western fans.  My grandfather collected Zane Grey books and enjoyed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans shows. I knew I had to put in something because westerns were such a big part of that era’s culture.  I worked Roy Rogers into the story because my grandparents were huge fans.  An interesting story happened when I actually met this famous couple.  My grandparents retired to Apple Valley where Rogers and Evans lived.  They went to Church and played cards together.  I thought it could be a fun way to add color and humor to the story.

EC:  What is the theme?

SS:  Receiving and giving forgiveness.  What does forgiveness mean?  Adler wants a reconciliation, but is afraid it is not possible.  He grieves for how he lost the love of his family. Many times, people forgive to avoid the bitterness in our own souls.  

EC:  Can you give a heads up about your next book?

SS:  It will be out next year and follows the youngest brother Clay, who is gravely wronged by both Wyatt and Adler.  As a Ranger in Tennessee he meets a librarian, Leah Jones, who is searching for her younger sister.

THANK YOU!!

[mysteryshelf]

BLOG TOUR - Murder on the Mullet Express

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Breakthrough Promotions. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ISBN-13: 978-0-9964209-7-6 (Print),

978-0-9964209-8-3 (Kindle)

Mystery and Horror, LLC Paperback:  pages

September 2016

Also available for Kindle

  It’s 1926. The West Coast Development Company is staging its biggest land deal in Homosassa, Florida, selling pieces of a planned city to speculators who dream of a tropical paradise. Army nurse Cornelia Pettijohn takes leave to travel to Florida with her ancient uncle, who claims that he wants a warm winter home. When their car breaks down, they take the local train, The Mullet Express, into Homosassa. By the time they arrive, though, a passenger has been poisoned. A second murder victim boards the train later, iced down with the fish. Uncle Percival’s hidden agenda makes him the sheriff’s prime suspect. Cornelia and Teddy Lawless, a twenty-year-old flapper in a sixty-year-old body, must chase mobsters and corner suspects to dig her uncle out of the hole he’s dug for himself.

    INTERVIEWS WITH THE AUTHORS

  GWEN MAYO

  What initially got you interested in writing?

  I blame my little sister for my writing start. She was afraid to go to sleep at night, so I would tell her stories. I had to start writing them down when she hit the age of wanting to hear the same story over and over again. The little twerp would sit up in bed and tell me if I changed the tale in any way. She taught me the value of committing a story to paper.

  What genres do you write in?

  My books are all historical mysteries. The Nessa Donnelly series is set in the late 1870’s, although the short stories with her range from the American Civil War era to the turn of the century. The new cozy mystery series I’ve teamed up with Sarah Glenn to write is set in the 1920’s.

  With short works, it is harder to pin down what I write. My published work goes from literary journals and poetry collections to science fiction, horror, and mystery anthologies. I even write drabbles and strange little micro-fiction stories. I always come back to history, though, and usually crime.

  What drew you to writing these specific genres?

  The books I read in my youth had the biggest effect. Books were hard to come by in my hometown. There was no public library or bookstore. The school library was woefully inadequate for my reading level. There was a rack of mass market paperbacks in the local grocery. These were not children’s books. My choices were romance, mystery, or westerns. The lurid covers of the romances ruled them out. Mom would have taken them the moment she saw the cover, and my mother saw everything. Budget constraints also played a role in my genre choices. At slightly over a dollar each, I could purchase one or two a month. This made me very picky about which books to buy.

  I became very familiar with the work of Zane Grey and Agatha Christie. Readers can still see traces of their influence on my writing. Christie was always my first choice. Other mysteries came second, but only when I couldn’t find a Christie novel that I didn’t own. I was very loyal. Her puzzles were amazing. I suppose that loyalty still draws me to mysteries. Whether writing or reading, there is nothing I love more than a quiet room and a new mystery.

  What do you find most rewarding about writing?

  I love the moment when the plot comes together. My big reward is that moment when I know what my protagonist has done that creates a do or die situation. She knows who the murder is and is in direct conflict with the killer. When I get to the point where both hero and villain are locked into an inevitable confrontation that leads into the climax of the story, I want to dance.

  What do you find most challenging about writing?

  The biggest challenge for me is killing my darlings. I hate cutting pieces of work that are solid but no longer accomplish the job of either moving the plot forward or giving the reader insight into my character. I tend to save scenes that don’t work for this story into a file titled “cuts.” They may end up trashed, but not before I review them again to see if I want to use them for another story.

  What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

  It is a tough and crowded field. Be prepared to work hard in every aspect of the craft: writing, editing, improving your skills, finding an agent/publisher/editor. You have to learn to pitch your book; even if you decide to publish yourself, you have to be able to succinctly tell people what your book is about. Come up with a marketing plan. Build relationships with your local writers, bookstores, and libraries. Build a website and social media presence. The success of your work depends on skill, planning, hard work, and luck, in that order.

  What type of books do you enjoy reading?

  I love mystery, mostly historical mystery, Louise Penny is the most notable exception. I also enjoy historical nonfiction, the occasional thriller, poetry, short mystery and some science fiction.

  Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

  Gosh, I hope so. I’d be a pretty dull person if all I did was write. In my twenties I was a locomotive engineer. In my thirties, I went to college on a poetry scholarship, spent a summer in Trinidad and Tobago as an arts exchange student, and help build a school with Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua. I was in my forties before I started my first novel. I’m a huge history junkie, an award winning chocolatier, and most of all a wife, mom, and grandma.

  What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

  From my personal site, gwenmayo.com, my blog at http://gwenmayo.blogspot.com/, and the website for my press, mysteryandhorrorllc.com .

  Sarah Glenn

  What initially got you interested in writing?

I loved to read. I loved reading, and I began writing stories set within the worlds of my favorite authors; I didn’t want to leave them. Later, as I grew older, I started to develop my own characters and settings. I can’t think of anything nobler than creating a place of imagination that other people would want to enter.

I did take a different path than many authors. Most of my early stories were comic books stories, including artwork. I learned to draw the human figure from Betty and Veronica, and then got caught up in the Dave Cockrum era of the X-Men. I didn’t try my hand at prose until my introduction to Roger Zelazny’s Amber series.

  What genres do you write in?

Mystery, horror, and stories that are just plain weird.

  What drew you to writing these specific genres?

Mystery and horror are the genres I enjoy reading. The weird is just an extra service I provide.

  How did you break into the field?

Persistence. I wrote, and then looked for a market. On a few occasions, I became intrigued by the theme of an anthology and wrote a story for submission. I wrote short stories because I was—and am—impatient, so I subbed to a number of anthologies and magazines. Eventually, someone would surrender.

Nepotism was a strong factor in getting my first novel, All This and Family, Too, published. My spouse had a book published with Pill Hill Press (which, sadly, is no more), and I joined the author forums. I mentioned that I had a novel about a vampire fighting her homeowners’ association, and Jessy Roberts, my soon-to-be-editor, told me they were looking for vampire stories and suggested I submit. I did, and was accepted. It wasn’t an easy pass, though; she did a real content review on my work, and after several rewrites I had a much better story than I started with.

  What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

If I thought about such things in advance, I’d never get any fiction written. When I write nonfiction, I write to educate or persuade, but my first goal in fiction is to amuse the reader—to create a good story. I like to tuck details about the setting in the narrative here and there, but I do that to make the world come more alive for the reader.

  What do you find most rewarding about writing?

For me, it’s at the end, when the whole story comes together and I see that it doesn’t suck, that the details have come together, and the product is genuinely good. This feeling isn’t limited to my own work; when an anthology I edit comes together, I have the same great feeling.

  What do you find most challenging about writing?

Finding the nerve to write. I am very self-critical, and I have to push myself. The words come easier when I’m with other people who are writing, oddly enough: something I learned about myself when I tried NaNoWriMo. It’s usually my most productive month of the year.

  What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

First: write the stories you want to write—don’t go with what’s hot in the market. Unless you’re submitting a short story on spec, or write as fast as Stephen King, trends will change by the time you finish writing. Worse: if you don’t find the subject matter interesting, you might not finish at all.

Second: take some time to learn the craft of writing. Learn how to write a coherent sentence and stick with a single verb tense throughout your story. That’s your responsibility, not the publisher’s. Join a writing group, even an online group. Feedback will help you become a better author.

  What type of books do you enjoy reading?

I like books with a strong sense of characterization and place. I want to be immersed in the world of the story. Stephen King is very good at this, as are Louise Penny and Anne Perry. I also enjoy Robin Cook, but in his case, the place is the human body and the character is often the practice of medicine itself.

  Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

I enjoy humor and wordplay immensely. I love the hashtag funnies on Twitter, posting memes, and solving crosswords. On a darker note, I also watch programs about true crime, listen to creepypasta on YouTube, and am a fan of True Tales of the ER. Plus, I’m a poison enthusiast. I don’t have a degree in the subject, but I have an unhealthy interest in the topic. Fortunately, I can’t cook.

  What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

I can be found at my Twitter feed at @SarahEGlenn, my blog at http://saraheglenn.blogspot.com/, my website at sarahglenn.com, and the website for my press, mysteryandhorrorllc.com .

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Gwen Mayo is passionate about blending her loves of history and mystery fiction. She currently lives and writes in Safety Harbor, Florida, but grew up in a large Irish family in the hills of Eastern Kentucky. She is the author of the Nessa Donnelly Mysteries and co-author of the Old Crows stories with Sarah Glenn.

  Her stories have appeared in A Whodunit Halloween, Decades of Dirt, Halloween Frights (Volume I), and several flash fiction collections. She belongs to Sisters in Crime, SinC Guppies, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, the Historical Novel Society, and the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.

  Gwen has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kentucky. Her most interesting job, though, was as a brakeman and railroad engineer from 1983 – 1987. She was one of the last engineers to be certified on steam locomotives.

  Website URL: http://www.gwenmayo.com

Blog URL:         http://gwenmayo.blogspot.com/

Facebook URL:            https://www.facebook.com/Gwen-Mayo-119029591509479/

Twitter:           @gwenmayo

LinkedIn:          https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwen-mayo-41175726

Skype:              gwen.mayo

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4108648.Gwen_Mayo

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Gwen-Mayo/e/B003PJNWJE/

  Sarah E. Glenn has a B.S. in Journalism, which is a great degree for the dilettante she is. Later on, she did a stint as a graduate student in classical languages. She didn’t get the degree, but she’s great with crosswords. Her most interesting job was working the reports desk for the police department in Lexington, Kentucky, where she learned that criminals really are dumb.

  Her great-great aunt served as a nurse in WWI, and was injured by poison gas during the fighting. A hundred years later, this would inspire Sarah to write stories Aunt Dess would probably not approve of.

  Website URL:              http://www.sarahglenn.com

Blog URL:                     http://saraheglenn.blogspot.com/

Facebook URL:            https://www.facebook.com/Sarah-E-Glenn-177315008966709/

Twitter:                       @SarahEGlenn and @MAHLLC

LinkedIn:                      https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-glenn-216765b

Skype:                          sarah.glenn63

Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4710143.Sarah_E_Glenn

Amazon Author:        http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-E.-Glenn/e/B004P3MI2Q

BLOG TOUR – Murder on the Mullet Express was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf