Bad is Not Always Easy

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

Ever wonder how to write and describe the "bad" characters? For me, that is not easy. I have a difficult time trying to make a character bad. Why? I have no idea. But I do.

One of the exercises I came across was to go to the newspaper and read the articles about people who have committed a crime. I circle everything in that article that pertains to their character as a person. I circle habits if they are listed; addictions, traits, whatever is said about them from police to family members. I circle words about the crime, which again tells me what the person is like, what their value system is. There is always information in the paper about their trials.

I also follow the articles on corporate information about people, what they are doing wrong, why they were fired, arrested. I also read the articles on the school boards, city meetings—here you really pick up some bad traits. In other words, every article in the paper that has anything to say about the negative traits of other people, I circle and keep those articles to refer back to when I need information to describe a bad character.

Yes, it does take time. I have to read the articles, but soon you get use to knowing which ones are going to have things you can use, and it goes faster.

Another exercise I do is to write down things I don’t like. For instance, I don’t like bullies. I don’t like greed. I don’t like people who lie or manipulate others. You get the idea. I make lists of things. The list always comes in handy when you are writing and trying to describe someone who is bad or if you are trying to come up with a character’s bad traits.

Try making lists and see if that helps you when you’re creating your characters.

My Writing Career, To Date—What is Yours?

By Kerry Nietz

I lost track of the number of times I heard the questions. Usually they came coupled with an incredulous stare.

“You want to be writer? Did you take any writing courses in college?”

To which I’d shrug and say: “I took a technical writing course in college.”

More stares.

“Well, yeah, my major was computer science.”

It never seemed strange to me that someone who was trained in a technical field could want to become a writer later—over a decade after being established in their career. It was something I always hoped to do. But for many people, my change of focus was unexpected. I’d broken an unwritten rule: People who want to write, plan their careers accordingly.

It has always been about setting challenges, though. About testing myself. Regardless of what the rules were. Regardless of how you’re supposed to do it.

I spent my share of time in the corner in grade school…

I did write my first book, though. Entitled Fox Tales, it is a memoire of my first four years in the software industry. The subject matter wasn’t the challenge, obviously. The writing was. It took me a few iterations to get it right, and many rejections to get it published, but my story found a cover in 2003 and got great reviews. Following conventional writing wisdom, it was written in first person past tense.

The prologue, however, was written in first person present tense. Curiously, that chapter also got the most remarks from readers. There was something about the in-the-moment feel of it that they enjoyed. Those remarks stuck with me. I wondered if I could ever write a whole novel in that tense and point-of-view.

Skip ahead five years. I’d written a handful of novels, but sold none of them. The idea of a first-person present tense novel still itched at me, and I also had this idea for a story about a guy who fixes robots.

“This is it,” I told myself. “I’m going to write this one last story.”

I was also going to throw out the rules again, because every writing book I’d ever read said that first novels should be written in either first or third person past tense. I was going to accept my own challenge, and if that didn’t work, maybe I would look at doing something else. Maybe those early detractors were right.

Six months later the first draft of that novel, A Star Curiously Singing, was finished. More importantly, that novel was published in October of 2009 by Marcher Lord Press. It went on to be a finalist for three different awards and win the Readers Favorite award for Christian Science Fiction. It also earned an average 4.8 out of 5 stars rating on Amazon with over 70 reviews. (Coincidentally, another first person present tense novel was published a month prior to mine. The Hunger Games)

I went on to complete a trilogy and another standalone in that same in-the-moment style.

Skip ahead another three years. There was this longstanding joke title in the Christian speculative fiction community. It was something my publisher used to share at writing conferences as the only sort of Amish fiction that Marcher Lord Press might accept: Amish Vampires in Space.

The title got me thinking. Was it possible to write a novel that was faithful to all three genres—Amish fiction, Vampire fiction and Science fiction—and yet still tell a plausible and compelling story? Could that campy title serve as a premise for a serious novel?

I started writing. A few months later I was 30,000 words in, and felt happy about what I’d done. I told my publisher and he encouraged me to continue. On October 1^st of 2013, four years after my first novel, and ten years after my first book, Amish Vampires in Space was published.

That wasn’t the end of the story, though. Two months later Marcher Lord Press was sold, and the new owner decided he didn’t want my genre mash up in the catalog.

“Why?” I asked. “Reviews have been generally good, sales are on par with other Marcher Lord titles. There has been lots of buzz…” Plus, I knew the book was respectfully done. It didn’t demean or villainize anyone. Except vampires.

The answer was elusive, though. All I got was: “It would not have been a book I would’ve published.” 

“Why?” 

“To actually create or incarnate a punchline isn’t something I would’ve done.”

So there it was. Again in meeting a personal challenge, I’d broken another rule. Inadvertently.

At least I’m consistent.

_______________________________________________________________________

Kerry Nietz is a refugee of the software industry. He spent more than a decade of his life flipping bits, first as one of the principal developers of the database product FoxPro for the now mythical Fox Software, and then as one of Bill Gates's minions at Microsoft. He is a husband, a father, a technophile and a movie buff. He has one non-fiction book, a memoir entitled FoxTales: Behind the Scenes at Fox Software. His first novel, A Star Curiously Singing, was published in October of 2009. His recent book, Amish Vampires in Space made Jimmy Fallon’s list. He has an article, “Making Space for Amish Vampires,” recently published in Southern Writers Magazine, May/June 2014 issue. His website is www.nietz.com

Tips on Meeting Agents and Editors (that even the shy writer can do)

By Lindsey Bell

A few years ago, when I finally felt ready to move forward with my writing career, I did something I was petrified to do.

I attended a writing conference and met—in person—with several agents and editors.

One thing you should probably know about me: I’m shy.

Meeting with writing professionals (especially when I was far from one!) was something I knew I needed to do but dreaded nonetheless.

After surviving that first meeting (and signing with an agent, by the way), I learned a few things that might help other shy writers as they prepare to meet with writing professionals.

5 Tips for the Shy Writer:

1. Remember…they are people too.

It’s tempting at times—especially before you are published—to put editors and agents on pedestals. To forget they too are human. Try your best to take them down from the pedestal and view them as normal people, just like you.

2. Dress the part.

Looking professional has a way of making you feel like a professional. I have a few outfits I rarely wear except when I meet with writing professionals. Putting these outfits on reminds me that I too am a writer. Dress the part, and you will begin to believe it.

3. Come prepared.

When you go to a writing conference, be prepared. Bring several copies of your book proposal and sample chapters. Bring business cards. Arm yourself with everything an editor or agent might ask to see.

4. Perfect your pitch.

Your book pitch should be a couple of sentences long and include the title, theme, and basic story line of your book. It’s basically, what you plan to say to someone when she asks, “What’s your book about?”

My pitch for Searching for Sanity is this: “Searching for Sanity is a parenting devotional that walks through the parents of the Bible: what they did well, what they did poorly, and what we can learn from them.”

Once you’ve written your pitch, practice it. Memorize it.

5. Remember…they are rooting for you.

Editors and agents want you to succeed. They are not searching for failures but for the next big story idea. They are rooting for you!

Let’s talk: What other tips would you add to this list? 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Lindsey Bell is the author of Searching for Sanity: 52 Insights from the Parents of the Bible. She’s also a stay-at-home mother of two, minister’s wife, avid reader, and chocolate lover. You can find Lindsey online at any of the following locations: Her blog: www.lindsey-bell.com

Her website: www.lindseymbell.com">www.lindseymbell.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/LindseyMBell

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Signed by the Author

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Books may not be judged by their cover but they are sold by them. With today’s talent in graphic art, marketing and the psychology of sales, the cover is extremely important to the success of a book. The font size of the author’s name as compared to the font size of the book title is a telltale sign of the author’s fame and following. Many books have far better covers than content. With competition for the readers becoming greater than ever, more sophisticated marketing techniques are needed. Here are some I have observed.   

On a trip to Orange Beach, AL I discovered in a gift shop Andy Andrews’ bestseller The Noticer displayed alongside a Points of Interest brochure. The brochure compiled points of interest in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores AL "that have special meaning for New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews.” How brilliant! The connection with the book and the author are much stronger when you can see where the story took place. This was discussed in a Suite T posting Getting Closer to Elvis which discussed connecting the book with the place of interest. I would think this is a great marketing tool to have the book available at the point of interest.

On a recent return trip to the same gift shop I found the follow up to the first book displayed. The Noticer Returns was displayed with a sticker on it stating it was an autographed copy. If you know this author you know he has autographed most of the books found in the stores in this area. Autographed copies weren’t a new revelation but seeing the sticker was.    

Rick Bragg is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and author of Southern Journal in the Southern Living Magazine. In Bragg’s April 2014 Southern Journal entry Saving Face he said of his book All Over But the Shoutin’, “It was a beautiful book - not the inside, I mean, but the outside. The cover, which had the feel of old parchment, showed a photograph of my young mother, taken about the time I was born in ’59.”

Rick went on to tell of siting in a hotel ballroom and signing copies. He said he was about two hundred copies into the signing when he noticed his mother’s photo had been defaced with Signed by Author stickers. They had been randomly placed and appeared to be pirate eye patches or Band-Aids on her cheek forehead or chin. There needs to be some consideration towards placement where it isn’t detrimental to the work put into the cover.

I find these ideas could be very beneficial for the sale of the book. I am sure there will be more to come. Should you find one that interest you please share it with us here at Southern Writers Magazine. We can pass it on. Someday you may want to use these methods to help the sale of your book. 

All that Glitters in the Publishing World…

By Tina Ann Forkner

There is nothing like getting published to make an author doubt themselves. For me, it was the moment after I signed the contract with my publisher up until—well, now.  The point is, the doubts that most writers have never fully go away, even after publication, and it can stop a writer in her tracks. So what keeps a writer from giving up? The answer, unfortunately, is complex and many writers do give up.

Where does this knowledge that published authors still lose confidence leave you if you’re still unpublished? You probably aren’t inspired to hear that it only gets harder. Sure, I can tell you the steps that worked for me and how I’m having a great time at book signings, but less glamorous are the hours I’ve sat in front of my computer, the reviews that made me want to go back to doing things like flipping burgers, and about how I still get rejected even after getting published.

I realize this isn’t great news, but don’t put your pen down yet. There is something that you, and I, need in order to write better and be more prolific, but it’s not some sort of supreme wisdom reserved only for authors who top the bestseller lists. It’s perseverance. What does perseverance mean when it comes to writing?

Author Katrina Monroe said, “Writing is like giving yourself really hard homework, every day, for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter at the computer screen.” That’s the best definition of perseverance when it comes to writing that I’ve ever heard. Unfortunately perseverance has lots of enemies. It’s easier to pull weeds in your garden, clean the toilet, or better yet, read a book that someone else already wrote than to write your own book, but doing those things are the coward’s way out. (Feel free to share this point with your family when you need help with chores.)

This is the part of the article where I’m supposed to give you the secret to persevering, but it’s not that simple. I can’t make you sit down at your computer screen, put your fingers on the keyboard, and type without stopping for the next hour, every day, every week, every month for however long it takes you to finish your story. Only you can do that. The bad news is that it’s really hard to do. You know that and I know that, because we are writers. Nobody else is going to understand, therefore nobody else is going to make you do it. You have to do it all by yourself. The good news is, you have it in you to do it.

So do it. Write. And then keep going until you have a bunch of words that eventually, if you don’t give up and if you love them enough, will become a book.

The only secret to persevering as a writer, is to write. Start today, and then get up tomorrow and do it again. 

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Tina Ann Forkner is a substitute teacher who currently lives in Wyoming with her husband and three children. She loves to garden and spend time outdoors with her family, she is presently knitting a scarf, and has been active volunteering on her library foundation’s board of directors. Tina’s novels, Ruby Among Us and Rose House are published by Waterbrook/Random House.

Learn more at www.tinaannforkner.come

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Good Gossip

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Oscar Wilde once said, "If there is anything more annoying in the world than having people talk about you, it is certainly having no one talk about you."

I suppose that depends on what they're saying, of course.

But nowhere does gossip serve a higher purpose than in fiction.  If our characters are lucky (and so are we), there are plenty of other characters talking about them behind their backs.

In fiction, there is much to gain from hearsay, and I'm here to say it. Among the benefits:

BACKSTORY

Ebenezer Scrooge (and we) learn why he grew to be a loner old miser as various ghosts show him pivotal moments from his life, in which characters reveal their opinions of him to one another.  This is much more dramatic than if the ghosts had simply told him why no one likes him.

When we first saw Forrest Gump, we wondered what his deal was.  It was enlightening to hear conversations about his medical history, such as those between his mother and his doctor.

EXPOSITION

At the beginning of a story, we are just getting to know the main character.  But his/her companions and associates have known them for a long time, and have a strong sense of who they are. We are brought up to speed in short order by parents who worry about their son's choice of friends or teachers complaining about the new principal's track record.

Glimpses of trouble ahead are well served by coworkers spreading rumors, or for the evil adversary to spell out to accomplices how the hero's vulnerabilities will be exploited.

REACTION

When a bride-to-be tells a friend of her engagement, she may receive an enthusiastic congratulations, and we assume everyone's happy. But we become privy to the spinster friend's real reaction when she spews a jealous diatribe to a mutual acquaintance.

Perhaps the groom-to-be didn't propose at all, and a misunderstanding grew too big to get out of. The behind-the-scenes conversations between him and his best man tell the real story of what he's going through. The truth comes out, and it can provide an interesting turn of events when it does.

In The Invention of Lying, we saw how brutal honesty can hurt when it's told face to face. In a perfect world, apparently, a little subterfuge can actually be a good thing.  

In the all-knowing, all-seeing eyes of fiction, there are no secrets.  Enjoy exposing your characters' underlying mysteries and exploiting the salacious scuttlebutt.

But you didn't hear it from me.

How I Write My Books from a Thriller Writer Perspective

By J. Carson Black

I come up with an idea, and then see if I have a character that fits that idea. It could be a big theme, or a relatively small one—and I can get the idea from anywhere. A Dear Abby column on pathological liars inspired CRY WOLF.

Then I plunge in and start writing. I know my character so I put him/her in a situation that has a problem that will get worse, and I see how the character reacts, and where that leads him. I always go through several journals, written in longhand, to go along with the book I’m writing in Word. In those journals, I talk to myself and try to figure stuff out.

Usually I wake up very early – five AM early – and often this is when I come up with the greatest ideas for my story. Some of these ideas pan out and some don’t, but the story grows because of them, and each scene leads to the next scene. The story grows organically. There’s always crime, always intrigue, and I usually know what’s going to happen two or three or four jumps ahead.

I believe this: the Arabic word, Maktub. “It is written.” It is already written, and I just have to find the path.

I do not outline books anymore. I don’t write down character traits, either. By now, I know how I write (16 books later) and I know that if I have the premise and a few things to get me and my character started, the rest will come. I am open to ideas that come in, and either keep or discard them. I just write my way through the story. 

Sometimes I have to stop, take out something that doesn’t work, and rewrite from that point. But that goes pretty fast. Once you’ve forged one path, it’s easier to forge another. Usually the first half to two-thirds of the book is opening out, and then the story closes back in until it reaches the end.

The second draft is for shaping and fixing, but my first draft is actually pretty clean, because I take my time and edit as I go.

The important thing to me is that if I don’t know exactly where the story is going, the reader won’t, either, and it won’t be predictable.

_______________________________________________________________________

J. Carson Black has written fifteen novels. Her thriller, The Shop, reached #1 on the Kindle Bestseller list, and her crime thriller series featuring homicide detective Laura Cardinal became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Although Black earned a master’s degree in operatic voice, she was inspired to write a horror novel after reading The Shining. Her latest thriller, THE SURVIVORS CLUB is available, now. J. Carson Black can be found at http://jcarsonblack.com   http://www.facebook.com/JCarsonBlack.authorpage

Her next thriller, HARD RETURN, will be released by Thomas & Mercer in September, 2014. 

Frozen

By Joy DeKok

I was stuck.  I wrote it off as writer's block, a bad case of procrastination, and maybe even burnout. 

The words beckoned, and I resisted them, but they would not let me go.

Instead of being grateful for them, I resented them, and wished they'd just go away. Not forever, but for a while. They did not.

I was reminded daily in casual conversations, by women in a similar situation as the main character, and in my dreams, about the novel I'd started and stopped years ago. The story I could not mold to fit the market I usually write for, although I tried.

Every time I let my guard down the story did its best to pull me in, and I did my best to push it away.

My "reasons" were reasonable. I work part- time for my husband. I have a small social media management business, and I help my dad with my mom. I also have a house to clean, family to love, friends to enjoy, and dogs to walk. Surely, it was a time thing. Or a tired thing. I'm older now, menopausal, and a little on the down side. Didn't I deserve a break?

The story said, "No."

I said, "For crying out loud!"

About that time, it dawned on me; I was arguing with my imagination against my talent, and the story I knew I'd been given to write. A story that scared me was more than likely at least two books.

I wasn't just afraid; I was frozen.

Everything about the project was bigger than me – bigger than my experience. Murder, rape, and a romance gone bad are not the norms in my life. What do I have in common with a kept woman, suspected in three murders, and who just might have to go back to go forward?  How on earth could I write what I don't know? Yes, I wrote about things I had never lived in my first novel, Rain Dance, but that was different.

Or was it? It turns out, not so much.

Sometimes writing what we don't know is a matter of looking beyond the story itself and into the hearts of the characters that are often a creative blend of real-live people. Those we know well, those we don't know very well, and those we don't know at all. We observe, remember, and imagine. Then we add a dash of pretend in the right spots, and dare to believe in that thing we call talent. Yours. Mine. Ours.

So how did I thaw out? I surrendered to the story, welcomed the words, listened to the characters, believed in my talent, and trusted that even though some of what I wrote would be bad, it could also be fixed.

It didn't happen overnight. The melting was gentle and steady, and even though the story stretched me at every point, it was kind. Now and then, I experience a little shiver of fear, but the words are now on the pages and like the southern breezes of spring, they keep my writing winter at bay.

____________________________________________________________________

Joy DeKok started writing as a little girl. She carries a large purse so she can take her journal and an assortment of pens with her in case a moment to jot comes along. Joy and her husband live on thirty-five acres of woods and field in Minnesota between Rochester and Pine Island. She’s been married to Jon for thirty-plus years. Joy enjoys time with her family, holding hands with her husband, lunch with friends, hot coffee, reading, bird watching, personal Bible study, and amateur photography. She has nine books in print and including her first general audience (suspense) novel (the first in The Northern Lights Series) featuring main character, Olivia Morgan. Faith is a vital part of Joy’s life. When she was sixteen, Joy asked God to find her and He did. Although most of her books fit the Christian market, Between the Lies, is where Joy proves she is a Christian who writes rather than a Christian writer. Connect with Joy at  www.joydekok.com  http://facebook.com/joy.dekok  https://twitter.com/JoyEDeKok

Royals in Memphis, a Southern Wedding and Writing

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine 

According to various media sources, this weekend a number of Royals will come to Tennessee. Reportedly, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka...Prince William, Duchess Kate Middleton) Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Harry's long-term girlfriend Cressida Bonas will be in "little old river city," Memphis for a three day wedding event. "Memphis Southern Royalty"-born and raised here, granddaughter of Kemmons Wilson, who founded the Holiday Inn hotels, is getting married May 3rd, 2014. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Wilson is engaged to London nightclub owner Guy Pelly, a close friend of the princes. The Princes are to be ushers in the wedding. To my knowledge the only Royalty that has come across "the pond" to Memphis were "The Beatles" on August 19th 1966 and they were music royals not titled Royals. Will Kate attend? Who else will attend the wedding? Only the bride knows.

The Wilson-Pelly outdoor wedding will be held at the Memphis Hunt & Polo Club if you can depend on international and local news reports. Or will the announced wedding venue be a rouse and the real wedding occur at another beautiful secured locale, perhaps "The Dixon Gardens?"

The wedding will kick off a three-day party, and may include a private visit to the former home of the "King of Rock and Roll"(Elvis Presley), Graceland. Will Lisa Marie host a dinner for them like she did for Oprah and Gayle King? But where else will the Royals go? Sun Studios? Gibson Guitar Factory? Eat ribs at Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous resturant and pitcher of Ghost River brew? Tour St. Jude Cancer Research Hospital? Tour Brooks Art Gallery? See the Pink Palace? 

What do I know, as a local that might benefit the Royals? Memphis in May, a month long celebration begins today. The whole city springs to life to highlight a country. Panama is this year's country. Memphis and the Mid-South area are clearly known for music. Memphis is after all, The Home of the Blues. This weekend Music Fest begins on Friday on the banks if the Mississippi River, a three day musical event. Music stars have roots in the Mid-South and love playing at this event on the River. 

Will the bachelor/bachelorette party start on Beale Street and make their way to Music Fest? Who knows? Who will be the entertainment for the wedding? No idea...but Memphian, Justin Timberlake is on tour in Germany so it won't be "JT." Of course, Nashville, the country star capital, IS just two hours away.

I'm not the "chase the celebrity type" of person. However, it is really fun to think that I might actually see them in and around East Memphis. Will they make a snack/beverage run to the Kroger grocery store, I frequent? Naw, probably not.

Will they stay in one of the stately mansions on the same street of the wedding venue? Recently, a squatter and her children lived inside a foreclosed multi-million dollar mansion-home on Shady Grove Road for nearly a week resulting in her arrest and is currently in jail awaiting trial. Heads up, Scotland Yard, that mansion may be available and connects to the Hunt and Polo grounds which could be a security plus. Or will the Royals stay at the famous Peabody Hotel and play duckmaster of the ducks that live in the penthouse?

What does the "Royal Memphis wedding of the century" have to do with writing? All this activity made me realize I needed to make a "scene settings" notebook on my town, Memphis. It is a valuable tool to keep your scenes fresh and move your characters forward throughout the story you weave. Just like character sheets writers use to keep up with their various characters. We need to do the same thing for our scenes settings in our stories so we don't get lost in travel blogs researching the internet for scene options. When looking for a scene setting to have your characters interact, all you have to do is pull out your scene settings notebook. Your stories may not always take place in your domicile town but you can use your town to get your notebook started. This is in keeping with the adage of write what you know. 

Your notebook doesn't need to read like a AAA tour guide but rather a "what only locals know" notebook, including pictures and local stories that are different. You can write a short description of something you might have seen at a particular setting and then include it in your scene setting notebook to use later. For example, when I heard the wedding was to take place just down the street from the mansion that the now jailed squatter had lived in just last summer, it got me to thinking. What if the Royals all end up being housed in that gated mansion? Fictionalized twist of real news events will be of intrigue for readers and set your story apart from others who write books and clearly have never been to the location of their stories setting.

If you're creating a fictional town, you definitely need to create a scene setting notebook to "build" your setting. Consider drawing a rough map to give you a sense of what the reader will see as your characters move through the story. Authenticity is the goal even though you are writing a work of fiction. The goal is to keep readers reading from the first sentence until The End. 

I've been to Cotton Carnival parties at the Hunt and Polo Club. Although not invited to this weekend's "Royalty" wedding, my imagination is working overtime. I may decide to write a fictional scene using this setting. How about you? Have you put together a scene settings notebook?