Kris Neri's Blog - Posts Tagged "kris-neri"
So you want to inject the paranormal into your writing...
Crossing paranormal with other fictional categories — be they mystery, romance or general fiction — couldn’t get any hotter. But there are pitfalls those new to paranormal writing can easily fall into, which can doom a manuscript. Here are some tips to help you avoid those pitfalls:
1. The worst mistake newbies can make is thinking the supernatural elements are just tack-ons. The paranormal aspects must an integral part of the storyline. If you can imagine removing the magical elements, while telling the same story and having it turn out the same way — you’re not using it right.
2. Readers need to understand the rules governing the magical aspects of the world you’re depicting. You can explain those rules — and whatever consequences might result — either explicitly or by allowing the reader to absorb their essence by showing them at work. Most writers use a combination of both. Some can be accomplished by including a character that encounters the paranormal for the first time. The reader can learn how these rules function as the character does, and the reader can share her surprise.
3. You need to decide whether the magical aspects are known to the general populace of your world, or not. Either way works, but there is a built-in level of conflict if your paranormal beings have to struggle to hide their natures. In the Harry Potter novels, the muggles — non-paranormal beings — are generally unaware of the wizardry being performed in their midst, which provides lots of opportunities for conflict, as well as humor.
4. Characters who possess supernatural abilities must be seen using those abilities, or we need to know why not. For instance, Annabelle Haggerty, the Celtic goddess/FBI agent protagonist of my Magical Mystery, MAGICAL ALIENATION, needs to be careful how much magic she performs at the FBI, where she must hide her secret nature. But I once worked with a writing client who described her protagonist as telepathic with animals, yet the character never displayed any telepathy in her frustrating interactions with animals, until the three-quarter point of the novel, for no reason that was ever explained. That’s what you want to avoid doing.
5. Magical characters must still be real characters, as richly developed as those not possessing paranormal abilities, yet not be perfect beings, either. Your novel should contain challenging personal growth arcs for these characters, too, even if they also have some extraordinary abilities.
6. Just as everything comes together in the climax of any other novel, it must in a paranormal work. The solution your protagonist employs to meet her goal must rely on both her natural and supernatural abilities, to bring about a solution that works on both levels. She should also overcome her personal challenges, achieving personal growth as she achieves her story-objective.
7. Most importantly, even magical beings have to earn their successes. If you allow your protagonist to finalize the action in the climax with the effortless waving of a wand, or some solution not inherent within the storyline, you will lose your reader’s respect. If you change the magical rules you’ve already established to allow your character an effortless solution, you’ll also lose that reader. For the reader to continue to suspect disbelief, she must trust in the integrity of your novel. If you want to get around some generally accepted paranormal beliefs, find a realistic way to do it. In the TWILIGHT series, for example, Stephenie Meyer circumvented the belief that vampires can’t go out during the day without burning up by choosing a locale that’s heavily overcast.
Writing paranormal can be extra challenging because so much has to be integrated, and it must work equally well on multiple levels. But it’s great fun to write, and these tips should speed you on your way toward writing paranormal cross-category success.
Magical Alienation: A Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery
1. The worst mistake newbies can make is thinking the supernatural elements are just tack-ons. The paranormal aspects must an integral part of the storyline. If you can imagine removing the magical elements, while telling the same story and having it turn out the same way — you’re not using it right.
2. Readers need to understand the rules governing the magical aspects of the world you’re depicting. You can explain those rules — and whatever consequences might result — either explicitly or by allowing the reader to absorb their essence by showing them at work. Most writers use a combination of both. Some can be accomplished by including a character that encounters the paranormal for the first time. The reader can learn how these rules function as the character does, and the reader can share her surprise.
3. You need to decide whether the magical aspects are known to the general populace of your world, or not. Either way works, but there is a built-in level of conflict if your paranormal beings have to struggle to hide their natures. In the Harry Potter novels, the muggles — non-paranormal beings — are generally unaware of the wizardry being performed in their midst, which provides lots of opportunities for conflict, as well as humor.
4. Characters who possess supernatural abilities must be seen using those abilities, or we need to know why not. For instance, Annabelle Haggerty, the Celtic goddess/FBI agent protagonist of my Magical Mystery, MAGICAL ALIENATION, needs to be careful how much magic she performs at the FBI, where she must hide her secret nature. But I once worked with a writing client who described her protagonist as telepathic with animals, yet the character never displayed any telepathy in her frustrating interactions with animals, until the three-quarter point of the novel, for no reason that was ever explained. That’s what you want to avoid doing.
5. Magical characters must still be real characters, as richly developed as those not possessing paranormal abilities, yet not be perfect beings, either. Your novel should contain challenging personal growth arcs for these characters, too, even if they also have some extraordinary abilities.
6. Just as everything comes together in the climax of any other novel, it must in a paranormal work. The solution your protagonist employs to meet her goal must rely on both her natural and supernatural abilities, to bring about a solution that works on both levels. She should also overcome her personal challenges, achieving personal growth as she achieves her story-objective.
7. Most importantly, even magical beings have to earn their successes. If you allow your protagonist to finalize the action in the climax with the effortless waving of a wand, or some solution not inherent within the storyline, you will lose your reader’s respect. If you change the magical rules you’ve already established to allow your character an effortless solution, you’ll also lose that reader. For the reader to continue to suspect disbelief, she must trust in the integrity of your novel. If you want to get around some generally accepted paranormal beliefs, find a realistic way to do it. In the TWILIGHT series, for example, Stephenie Meyer circumvented the belief that vampires can’t go out during the day without burning up by choosing a locale that’s heavily overcast.
Writing paranormal can be extra challenging because so much has to be integrated, and it must work equally well on multiple levels. But it’s great fun to write, and these tips should speed you on your way toward writing paranormal cross-category success.
Magical Alienation: A Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery
What's in your wallet?
THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron, along with some of her other books, have been incredibly influential in my life and have spurred my writing career. In case you’re unfamiliar with her work, I like to describe THE ARTIST’S WAY and some of the others as do-it-yourself therapy for artists. I probably do THE ARTIST’S WAY again every couple of years.
I say “do it” rather than “read it” because, although it is a book, THE ARTIST’S WAY, along with others of Julia’s titles, present a program of multi-week creativity-enhancing lessons and exercises, which have probably been successful in increasing the creativity of millions of struggling artists.
Actually, while Julia Cameron’s books are marketed to artists, I’ve been the bookseller at two of her conferences, and I’ve met loads of her devoted fans who don’t consider themselves as artists of any kind, but who regard THE ARTIST’S WAY as do-it-yourself therapy for everyone, who’ve made, not artistic growth, but life-growth, using Julia’s lessons and exercises.
With all that said, while I’ve made such artistic strides thanks to her books, I haven’t found her some of her recent books quite as stirring as her earlier ones. I’ve read them all, but they haven’t had such a profound impact on me.
Until now. With THE PROSPEROUS HEART: CREATING A LIFE OF “ENOUGH,” which she wrote with Emma Lively, Julia Cameron has once again captured the stirring, life-changing lessons and exercises of her earlier works.
Some of the tools used in THE PROSPEROUS HEART will be familiar ones to her readers, such as the morning pages, which instructs those following the exercises to write three solid pages of stream-of-conscious writing as soon as they wake up, and the recommended weekly walks. But other tools, such as counting every penny in and out, and the time outs are different.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a book that should have a stirring impact on me. Sure, like lots of people, I don’t have as much money as I’d like. But I’m not a shopaholic — sometimes it seems as if I was born without the shopping gene, since it’s usually my least favorite activity. No smoke coming off my credit cards!
So it might seem strange that a book that helps people to manage their finances and stop over-shopping and running up debt they can’t afford should have make such a strong impression on me, but it did. That’s because, according to Cameron, prosperity isn’t a financial issue, but a spiritual one. She maintains that the opposite of prosperity isn’t poverty, but anxiety. It’s the fear of not having enough that makes us feel the desperation for more.
She shows her readers how to recognize the abundance they already have their lives, but which probably goes unnoticed in their quest for whatever magic number they think will satisfy them. She points out that the magic number rarely does satisfy. Other exercises easily help readers to bring more fulfilling prosperity into their lives. For instance, in one exercise, she instructs the reader to list five things they’d like, which they can’t afford — and then encourages them to search for some small step they could take in each of those areas.
When I did the exercise, I listed five large things I’d like, but when I didn’t immediately think of five small steps I could take toward each one of them, I poo-pooed the exercise as ineffective, at least for me. And yet, within hours I did think of small steps I could take, and each one proved to be an inspired choice and wholly satisfying.
But as with all her do-it-yourself lessons & exercises books, my gains greatly exceeded her intended subject matter. While THE ARTIST’S WAY and some other titles, including THE RIGHT TO WRITE and others, did help me to enhance my creativity, THE PROSPEROUS HEART made me to appreciate the level of abundance I already enjoy and aided me in bringing more prosperity into my life — my greatest gains exceeded the financial realm, and helped me to make life-improvements in areas that seemed to have nothing to do with money.
The book’s voice — Cameron’s voice, to those who have had the good fortune to have heard her — at times quirky, at other times stern, but always confident in the efficacy of the lessons she has to offer — will comfort those who’ve derived much from her books in the past, but should also prove welcoming to Cameron newbies. For those of you who might be shopoholics, I’m sure you’d derive even more than I did. If THE PROSPEROUS HEART offers you half of what it gave me, you’ll find it worth the time, money and personal energy you’ll invest in it.
I say “do it” rather than “read it” because, although it is a book, THE ARTIST’S WAY, along with others of Julia’s titles, present a program of multi-week creativity-enhancing lessons and exercises, which have probably been successful in increasing the creativity of millions of struggling artists.
Actually, while Julia Cameron’s books are marketed to artists, I’ve been the bookseller at two of her conferences, and I’ve met loads of her devoted fans who don’t consider themselves as artists of any kind, but who regard THE ARTIST’S WAY as do-it-yourself therapy for everyone, who’ve made, not artistic growth, but life-growth, using Julia’s lessons and exercises.
With all that said, while I’ve made such artistic strides thanks to her books, I haven’t found her some of her recent books quite as stirring as her earlier ones. I’ve read them all, but they haven’t had such a profound impact on me.
Until now. With THE PROSPEROUS HEART: CREATING A LIFE OF “ENOUGH,” which she wrote with Emma Lively, Julia Cameron has once again captured the stirring, life-changing lessons and exercises of her earlier works.
Some of the tools used in THE PROSPEROUS HEART will be familiar ones to her readers, such as the morning pages, which instructs those following the exercises to write three solid pages of stream-of-conscious writing as soon as they wake up, and the recommended weekly walks. But other tools, such as counting every penny in and out, and the time outs are different.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a book that should have a stirring impact on me. Sure, like lots of people, I don’t have as much money as I’d like. But I’m not a shopaholic — sometimes it seems as if I was born without the shopping gene, since it’s usually my least favorite activity. No smoke coming off my credit cards!
So it might seem strange that a book that helps people to manage their finances and stop over-shopping and running up debt they can’t afford should have make such a strong impression on me, but it did. That’s because, according to Cameron, prosperity isn’t a financial issue, but a spiritual one. She maintains that the opposite of prosperity isn’t poverty, but anxiety. It’s the fear of not having enough that makes us feel the desperation for more.
She shows her readers how to recognize the abundance they already have their lives, but which probably goes unnoticed in their quest for whatever magic number they think will satisfy them. She points out that the magic number rarely does satisfy. Other exercises easily help readers to bring more fulfilling prosperity into their lives. For instance, in one exercise, she instructs the reader to list five things they’d like, which they can’t afford — and then encourages them to search for some small step they could take in each of those areas.
When I did the exercise, I listed five large things I’d like, but when I didn’t immediately think of five small steps I could take toward each one of them, I poo-pooed the exercise as ineffective, at least for me. And yet, within hours I did think of small steps I could take, and each one proved to be an inspired choice and wholly satisfying.
But as with all her do-it-yourself lessons & exercises books, my gains greatly exceeded her intended subject matter. While THE ARTIST’S WAY and some other titles, including THE RIGHT TO WRITE and others, did help me to enhance my creativity, THE PROSPEROUS HEART made me to appreciate the level of abundance I already enjoy and aided me in bringing more prosperity into my life — my greatest gains exceeded the financial realm, and helped me to make life-improvements in areas that seemed to have nothing to do with money.
The book’s voice — Cameron’s voice, to those who have had the good fortune to have heard her — at times quirky, at other times stern, but always confident in the efficacy of the lessons she has to offer — will comfort those who’ve derived much from her books in the past, but should also prove welcoming to Cameron newbies. For those of you who might be shopoholics, I’m sure you’d derive even more than I did. If THE PROSPEROUS HEART offers you half of what it gave me, you’ll find it worth the time, money and personal energy you’ll invest in it.
The amateurs and the pros
Like many authors of amateur sleuth mysteries, I’m also a fan of reading them. That’s not to say I don’t read many other sub-genres as well, and in my writing, I write a magical series that features both an amateur sleuth and an FBI agent, so that one straddles the fence between amateur and professional sleuths. I also write an occasional standalone thriller, which is a whole different category. But as both a writer and reader, I’ve always felt a particular fondness for amateurs who solve crimes, going way back to the time when Nancy Drew first led me into this life of crime.
Some years back at a signing, a reader asked me whether, like the protagonist of my Tracy Eaton mysteries — a writer and detective wannabe — I secretly harbored a desire to solve murders. Nope, not even a little bit. I bet that’s true for most writers of amateur sleuths as well. But that I don’t long to follow Tracy down the path of actually solving crimes, doesn’t in any way lessen my love of amateur sleuth mysteries, especially fun ones.
Besides, I think we learn from their examples. To my mind, some of the appeal of amateur sleuths is that, when we see them take on the impossible in their lives, we’re inspired to tackle the looming obstacles in our own, even if ours involve something less life-threatening than solving murders.
Of course, in amateur sleuth mysteries, it’s the amateurs that have to shine. But that’s not to say the police don’t play important roles. They do create stabilizing presences, even if, in the end, it’s our amateurs that save the day.
I’ve always loved the police detectives I’ve created in my Tracy Eaton mysteries. Each has been different, some more rigidly official than others, more resistant to Tracy’s free-spirited antics, and they’ve all made unique and engaging foils for her. But none have been more fun than the police presence I created for my new release, Revenge on Route 66.
Roy Fricker, the Chief of Police of the small town of Tecos, New Mexico, where much of the action occurs in Revenge on Route 66, makes an immediate presence on the page, although maybe not the one he might have wanted.
Here’s Tracy’s first impression:
In the doorway stood the world’s most glittery Rhinestone Cowboy, an African-American man, whose embroidered Western shirt and decorated leather spats sported so much fringe, he had drastically reduced the world’s supply of it. There must have been clackers hidden within that fringe, too, because when he strode into the place, he jangled.
Even more colorful than his dress is Chief Fricker’s speech:
He tipped a gigantic white hat, which matched the accents in his black shirt and spats, and said, “Ma’am. Hear tell someone blew out poor Woody’s light.”
That was just the beginning of Chief Fricker’s colorful lingo. Every time he spoke more of his Western gibberish came out:
Fricker removed his hat and ran a large hand over his closely shorn hair. “Can’t say I’m all that surprised someone flipped Woody’s hash browns. He’s always been like someone riding ’round with a wasp in his bonnet. Always looking for a pig to kick.”
Tracy’s reaction was predictable enough:
Huh? Was his getup and lingo a joke? If we’d been back in L.A., I’d have assumed this guy to be an actor in some Western movie parody. Here, I figured he’d been yanked from his other job, rodeo clown.
But she soon learns that his looks and lingo can be deceiving. Chief Fricker is actually a wily investigator, a former big city homicide detective simply living out his long-held Western dream, albeit in a pretty dramatic way.
He and Tracy continue to lock horns. He might be all about living his dream, but he’s not about to let some wacky amateur sleuth just passing through the flaunt the law and cut corners in his town.
Isn’t that the way it often goes when amateur sleuths and cops tangle? Amateur sleuths are all about the spirit of justice, while the police get tangled up in the letter of it.
However the struggle goes in the course of a mystery, it’s always fun for those of us who love amateur sleuth mysteries. Revenge on Route 66
Some years back at a signing, a reader asked me whether, like the protagonist of my Tracy Eaton mysteries — a writer and detective wannabe — I secretly harbored a desire to solve murders. Nope, not even a little bit. I bet that’s true for most writers of amateur sleuths as well. But that I don’t long to follow Tracy down the path of actually solving crimes, doesn’t in any way lessen my love of amateur sleuth mysteries, especially fun ones.
Besides, I think we learn from their examples. To my mind, some of the appeal of amateur sleuths is that, when we see them take on the impossible in their lives, we’re inspired to tackle the looming obstacles in our own, even if ours involve something less life-threatening than solving murders.
Of course, in amateur sleuth mysteries, it’s the amateurs that have to shine. But that’s not to say the police don’t play important roles. They do create stabilizing presences, even if, in the end, it’s our amateurs that save the day.
I’ve always loved the police detectives I’ve created in my Tracy Eaton mysteries. Each has been different, some more rigidly official than others, more resistant to Tracy’s free-spirited antics, and they’ve all made unique and engaging foils for her. But none have been more fun than the police presence I created for my new release, Revenge on Route 66.
Roy Fricker, the Chief of Police of the small town of Tecos, New Mexico, where much of the action occurs in Revenge on Route 66, makes an immediate presence on the page, although maybe not the one he might have wanted.
Here’s Tracy’s first impression:
In the doorway stood the world’s most glittery Rhinestone Cowboy, an African-American man, whose embroidered Western shirt and decorated leather spats sported so much fringe, he had drastically reduced the world’s supply of it. There must have been clackers hidden within that fringe, too, because when he strode into the place, he jangled.
Even more colorful than his dress is Chief Fricker’s speech:
He tipped a gigantic white hat, which matched the accents in his black shirt and spats, and said, “Ma’am. Hear tell someone blew out poor Woody’s light.”
That was just the beginning of Chief Fricker’s colorful lingo. Every time he spoke more of his Western gibberish came out:
Fricker removed his hat and ran a large hand over his closely shorn hair. “Can’t say I’m all that surprised someone flipped Woody’s hash browns. He’s always been like someone riding ’round with a wasp in his bonnet. Always looking for a pig to kick.”
Tracy’s reaction was predictable enough:
Huh? Was his getup and lingo a joke? If we’d been back in L.A., I’d have assumed this guy to be an actor in some Western movie parody. Here, I figured he’d been yanked from his other job, rodeo clown.
But she soon learns that his looks and lingo can be deceiving. Chief Fricker is actually a wily investigator, a former big city homicide detective simply living out his long-held Western dream, albeit in a pretty dramatic way.
He and Tracy continue to lock horns. He might be all about living his dream, but he’s not about to let some wacky amateur sleuth just passing through the flaunt the law and cut corners in his town.
Isn’t that the way it often goes when amateur sleuths and cops tangle? Amateur sleuths are all about the spirit of justice, while the police get tangled up in the letter of it.
However the struggle goes in the course of a mystery, it’s always fun for those of us who love amateur sleuth mysteries. Revenge on Route 66
I get my kicks...
Some years back, the publicist for my first two Tracy Eaton mysteries, REVENGE OF THE GYPSY QUEEN and DEM BONES' REVENGE, suggested I consider setting a Tracy Eaton novel on Route 66, calling it REVENGE ON ROUTE 66. She told me the title and idea had come to her in a dream (which meant her dreams were way more useful than mine!). She backed up the idea by telling me how many millions of people visit the Mother Road, as John Steinbeck dubbed Route 66, each year. That certainly supported its great marketing potential. The trouble was that, while I’d heard of people touring Route 66 and had a vague idea of what they found on it, I didn’t really get its appeal.
Then I moved to Northern Arizona, where Route 66 cuts a significant swath. Even before my husband Joe and I began conducting our own Route 66 trips, we discovered the fun of seeking out old Route 66 roadhouses, such as Miz Zip’s, in Flagstaff, AZ, where the food is good and reasonably-priced, and the décor is strictly something from yesteryear.
Finally, I started to get what Route 66 was all about. Those slices of Americana preserve little pockets of time from the days before everyone became so cool, from the time when we were comfortable with being offbeat and unique. When individuality rocked more than sameness, before Anytown, USA became Everytown, USA.
I also discovered that my former publicist was right — it was the perfect place to set a Tracy Eaton mystery. (I thanked her for the great idea in the acknowledgements.) This madcap series, which features the unconventional daughter of eccentric Hollywood stars, along with a cast of loveable loonies, celebrates quirkiness as much as the road. Not a drop of sameness in the entire daffy bunch.
And so, REVENGE ON ROUTE 66 came to life. Since it venerates a time past, I decided some of the characters would have a history with the road, and the seemingly divergent mysteries that make up this storyline, would be linked to it as well.
Quirky spots that I could make part of Tracy’s road trip began to occur to me, such as the Biker Bunny Bin. That’s an odd self-storage yard, which is guarded by a hellish pair of giant plywood rabbits that make the whole place seem like Disneyland on acid. Or the signs that might catch the eye of motorists along the way, not just those for “Burma Shave,” which you really do see, but also “New Dead Things.” And the restaurants that lure them away from the anonymous fast food stops, like the diner that promised, “Warm beer, lousy food.” Tracy insisted to her husband Drew that they had to reward humor like that, though it turned out that all they rewarded was truth in advertising.
I hope I did justice to the spirit of Route 66. Not just because that road has stolen my heart, although it has, but because it might be our last hold on a time that’s all but vanished. Because it celebrates the people we used to be. And maybe, deep down, still are.
Revenge on Route 66
Then I moved to Northern Arizona, where Route 66 cuts a significant swath. Even before my husband Joe and I began conducting our own Route 66 trips, we discovered the fun of seeking out old Route 66 roadhouses, such as Miz Zip’s, in Flagstaff, AZ, where the food is good and reasonably-priced, and the décor is strictly something from yesteryear.
Finally, I started to get what Route 66 was all about. Those slices of Americana preserve little pockets of time from the days before everyone became so cool, from the time when we were comfortable with being offbeat and unique. When individuality rocked more than sameness, before Anytown, USA became Everytown, USA.
I also discovered that my former publicist was right — it was the perfect place to set a Tracy Eaton mystery. (I thanked her for the great idea in the acknowledgements.) This madcap series, which features the unconventional daughter of eccentric Hollywood stars, along with a cast of loveable loonies, celebrates quirkiness as much as the road. Not a drop of sameness in the entire daffy bunch.
And so, REVENGE ON ROUTE 66 came to life. Since it venerates a time past, I decided some of the characters would have a history with the road, and the seemingly divergent mysteries that make up this storyline, would be linked to it as well.
Quirky spots that I could make part of Tracy’s road trip began to occur to me, such as the Biker Bunny Bin. That’s an odd self-storage yard, which is guarded by a hellish pair of giant plywood rabbits that make the whole place seem like Disneyland on acid. Or the signs that might catch the eye of motorists along the way, not just those for “Burma Shave,” which you really do see, but also “New Dead Things.” And the restaurants that lure them away from the anonymous fast food stops, like the diner that promised, “Warm beer, lousy food.” Tracy insisted to her husband Drew that they had to reward humor like that, though it turned out that all they rewarded was truth in advertising.
I hope I did justice to the spirit of Route 66. Not just because that road has stolen my heart, although it has, but because it might be our last hold on a time that’s all but vanished. Because it celebrates the people we used to be. And maybe, deep down, still are.
Revenge on Route 66
Characters like me
Readers often wonder how closely we writers resemble our characters. In my case, I have to say, “Not a bit!” After all, I write the madcap Tracy Eaton mysteries, Revenge of the Gypsy Queen, Dem Bones' Revenge, Revenge for Old Times' Sake, and the latest, Revenge on Route 66, a humorous romp along the Southwestern Route 66. Tracy is too much the offspring of her reality-challenged, zany parents, movie legends, Martha Collins and Alec Grainger, to be anything like me.
The question I often hear from fans is, “Who are you parents? Anyone we'd know?” See, they assume my parents are also major motion picture stars, or how else could I write the hilarious scenes I create between Tracy and the banes of her existence? I'm flattered that readers regard Martha and Alec as so real, they can't imagine that I simply made them up. But that's what I did.
Tracy also brings the most eccentric approach to crime solving. I'm sure if I were an amateur sleuth, I'd never make my escape from captivity by shimming up a rope with my mother on my back, as Tracy and Martha did in Dem Bones' Revenge. Or when they eluded the bad guys by posing as hookers so the cops would arrest them for solicitation and whisk them away.
In Revenge for Old Times' Sake, free-spirit Tracy cheers when her stodgy husband, Drew, finally loosens up enough to rearrange the nose of his boorish boss, Ian Dragger. Too bad the next time anyone saw Dragger, he was floating face down in the Eaton pool, deader than disco.
I certainly didn't draw on my life for that. Not only isn't my hubby Joe at all stodgy, I don't even own a pool.
Still…I have to admit offbeat things always happen to me. Wherever I go, if there's a person who merely flirts with the periphery of sanity, he gloms onto me like I'm his long-lost twin. My husband always asks if I send out a homing signal that only wackos can hear. I don't know. Do I?
I also always find myself faced with problems that nobody else has to deal with. For instance, I went to a party recently in a gate-guarded community, The road that leads to it is a tough-to-navigate, narrow S-curve that takes a sharp dip where it crosses a creek, which is heavily studded with boulders.
When I stopped beside the gate speaker box, I realized I couldn't remember the code to open the gate. No problem. There were instructions for dialing the houses. Too bad that didn't work. Again and again. In six tries, I got mostly busy signals, although I also hit the voicemail a couple of times. I didn't feel too helpless babbling, “Uh, I'm here, but…”
Okay, Plan B. I decided to call my husband at home, since he wasn't coming. If he didn't know the code, he could call our friend and get it. Why do we have cell phones if not for emergencies? Oops! No network.
Hmmm. There was no way I could back out of there. I must have played hooky the day they taught reverse in Driver's Ed, since I've never learned it. I could barely navigate that entry going in. If I lived there, I'd just park the car in the water and get it over with. And the road was too narrow for a k-turn. Maybe a hundred tiny k-turns would do it, but I'm not too swift on those, either.
Since I arrived late, I wasn't sure when someone else would pass that way. I ended up staying there until a woman walked near the gate and shouted out the code. I was the only partygoer who didn't just breeze in.
Turns out the gate-phone connection stopped working sometime before I showed up, but after everyone else did. But that kind of thing always happens to me. I can't be the only one who's out-of-synch with virtually everybody else. There must be others marching to the un-syncopated beat of goofball drummers that nobody else can hear.
If I were writing that experience for a character, I'd make it read funny. Tracy's always wrecking her vehicles, so that would be perfect. I'd just send the car off the road, where it would float along, crashing into boulder-after-boulder, like Mother Nature's own bumper car ride.
Only in real life, I make payments on that car, and I pay for insurance. I'd be the idiot whose claim the folks working at the insurance agency would laugh themselves silly over — right before the company cancelled my coverage.
Okay, so maybe I am more like Tracy and her gang of daffy misfits than I'd like to admit. Maybe I really am living my wackiest characters' lives. I'm just not having as much fun with them as they are.
The question I often hear from fans is, “Who are you parents? Anyone we'd know?” See, they assume my parents are also major motion picture stars, or how else could I write the hilarious scenes I create between Tracy and the banes of her existence? I'm flattered that readers regard Martha and Alec as so real, they can't imagine that I simply made them up. But that's what I did.
Tracy also brings the most eccentric approach to crime solving. I'm sure if I were an amateur sleuth, I'd never make my escape from captivity by shimming up a rope with my mother on my back, as Tracy and Martha did in Dem Bones' Revenge. Or when they eluded the bad guys by posing as hookers so the cops would arrest them for solicitation and whisk them away.
In Revenge for Old Times' Sake, free-spirit Tracy cheers when her stodgy husband, Drew, finally loosens up enough to rearrange the nose of his boorish boss, Ian Dragger. Too bad the next time anyone saw Dragger, he was floating face down in the Eaton pool, deader than disco.
I certainly didn't draw on my life for that. Not only isn't my hubby Joe at all stodgy, I don't even own a pool.
Still…I have to admit offbeat things always happen to me. Wherever I go, if there's a person who merely flirts with the periphery of sanity, he gloms onto me like I'm his long-lost twin. My husband always asks if I send out a homing signal that only wackos can hear. I don't know. Do I?
I also always find myself faced with problems that nobody else has to deal with. For instance, I went to a party recently in a gate-guarded community, The road that leads to it is a tough-to-navigate, narrow S-curve that takes a sharp dip where it crosses a creek, which is heavily studded with boulders.
When I stopped beside the gate speaker box, I realized I couldn't remember the code to open the gate. No problem. There were instructions for dialing the houses. Too bad that didn't work. Again and again. In six tries, I got mostly busy signals, although I also hit the voicemail a couple of times. I didn't feel too helpless babbling, “Uh, I'm here, but…”
Okay, Plan B. I decided to call my husband at home, since he wasn't coming. If he didn't know the code, he could call our friend and get it. Why do we have cell phones if not for emergencies? Oops! No network.
Hmmm. There was no way I could back out of there. I must have played hooky the day they taught reverse in Driver's Ed, since I've never learned it. I could barely navigate that entry going in. If I lived there, I'd just park the car in the water and get it over with. And the road was too narrow for a k-turn. Maybe a hundred tiny k-turns would do it, but I'm not too swift on those, either.
Since I arrived late, I wasn't sure when someone else would pass that way. I ended up staying there until a woman walked near the gate and shouted out the code. I was the only partygoer who didn't just breeze in.
Turns out the gate-phone connection stopped working sometime before I showed up, but after everyone else did. But that kind of thing always happens to me. I can't be the only one who's out-of-synch with virtually everybody else. There must be others marching to the un-syncopated beat of goofball drummers that nobody else can hear.
If I were writing that experience for a character, I'd make it read funny. Tracy's always wrecking her vehicles, so that would be perfect. I'd just send the car off the road, where it would float along, crashing into boulder-after-boulder, like Mother Nature's own bumper car ride.
Only in real life, I make payments on that car, and I pay for insurance. I'd be the idiot whose claim the folks working at the insurance agency would laugh themselves silly over — right before the company cancelled my coverage.
Okay, so maybe I am more like Tracy and her gang of daffy misfits than I'd like to admit. Maybe I really am living my wackiest characters' lives. I'm just not having as much fun with them as they are.
New novel!
I want to share news of my own new publication, HOPSCOTCH LIFE, featuring quirky protagonist, Plum Tardy. It's an accept yourself in all your glory novel.
In HOPSCOTCH LIFE, quirky protagonist Plum Tardy feels like she’s living in a country song, after having just lost her job, her house, and her man. In her usual hopscotch fashion, Plum sets out to find a completely new town and a new man, but even knowing how out-of-synch she is and how oddly she moves through life, Plum could never have predicted the unexpected way that her past would collide with her present. Will her offbeat approach save her, or land her in behind bars in hopscotch hell?
Here’s what other authors are saying about HOPSCOTCH LIFE:
“Hopscotch Life is an utterly charming contemporary fairy tale for adults. If you've ever faced the homely monster of self-doubt, you'll gladly worry about and cheer for good-natured protagonist Plum Tardy on her quirky quest for self-belief.”
— Beate Sigriddaughter, author of Dancing in Santa Fe and other poems
“With a bevy of fun secondary characters, enough sparkling dialogue to fill a dozen champagne flutes, and just enough charming humor to keep Plum’s plight from breaking our hearts entirely, Neri finally walks her heroine through the execution of a plot twist worthy of Danny Ocean...oh, yes, utterly satisfying. Hopscotch Life is fun, charming, and rich in emotion.”
— Sally J. Smith, USA Today Bestselling Author
“Wonderful writing, a captivating protagonist, and one humorous complication after another add up to another winner for Kris Neri.”
— Bonnie Hearn Hill, author of The River Below
Available online. Free with Kindle Unlimited!
Thanks for sharing my good news!
In HOPSCOTCH LIFE, quirky protagonist Plum Tardy feels like she’s living in a country song, after having just lost her job, her house, and her man. In her usual hopscotch fashion, Plum sets out to find a completely new town and a new man, but even knowing how out-of-synch she is and how oddly she moves through life, Plum could never have predicted the unexpected way that her past would collide with her present. Will her offbeat approach save her, or land her in behind bars in hopscotch hell?
Here’s what other authors are saying about HOPSCOTCH LIFE:
“Hopscotch Life is an utterly charming contemporary fairy tale for adults. If you've ever faced the homely monster of self-doubt, you'll gladly worry about and cheer for good-natured protagonist Plum Tardy on her quirky quest for self-belief.”
— Beate Sigriddaughter, author of Dancing in Santa Fe and other poems
“With a bevy of fun secondary characters, enough sparkling dialogue to fill a dozen champagne flutes, and just enough charming humor to keep Plum’s plight from breaking our hearts entirely, Neri finally walks her heroine through the execution of a plot twist worthy of Danny Ocean...oh, yes, utterly satisfying. Hopscotch Life is fun, charming, and rich in emotion.”
— Sally J. Smith, USA Today Bestselling Author
“Wonderful writing, a captivating protagonist, and one humorous complication after another add up to another winner for Kris Neri.”
— Bonnie Hearn Hill, author of The River Below
Available online. Free with Kindle Unlimited!
Thanks for sharing my good news!
New Writers: A message from your future book
January is a time when we often vow to take up new behaviors and shed old ones. We diet, eat better, exercise. And for writers, January becomes a time when newbies pledge themselves to starting a new project — such as a novel — that they’ve always wanted to do.
The trouble is that changing behaviors, or adding new ones, is challenging. Too often people don’t consider what’s involved in making changes. Sometimes they don’t give themselves the best chance of meeting those goals.
One way that new writers sabotage their progress is by imposing on themselves a high word count quota that someone new to the work can’t hope to meet. No question, quotas can keep many writers on track. But if you’re just starting out, how do you know what would be a reasonable word count for you?
I understand the impulse of shooting too high, mind you. If we writers didn’t invent procrastination, we certainly keep it alive in us. What else could explain why so many wordsmiths eagerly do laundry, or clean kitchens, or plan dinners, before they begin to write.
The blank page, especially when you’re not yet used to filling it, can be intimidating. But an unmet quota that keeps growing, and getting further out of reach, won’t just intimidate you, there’s too great a chance it will immobilize you.
Have you ever joined a gym after a long period of not working out? Did you really throw yourself into it? And did you injure your out-of-shape muscles and lose time if you were forced to rest? (BTW, that’s not a judgment. I have been and remain a marshmallow.)
I used to have an inspirational poster that I kept until the paper started becoming dust. I kept it that long because of how profoundly the message struck me. It read: “The race doesn’t always go to the swift, but to those who keep running.”
If your writing goal involves a long project, such as a novel or nonfiction book, give yourself the chance to develop your writing muscles. After you do, then you can think about establishing a word-count goal, and only if you’ve discovered an effective way of motivating yourself. When I’m working on a deadline, it’s enough for me to simply record my daily word count, without imposing a specific quota. My own compulsiveness makes me keep the numbers high.
So, give yourself a chance to learn, and the freedom to write at your own pace before you take on more stringent goals. Your future book will thank you.
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Hopscotch Life
Revenge Of The Gypsy Queen
High Crimes on the Magical Plane
The trouble is that changing behaviors, or adding new ones, is challenging. Too often people don’t consider what’s involved in making changes. Sometimes they don’t give themselves the best chance of meeting those goals.
One way that new writers sabotage their progress is by imposing on themselves a high word count quota that someone new to the work can’t hope to meet. No question, quotas can keep many writers on track. But if you’re just starting out, how do you know what would be a reasonable word count for you?
I understand the impulse of shooting too high, mind you. If we writers didn’t invent procrastination, we certainly keep it alive in us. What else could explain why so many wordsmiths eagerly do laundry, or clean kitchens, or plan dinners, before they begin to write.
The blank page, especially when you’re not yet used to filling it, can be intimidating. But an unmet quota that keeps growing, and getting further out of reach, won’t just intimidate you, there’s too great a chance it will immobilize you.
Have you ever joined a gym after a long period of not working out? Did you really throw yourself into it? And did you injure your out-of-shape muscles and lose time if you were forced to rest? (BTW, that’s not a judgment. I have been and remain a marshmallow.)
I used to have an inspirational poster that I kept until the paper started becoming dust. I kept it that long because of how profoundly the message struck me. It read: “The race doesn’t always go to the swift, but to those who keep running.”
If your writing goal involves a long project, such as a novel or nonfiction book, give yourself the chance to develop your writing muscles. After you do, then you can think about establishing a word-count goal, and only if you’ve discovered an effective way of motivating yourself. When I’m working on a deadline, it’s enough for me to simply record my daily word count, without imposing a specific quota. My own compulsiveness makes me keep the numbers high.
So, give yourself a chance to learn, and the freedom to write at your own pace before you take on more stringent goals. Your future book will thank you.
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Hopscotch Life
Revenge Of The Gypsy Queen
High Crimes on the Magical Plane
Teachings of Julia Cameron
Silver City, NM peeps, next Sunday (2/6) I will be presenting a talk at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City: Journaling Your Way from the Darkness to the Light: the Teachings of Julia Cameron. I'll talk about how artists and non-artists alike can use her teachings to make their lives lighter and brighter. I will sign copies of my own books after the program. 10 am. 3845 N Swan St, Silver City, NM. Guests are welcome.
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Hopscotch Life
Magical Alienation
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Hopscotch Life
Magical Alienation
