This isn’t a blog about the newest book-in-progress, although there will be plenty of those coming up.  No, this is a blog about the lack of a blog today.  Or if this isn’t a blog, at least it’s an announcement.

Tune in tomorrow instead, when I will have (mostly) recovered from my travels through Florida looking for a new place to call home.  Along the route I encountered Newt Gingrich and Callista, author and friend Julie Compton, my teenage self, several small alligators and possibly my future. 

No wonder I’m tired.  See you on Wednesday.

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.   If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here.

Today’s poem is Reluctance by Robert Frost.  Are you reluctant to let go of something in your life?  Are you hanging on when you shouldn’t because you need to move on?  Are you afraid to let go because the future might be worse than the present?  Or are you unwilling to let go because life, just as it is, feels so right?

I love the way Frost’s poetry seems to be about simple things, then changes in the blink of an eye into something profound, something I need to think about for days.

What will you think about?   Remember there are no quizzes here, no right ways to read or contemplate the poem we share.  Absolutely no dissecting allowed.  Just come along for the “read.”  What line, word or thought will you carry with you this week?  If you’d like to tell us where the poem took you?  We’ll listen

Remember “lists?”  I introduced my first list on the 13th, and you responded with wonderful additions.  You can read the comments if you click on the link.

Here’s my next and last list for January.  Anyone who adds an item by commenting on either post by January 31, is entered in a drawing for an autographed book.  No religion, politics or snarkiness allowed–at least nothing very snarky. 

Just follow the topic and speak from the heart.

Do you suspect an ulterior motive in my subject selection?  Of course.  I’m listening.

People I Really Want to Read About:

1–People who pick themselves up and keep going

2–People who make mistakes

3–People who fall in love, even if they know better

4–People who have something to teach me

5–People who live in worlds I’ll never inhabit and still make them feel familiar

Now it’s your turn.  Who speaks loudly enough that you have to pick up their book and immerse yourself in their life?

Who do you want to read about?

Novelists watch life unfold and shake our heads.  There’s a test to tell just how absurd it all is.  We ask ourselves, what our would editors say if we went to them with a particularly odd story.

For example:

 ”Have I got an idea for you.  Let me do a modern day Titanic novel, okay?  Only this time, the captain will be the bad guy–not the boyfriend with the sparkly necklace–AND (here’s the twist) he’ll also be the good guy–the new Leonardo DiCaprio.  Isn’t that better?  See, he gets too close to shore when he’s showing off to a female crew member (bad guy), then he’s not sure what to do after he crashes (bad guy), but along the way, he falls into a life boat, and the lifeboat crew takes off with him, when all he really wants to do at that point is stay and go down with his ship.” (good guy)

She groans. 

I try to explain, since she doesn’t seem to understand.  “It’s a story of transformation, see?  He wants to go down with his ship, but he’s kind of a klutz.  He hits his shin, or his big toe and he can’t swim back to deck.  It’s a great story.  Even if it doesn’t, well, end happily.”

At this point I would have to manually jerk said editor’s hands off her ears.  “Did you hear me?” I would demand.  And she, eyes glazing over, would say: “Have you lost your mind?  Nobody, and I mean nobody, would believe a story like that!”

How many of us can’t believe it?   Can we count the mistakes of  Captain Francesco Schettino of Costa’s Concordia this past week?  Showing off.  Denying reality.  Dithering.  Abandoning ship.  Lying about the way he abandoned ship?  Most of us were raised to believe that people in positions of great authority (especially people in dashing uniforms) are heroes, or at the very least, heroes in training.

This time, not so much.

This morning I read a wonderful article from the Greater Good Science Center by Zeno Franco and Matt Langdon.  The Captain Who Fell into the Lifeboat talks about heroism, and how to recognize it.  Unfortunately Captain Schettino failed on every level.  He didn’t take the accident seriously enough.  He gave into pressure from others, which may not only have caused the accident, but also delayed response.  He didn’t consider the long term results of his actions.  He tried to justify his decisions, even claiming he acted heroically by steering the vessel into shallower waters.  He let his own fears overcome the demand for leadership and “fell” into a lifeboat to avoid taking charge.

Yikes.

Now contrast this with Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, who in 2009 managed, with raw courage and outer calm, to land a disabled Airbus A320 in the Hudson River, and get every single passenger out and to safety. 

One of the differences between most literary and commercial fiction is the concept of the hero.  A thoughtful, insightful literary author could make an interesting story out of Captain Schettino’s fateful day, the forces that drove him to make so many bad decisions, ending, perhaps, with a trial and no conviction, because, after all, the real world isn’t fair.  In short, no heroes aboard.

A more commercial approach?  Captain Sullenberger and crew, facing challenge after challenge landing that Airbus and somehow, against all odds, making sure everyone is rescued.  Heroes aplenty.

None of us really know what we would do in a time of crisis.  But me, I’ll take the story about the “captain-who-tried” over the “one-who-didn’t.”  Call me an optimist, but I do believe in heroes.  And sometimes my faith is vindicated.

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.   If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here.

Our family just welcomed a baby boy, my first grandson, and today’s poem, Infant Joy by William Blake, is for Liam Michael, born January 12th, and precious, as all babies everywhere are. 

Infant Joy by William Blake

“I have no name;
I am but two days old.”
What shall I call thee?
“I happy am,
Joy is my name.”
Sweet joy befall thee!

Pretty joy!
Sweet joy, but two days old.
Sweet Joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile,
I sing the while;
Sweet joy befall thee!

Thank you for sharing my family’s joy.  Remember there are no quizzes here, no right ways to read or contemplate the poem we share.  Absolutely no dissecting allowed.  Just come along for the “read.”  What line, word or thought will you carry with you this week?  If you’d like to tell us where the poem took you?  We’ll listen.

This week, in addition to meeting my new grandson, I also met my new cover.  One of these I adored on sight.  (I’ll let you guess which.)  Sometimes that happens. 

The new cover is for the first book in a series, One Mountain Away, which debuts in August.  The series is titled Goddesses Anonymous.  This time, more than usual, I felt we needed to get the cover absolutely right.  In addition to a cover that the bookstore browser would pick up, we needed a “look” that made it clear to my readers that the next time they saw the same “look” it would be on the cover of the second book in the Goddesses Anonymous series.

While my publisher and I struggle together with the cover, I’m reminded of all the problems of setting up the actual story to lead into a series of novels.  So today, let’s explore the first thing you must pay attention to if the novel you’re writing could become the first of several–or a dozen. 

• Will there be recurring characters?  Who are they, and what will happen in their lives as the story progresses?  How central will they be in each book, and if they are central, have you left a number of loose threads in their lives to weave in as the series continues?

There are different kinds of series, of course.  Mystery series usually feature a detective (amateur sleuth, law enforcement professional, or private investigator) who solves a different crime in each novel.  His/her life changes slowly from book to book, but the personal is not usually the focus of the story.  The life of the sleuth enriches but doesn’t fuel each novel’s plot. 

In contrast series in general fiction can focus on a group of friends, a particular place, a theme, etc., and they can vary in interesting ways.  Sometimes each book features a different character, but prior characters walk on and off stage.  (My Shenandoah Album series is an example, as is the new Goddesses Anonymous series.)  Other series (Happiness Key) use the same main characters in an ensemble from book to book.  If you haven’t read Happiness Key, then think Desperate Housewives, of television fame.  Or Friends.

The kind of series you envision will affect how you use recurring characters.  Planning ahead is best, because if you don’t, you’ll find yourself working around all kinds of situations and background you set up in Book One without realizing that later you would be hemmed in by them.

Having said that, I’ll confess that neither the Shenandoah Album series nor the Happiness Key series were meant to be series at all.  They were stand alone novels.  Only when I’d finished did I realize how many questions I still had about the characters, and how much fun it would be to explore the answers.  I found plenty of loose ends and added more as I went.

I promise we’ll consider more items in another Write Way blog.  Meantime, for previous writing tips, click here, or on the Write Way category to your right.

For now, remember that characters matter most in a series.  Be sure you create characters your readers will want to read about from book to book.  Better yet, create characters they can’t wait to read about, and just as important, characters you can’t wait to write about.  Over and over and over again.

Today I’m visiting my brand new grandson, and so glad to be!  Although going north in January?  I just pulled my boots out of storage.

For fun, why not do a little traveling, too, to the websites of three special women.  You won’t need your boots, just a little time.  These writers have all given me “quotes” to use on my new novel, One Mountain Away, coming out in August.   They’ve read the book and said lovely things, and I appreciate so much the time and care they took.  So pack your bags and please visit:

http://www.dianechamberlain.com

http://www.sandradallas.com

http://www.sherrylwoods.com

You’ll be glad you made the trip.  I’ll be back by Friday’s blog, if I can plow my way through snowdrifts to find my way home to sunny (more or less) Virginia.

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.   If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here.

All that lovely warm weather, then suddenly winter.  I’ve saved Shoveling Snow for just the right moment, and this surely is the one.  It’s an enchanting poem.  I may be a Floridian at heart, but even I know the beauty of shoveling that first snowfall each year.  Kirsten Dierking captures it perfectly for us.  What would you notice “inside the muffle and hush?”

Remember there are no quizzes here, no right ways to read or contemplate the poem we share.  Absolutely no dissecting allowed.  Just come along for the “read.”  What line, word or thought will you carry with you this week?  If you’d like to tell us where the poem took you?  We’ll listen.

Drumroll, please.  Today’s the first post in a new category at Southern Exposure.  If you like it I’ll probably do this as often as I come up with new lists.  Because this category is ALL about lists. 

The fun part is that if you comment on this post and any other “Lists” posts this month, adding your own item to the list I’ve begun, you’ll be entered in a giveaway for an autographed novel.   You can’t enter on Facebook, or Goodreads.  You must come right here, click on comments and add your two cents worth.

Be funny, be serious, speak from the heart.  Just follow the topic.

Caution:  No politics or religion allowed.  While those may be my favorite discussions at the dinner table–going against everything my mother taught me–they are NOT appropriate for this blog and won’t be accepted.  I also ask you not to be unkind.  You may think #3 below is unkind, but quite honestly, it’s a real question.  I really don’t know who these people are. 

So without further adieu, here’s my first list.  There’ll be a different topic each time. I’m already working on the next one.  Enjoy!

I Really Want to Know. . .

1–Why women in the twenty-first-century emulate their Chinese sisters of an earlier era and wear shoes that constrict and eventually reshape their feet and make moving freely more difficult.

2–Why homeowners pay for expensive gym memberships AND landscape crews to keep their yards mulched, raked, planted and mowed.

3–Who the Karadashians are and why anybody, other than their family/close friends/high school graduating classes, cares about what they do/think/wear.

4–Why fifteen states still allow texting while driving.  Of those states, why do twelve make no exception for school bus drivers.

5–Why reviewers praise novels about serial killers and disparage novels about love.

How about you?  Shall we try for a list of ten–at least?

Last summer I was asked to give input into a new literary prize in the making.   Input is easy to give.  I explained my take on several items in question and enjoyed the company of other writerly persons in the room.  I thought I was finished.

Then in November I received my judging instructions.

Now, I clearly remember saying that I didn’t want to be a judge, that I wouldn’t have the time, and while I had the interest, I might not be the best possible person for this job.  Odd as this may sound, I graduated from college with only one literature course.  My graduate education was in counseling and family studies.  I have always read mainly for pleasure, and usually I choose non-fiction or well-written commercial fiction as my books of choice.  Do I know anything about literary fiction?  Well, sure.  Do I know enough?  That is the question.

Still, wouldn’t it be silly for the author of more than sixty novels to believe she’s not qualified enough to judge someone else’s work? 

So I changed my mind when push came to shove and said yes.  The major reason I agreed was the word “accessible,” which came up in our discussion.  I was told that the book that wins should be accessible to readers, unlike some awards that pride themselves on books no one has read or could if they tried.  And I was told I would receive three books to start.  I could manage that, right?

I’m almost finished with my first book.  It’s not something I would have picked up to enjoy on my own.  The experience is transforming.  I like this book. I like it a lot, but does it deserve a major award?  Can I articulate why if I recommend it?  Am I going to feel this way with every book I’m sent?  After all, no one is sending their worst efforts.  What constitutes a winner?  How much “heft” must it have to stand out from the crowd?

I find that “heft,” for want of a better word, is what I’m searching for.  Don’t ask me what it means, but hey, I’ll know it when I see it, right?  Or maybe I’ll know it after I’ve seen it and the book continues to haunt me.  Or when I find  myself unable to put it down, not because it’s filled with cliffhangers, as so many fabulous works of commercial fiction are, but because the concept, the prose, the vision is so glorious I want to bathe in it.

Does such a book exist?  And doesn’t the fascination with a book, it’s style or lack of it, it’s purported genius, depend a great deal on readers’ own lives and tastes, and what they bring with them when they open it for the first time?

All of us make choices in the books we read, don’t read, like, don’t like.  I’m having a good time analyzing my own.  Do you know yours?

Just to be clear, if I have any question whether a book deserves to go on to the next round, it will.  Let the next group of judges weigh in.  I will have done my part to get it there.

And in other business?  Congratulations to Donna Maine, the winner of a Pepper Martin mystery by Casey Daniels, last week’s giveaway.  Donna, yesterday was definitely your lucky day.