Ask the Author: John Madinger
Answered Questions (3)
John Madinger
Most people in Hawaii remember the Massie Affair, a claim of rape by a young Navy wife in 1931 that led to much, much worse. It's still Hawaii's most infamous crime, even after almost 80 years have passed, also remembered because it brought the great Clarence Darrow, "Attorney for the Damned," to the islands for his last ever trial.
In the early 1980s, I met William K. Wells, a retired federal narcotic agent and we spent many afternoons talking about the old days in the islands when he chased opium peddlers through Honolulu's notorious Hell's Half-Acre slum neighborhood.
One day, I asked him if he remembered the Massie case. He did. And not only that, he remembered the girl at the middle of it, 20-year old Thalia Fortescue Massie, cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, grand-niece of Alexander Graham Bell, a Washington and Long Island debutante who married a young naval officer at only 16. "Oh, yeah," he said. "We knew she was yen shee quoy."
Well, yen shee quoy means "opium fiend" or "opium devil," a hardcore smoker. He told me more about Thalia, lots more, and that's what inspired Pipe Dreams, which will be coming out in July. Because Billy Wells - and I - know Thalia had a secret much darker than the beach road that night, and I'm going to tell the story to you.
In the early 1980s, I met William K. Wells, a retired federal narcotic agent and we spent many afternoons talking about the old days in the islands when he chased opium peddlers through Honolulu's notorious Hell's Half-Acre slum neighborhood.
One day, I asked him if he remembered the Massie case. He did. And not only that, he remembered the girl at the middle of it, 20-year old Thalia Fortescue Massie, cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, grand-niece of Alexander Graham Bell, a Washington and Long Island debutante who married a young naval officer at only 16. "Oh, yeah," he said. "We knew she was yen shee quoy."
Well, yen shee quoy means "opium fiend" or "opium devil," a hardcore smoker. He told me more about Thalia, lots more, and that's what inspired Pipe Dreams, which will be coming out in July. Because Billy Wells - and I - know Thalia had a secret much darker than the beach road that night, and I'm going to tell the story to you.
John Madinger
Set yourself an easily attainable goal of writing one page per day. One double-spaced page of 12-point type with standard margins is roughly 330 words. Set aside a regular time to bang out your page, then go do something else. At the end of 365 days, you'll have a full-length book of 120,000 words. Wait, most publishers don't want that many words, so stop at eight months or so and presto, you've got 80,000 words for your novel.
And, you'll be surprised to find yourself writing more than a page before very long.
The other trick is to start out by re-reading everything you've done so far before commencing the day's struggle. When you get pretty far in and you've read the first bit 20 or 30 times already, you can set a new start point. I always go back and read the first pages, though, because that's where you catch the reader and you want to get that bit absolutely perfect. I've read the opening chapter to my latest novel at least 500 times. And made almost as many edits. But if you don't love it, chances are others won't.
This makes the editing process much easier and less painful. Most of what you do isn't writing, it's editing, (like 500 times) and not nearly as much fun as creating, so anything that makes that go easier is worth it.
"A writer writes," as famous would-be (and badly writer's-blocked) author Billy Crystal said in "Throw Momma From the Train." So, bang out that page starting today.
And, you'll be surprised to find yourself writing more than a page before very long.
The other trick is to start out by re-reading everything you've done so far before commencing the day's struggle. When you get pretty far in and you've read the first bit 20 or 30 times already, you can set a new start point. I always go back and read the first pages, though, because that's where you catch the reader and you want to get that bit absolutely perfect. I've read the opening chapter to my latest novel at least 500 times. And made almost as many edits. But if you don't love it, chances are others won't.
This makes the editing process much easier and less painful. Most of what you do isn't writing, it's editing, (like 500 times) and not nearly as much fun as creating, so anything that makes that go easier is worth it.
"A writer writes," as famous would-be (and badly writer's-blocked) author Billy Crystal said in "Throw Momma From the Train." So, bang out that page starting today.
John Madinger
Two sentences? How about one?
"Man kills kids, self, as wife sleeps."
That's pretty horrible, don't you think? I like all the questions it raises in your mind.
And only seven words, a word longer than Hemingway's "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn." But two fewer sentences.
"Man kills kids, self, as wife sleeps."
That's pretty horrible, don't you think? I like all the questions it raises in your mind.
And only seven words, a word longer than Hemingway's "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn." But two fewer sentences.
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