May 2018 - Page 2 of 3 - Miss Demeanors

Rules and breaking them

May 15, 2018 D.A. Bartley Uncategorized

A grammar and punctuation maven, I am not. I want to be, though. The more I read and the more I write, the more I appreciate those writers who not only dazzle with storyline and character, but who also construct sentences with careful thought. It isn’t that these writers always follow the rules, but when they break them, it’s with style. So, I’m happily embarking on the never-ending journey of learning the rules . . . and how to break them. What the rules are is up for debate. Reasonable people can disagree (cue: Oxford comma). I think it’s a writer’s obligation to make an effort to know both the rules and the debates about them. I may never have the depth of knowledge that, say, my editor or agent has, but I’m going to at least try. The Elements of Style is always a good place to start. I have the 2005 edition Maira Kalmon illustrated. It makes me smile every time I open it. Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Kingsley Amis’ The King’s English and Stephen King’s On Writing are some of my favorite reads when I want to give in to my inner writer geek. I’m also a fan of some of the on-line grammar gurus. Grammar Girl, Grammarly, and Oxford Dictionaries are just the thing when I’m in the middle of something and need quick guidance. There is, of course, the risk of falling down the rabbit hole because of the temptation to just keep reading until I get to a debate on the Oxford comma or using prepositions at the end of sentence. That’s my signal that it’s time to get back to my writing. I’m always on the look out for something I haven’t seen, so please share your favorite standbys for all things grammar and punctuation.

Insecurity is part of the process

May 14, 2018 D.A. Bartley Uncategorized

“Reminder to writers who think their book sucks: This is normal — push through it. Insecurity is part of the process. Only bad writers think they’re good,” Harlan Coben tweeted last week. If you’re anything like me, your first response to this quote was relief. Hey, you’re not the only one who looks at your 80,278 words and thinks only about two sentences were any good. Your second response to the tweet was probably despair. Your inner critic will remind you “Harlan Coben can say that because he’s Harlan Coben. You’re not Harlan Coben.” True. I’m not. “Maybe it’s not perfect,” I tell my inner critic, “but I did as well as I could.” That’s when powerful insecurity takes hold. The moment I admit that the best I can do may not be good enough. Not a pretty way to feel. Feeling insecure is distinctly uncomfortable. That’s why most people avoid it. That might be okay for most people, but not for writers. Being uncomfortable is a requirement for anyone doing new things. If you avoid feeling insecure, you avoid exploring places beyond your comfort zone; you don’t go where no one has gone before. That makes it hard to write. It makes it really hard to write well. The truth is no one can tell you your insecurity is baseless. Someone (besides you) is bound to think your writing is bad. Maybe some of it actually is bad. That’s okay. But, just because it’s normal to feel insecure doesn’t mean you should stop. Thank you, Mr. Coben, for reminding us that sometimes feeling not so great is completely all right. Now get back to writing.

Writing: From A to Y

May 12, 2018 D.A. Bartley Uncategorized

It’s early on Saturday. I’m snuggled in bed with a book:Y is for Yesterday, to be exact. I’m still in my pajamas with the covers pulled up over my knees. My first foray out of bed this morning was to the three-foot stack of TBR (“to be read”) books in the corner of my room. With some difficulty, I managed to pull Sue Grafton’s last book from somewhere in the middle without causing the entire wobbly tower to collapse. I don’t know how I managed to have not read Y is for Yesterday yet, but I’ll admit my failure and begin to remedy the situation. The only reason I put the book down is because it’s my turn to post for Miss Demeanors this week. I hoped I’d have a brilliant idea for a theme by now, but I don’t. I looked through my calendar, desperate for something to spark an idea. Nothing. Then I realized that the next time it’s my turn to post, Blessed be the Wicked will be out. I will be “a published author.” I looked back at the book I didn’t want to put down and decided that was the theme: getting from A to Y in writing. I can’t offer perspective on what it looks like when you’ve written enough books that you’ve nearly run out of the alphabet for your novels’ titles, but I can give one person’s view from A. So this week I’m going to post about what it’s like at the beginning of the alphabet, just before your first book is published. The good, the bad, and the ugly . . . and then some more good. I would love to hear from others, so please share your own stories from wherever you are in the alphabet.

Becoming a Writer or Author

May 11, 2018 C. Michele Dorsey Uncategorized

Yesterday on Miss Demeanors, I tackled the question posed in Edwin Hill’s touching and candid blog post on Career Authors. https://careerauthors.com/how-to-call-yourself-a-writer/ “Was there a moment when you decided you could call yourself a writer?” I think it’s a pivotal moment in a writer’s career because it really means you are standing naked before the world daring to say what you care most about , knowing you could fail. I didn’t want to stand naked alone, so I invited my fellow Miss Demeanors to answer the same question. Tracee: I don’t remember the moment exactly, but I remember how strange it felt. When I had a day job it was typical to say that’s what I did…. once I left I was forced to say the other words…. However, once said, they were easy. And once I had a book in stores to promote it was very easy. Maybe that’s when I switched to ‘eager’ to say I was a writer! Alison: Tough question. Last August, I flew to Scotland with my daughter and was faced with a form that required me to put down my profession. I wrote in “writer” instead of “attorney.” I felt a rush of adrenaline followed by feeling like I was posing. I had written in ink, so there was no changing the word on the paper. I still feel a little like I’m playing dress up. I’ll let you know if I feel like a writer on August 7th, when Blessed be the Wicked is actually out. Alexia: I’m in a bit of a different boat since I’m still actively practicing medicine. Physician is my primary profession. I’ve always thought of myself as a writer. I’d much rather write to someone than speak to them and the difference between my math and verbal scores on standardized tests is freaky. I first felt like an author when someone not related to me and not a close friend bought a copy of Murder in G Major. And it hits me that I’m an “Author with a capital A” every April at tax time when I’m declaring income earned from royalties and deciding whether it’s to my tax advantage or not to list author as a second profession. Susan: My first job out of college was as a reporter for Fortune Magazine, so I’ve been calling myself a writer for as long as I’ve been an adult. However, one of my most exciting moments came after signing the contract for my first book, which was The Fiction Class, and then I immediately joined the Author’s Guild. I can’t define the difference between being an author versus a writer, but it felt different to me. Tracee: Susan, I think that’s says it perfectly. The difference between being a writer and an author. Robin: Agreed. I freelanced as a journalist, and that’s when I started calling myself a writer, but it wasn’t until I held my first book in my hands that I called myself an author out loud. It still felt weird, though, because my lifelong goal has been “novelist.” I’m thinking of getting myself a t-shirt that says “Author” to help me own it.

I'm a Writer

May 10, 2018 C. Michele Dorsey Uncategorized

Debut author Edwin Hill’s recent post https://careerauthors.com/how-to-call-yourself-a-writer/ on Career Authors about his 39-year excursion before he could finally say, “I’m a writer” touched me. What writer hasn’t felt trepidation when saying those words for fear she might be challenged. “Really? How dare you say you’re a writer?” Those three little words, “I’m a writer,” are as terrifying as crossing the line from, “I like you,” to “I love you” in a relationship. Both connote declaration and commitment and put the declarant at risk for rejection. That’s why knowing when you were ready to say to the world, “I’m a writer” is pivotal to being a writer. When I was a child, I wondered about the people who put the magical words on the books I read over and over, but it didn’t occur to me I could become one of them until I had already joined two other professions. After a contentious term on my local planning board, where I witnessed greed, anger, and exploitation, I decided to purge the toxicity I had experienced by penning my first mystery. I sent Who Killed the Board of Selectmen to five agents and editors in the early nineties. I had a kind letter from editor Michael Seidman, who said it was promising but he wasn’t accepting mysteries at the time. When the other four rejected or ignored me, I put the manuscript in a drawer for the next decade. But it gnawed at me, this urge to write and tell stories. When my son gave me a special gift for Mother’s Day one year after I had allowed the rotating door at our home to rotate once more, I caught fire. He gave me a catalogue for Kripalu, the world-renowned yoga center in western Massachusetts, which offered weekend programs in various creative areas while doing yoga. Bliss. I chose to attend Nancy Aronie’s Writing from the Heart on the weekend when my birthday occurred. There, I met a woman who lived in a town near me who was starting a writing group. I was on fire. I wrote three novels over the next several years. But was I a writer yet? I didn’t dare say so. Even when I got my first agent, who shopped one of the books unsuccessfully, I was uncomfortable saying I was a writer. Perhaps it was because I still had a busy law/mediation practice, which seemed more legitimate. I had a license to practice law, but what did I have to show I was a writer? Even when I began hanging around other writers, I held back. I was an attorney with a creative pastime, writing, not a writer. The truth is I was terrified to fail. I wanted to write more than I ever wanted to be in a courtroom. I felt a kinship with my fellow writers I never experienced with my legal colleagues. What did I have to do to be able to call myself a writer? I think I had to have some external sign that I was a competent writer. When I brought down the house the year I attended a Book Passage conference after reading a humorous contest entry I’d written, I felt a little bit like a writer. When I was a finalist, not once, but three times in St. Martin’s Malice Domestic contest, I was encourage to believe I was a writer. But being a runner-up three times conversely made me wonder, was I good enough to call myself a writer? While on vacation in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, my husband bought license plates for me in the National Park Store that said “Writer.” I almost made him put them back. They sat on my desk for the next several years, partly as inspiration for No Virgin Island. Now, was I a writer? Getting the right agent made me feel like I was on the road to being a writer. The day I signed my first publishing contract for No Virgin Island, I knew I was a writer. I had a contract that said so. But did I feel like a writer? When readers began telling me what they thought about No Virgin Island, how bonded they felt with Sabrina, how they loved Neil Perry, I realized people were actually reading the words I had written. That’s when I knew I could say without equivocation, “I’m a writer.”I felt like a writer. Thanks to Edwin Hill for the inspiration for this blog and the question of the week tomorrow to my fellow Miss Demeanors. Edwin’s book, Little Comfort comes out August 28, 2018

Permission to Hide Granted

May 9, 2018 C. Michele Dorsey Uncategorized

HIDINGis a way of staying alive. Hiding is a way of holding ourselves until we are ready to come into the light. Even hiding the truth from ourselves can be a way to come to what we need in our own necessary time. Hiding is one of the brilliant and virtuoso practices of almost every part of the natural world: the protective quiet of an icy northern landscape, the held bud of a future summer rose, the snow bound internal pulse of the hibernating bear. Hiding is underestimated…HIDING
From CONSOLATIONS:
The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words.
2015 © David Whyte: There are days when I just want to hide. I don’t want to talk, share, text, like, tweet, or blog. I don’t want to engage with anything other than what is going on inside of me. It may be in my head. A new book brewing, a character showing herself to me. Or it may be in my heart. A memory, a loss, or a brute affront. Or it may be undefined without a location. On these days, I just want to crawl inside me. I don’t necessarily retreat under the blankets, although I may if I choose. Often, I hide in nature where the trees and the ocean seem to understand. The wind whistling through the pines, the pounding of waves on the sand as relentless as breathing. These are the only sounds tolerable when I am hiding. I am not being hostile when I am hiding. I am healing. I am fortifying. I am retreating. I am energizing. Think refueling. I am not hiding from anyone or anything. It’s nothing personal to others. It’s personal only to me. Is hiding a “writer’s thing”? I think it’s probably a human response or instinct, although writers may be more inclined to indulge in it. When I give myself permission for some limited isolation, I’m just being nice to me. And I’m also being kind to the people whose lives I share because I am a much better Michele after I’ve given myself permission to hide. How about you? Do you give yourself permission to periodically hide? Share in comments or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/missdemeanorsbooks/ If you’ve never read the brilliant work of poet and writer David Whyte, you have a wonderful gift waiting for you.

Confessions of a Bi-Professional

May 7, 2018 C. Michele Dorsey Uncategorized

I just realized that I have been suffering from a case of the “Terrible Twos.” I haven’t thrown a tantrum, kicked or bit anyone, or refused to share while shouting, “Mine.” No, my version of the terrible twos has to do with being what I call a “bi-professional,” someone who has belonged or still belongs to two different professions. In my case, this means that I am a lawyer/mediator and that I am also a writer. No big deal, right? You might rightly suggest I keep my day job until the writing pays off a little more. But, the problem isn’t having two professions; it’s how the job as lawyer/mediator can affect the writer’s writing. Here’s what I have learned about writing as a lawyer. I need to write clear, concise, and persuasive words to sway a judge to my client’s position. The reality is that judges are overworked, underpaid (yes, they make far less on the bench than in private practice), and don’t have time to read through a lot of pages. If I don’t get everything I want to say in by the end of page two, I’m in trouble. So I have learned to pack facts and arguments into sentences that still flow, but do not thrill a fiction editor. When I was first asked to examine my sentence structure, I was surprised and almost insulted. I spent eight years in parochial school and can still diagram a sentence in my sleep. I’ve often been praised by judges and clients, who have appreciated my legal writing in both trial and appellate courts. One of my favorite compliments is that I write a “killer affidavit.” But I am also a fiction writer and I want to be the best fiction writer I can be. I put ice on my bruised ego and did what I always do when I am in a quandary. I bought a book. “It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences,*” by June Casagrandeturned out to be a very funny and liberating book. I got to feed my inner grammar nerd, which had apparently be starving for topics like Dangler Danger, The Truth About Adverbs, and Size Matters: Short versus Long Sentences. Armed with examples, Casagrande doesn’t just tell you, she shows you where a sentence can go wrong. I discovered myself becoming a tad self-congratulatory while reading the book. I knew this stuff. I loved studying grammar like some kids like doing math equations. But then I had to ask whether I was practicing the sound principles the author was advancing. It turned out I was writing fiction like a lawyer. Not stories about lawyers, but as if I were writing for judges in courtrooms who needed succinct information in well crafted, but crammed sentences. My journalist friends tell me they fall prey to the same trap when they switch from who, what, where, when, and why to telling a story that is not true. Here’s where I became liberated. I realized I don’t have to jam information into a sentence. I can vary length and structure and take my time as long as I keep the reader engaged and entertained. When I returned to my manuscript, I had fun unraveling sentences that were too clunky for my novel. I think I’ll survive the terrible twos as long as I remember what I am writing and who is my audience. Any confessions from other bi-professionals out there? “It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences. A writer’s guide to crafting killer sentences” by June Casagrande (Ten Speed Press, Berkley) 2010

Coming Home

May 6, 2018 C. Michele Dorsey Uncategorized

Five months can be a long dry spell. I’m not talking about writers’ block. I’m describing five months of unintentional isolation from my tribe, the people who share with me the same inexplicable passion for writing. After attending the fun-filled, event-jammed New England Crime Bake in November, which I also co-chaired, I was ready for a little solitude. But not five months. Through circumstances not of my choosing, namely two monstrous hurricanes, I found myself on Outer Cape Cod, Puerto Vallarta, and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I am not complaining. Those are destinations where any writer could find inspiration and I did. But did I ever miss my tribe, the folks who still like to debate the Oxford comma and know what I am talking about when I am at a conference and excuse myself from an event because “I am peopled out.” By the time I arrived at Malice Domestic XXX on April 26th, I was ravenous for the company of other writers. I wanted to talk about rejection, setting, character development, publishing trends, and soak in what others had to say. Because I was so hungry, I attended almost every event at the conference. I watched a new episode of Vera while munching on a real Cadbury candy bar from the U.K., wondering was there a limit to the plot turns Ann Cleeves can conjure in a single story. I went to the opening ceremony, the closing Agatha Tea with scones and real clotted cream, and just about everything in between. I listened to panel after panel, interviews with Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, Brenda Blethyn, Nancy Pickard, and Catriona McPherson, hanging on to every word. I celebrated the victories of those who won the Agathas at the banquet as well as those who had received nominations. I was honored to moderate a panel on “Unique Settings,” thinking how lucky am I to get to ask these fine writers questions. It was one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended. My creative well was refilled. I had time with my peeps and I was all better. I drank it all in from the moment when Malice Toastmaster Catriona McPherson said, “Welcome to the mother ship.” I knew then that I was home.

Prize-Worthy

May 4, 2018 Alexia Gordon Uncategorized

Literary award season is in full swing. We’ve had the Leftys, the Agathas, the Edgars, the Ippys. The Anthonys, the Barrys, and many others will be awarded between now and September to honor excellence in crime writing. But is excellence in crime writing the only thing that’s prize-worthy? This week’s question for my fellow Missdemeanors is, if you could invent your own literary, or any other, award, what would it be and to whom would you award it? I’m awarding Agatha “Best Adaptive Use of an Ironing Board” RobinSome mornings lately I feel like there should be a Meerkat Award for successfully coming out of my hidey hole and standing on two feet without collapsing and tumbling over my pack mates. MeCan I nominate myself for the Meerkat Award? TraceeI want to win the Meerkat Award and my focus on qualifying has made it difficult to come up with another suggestion. However…. Wouldn’t it be fun to have awards for best jacket copy? Or author photo (I would definitely keep a young version of myself for decades…..)? Or most deceptive jacket copy? I’m sure there are a few people out there who would like to see an award for book that was panned by reviewers but made multiple best seller lists! Not that these aren’t serious things, but at the same time a bit of potential levity during the presentation ceremonies. MeI like the best jacket copy and most deceptive jacket copy awards. How about an award for most outdated cover photo or photo that looks the least like the author? SusanI love stories about writers who have overcome all sorts of obstacles and rejections and then achieve success. Maybe an award for the most dogged, single-minded, persistent, relentless, determined writer out there. MicheleAt the New England Crime Bake banquet, we now invite anyone attending who has been nominated for, awarded, or received an honor of any nature to join us in a circle of celebration. This is a difficult business and we need to recognize and support one another whenever and wherever we can. I was a finalist in the Malice Domestic first novel contest three times! I kept remembering one of my grandmother’s sayings. “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” TraceeI think that’s a lovely idea! RobinI agree with Tracy, Susan, that’s a great idea. And I like that celebration at the Crime Bake. I also think every one of us – and most people but especially writers & artists – should pass around the Meerkat Award. Wrote some words that weren’t on the page before you got there? You win. Smiled and said “hello” to a stranger? You win. Made yourself a cup of coffee without spilling? You win. Thanked someone else for handing you a cup of coffee? You win. AlisonRobin set the bar too high for me with her Meerkat Award. Best. Award. Idea. Ever. I’m awarding it to myself today because I made coffee *and* didn’t spill (plus no pack mates were harmed in the process)! TraceeI totally agree with the Meerkat Award. For me it was all over after that. I may try to find that meerkat show on TV…. we all probably need a little more meerkat in our lives! MeHow about made it until noon before ticking anybody off? Does that win a Meerkat? RobinThat totally wins. Great job! [clumping sounds of meerkat paws applauding] “Clumping” = combination of clapping and thumpingI think meerkats have become my new spirit animal. PaulaI am in the middle of moving us and my parents into a new big old house (1760) and I think there should be an award for all of us for not killing each other yet. TraceePaula, There’s still time 🙂 But with a house that old there is surely a ghost…. blame it on him/her. MePaula– Gold Meerkat What award would you give? Who deserves it? Comment here or post your prize idea on our Facebook page. And May the Fourth be with you.

Cold Winds Blow

May 3, 2018 Alexia Gordon Uncategorized

They (the mysterious “they” who is always telling you what you should or shouldn’t do) say you shouldn’t write about the weather. I’m ignoring that advice. Weather impacts our moods in real life. A warm, sunny Spring day brings smiles to our faces. A cold, gray, wet winter’s day induces groans and sadness. The heavy, humid air just before a thunderstorm makes us tense and uneasy. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a clinical condition where cold, dark weather brings on depression often severe enough to warrant treatment. And weather certainly presents obstacles we must overcome. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, hail, snow—all as potentially dangerous as an armed intruder or an angry ex. Weather can, and should, act in fiction they same way it acts in real life. “It’s a dark and stormy night” may not be the world’s best opening sentence but weather can be used to significant effect in stories. Weather can set tone, provide foreshadowing, or reflect characters’ moods. “The Fall of the House of Usher” wouldn’t read the same if set on a warm and sunny day. Charlotte Bronte uses weather to foreshadow Jane Eyre’s experiences and as a metaphor for her moods and emotions. Weather can also be a character. From torrential rains to blizzards to tornadoes, weather events play the role of antagonist in “man versus nature” stories. Make a bad situation—being chased by a man with a gun—worse for the protagonist by adding some weather—being chased by a man with a gun in fog as thick as cotton batting. What’s your favorite literary weather disaster? What kind of weather event would you throw in your protagonist’s path? Comment here or blow on over to Facebook to join the discussion.