On-Site Writing Research Tips

By Nancy J. Cohen

On-site research can be a blast. While on location for a story, you can discover obscure histories, anecdotes, and locales that weren’t initially in your storyline. These insights can inspire new directions in your plot as well as unexpected characters. Don’t be too discerning at this point. 

Write down everything. Later, you can pick and choose which material to use for your novel.

·       Interview people at the locations represented in your story. Have these folks talk about the place’s history, why they live there, how this area differs from others, what are its peculiarities, slang the locals use, where people hang out, what they eat and drink.

·       Go on tours and jot down what the tour guide says.

·       Note the sensory details so later you can make the scene come alive for your readers. What gives this place its unique quality? How does the air feel on your skin? When you close your eyes, what do you hear? What can you taste on your tongue? Does it have an emotional resonance? What smells hit your nose as you stroll along the street?

·       Pick up tourist brochures, maps, restaurant menus, guidebooks, and any other printed material about the area.

·       Visit a bookstore and look for sightseeing guides, local history and legends, regional cookbooks, haunted places in the area, and local authors. If you have a scene set in a particular spot, see what you can find on it. For example, I bought books on copper mining and the life of a miner when in Arizona researching Peril by Ponytail. Copper mines play a role in my story. We also toured the Bisbee Queen Copper Mine in person.

·       Take photos everywhere, even down to architectural details. Photograph houses where your characters might live, restaurants where they might go, street scenes with details like power lines strung overhead and cracked pavement. Note the foliage and wildlife.

On our trip to Arizona, I already knew the places we had to visit for Peril by Ponytail, but so many other sites begged to be explored. We drove from Scottsdale to Jerome where we stayed overnight at the haunted Jerome Hotel and took the ghost tour. From there, we visited Sedona, scouted out a New Age center, and took a jolting jeep ride into the hills. Then we headed toward Tucson, taking a caverns tour along the way and spending a day at Bisbee exploring the copper mine and seeing the historic town.

We visited museums and ghost towns, including famous Tombstone. But most importantly, we stayed on a dude ranch. In Peril by Ponytail, Marla and her husband Dalton honeymoon at an Arizona dude ranch owned by his uncle. Things take a bad turn when a forest ranger is found dead. The Tanque Verde Ranch was perfect as a model for my fictional location. Hopefully I’ve recreated every mesquite tree, saguaro cactus, and abandoned wagon wheel in my story.

It wasn’t possible to fit all of my wonderful experiences into one book. I might have to set another story in this state. The adventures I did use took me back down memory lane for one of our best trips ever. Pick a place you’ve wanted to visit, and it becomes a fabulous vacation as well a working trip. But go with your writer’s eye, looking for details, and recording those sensory impressions, like the desert dryness irritating your nostrils or making your hair stand out from static. These are things you can learn only from being in a place. So determine where you need to go and book that trip.

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Nancy J. Cohen writes the humorous Bad Hair Day mystery series featuring hairdresser Marla Shore, who solves crimes with wit and style under the sultry Florida sun. Her latest adventure, Peril by Ponytail releases, today. Several of these titles have made the IMBA bestseller list. Nancy is also the author of Writing the Cozy Mystery, a valuable instructional guide on how to write a winning whodunit. Her imaginative romances have proven popular with fans as well. She writes the Drift Lords series, featuring myth and magic in a modern day setting, for Wild Rose Press. A featured speaker at libraries, conferences, and community events, Nancy is listed in Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers, and Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets. When not busy writing, she enjoys fine dining, theme parks, cruising, and outlet shopping.

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Book Signing Protocol-A Lovely Affair

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

I overheard a woman from Wisconsin at a party say, “If there’s one thing Southerners know, it’s how to entertain guest.” She’s right! Even though the days of full skirts with petticoats, gloves and hats are gone, the art of entertaining is still engrained.

Where better to show off your hostess skills than your own book-signing event.

Make it a memorable event. As an author, you want to make a lasting impression.

Be sure and choose your color scheme.

Make a list of who you want to come and send out your email invitations. Those invitations should go out a few days to a few weeks prior to the event.  When you send out the emails, it should include the image of your book cover along with place and time. On Social Media, be sure and upload the picture of your cover along with invitation. It’s always good to send a reminder a day before.

When we prepare for an event we want to make sure the people who are helping us, (bookstore employees) know how important they are and how much we appreciate their assistance. What better way to show this than to bring each one a little goodie. Something I think nice, even though it takes a little effort, is to buy some tulle fabric. Choose a color on the cover of your book. Pick up dainty ribbon in a nice contrast color to tie tulle. Then choose something as simple as “Chocolate Kisses” to put in the tulle. You know the rest; cut the tulle in nice squares where they will hold at least 6 to 8 pieces, wrap the tulle around them, and tie with the dainty ribbon. Give these to all the people at the store. They will appreciate your gesture of recognition and do everything they can to make sure you have a good book signing.

Every hostess should make sure her table is appropriate for the occasion. Spend a little and dress it up…if nothing else, you could add some of the color tulle around the table. It would be nice to have a blown up picture (at least 8x10) of your book sitting on your table, along with a bowl of hard candy.

If possible, wear something on your person the color on your book cover. What you are doing is taking advantage of the visual sense and marking your book on their minds.

I would suggest bringing a friend who can help you. One who can take pictures of you and your guest throughout the book signing?  Give your friend a sentence he or she can use when someone asks about your book. What I think helps here is giving your friend business cards with your book and website address. They can give them out to everyone coming and going.  Consider choosing a friend who is outgoing and not shy. All you need on the business card is the cover of your book, a short description and your website. This gives them something to hold in their hand while at the same time keeps the cover and title of your book in front of their eyes and gives them your website to visit.

Let your guest know you will be posting the pictures on your website, which should reinforce them visiting your site.

Make it a point to speak to each person. Find out something about them. Show interest.  Let them know how much you appreciate their coming. While they are smiling and talking with you, be sure and have your friend grab the picture.

I suggest you offer a drawing. They don’t have to be present to win. Hand them one of your cards, and ask them to put their name on the back, their email address and phone number so you can notify them if they win. Now you have names to add to your email list. People always like gifts.

The drawing could be a gift card of some type. However, I think one of the best drawings is a free signed copy of your next book. Why? To grow their anticipation, create a desire to keep up with your work. There’s even a good chance they may buy some of your older books to read while waiting for your newest book. You want to create a reader fan.

If you have a blog and talk about writing your book, be sure and invite this person to sign up and follow along. This gives the reader an opportunity to bond with you.

Your event, I am sure, will go well. The day after, send thank you notes to the employees at the bookstore, and your friend. You could even drop by with pastries.

You want people to remember you; your name and title of you book. They will recommend your books to others too.

Enjoy hosting your next special event.

HAS YOUR MUSE LEFT THE BUILDING?

By Leo Kane

DO YOU SUFFER THE AGONY OF WRITERS BLOCK?...COME CLOSER AND I WILL SHARE MY SECRET…Any writer who belongs to a Facebook author group cannot have failed to see how many poor souls cry into the heartless void of the internet:

I have lost my muse. I can't write today. I haven’t written for a week and I feel so guilty.

If this happens to you do not despair because it never happens to me. Am I arrogant or super human? No, well at least I don’t think so. I am an author of spooky, supernatural, psychological stuff and a clinical hypnotherapist. I would love to say that publishing a book gave me the secret key to dispel writer’s block but it is hypnotherapy that, as you cannot look into my eyes, qualifies me to whisper the following words of wisdom in your ear.

The stories we tell ourselves about our personal qualities, our value in the world and our abilities, every second of every day, become real in our child-like subconscious mind.

Your subconscious cannot differentiate between reality and imagination, waking and dream states, truth and lies because it is innocent.

The subconscious is the spring of inspiration, imagination and creation and the great news is - we all have one! The End.  Only kidding but if the rest of this page had been blank you would have believed me, after all, why would I lie to you or to myself?

Let’s think about lying and the mysterious writer’s block for a moment. Everyone puts conditions on success and happiness; for example, we tell ourselves that if we were richer, slimmer, in a relationship, out of one, had kids, kids went over seas and left us, older etc. then we would be successful and happy. These are the types of lies we tell ourselves to avoid living in the moment and they harm us terribly.

As writers, we go one-step further and inform our trusting, naive subconscious that if only our capricious Muse had not deserted us, we could write. Shame on us, this is another big fat fib. A Muse is a mythological goddess; ergo no one can possess one and what we can't possess we surely cannot lose. Unless, hang on, what if we are our own Muse? That might work!

All you need to write is to work with your own secret muse so: look in a mirror and

try not to feel silly then speak aloud and tell your subconscious, ‘Thank you for worrying about me but it is OK; we are going to write today and whenever we need to write we will help each other.’ Invite your subconscious to tell you a story and promise to write it down.

Write it down. Continue writing. Fall into your creation.

When you re-enter the conscious world first admire your new masterpiece then pack your old imaginary muse’s fantastical suitcase and kick it out the door. Next, please thank your subconscious muse. Finally do a celebratory jig and let me know how utterly fabulous you are so we can rejoice together.

You can message me for help, advice or general writer’s madness and a laugh at:

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Born and raised in the Steel City of Sheffield, England; Leo Kane has spent a lot of her life day dreaming and can’t seem to outgrow the habit. Despite this she managed to raise a family of three wonderful girls, a tolerant husband and, recently, a crazy husky, somehow acquiring a career and a Master of Science degree along the way. Leo is a qualified clinical hypnotherapist with a fascination for the human condition. When she isn’t sending people into a trance, or bringing her daydreams to life on the page, Leo spends her time happily staring out of windows and using her husband as a guinea pig for experimental cookery, which he places in the horror genre. Heavensgate: Book 1 'Hope' is her book. Leo can be found at web page http://hgleokane.wix.com/heavensgate

or on face book https://www.facebook.com/Leokaneheavensgate

What’s at Stake in Your Novel?

By Beth K. Vogt

Do you know what’s at stake in your novel?

No matter what type of story you write – romance, suspense, fantasy, women’s fiction – the goal is always to seize your readers’ attention. To keep them flipping through the pages, chapter after chapter, ignoring all the other things they need to do. Ignoring the ticking of the clock. Yes, they’re tired at work or school the next morning – but they’re also satisfied readers who are telling other people all about your book.

One key way to engage a reader is to weave risks for your characters through your story. Think about your work in progress (WIP) and ask yourself: What is at stake for my hero and heroine in this story?

If you’re not certain how to answer that question, consider these three different kinds of stakes:

1.       Public: Public stakes involve things we care about as a nation or a culture. Think alien attacks like in the movie Independence Day or a toxin that is going to pollute the world’s water like in the movie Sahara.  In Margaret Mitchell’s classic novel Gone with the Wind, the country is at war – and freedom is a definite Public stake. To begin to discover a possible Public stake ask: What do I care about?

2.      Personal: Personal stakes involve things – or people – that touch the heart of your hero and/or heroine in some way. In almost every single super hero movie, from Superman to Ironman, the love interest of the super hero is threatened. Put Lois Lane or Pepper Potts in danger? Perfect example of Personal stakes. In the first book in the Narnia Chronicles, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Edmund’s life is in danger – albeit because of his own bad choices. His sisters and brothers, as well as Aslan the Lion, are all concerned about his safety.

3.      Private: Private stakes force your character to choose between two competing values, such as family and work or honesty and protecting something or someone they care about by keeping a secret. Doing so creates inner dissonance or turmoil. At the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by C. S. Lewis, the hobbit Frodo has to choose between what he wants – the ring – and what is best for the Shire and the whole world – destroying the ring by throwing it into the fires of Mordor. He has to choose between selfishness and selflessness. In the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bennet has to choose between her prejudices against Mr. Darcy and her growing love for him for a chance at happily ever after.

As a writer, you can weave one, two, or all three of these stakes into your story. Increase the number of stakes and you increase tension. Take a closer look at your WIP. Who knows? Maybe you’ve already woven compelling stakes into your story and didn’t even realize it.

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Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A 2015 RITA® Finalist and a 2015 and 2014 Carol Award finalist, Beth is a contemporary romance novelist with Howard Books. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. In 2015 she introduced her destination wedding series with both an e-novella, Can’t Buy Me Love (May) and a novel, Crazy Little Thing Called Love (June). Connect with Beth; bethvogt.com. Website: http://www.bethvogt.com/ 

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Burial or Disposal, Using the Correct Word

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Docked in San Diego across the harbor from the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier, sits the aircraft carrier known as the USS CVN 70. Also known as the USS Carl Vinson.  On July 2^nd of 2014 we had the occasion to dine on the flight deck of the Midway and while doing so noticed the USS CVN 70. I asked about the ship and was told it was the ship that Osama bin Laden’s body was carried to for identification after his capture. I was also told it was from that ship his body was disposed of.

I found it strange to hear the word “disposed of” used in place of “burial at sea”. Although the official statement is he was giving an Islamic ceremony and burial at sea, the term I heard used several times was “disposed of”. The event occurred and the terminology remains to be determined but what is noted is the choice of terminology used and by whom.

You must note that San Diego is a military town and I can understand their, or anyone’s, disdain for the dead terrorist and the acts he committed. I fully understand the refusal to acknowledge even the slightest implication of honor towards the terrorist by using the term “burial at sea”. The very thought of giving him such respect is hard to stomach for many, thus the disrespect shown through verbiage.

Words like actions reveal much to us. Someone ignored, snubbed, dismissed can be done so by either word or deed. As an example in the paragraph above you may have noted I never mentioned the name of “the terrorist” only the title given him. Also note that the absence of words, his name, also can show the same regard as the absence of actions. As writers we must be able to use our words carefully.

When deciding on our words we must decide the message we are sending. The ones receiving it as well as the character speaking it aid us in determining the words. Will they want to hear disposal or burial at sea? Will it make a difference in their determination of the subject of conversation or the one bringing the message? It all could make an impact on our writing being understood in the way we want. Choose your words accordingly and your writing will be received as you have presented it.                      

My Writing Process

By Patricia Yager Delagrange

I’ve always been distressed and fascinated when I hear an Amber Alert. How does a family deal with a missing family member? Having two children of my own, I can’t imagine the pain and heartbreak a family goes through when someone they love goes missing.

The deep empathy I feel for the mothers and fathers of the missing children prompted me to write Taken Away. But I wanted to write it from the father’s point of view. How would a dad deal with a missing child? The main focus when a child is abducted or goes missing seems to be on the mother. Granted, I understand that reasoning. In our traditional society, the mother is still the center of the family’s universe, whether she works inside or outside the home, or both. A mother is more than marginally responsible for the emotional and physical well-being of the kids.

I wrote about Jessee Bradford’s emotional upheaval after he comes home to find his wife and daughter gone. From the moment he realizes they’re not home, where they normally would be in the afternoon, to his admission that they really aren’t coming back, Jessee’s feelings run the gamut from denial to acceptance and then to change.

I also made Jessee a veterinarian. Being a card-holding member of the Humane Society of the United States, I believe in the HSUS’s work for all animals, not just dogs and cats, but pigs, horses, cows and more. Therefore, I created a figure I admire - Jessee Bradford - whose career has tremendous meaning for him. He’s also a family-oriented guy who always planned on marrying and having children. So when he loses the two most important people in his life, it is truly devastating.

Who does he turn to in his time of distress and need? His gramma and grampa with whom he spent time with when he was younger. When he takes over his grampa’s veterinary practice in Iowa and moves in with his grandparents, his love of family grows even stronger.

I continue the animal theme when Jessee meets Laura - a horse trainer and equestrian. Though Jessee treats small animals in his practice, Laura brings an added dimension to Jessee’s life with her love of large animals, expanding Jessee’s comfort zone in the equine arena. Like Jessee, she’s dealing with a past that haunts her. Laura and Jessee have both been broken by their experiences with their spouses, which bonds them in a unique way. They’re both “dealing” at the time they meet.

A big question in my book is at what point does the grieving process end and moving on is okay? Everyone will have an opinion about this and I encourage the reader to think about what s/he would do in that same position. What would the reader do, what would the reader think, how would the reader feel under similar circumstances? Would the reader eventually look for another partner or wait forever for the missing spouse to be found?

All intriguing questions. All highly individual. There’s no right or wrong answer. Everyone would react differently.

What would you do?

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I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduating high school, I went to St. Mary's College near my hometown of Alameda, spent my junior year at the University of Madrid, travelled through Eastern Europe and transferred to U.C. Santa Barbara where I got my B.A. in Spanish. I received my Master's degree in Education from Oregon State University and continued from there to work as a financial aid counselor at U.C. San Francisco. I lived in Santa Barbara for eight years then returned to the Bay Area where I met my husband and now have two children - 21 and 16, two chocolate labs and a terrier mix, along with my black Friesian horse who lives in the Oakland hills.  I began writing in 2009 and since then I have written five books. My first book, Moon Over Alcatraz, was published in 2012 and Taken Away came out in June 2015. I got the inspiration for this novel from Amber Alerts. I always wanted to write about how parents deal with a missing child. I wrote this book in the father's point of view, from the moment he finds his wife and toddler missing, through his journey to discover what happened to them. My social media connections are; Website: http://www.patriciayagerdelagrange.com Blog:  http://www.patriciayagerdelagrange.com/?page_id=68 FB:https://www.facebook.com/patricia.delagrange Google+:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/107552088746459764032/about Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25508282-taken-away?from_search=true&search_version=service_impr Twitter: https://twitter.com/@PattiYager

How to Give Your Book a Classic Title

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Every author wants a book that will hold its own against the 300,000 new books that are published in the U.S. each year.  To give it a fighting chance, it has to capture the reader's interest instantly, and a solid title will help make that good first impression.

As always, we learn much from the ones who've gone before.  Let's consider some of the classics of literature, and see how the pros did it:


THE MAIN CHARACTER

• Dracula
• Jane Eyre
• Moby Dick
• The Great Gatsby

What could be easier than simply naming your book after its lead character?  That said, don't do it.  These books were written in a different era, when it was in vogue to to do.  Robinson Crusoe and Anne of Green Gables sound classic to us today because they are classic.  In this day and time, it's unlikely that a new book called Regina Thornbush or The Adventures of Wallace Hampton would attract anyone's attention.

If you must hone in on the hero, these days it's more popular to keep things faceless and generic, like the titles of these current New York Times bestsellers: 

• The Girl on the Train 
• The Murderer's Daughter

THE SETTING

• The Arabian Nights
• The Jungle Book
• Little House on the Prairie
• Treasure Island

This approach, immediately answering the question of "Where?" still works as long as the locale happens to be intriguing or evocative, like in the above examples or, more recently, The Great Zoo of China. John Grisham's Gray Mountain and Sycamore Row say little as titles, but hey, he's John Grisham, and his fans will buy anything he writes.

Overall, it's better to play it safe with some of the following titling strategies:

AN INKLING OF THE PREMISE

• The Call of the Wild 
• Kidnapped
• Little Women 
• The Scarlet Letter

Giving your reader insight into the subject matter gets their imagination going.  Or perhaps you'd like to get specific:

LITERAL

• Around the World in Eighty Days
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• The Old Man and the Sea 
• The Time Machine

Identifying the main premise simply and directly may help your reader determine on the spot that it's something of interest to them.

INTRIGUING

• Lord of the Flies 
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 
• The Color Purple
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Would you have any idea what these books were about from the title alone? Unlikely, but their vague sense of importance conjures curiosity.  As with 2015 bestsellers Go Set a Watchman and Secondhand Souls, a thought-provoking title demands extra consideration.

And then there are titles whose very wording suggests an air of greatness:

POETIC

• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Gone with the Wind 
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Of Mice and Men

Again, the premise is unclear, but the overall feel of erudition commands a certain respect.  All the Light We Cannot See is a current example.  You feel smarter just saying it.

Choosing the right title for your novel is one of the most important things you'll do, but it needn't be the hardest. Find the title that is an inviting reflection of what makes your book unique, and you'll have your reader at hello.

Creating Flawed Heroes

By Daniel Diehl

“Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”  So wrote William Shakespeare in his play ‘Twelfth Night’.  He was obviously onto something here but it is just the last part – about having greatness thrust upon you – which I want to look at for a minute. While Indiana Jones type heroes who rush to embrace adventure and danger are all well and good, it is the reluctant heroes – those that have their greatness thrust upon them despite all the whining and excuse making they can muster - that remain in the popular imagination, and our hearts, the longest.  

Think about it. Luke Skywalker didn’t like what he got himself into; he had “a bad feeling” about it; he just didn’t know how to extricate himself and still keep his self-respect intact. When Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone, he was way too young to know what kind of a messy future he was letting himself in for, and by the time he realized it, it was too late.  Frodo had no intention of wandering all over Middle Earth, fighting nasty things without number and nearly going mad in the process; it just sort of happened when he wasn’t paying attention. That is the way life happens – when you are busy looking somewhere else it just drags you along kicking and screaming toward some unknown end that might leave you a hero and, just as easily, might leave you seriously dead.

As writers we need to embrace these flawed, reluctant heroes because they remind us – and by extension our readers - of a better version of ourselves; the person we might be able to become if presented with the opportunity. And, to a very real extent, the way in which we deal with each real-life crisis that fate throws our way is what determines whether we are the hero of our own lives. This is how Jason Carpenter, the protagonist in my Merlin Chronicles trilogy, handles his progressively deteriorating encounters with the great wizard Merlin.  In the beginning, the small crisis of a broken archaeological find seems earth shattering – but when Merlin explains to him that he has unwittingly become an integral part of a crisis that could literally destroy the earth, Jason mans-up and faces his own future. He isn’t happy about it, but he deals with the situation. That’s why we like characters like Jason; real heroes aren’t fearless, fools are fearless; real heroes are scared to death and still find the courage and wisdom to do the right thing.

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Daniel Diehl is the author of more than 20 nonfiction books and five novels including his acclaimed Merlin Chronicles trilogy.  He has also written scripts for more than 170 hours of television documentary programming.  His work has been translated into eleven non-English languages. His latest book is the nonfiction ‘Apparition Atlas: The Ghost Hunter’s Travel Guide to Haunted America’, released in September 2015 by Ravenswood Press. Mr Diehl posts a weekly blog about writing and books on his Facebook page. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.diehl.731 Merlin Chronicles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Merlin-Chronicles/479750768731838?fref=ts

Twitter: @DanielDiehlBOOK

Voice is the Thing

By Dixon Hearne

Characters’ voices must resonate, cling, stick to the cerebral cortex, nag and satisfy. Holden, Blanche, Huck, Rabbit, Scarlett, Dorothy from Kansas—they all haunt private corners of readers’ minds once they have spoken. The reader invents the voices of characters in books purely from his or her own imagination. Who has not experienced a strange dissonance between the voice in our imagination and the one we hear on the big screen? No wonder there was such a furor over the search for Scarlett O’Hara. The images and voices that rose from the pages of Margaret Mitchell’s book could not be imitated on screen by just any actress. The face, the voice must be just right. In the end, Vivian Leigh, despite not being a “true southern vixen,” managed to capture in tone and delivery the Scarlett O’Hara in the minds of thousands of readers. Scarlett’s voice will always be that of Vivian Leigh.

In my own writing, I sometimes find myself sliding back into a character whose story I’ve already told—at least in part. Case in point: In 2005, I wrote a short story, “Sister-Woman,” which appeared in Concho River Review and later in my collection, Plantatia: High-toned andLowdown Stories of the South. I was amazed at the reaction of readers and reviewers. They consistently target Miss Raylene’s voice—at once unique and compelling—and how it drew them into the story, leaving them invested and eager to know more about her. I felt compelled to explore her story a bit further—through her own voice. The result is a new novella, From Tickfaw to Shongaloo (2015), which was awarded Second Place in the 2014 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Novella competition and released last month by Southeast Missouri State University Press.

Whether or not the voice of Holden Caulfield or Blanche DuBois is eternal is ultimately dependent upon the readers. Those voices must meet certain thresholds. Can we hear them clearly, effortlessly? Is there a match between character and voice? Does the writer capture their essence, their souls? And finally—employing John Dufresne’s literary measure—can we trust the voices (narrators)?

One final consideration: What sparks a memory from a favorite book or movie? I suggest that voice is the organizing center around which the reader or viewer is able to reconstruct entire dialogues, events, actions, and even the inner thoughts of the characters at play. It isn’t just memorable lines from prose that leave such indelible imprints, but the voices that utter them. We invent the voices in our own minds as we read a story, and the voices become real and permanent. Our attitudes may change toward the characters over time, but the voices remain constant, each one unique. The producers of Gone with the Wind knew this when they began their national search for Scarlett O’Hara. The search was about much more than just a pretty face—voice was the thing.

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Dixon Hearne is the author of four books of fiction and editor of several anthologies. His work has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Hemingway/PEN award and has received numerous other honors. His new novella, From Tickfaw to Shongaloo,was the sole Runner-Up in the 2014 Faulkner-Wisdom Novella Competition. Other work has appeared in Oxford American, Tulane Review, Collier's magazine, New Orleans Review, Southern Writers Magazine, and elsewhere. He can be found at http://www.dixonhearne.com/

Writing in Your Own War Room

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

To me, Labor Day weekend always signals the beginning of a clean slate. The lazy, unstructured, carefree days of Summer 2015 are coming to an end. In the south, we might be able to squeeze a few more afternoons and weekends of pool time before the climate turns crisp, and the trees lose their leaves. 

We have about two months before the holiday rush morphs into overdrive. These two months allow everyone a fresh start. Students from PreK to college have new classes, teachers, textbooks, and friends. Schedules resume and these days take on a purpose of readjusted goals. It's the perfect time for writers to realign what they want to focus on and meet deadlines before 2015 ends. 

This past weekend I was at the movie opening of War Room. With me was my daughter, Lily and my movie buddy Renee. We all loved the movie. We laughed; we teared up and have thought about what we saw in the movie even days after watching it.  Thank you and a shout out to brothers, Alex and Stephen Kendrick, who wrote the screenplay and produced the movie. The Kendrick brothers are not new to writing screenplays. Their first four films were Flywheel (2003), Facing the Giants (2006), Fireproof(2008), and Courageous (2011). Regarding the title of the film, director Alex Kendrick says "We called it War Room because, like the military, we should seek God for the right strategy before going into combat. By combat, I mean daily issues we face in our culture." 

***Spoiler alert*** The "War Room" is a closet within a widow's home where she focuses prayers for all aspects of her life. She writes the prayers and pastes them on the wall of her "War Room." It is a wonderfully compelling story woven with subplots that merge and converge to a feel-good ending. To complement the movie there are several books and a bible study which helps layer the concepts of the movie to use in your every day world. Very smart marketing to help grow the viewership of the movie and power of word of mouth reviews.

As a writer, if you have lost focus over the distractions of summer take heart. You can develop your own "Writer's War Room." Decorators call it a "cloffice." I call it a "War Office." You take a closet and empty it of anything that doesn't have to do with your job as a writer. If you already have a room dedicated to your writing room, I suggest moving the furniture to give you a reboot and refocus of your writing goals that will carry you through until the years end. I like the "War Office" idea so much because the confined space does help you keep focus without distractions because the former closet has limited space and dimensions. On the closet doors, taking an idea from the movie, I can put up prayers, goals, and character sheets. 

The two takeaways are go see the movie, War Room, and think about creating your own writing "War Office" in order to refocus your writing. What do you think?

Rooted as a Southern Writer

By Claire Fullerton

Recently I was called a “Southern writer,” which tickled me silly because my latest novel takes place on the western coast of Ireland, and as I’ve spent the last year mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and creatively enmeshed in the magical land of my forebears, I had to take a step back and think about this classification.

I will say this: as a Southerner, I’m a dead giveaway. I speak in the regionally specific, rolling tones of what’s known as the Delta accent. All my childhood friends do, because the Delta accent is passed down generationally along with the family china; it’s a tribal source of identification, lyrically revelatory of one’s place in the world. And a Southerner is definitely tethered to a place in the world, and there are many Southern loyalists who stand fiercely beside them no matter the change of venue or the passage of years.

The fact is I grew up along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, in a town so peacock proud of its place that it gave itself the moniker “The River City” and fashioned a bridge to stretch across that legendary watercourse in the shape of the letter “M” as if staking claim of ownership in skywriting. Memphis is a city with every right to be proud of its legendary artists, yet it is its artists that extol their affiliation with the historic city. I am not perplexed by this; I think I know exactly why.

If you come from Memphis, you’re a thread in a particular fabric, and its people will never let you go. You could move to Mongolia and put down roots, but no Memphian would ever take it seriously. I happen to know this without question: although I am now long in California, I am still in the flow of a rhythm gifted to me at birth. When something of significance happens in Memphis, I am connected to a grapevine that makes its vibrant livewire straight to me. In a land where you’re indelibly one of us, what happens to one affects us all, world without end, amen.

But it’s not any different in Ireland. After spending a year there followed by subsequent visits, I started to feel I was Irish myself. I grew compatible with the region and comfortable with the Irish culture—so much so that there’s a part of me cordoned away that sees the world through Irish eyes.

I think a writer has to be fluid with the idea of wearing different hats. I think they have to possess the ability to slide in chameleon-like to whatever grabs their fancy and immerse themselves fully until it resonates. If they do, they can get about the business of doing what they do best and put the experience into words.

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Claire Fullerton is the author of “Dancing to an Irish Reel” (Literary Fiction) and “A Portal in Time,” (Paranormal Mystery), both from Vinspire Publishing.  She is an award winning essayist, a contributor to magazines, a five time contributor to the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book series, and a former newspaper columnist. Claire grew up in Memphis, TN and now lives in Malibu, CA with her husband, two German shepherds and one black cat. Currently, she is writing her third novel, about a Southern family. She has appeared recently on Author Visits blog hosted by Susan Reichert editor-in-chief of Southern Writers Magazine. She can be found on social media at https://www.facebook.com/clairefullertonauthor?ref=hl  and http://www.clairefullerton.com/

Mission Statement - is it a Mission Impossible?

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

For an author the mission statement for himself or herself as a writer may feel like a “Mission Impossible” some days.

Anytime we have to commit to a formal summary of our aims and values it becomes a tad daunting. After all this is putting to paper our very existence as an author. This becomes a responsibility, a commitment. We’re defining who we are as an author.

With that said, an author needs a mission statement to keep them on track. This statement spells out your goals; how you will make decisions. You will be stating what you will write, what it does for your readers and what it does for you.

I consider this a tool for authors to communicate and develop their objective as a writer. It helps us understand what we are doing.

It should be short and to the point. You could start with defining what genre you write, what it does for your reader and what it does for you.

An example of a first sentence in a mission statement would be the first sentence for Southern Writers Magazine’s mission statement:We promote and showcase authors and their books. Yours might be:  I create historical fiction novels for readers of the American Revolutionary period.

Don’t try to make it flowery, the fewer words the better.

Here are some sights you may want to visit that give information for authors and their mission statements.

Joanna Penn:  http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/08/03/mission-statement/

Joanne G Phillips: https://joannegphillips.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/author-mission-statements/

Allen Watson: https://authorallenwatson.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/your-indie-author-mission-statement/

Beth Morrow: http://www.writer2writer.com/writers-mission-statement.htm

There are obviously more sites but I think you can get the gist from these four.

Take the time to put in writing what your career as an author is and it will set you on the “write”  

footing.  When you first start out trying to put it to paper, it may seem like a Mission Impossible but you will succeed. Should you choose to accept this “Mission” we would like to hear what you come up with.