Ask the Author: Cindy Rinaman Marsch
Answered Questions (6)
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
*The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present* (For a class I'm teaching at Grove City College this fall)
*Aly, Michelangelo's Son* (to write a review at the request of the author)
*Healing Maddie Brees* (after hearing the author give a talk about it)
*The Handmaid's Tale* (because I haven't yet)
*Marry in Haste* (collection of short stories by an author friend)
*Inceptio* (Roman alternative history series start)
*When I Was a Child I Read Books* (nabbed from my son who got to read it in his composition class at Grove City College)
*Aly, Michelangelo's Son* (to write a review at the request of the author)
*Healing Maddie Brees* (after hearing the author give a talk about it)
*The Handmaid's Tale* (because I haven't yet)
*Marry in Haste* (collection of short stories by an author friend)
*Inceptio* (Roman alternative history series start)
*When I Was a Child I Read Books* (nabbed from my son who got to read it in his composition class at Grove City College)
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, in Dorothy Sayers's series of novels tracing their courtship. Without offering any spoilers, I will say that I recently loved finding the tiniest whisper of a reference to the relationship in *Murder Must Advertise,* when Lord Peter is said to be going on a date with a woman difficult to persuade. Their long-form romance (spanning several works of literature that are actually focused on other stories, not theirs) is true to life, showing how romance teases and exasperates us and is often not resolved at the altar or in a bed at the end of a couple of hours. Great stuff!
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
The freedom to explore character and scene and meaning, and head off in any of a multitude of directions. With just a turn of phrase I can alter the atmosphere in a room or send a simple movement into depths of significance. It is a joy to watch a scene take shape, and to learn that readers are as delighted with something as I was myself as it formed under my fingers at the keyboard. (Granted, the shape is usually edited extensively before it is ready for public consumption.)
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
I have begun drafting scenes from the next novel, a companion to ROSETTE - SOLOMON: A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA. Solomon was Rosette's fascinating brother in her novel, and he has a history that begs to be told, including his marital life and his service as a bugler in the 6th Michigan Cavalry and subsequent imprisonment in the notorious Andersonville prison in Georgia.
The (current) opening chapter shows Jennette taking Solomon to meet her family, and setting up a funny misunderstanding with her sister Calista. In that scene is encapsulated the energy of the novel's whole theme. At least that is the plan now . . . and I will have to see what becomes of it!
The (current) opening chapter shows Jennette taking Solomon to meet her family, and setting up a funny misunderstanding with her sister Calista. In that scene is encapsulated the energy of the novel's whole theme. At least that is the plan now . . . and I will have to see what becomes of it!
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
Read all you can about the business from reputable sources (try those that aren't going to make a buck off of providing you overpriced services you don't need). I am a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (visit one of my websites for a link to join) and read a lot of blog posts that have helped steer me in the right direction.
Read all you can of what other excellent writers have written, and school yourself at their feet. See my reviews, especially the 5-star ones, for ideas of worthy things to read.
Be willing to share your work with others and take their counsel on how to improve it.
Read all you can of what other excellent writers have written, and school yourself at their feet. See my reviews, especially the 5-star ones, for ideas of worthy things to read.
Be willing to share your work with others and take their counsel on how to improve it.
Cindy Rinaman Marsch
For ROSETTE: A NOVEL OF PIONEER MICHIGAN, I was inspired by the real journal that Rosette Cordelia Ramsdell began in 1856, when she was 26 years old. It was her fourteenth journal, but it is the only one I know of still existing. Her dreams, the details of her early marriage, and the page she edited later all suggest the story I created in the novel. So in that case, Rosette herself inspired me to tell her story, one that has been forgotten.
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