Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "books"

What should I Name this Blog?

I started brainstorming titles, and came up with a veritable kaleidoscope of them! I thought I’d throw them out here because they show various facets of myself, my interests, aims, and writings. I might come up with more in time, but for now, I welcome thoughts on these—or combinations of them. You can see I’ve already eliminated some of these, but I hope that seeing why is informative and entertaining. I plan to write on subjects for book lovers and writers alike.

Red Robin’s Bloggin’—could mean either the process of blogging or the fact that Robin is blogging. The color red has significance to me on a number of levels. Downside: could be confused with the restaurant. (How do you trademark a color and a bird? But they did.) Also sounds like “noggin,” and that’s where these thoughts come from.

Red Robin Bloggin’—rhymes, and so is more poetic than the former idea. Still could be confused with the restaurant.

Red Robin’s Bloggin’ Toboggan—a wild ride, to be sure.

Robin’s Red Blog—reminds me of the Portland Red Book, but it’s not a very similar name.

The Little Red Blog—sounds like a children’s book blog—not appropriate for most of what I will talk about.

Robin’s Big Red Blog—possible.

Little Red Robin Hood—now that’s a mixture of tales!

Little Red Bloggin’ Hood—too cutesy, I think.

Robin’s Blood-red Blog—this is okay, although it reminds me of “The Blood-red Pencil” (a writing website). But I like “blood-red.”

Robin’s Blood-read Blog—a little cleverness thrown in for readers with eyes sharp enough to see it, and would be especially appropriate when my book comes out.

Blog Blog Bloggin’ Along—a play on my name but nothing more.

A Walk Down Robin La(y)ne—another play on my name, but what does it mean to walk down me? No, I think not.

Robin’s Song—lame, unoriginal.

Herald of the Eternal Spring—this is a name for my spiritual identity and purpose, and also sounds like the name of a newspaper, perhaps. But I don’t know that people would connect a blog with a newspaper. A robin is a herald of the spring; I am a herald of the spring of Christ’s blood and God’s Spirit, and of the eternal spring they will bring.

My Night-blooming Series—a blog is a series of posts, and my books are expected to be a series as well. I usually bloom at night, like the night blooming cereus flower (pronounced “series”), and in the morning feel wilted and half-dead. I also might still have some graphics from my old web domain picturing a red-toned night-blooming cereus. . . . Just checked all over the computer. Nope; I don’t have the picture, except for part of it with “Robin’s Nest” written on it. But anyway, I wrote a poem in my younger days called “The Night-Blooming Cereus,” expressing the value of fleeting beauty and life. This poem will appear in the novel I’m working on, as written by one of the characters. And since my novel and its planned sequels concern vampires, the name is appropriate on that level as well. A discouraging thought is that people making the connection with the flower may think I misspelled its name.

I think I like this last name best, but I would like to sit on it a while. Still, I hope you have found this fun to read. What do you think?

Welcome to my blog!

Been awake since about 1 a.m. and can't sleep. What irregular sleeping patterns! But it's all the better for you, if you want to read about my experiences at Wordstock, because I've have a lot of things to juggle, and only in the insane hours of the middle of the night do I feel justified to do something I don't absolutely have to do. I figure I'm too tired to pursue my obligations during such an hour. And I'll test out that semi-dream state I heard about, although I don't remember any of my dreams of the evening.

I was going to start with some highlights, but ended up covering a good amount of detail in the order that I enjoyed it.

The event began an hour later than I expected, and I was there early even for my expected time. It wasn't clear that doors open at 10, not 9, so it was hurry up and wait, then wait and hurry up. Fortunately, two books vendors had their ware on display out front, YA and poetry, respectively, and I was soon so engrossed in looking over those that I missed the 10 o'clock starting time. (My watch band broke that morning, so I had my watch in the pocket of my tight pants and I didn't look at it that often.) I rushed in to do the Open Write, and after waiting in a line with nothing much to do (books, books, everywhere, but none of them to read!. My nine minutes of fame was a disappointment. My fingers had a hard time finding the proper keys on the laptop, and I lost much precious time going back and fixing mistakes in a slow way I'm not used to. My prompt didn't inspire me much, and what I wrote was banal and incomplete. I will try again this morning with a different prompt and a different judge and I'll ask ahead of time what to do about typos. (My home keyboard is a large ergonomic one designed for carpal tunnel sufferers.)

I barely made it to my first panel, "Putting Words in the Mouth of God." Three authors with radical approaches to religious subjects led a fascinating discussion of saints of old, and imagined ones of today--their courage, their determination, and even their humor. I think it was Colin Dickey (but it might have been James Bernard Frost) said that there is no laughter in the New Testament--an idea I find absurd, considering the laughter I and many others experience under the power of God today and the absurdities of some of Christ's sayings. Who could have kept a straight face when the carpenter described a current religious leader swallowing a camel, or a judge with a beam of lumber sticking out of his eye? Dickey, who wrote Afterlives of the Saints said that Lawrence was the patron saint of comedians; Lawrence joked about being done and ready to eat while he was being burned to death. Dickey thought that Lawrence seemed to come from another religion. Certainly, he doesn't belong with the Jesuit who told his class the story and then upbraided them for laughing at it.

This reminds me of a dating site I am familiar with. You can use multiple choice answers to fill in some basic information, and if you pick a religion, you can say you are "very serious about it," "somewhat serious about it," "not very serious about it" or "laughing about it." To be serious might be to be devoted to your God or faith with all your heart that you are able, or it could mean you are a stuffed shirt. "Laughing about it" could mean you don't like the label you've been given and you make fun of it, or it could mean you just plain don't care. Or it might mean that your religion really makes you happy. How often these days is laughter really about happiness, and how often is it an expression of cynicism, ridicule, or a shallow escape from deep sadness or anxiety? I think even in those cases, it can sometimes be healthy. The problem comes in when "taking things seriously" means we can't laugh at ourselves, our circumstances, even our sufferings and deaths. As I like to put it, Don't take yourself seriously; you're just a character God invented.

Someone in the audience pointed out that today people with the intensities of the once-admired saints are labeled with mental disorders and subdued with drugs. Where are the zealous today? Tanya Hurley said that much of her novel, The Blessed, about three reincarnated teenaged girl saints, takes place in mental the ward.

Panelist James Bernard Frost wrote a very Portland- (Oregon)culture story called A Very Minor Prophet: A Novel, concerning people who have lost their religion and still need something. And based on some of the things I've heard and read about religion, losing it can be for some the best way to start on a path of real life. As Frost put it, religion is stiff and reverent, and new life is needed. The dwarf preacher in his story gets carried away, swears, and is a laughingstock but a breath of fresh air. But the author says it is a Christian message and that some ministers have expressed appreciation for this unorthodox book.

All three of the panelists grew up in Catholic homes and were influenced by stories of the saints. Dickey appreciates their spunk, although he is an atheist today. Within Christianity, it is chiefly Catholics (and then only those who actually LIKE Catholicism rather than those who have found themselves scarred and left the Church) who don't treat "religion" as something of a dirty word. It used to be a good thing to be thought of as religious, but today, both the born-again crowd and New Agers prefer to call themselves "spiritual" and the people outside their belief system "religious."

After this panel, I was hard-pressed to decide whether to attend a reading by two apocalyptic writers or listen to parts of A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry. Poetry feeds the soul and I don't read or listen to enough of it, so I chose the latter. Persona poetry turned out to be just what I guessed it was: poetry written from the point of view of characters other than the poet--the poetic version of first person fiction. I got to meet the goddess Calypso, who finds Odysseus washed ashore like a drowned kitten and wonders if she can keep him; a Russian fairytale version of Snow White; a total jerk of a man; the Hulk; and more. The poets said that you need empathy to wear the mask of another person and that not everyone is capable of doing that regarding people very different from themselves. These poems were great, and I want to try writing more of this type of poem myself.

The next event I attended was "The 'Adult' in 'Young Adult,' about handling "adult" subject matter in teen novels. I put "adult" in quotes here because, as both audience members and authors acknowledged, everyone is younger in some ways and older in others. I didn't take down who said what here, but it was said that who you write about determines a books niche rather than who you write for.

I learned some interesting facts about libraries: 1. Faced with budgets that limit the number of books they can order, they don't so much out-and-out ban books as avoid ordering ones that are likely to create a hubbub. 2. At least some libraries buy the newest titles, keep them for a little while, and then send them back and buy the fresh new titles.

Many questions strayed from the topic. People wanted to know more about techniques of writing YA. Most YA is written in first person. Third person can be done, but authors using it tend to tell rather than show. It is important to keep an intimate point of view, whichever approach you use.

Next, from authors Lisa Burstein and Katie Kacvinsky, I learned some surprising things about what publishers and reviewers consider acceptable today in young adult books: sex is, drugs and alcohol are not. However, Steve Brezenoff includes drugs and alcohol, as well as cussing in his YA novel, Brooklyn, Burning. A writer must be true to the characters. The writers also pointed out that teens always feel like they have a spotlight on them. Yes, I remember that self-consciousness well!

I'm getting increasingly tired and it's getting fairly close to the time I should get ready, so I'll gloss over most of the next talk I went to, featuring Steve Brezenoff and Inara Scott. I was very glad I went to this, though, because it was a great relief to hear from successful published writers who don't follow all those rules they tell you you have to do: Brezenoff doesn't write every day. Inara says you don't have to. She writes in spurts like me! At last, I have been validated! She said, "If the passion's not there it's okay to take a break." As a pin I inherited from my mother says: Screw guilt.

There is, it was said, a huge crossover between young adults (up to age 21) and adults--about half and half. Understandably, then, there is more sex and violence in YA today than there used to be. Parents concerned about what their children read can ask booksellers and librarians about books appropriate to their ages, and when the youths liked a book they can ask for similar titles.

It was pure enjoyment listening to Ray Rhamey read from The Vampire Kitty-Cat Chronicles. Told from the undead tomcat's point of view, it is funny and takes into account a lot of practical matters that vampires might have to deal with. I absolutely had to buy it. I confess my mind wandered as Rhamey read from two of his other books and I didn't get interested in them, but afterward I ran to the bookseller's table, bought the last copy of Vampire Kitty available, and ran to get the author to sign it for me.

I heard a new term from two different writers, the second one explaining what it means. A pacer is a writer who doesn't plot. Rhamey writes to see what happens. He wrote the kitty story online at first, something I did for a while with one of my vampire characters. That character, by keeping his own journal, seemed to invent himself; he developed in a matter of months while others have taken years.

The final panel was about sidekicks, or secondary characters. A sidekick isn't necessarily the protagonist's best friend. The sidekick is almost always of the same sex, but there are exceptions. There can also be more than one of them. Sidekicks can be a contradiction of the main character, to keep things in balance. A panelist gave the example of Don Quixote's Sancho Panzo. The character may be an externalization of the protagonist so he isn't talking to himself; the sidekick can be either antagonistic or agreeing.

For my novel-in-progress, Blood of the Willing, I like to throw my protagonist Mary together with her cantankerous and humorous friend Darrell for contrast in personality and in views toward how to handle the problem the book poses. Darrell, the traditionalist, thinks vampires are purely evil undead monsters that should all be killed. Mary finds herself taking a different view and approach. Either way they choose, both approaches have serious prices to pay.

I think I have finally said all I want to say about yesterday's half of the book fair. Tomorrow is here, that is to say it is 5:33 a.m., and I have to "get up" in less than half an hour. I pray I will have an energetic day in spite of my lack of sleep. I look forward to my workshop on starting a series.

I was more prepared Sunday, although I did forget the guidebook I had marked up with my plans for both days because I'd left it by the computer to refer to while writing my last entry. In a way, that was all for the best, because I had wanted a fresh map for the new day. After I got my hand stamped with the trademark red chair and lamp (free admission for either day you pay for a workshop), I sat down to plan my second day all over again. At the same table sat a woman writer with her young bookworm daughter. The woman was impressed that I marked the intended stages on my map with the time for each one (having been confused Saturday by my earlier technique of numbering the events in chronological order starting with 1), and I was impressed that she writes children's books about animals for National Geographic. I had brought along Vampire Kitty-Cat to read on the way there and back, relieved to finally be reading fiction again instead of my editing tomes. I recommended it to the woman's daughter.
Again, I missed the 10:00 starting time. They ought to blow a shofar or something. I only missed it by a couple minutes this time, but it was enough time that I again waited in line for the Open Write--not for long, though. I learned that you could write as many times as you wanted in the day, which is not what I had been told Saturday. I didn't have time to keep trying, although it would have been fun to go several times. I was, as the Blues Brothers say, on a mission from God: a mission to get as much as I could from the book fair as a writer and reader, and to make contact with potential employers and clients. Writers, editors, and students have to eat, too, and years of dedicating myself to my schooling as prices have risen and food stamps lowered have slimmed my pocketbook considerably.

My prompt this time was more helpful, and my fingers were surer on the small laptop keyboard. I made fewer mistakes and spent less time correcting them. I wrote a halfway decent little story, stopping ahead of my deadline because I heard someone else's timer ring and mistook it for mine. If I hadn't sent the story in when I did, and if I had thought about it a little more thoroughly, I would have perhaps mentioned the actual spell that brought the dragon into my life before it singed my hair off when I was trying to teach it to light my barbeque. But maybe that's better left unknown. After all, it was obviously a magic book I was reading, and those things can be dangerous.

I wasn't around the Attic Institute booth when they announced the winners, so I had to wait for the email to find out. I didn't really think mine was that original, but there was a category (I think they made it up for the writer) called "Best use of mythical beast." For a millisecond, I wondered if I had my claim to fame, but of course it wasn't me. After all, there was nothing incredibly unusual about my dragon.

From there, I sat watching a panel on a large stage, called "Twisting the Tale," about putting characters into horrible situations to create an exiting story. The subject could have been exiting in itself, and useful to a writer, but in my view it was but mildly interesting, and became less so the more it went on. The authors simply read from and talked about their books; I didn't get any specific tips about how to torture my own inner people. I did hear a thought-provoking quote from Kurt Anderson, author of True Believers: "Her belief in her own sanity was so strong, it led to insanity." This leads me to respond with a couple more quotes: "It has the ring of truth." --Gandolf, in Tolkien's The Hobbit. "Sanity is overrated." --that famous poet, Anon. How many of us label ourselves sane and a certain minority insane--and how often are the labels really accurate? Is anyone truly and fully sane? How do we define sanity?

I left my seat and walked up and down the exhibit hall, my envelope of resumes and business cards in hand. My painful shyness of the day before had fled. Saturday, at the end of the day, I had approached a friendly man from Minuteman Press who invited me to spin a wheel for a prize. Since he printed books for self-publishing authors, I'd chatted with him and asked him if he referred clients to editors. He said he did, and I gave him my resume and business card and chatted with him for some time. Now, I was amazed at how many publishers in this exhibit hall expressed an interest in my editing for them. I also signed up to do reviews for The Portland Book Review in exchange for free books.

At noon, I went to the panel on teen thrillers, featuring April Henry, author of The Night She Disappeared (based on a true story), Jeanne Ryan (pronounced Jeanie), author of Nerve, about a deadly online game of Dare, and Kimberly Derting, who writes the Body Finder series, about a girl who can find corpses and their killers by their "echoes" and "imprints," respectively.

The authors said that there used to be a big leap from books like Charlotte's Web and Nancy Drew to adult thrillers like Stephen King's--nothing less scary for teens to read. Elsewhere in Wordstock, it was expressed that this jump tends to be the habit of young male readers, anyway. One of the authors in this panel said she found psychological thrillers more frightening than horror because they could really happen. (I'll make a note to include plenty of things that could happen along with my fantastical themes; this goes hand-in-hand with my philosophy that the more realism I can include, the more easy it is to imagine the fantasy elements as true also.)

Why do these authors write their thrillers for young adults? They said it was their natural voice, they liked the pacing, and that teen experience is fresh, new, and always on the surface; a teen's best and worst day in life can be in the same hour. (Sounds to me as if teens are all bipolar--speaking of the fluid definitions of sanity.) Teen years are full of firsts: first kiss, first job, first day of high school . . . Writing (or reading) YA, you get to experience it all again. Teens also make enthusiastic fans. One author said they will come up to her and say theirs is the best book they have ever read . . . although she may find out later they never finished it.

Sorry I didn't sort out who said what here. I suppose I was more interested in the flow of the conversation and the information itself, since I am writing YA myself.

One of the authors said she wrote what she thought was an adult book, but because it had a teen protagonist, her agent said it was a teen novel.

But one thing that needs to be kept in mind is that some things can be too grisly for teens. The next matter is what not to include in YA books and why. They said that the books can teach but that learning should not be their main purpose. They should entertain. They should be pretty clean. A teacher was fired over some language in books. The author didn't want to make that happen to a teacher. The panel also said a YA book should not be a "problem novel," simply a book showing that a teen is not alone in being in a certain situation.

Publishers can grow looser in their standards as a series goes on. And teens like dark subjects. If they cannot find them in YA books, they will go to adult ones.

Tips for writers of teen thrillers and other books:
1. As I wrote in a special note to myself at the top of the page, when you leave one character on a cliffhanger, try to switch points of view to another character.
2. No matter how much you hear or read from and about other authors, there is no right or wrong way to write a book! This advice was so freeing to me, I wrote a big YES! in the margin.
3. For those who can afford it: I have heard more than one recommendation at this Wordstock of a computer program called Scribner. They said it's ideal for writing books. You can keep applicable photos, web pages, and index cards on the pages you are writing on and you can move them around.
4. If you can't get Scribner, you can cut out pictures from magazines that look like your characters. I have done this at times. It helps if you have some art ability of your own and can draw them, either from found pictures or from your own imagination. Then you can put those pictures up where you can refer to them and be consistent about their features.
5. Regarding research: If you are fortunate enough to get to North Carolina, you can take advantage of the Writer's Police Academy, started by a retired officer tired of writers making mistakes in their fiction. It sounded like a stupendous opportunity.
6. Also regarding research: Although Google is extremely useful for finding all kinds of facts, Phillip Margolin (who moderated the panel and also happened to speak at Willamette Writers this month)prefers to call and visit detectives and other professionals people in person. He finds that he or they will think of things he wouldn't have come up with otherwise. Margolin says these professionals love to help out.

The next panel I attended was "The Heart of the Matter," which according to the guidebook was concerned "compelling characters and stories . . . born from painful emotions and events in the author's life." It turned out that the panel didn't talk about writing fiction but memoirs. Although it was moving and empowering, I came away wishing I'd heard something about how to transfer my pain into fiction, and feeling slightly guilty that I'm not pursuing memoir. I could relate to the writing of a memoir book but not to the publishing of it. These writers pretty much said, Screw what your family thinks; you owe it to the world and yourself to open up and spill your darkest secrets and let others out there who have experienced similar abuses know they are not alone (yeah--the opposite of what the last panel said about "problem stories," it seems). I feel alone in that the things I most want to keep to myself are not among my sufferings but among my joys. I am considering letting my own memoir be read and possibly published posthumously (assuming the end of the world, so to speak, doesn't come first; dystopias was one of the themes at Wordstock this year, and I think it's an appropriate year to focus on them).

I felt a little guilty that I spend so much time writing fiction and letting the depths and heights of my experiences and emotions weave into them. I have fun skewing and exaggerating them beyond recognition and find catharsis in the midst of it. Why whine about victimization in my dysfunctional family and elsewhere in my life when I can take those experiences, add those of others I have met and read of, mix in a healthy dose of dark fantasy, and empower my characters to do things I could never do in my mundane life as a kind, gentle person? Wow, I've really turned this part of my report into a rant. This is not to say that anything I heard at said panel was invalid or unhelpful; it's just that it wasn't what I expected.

Since I find myself loving to write fiction more than nonfiction, I will talk about how fiction and fictional techniques figure into memoir.

Duff Brenna, who dealt with an abusive childhood by writing Murdering The Mom: A Memoir, ended up using three points of view, with third person limited and second person voices to vary the distance for himself and his readers. Jerry McGill, who was shot and paralyzed by a random stranger, had to invent his unknown attacker and give him a fictional history in Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me. Truth, as the panel pointed out, has multiple perspectives. I have even heard this concept applied to our Maker: "Mister God hasn't got a point of view--only endless viewing points," says the little girl in Mister God, This Is Anna.

The panelists explained the notable difference between memoir and autobiography: in memoir, if you can't remember something, you can make it up. In biography (auto or otherwise), you are obligated to get the dates and facts right. Getting dates right may be attainable, but who really knows the facts of even part of a life, much less years of a life? Although the moderator said she knew that children remember well what happens to them, at least one panelist said memory is fickle. (Here is a demonstration of it: I'm not sure who or how many of the three expressed that.)

Another important difference to note may be particularly of interest to memoir writers: Small independent presses will publish dark themes. Large commercial publishers want no dark material and they want all to be transformational. I find this to be a contrast to trade fiction. Here we are lifting up the dark themes in fiction with such writers as Stephen King and ignoring the who-was-its of the truth that inspires such fiction when they write what really happened to them. If you doubt that dark fiction comes from dark truth, try reading Stephen King's On Writing, which relates many of the horrors of the author's own experiences from young childhood on that prove what I read once in a Writer's Digest article. Whatever happens to you, no matter how bad, if you are a writer, "It's all copy." (Again, my fickle memory lacks an attribution.)

Just a little was said about a work of fiction, Yuknavitch's Dora, a Headcase (which Goodreads doesn't have in its database). The author said this teen book gets a lot of "adult hoodoo" trying to keep secret what the teens experience. Again, no "problem books." By all means, keep those who suffer from abuse and mental illness isolated! After all, we have met the enemy, and it is us, so let's imprison ourselves.

A little free dark sarcasm for you there.

The dark stories of real life are tales you "can't wrap up into happy little endings," one of the authors said, adding that a good movie, play, or book makes you feel sick at the end, not necessarily happy.

A note of hope for writers: Although celebrities sell a lot of copies of a book fast, lesser known authors sell their copies of a book longer. The two types of writers even each other out over time.

From there, I rushed to my workshop, "Starting a Series," by April Henry, and found it had already started. Some of what I heard I had already figured out on my own. For instance, the first item in my notes: make careful decisions with the first book.

Good news: Series (serieses?) sell very well, especially among teens, who get used to the whole setup the first book and then the series doesn't require as much of the reader. Adults like a series because they like the characters, which "seem like old friends." A series is no harder to sell than a stand-alone.

Every good series needs a hook, an overarching idea, but each book must not be the same. Each book must be whole and complete in itself, with a conflict and a resolution and some anticipation of what is to come. Writers, don't let people feel like they just walked in when they pick up a later book in the series. On the other hand, provide background information only when needed. Trilogies often have the flaw of the second book ending on a "downer."

A series is much more character-driven than a stand-alone book. Try using things you know well and have an inside scoop on to round out your main characters. You may want to write about two or three main characters and switch point of view. Note: I went to a meeting last night in which a writer said she was forced to re-write her mystery because a an agent or publisher told her there are no multiple points of view in her genre. Her genre is the same as April Henry's--mystery. I wanted to talk to her about Henry, but the acoustics in the room made it impossible for her to hear me from across the room, my foot was hurting for unknown reasons, and I was suffering from a bout of shyness and social awkwardness. Maybe it's better I didn't challenge the poor woman. At any rate, one point of view you wouldn't want to include in a mystery is the murderer's. Need I say we don't give away who done it? (That keeps my current work-in-progress from being in the mystery category; who done it is pretty clear early on; how to stop her from doing it is the problem.) To continue with my notes from the workshop: The characters should be bigger than real life. We already have real life. Make their lives more interesting and exciting than ours. Turn up whatever is the character's thing, their job, task, hobby, etc. Give your character a special area of expertise, and explore a new facit of it in each book. Give them bad habits readers can relate to, whether small-range or serious, that they are always trying to overcome. For instance, your character could have an alcohol problem that fluxtuates with each book.

Some flaws stay with a character forever; others are overcome. Perhaps the external problem is solved in one book while the harder, internal problems continue. The character could deal with a different problem each book. The characters must grow and change, with the main character most affected. A lot of life-changing things must happen. We want to read about people with a lot of trouble and problems--not like we want our own lives to be! She also said to make all the characters likable and important--although I wonder whether this is as true for villains as for heroes. There are, as you no doubt recognize, characters we love to hate. Perhaps if we really understood them we might like them to more or less of an extent, but fiction doesn't always allow us enough time to get to know them that well. If the same villain continues throughout a series, he may be sympathetic to the reader, though. One of my Goodreads friends suggests I strive to make a villain so sympathetic readers will root for him or her. I'm not sure whether I want to go that far, but I think I could strive for that with some of them, at least.

It is hard to avoid stereotypes. April Henry's suggestion is to break down stereotypes, mixing the traits up like a sectioned flip book. I can only hope I come to recognize stereotypes in the first place to that I can effectively mix their traits. Add the unusual, she said, and don't make characters too similar to one another.

Ask yourself what your characters love, what they are afraid of, and what they want. What do they struggle with, and what do they try to hide? Don't forget disabilities in the characters and their relations.

Oh, I see the suggestion about the magazine pictures was made in this workshop. You can also go to stores that match your characters' income level and pick out what they are likely to wear. I suggest taking pictures of them if the proprietors don't mind. You might even find otherwise expensive items in thrift stores and actually buy them. Yeah, I think cheap because I have to. I'm so glad my daughter isn't like my niece, who insisted on Dolphin brand shorts when they were the in thing; my daughter has always loved Goodwill, where you can find some of the coolest stuff for just a few dollars. I'm thinking of a few reasons why buying the clothes might be better than taking pictures of them: you can clearly see them from all angles; you can be familiar with the feel of the fabric; if they fit you, you can wear them and know what they feel like and look like when worn; if they don't fit you, perhaps you can find people they do fit who can act out the characters to help you write scenes, and to play out scenes as publicity gimmicks.

A new point of view in another book that has never been used in an earlier book can confuse readers. ("Uh-oh," I wrote in my notebook's margin; I have planned to write my second and third books partly using new POVs of some of my secondary characters, but as long as Book 1 already is, I can't go back and add those points of view--don't think I should, anyway, because it would make the story too complicated, especially for young adults. This is a rule I think I will bend, because I and others love some of my secondary characters and I think their POVs are aching to burst out. It helps that one of my POV characters in my first book reads some of another character's diary, which introduces her point of view a little. But I also want to bring new characters into the second book, and I feel I need the point of view of at least one of those to make the story work. I was thinking of introducing him through letters rather than the traditional POV narration.

Meyer Briggs and other online questionaires are good for characterization.

Unless you pick a specific year for your setting, try not to nail down time too much.

Consider stories that can go across several books. Leave some information fluid; you don't have to know everything in advance. You will have new ideas later. Don't save the good stuff for later. Use your good ideas now. You have a chance to get this first book book published. When you approach a publisher, she said not to try to sell on the series. Just try to sell the first book; with that in mind, write the ending on a strong note. My concern with this is that I would like my book cover to include the name of the series on it; I've even been working on a logo.

April Henry said to list things the character would never say, do, or think. Then find situations when they have to do these things. I guess writers have to be cruel to their darling characters. Henry says to make their lives as bad as possible for as long as possible; it makes reading more interesting.

Of course, we writers also have to figure out how to get our characters out of these scrapes so that they survive into the next book. Or do we? Shall we let them continue as vampires, zombies, angels, saints? Depends on the genre, I'd say. Probably best not to suddenly turn a standard mystery series into a paranormal one.

Because the workshop let out at 4:15, I was late for the next event on the Tri-Met YA stage, which had also switched topics with the one meant to come after it. I listened to David Levithan read a little from his novel, Every Day, about a boy who wakes up in a different body each day. My memory fails me at that point (did someone else take over my body for a while?); all I know is that Wordstock was soon to end and I had more tables to visit in the exhibit hall. I do remember while canvassing the place that I noticed I was too late for the beginning of "New Trends in Teen Paranormal." I figured it was more important to find work than find out what was being published now, because it's useless to follow or predict trends, and what does the knowledge of what is already being published really do for you, anyway? Even though I still didn't visit every possible market for my editing and writing in the hall, I came out confident, and I found a good magazine I might contribute to and make good money. It's a literary magazine for parents, called Stealing Time. They pay on acceptance, which is a good thing.

So much more I could have enjoyed. So much more I could say about the books I learned about. But that is enough for me to say. I can't blog my whole life away. Poor novel is being neglected, among other things.

Happy reading, happy writing! And enjoy your life as well!

I’m not sure there was one moment in my life when I realized I would be a writer. I think it was close to a destiny I always knew. Stories were important to me from the beginning. I loved the picture books my mother read to me. In kindergarten, our class made a book of pictures by each pupil; accompanying the drawings were short piece of writing we had dictated to the teacher. I acted out fairytales for family members and friends, like “The Three Bears” and “Cinderella.”

In first and second grade, we wrote stories and illustrated them on big-ruled sheets of paper. Our teachers gave us really creative prompts, and I think I got into more detail than the other kids, careful to include a logical beginning. In second grade I stayed in recesses to make my first picture book.

I was teased a lot by my schoolmates, and it cut me deeply. My family was unsympathetic to my complaints about it. I told myself that when I grew up I would be a famous artist and writer. Then those who had hated me would read about me in the newspapers and be sorry. I would show them I was better than a misfit crybaby, and better than all of them.

In third grade, I used to go visit my second grade teacher. I told her I was going to be an author. She pinched my cheeks and said, “Write children’s books.”

Sorry, Mrs. Palermo. My interests are broader, and I don’t pander to your expectations. I write what inspiration leads me to, not what one set age group dictates.

When I was still a child, it would take me hours to get to sleep, so I would make up novels in my head. Now I find that I can’t carry whole scenes in my memory for long without writing them down.

Although I still do a little art for my own pleasure, most of my art is to help me picture the characters in my stories or to design possible covers for the books. The “famous artist” part of my ambition has pretty much fallen by the wayside, leaving me more time to write. I’m driven to imagine, get it into words, and share it with others. Fame is slow to come by and not a need anymore. I’m famous to God. But I would like to produce published books. And I want to make a living on my writing!

I get the impression that most people think writing like mine is play and that I should spend my time doing more “important” things. Writing is enjoyable for me, but it also requires a lot of time and effort. Most of the markets out there pay nothing, and another large percentage pay a only a handful of dollars, I suppose for the purpose of saying you’re “paid.” Some writers make their living writing articles, but the really creative stuff doesn’t provide a living except to the rare superstar author. What are our values?

I write because I love stories. I write because the Lord I love is the Word. God made me in His image. And He is the Creator. So I am a creator, too.

(Sorry if a bit of this is the same as my author information. I wrote this entry to a Writer's Digest website prompt while in my writers' salon group. The information was all new to my friends there.)

It would make a lot of sense if Goodreads added the following categories to the My Books status:

Started to read but had to return to the library

Started but may never finish

Started but will definitely never finish

Using as a reference

(any more you'd like to add?)

What do you think? I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only person who doesn't always finish a book she picks up, for whatever reason. And just because I've put a book down doesn't prove I want to erase it from my list.

This Christmas season, I am bell-ringing for the Salvation Army six hours a day, six days a week. I am not, as some who pass by assume, a volunteer. I earn minimum wage. I need the money to pay bills. But I also love the job. I did it every year since my daughter was small, until I went back to college and was too busy with my studies. What could be so great about standing—or sitting, when my medical problems flare up—for hours on end ringing a bell? First off, it’s for a good cause. The kettle money is the only source that the Salvation Army has to help the needy within this county at Christmas time and all year round. I also love greeting people, spreading cheer and blessings and keeping an attitude of prayer throughout the day. If I had a present for every time that someone wished me a Merry Christmas out there in front of the Safeway—or the times I wished others the same—I don’t know where I would fit all the gifts. I represent Christmas and a Christian ministry and church that is well-liked by all types of people. Some people tell me that it is the only social service that gets through to military workers and disaster victims. I love watching children enjoy giving, and I laugh that they call me Santa although I’m a woman and I don’t exactly dress the part. They ought to know better, I think, because while I ring, I sing. My favorite part of this job is the special contribution of my voice.

Never mind the story that a robin heralds the spring. This Robin gets her greatest opportunity to sing out in the winter: carols about the birth of my beloved Lord, songs of joy about fun times, hymns of thanks and worship, and titles that aren’t connected with Christmas but speak of winter cold and snow. I even wrote two of my own verses to “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”:

Jolly old Saint Nicholas,
lend your ear this way;
I hope you tell everyone
what I’m going to say.
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
whisper what it really means,
tell me if you can.
Daddy wants a brand new car,
Mommy wants a house,
sister wants a new PC,
kitty wants a mouse;
But these kinds of presents can’t
give our spirits rest;
Only God, who sent His Son,
gives the very best.

You can listen to me sing this on YouTube: St. Nicholas song

People like my voice. They don’t often stop long enough to hear a whole song, or even a whole verse, but it is enough to cheer them, invite compliments, sympathy when it’s cold, and cups of Starbucks hot cocoa, not to mention an increasing number of donations as the season progresses. I’m not allowed to put money in the bucket myself this year, which leads to some people’s carts rolling down the sloping sidewalk into the parking lot, especially if I have to sit in my chair and can’t reach to hold the cart for them.

The plan this year was for every paid ringer to work Monday through Friday, replaced by volunteers on Saturday, but at my location no one volunteered during the hours I work (1 to 7 pm.). I’m happy to make the extra money, but boy does it keep me busy! When I’m not at work or commuting to and from, it amazes me how much time just preparing Christmas letters and cards takes. Not to mention all the time (and money) it took to get enough warm clothes to get me through freezing days. I wear ski pants every day, two wool sweaters, two warm hats under my Santa cap, and more layers than that under my wool coat. A lot of people say, “You picked a cold day to do this!” or “You must be freezing!” Some nights I nearly am, but other times I’m hot in all those layers. I look at these people, dressed as if for summer, and I wonder how they can stand just walking in and out of the store. Some say, “You should be inside!” I don’t belong inside; I would bake in my layers, I wouldn’t be able to sing, and I probably couldn’t ring, either.

I have to carry a lot with me on the bus to work including a full thermos, a lunch to eat just before I start, a cozy blanket for when I am sitting on the colder days, toe and hand warmers, you name it. So I don’t take a book. I am used to reading on the bus. Ergo, I’m not getting my reading done. And—here’s where the real confession comes in—although I have no excuse about weight or volume at home, I have hardly read my Bible since I started the job this season. Normally I read some nearly every morning with breakfast. Now at that meal, I pore over my schedule book, address Christmas cards, make phone calls, whatever else I feel I need to do. I feel like the biblical Martha, a human doing rather than a human being, when I’m at home doing all these tasks. Only last Saturday and Sunday did I slow down. I found play even more necessary than sleep last night. I dinked around on the computer until about 4 in the morning, although I had to get up at 6:30 to get ready for church. Then, I brought a book on the bus, Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power Of Positive Thinking. And I actually read! I read about the importance of taking time to relax and to read some Bible.

The human being is alive from the depths of her heart at the kettle. My church has no choir, and I haven’t played my guitar in a long time; I lack the motivation to take up those songs I wrote long ago or write new ones when the guitar playing has become so rusty. But at the kettle, the person I most entertain is myself. What I lack in Bible reading, I make up for in worship. When the only reading I do is the lyrics in my song folder, I’m in my element. Some of the songs even make me cry—which is bad for singing, let me tell you. And my range is sometimes lacking, especially earlier in the day. Although “O Holy Night” is practically everyone’s favorite, I won’t attempt it before dark. But I can sing “I Want a Hippopotamus” anytime. “The Grinch Song” I don’t usually attempt because I’m afraid passersby might think I’m saying all those despicable things about them. Anyway, you get the idea.

If you want to read some of my reflections about Christmas songs, go to http://robinlayne.hubpages.com/hub/Cr.... It also features a picture of me at the kettle and a video of me singing my “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” verses … complete with my daughter’s cat on my lap—until he, like my audience in front of the store, rushes off to other business.

Another confession: I did bring my draft of this post with me on the bus to edit. But since it’s not a book, it doesn’t really count as “reading,” does it? Just as writing short things like this while ignoring my novel-in-progress doesn’t count as “writing.”

The reason I have time to post this now is that my body very radically told me to take a break: The ankle I sprained prior to the beginning of my job acted up today and I had to skip working on what might be one of the best-yielding days of the season (the Saturday before Christmas). And if it’s not the ankle, it’s a knee. At least there were two volunteers today, from 10 to noon and from noon to 2.

I’d already arranged for a friend to pick up my Christmas food box today. Can you hazard a guess as to the source of this gift? Yep. The Salvation Army. Better than the food, to my mind, was flyer with a new rendition of the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
As above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals,
Keep us forgiven with you
And forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the evil one.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
AMEN

Okay . . . When it’s that potent a message, it doesn’t have to be a portion of a book. It counts as reading.

I will post a picture of myself at the kettle from a few years back in my Photos section.

I urge you also to “do the most good” in all your endeavors both during this season and all year long.

Merry Christmas to all, to all a good night, and peace through 2014!

You might say my career is now going to the dogs … or not. What I mean to say, always loving a good pun, is that I am now on the editing staff of Barking Rain Press (BRP). I’d be doing summersaults if this older dog was able to, because it’s the publisher I most wanted to work for.

I discovered BRP at Wordstock last October. Publisher Sheri Gormley sat at one of booths, with books the company has published on display. Barking Rain’s motto is “Books with Bite.” I learned that the dog on its logo is named Elvis (an incarnation of the rock star nobody has guessed yet?)

BRP publishes fiction and nonfiction for adults and young adults. Looking at the covers and reading some of the blurbs got me excited; not only was this a publisher I would love to edit for. Judging from some of the books on display, it was the first publisher I’d seen that takes the kind of mixture of genres I am writing in my vampire series. (Their title that most resembles my series in progress is—I kid you not—The Celibate Succubus.)I talked to Ms. Gormley about the possibility of employment. She gave me the name of the editor from whom to request a copyediting test. I did as she asked and took the test, using The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, as requested. CMOS, as those in the business call it, is the standard for book publishers (as the AP Stylebook is for newspapers).

Editor Ti Locke’s response was that my copyediting skills were good but that I had missed a few matters of punctuation. This humbled me, because I think of punctuation as my strong suit. She said I had not changed the quotation marks from the straight to the curly kind, and I had not formatted the ellipses properly. Well, I had no excuse for the straight quotations, and I don’t know why I didn’t correct them, but I remembered being taught from my online Berkeley class to include a space between each dot in an ellipses, and I did that. Locke said in her email that she would pass my test on to Gormley. I expected to hear from Gormley one way or another, but as the silent months dragged on, I assumed I was not chosen, and I turned my attention to other projects. I took a class that helped me immensely with organization, prioritizing, and even setting and pursuing my most precious goals. I put together a very serviceable planning book small enough to carry around with me everywhere. It’s a lifesaver. And I made headway on my vampire novel by dovetailing some goal managing advice from the class and information about story premises and character emotional arcs from a speaker at a Willamette Writers meeting whose name I unfortunately cannot find at the moment (which says I still have more organizing to do!). Thanks to learning to write a premise, and to focus character arcs around that premise, to using visualization to kick-start my motivation, to setting goals and to scheduling days to accomplish them, the first of my Anti-Vampirism Society stories is more in focus. I updated the numbering of my chapter files, renamed some chapters, rewrote my extended synopsis, rearranged some of the story’s events to make better sense, edited five chapters (one a week), and completed emotional arcs for four of the main characters and one minor character. Unfortunately, the class required me to take on other projects and I had to slow the writing plans. Once the class ended, I stopped working on the character arcs; poor Melanie is stuck in the process, and Alex hasn’t entered into an arc yet at all. (Noah could be telling them to hurry up.)

You can also read about that process, and see my new painting of the vampire Carletta, on my AVS blog, RobinLayneAuthor.Wordpress.com.

I receive a monthly bus pass from an organization that has been helping me prepare for and find work. Toward the end of March, the pass came wrapped in a form asking me what companies I wanted to work for and what jobs I had applied for. It was due back in about a week. I was surprised, but I got busy. I took out some information from past book fairs, sorted it all into categories, and wrote emails to all the publishers that might be offering jobs for editors. And I finally took my head out of the sand and went through CMOS’s entire section on ellipses. There I found plenty of information on where that confounded punctuation should be used, but not a single instance of how to lay out those three dots. I wrote to Ti Locke about it. She told me that using a space before and after the three dots but no spaces between them is the only format recognized by InDesign. (If you haven’t fallen asleep reading this, you may be an editor yet.) It took a few emails back and forth—and I worried that I wore her patience thin—before I realized that the formatting information on ellipses came from the online version of CMOS, which had sections extending beyond those in the book. Locke also said in her response to my initial punctuation question that some of my correspondence might have been misplaced in the busyness of book production. So the humble ellipses just might have put me back on their company’s radar.

Meanwhile, I looked on Craigslist under writing/editing jobs. I applied to Liberty Voice, an online newspaper, with hopes of writing features and reviews and also becoming one of its copyeditors. They told me to write three stories, one a day over three days. I did. I worried I would run out of subject matter for stories at such a pace. Then they admitted me to their “boot camp,” which required me to Skype every day with the company for an untold number of hours, plus write a story every day. And not just any story. It had to use as the main word in its headline one of the subjects of the leading articles on Google news. I know the idea was create stories that might go viral. But I decided as far back as 1979 that I did not want to be a newspaper reporter, and now, though I tried, I couldn’t find a single headline on the list that inspired a story I was capable of writing. If I knew celebrities or politicians I could interview, it would be different. Without a way in to places I didn’t really want to be in the first place, I couldn’t possibly meet a few hours’ deadline to write an article. The whole process was making a nervous wreck of me. By Easter weekend, I quit.

When next I met with my job counselor, he told me I wasn’t required to fill out the job search report. The assistant just started including those to keep people from seeing the shape of the bus pass in the envelope.

Following my quitting Liberty Voice, my computer quit. That PC, which my friend Christopher had given me, had been freezing on me for a long time, and it did so more and more frequently. The “blue screen of doom” error message appeared for what I was sure was the last time. I couldn’t have gone on with Liberty Voice if I’d wanted to.
Another friend, Kevin, saved most of my files to a flash drive and then confirmed that the PC was a goner. He recommended I get a laptop with a loading dock, and promised to price some on Craigslist. We thought the cost would be a few hundred dollars. I believed the employment agency would pay for a new computer for me, considering my line of work. Kevin called me later with amazing news: He had found two laptops with loading docks for sale at the same place for $50 and $60, and the $50 one was the better of the two. It had more memory and could burn DVDs, he said. I gave him the go-ahead to snatch up this bargain.

Meanwhile, I kept trying to reach my job counselor. Finally an assistant told me my counselor had said they could not finance the computer “because it isn’t necessary for employment.” I was confused and angry. I had hoped I could use the money to help my daughter with some needs.

The Thursday after Easter, I finally got to talk to my counselor—itself a miracle. He explained that the agency couldn’t fund a computer unless I had an offer for a job that required a home computer, and they had to make sure the computer fit the requirements of the job. My anger disappeared.

That afternoon, because Kevin hadn’t finished loading files onto my new laptop, I was using a computer at a library. I received an email from Sheri Gormley asking me if I was still interested in editing for Barking Rain Press.

So the day that I learned the requirements to get a computer paid for was the day I met those requirements. I won’t go into detail about the things that went wrong with the new computer and the hard work that Christopher went through to fix it. But it’s working now ... and so am I.

I like to name my computers. The last one was Frank-N-Stein. I’m keeping Frank until I get the rest of my files transferred to Ernie. Ernie is the newbie’s name because I noticed its official name is “ERN” with some numbers added. I haven’t taken Ernie on any outings because I’m not sure the touch pad will work properly before it gets the driver it asks for every time I boot, and also because, heck, this is western Oregon, it can rain any time, and I don’t have a protective case.

My new job is exciting. I’m not just a copyeditor, or just a proofreader, or just an acquisitions editor. Right now I’ve joined the rest of the crew in going through the slush pile, picking submissions to read, and deciding, based on four sample chapters, a synopsis, and a marketing plan, whether we should reject the submission or ask to see the complete manuscript. At least two reviews are required for each book before a decision is made. Later, when I find a book I really like, I will champion it, being its editor from beginning to end. When that book is accepted for publication, I receive a small lump sum. Upon publication, my name will be printed in the book as the editor, and I will begin receiving royalties for every book sold. I also get a small lump sum for proofreading a book—going over it one last time to check for small errors and formatting problems before it is prepared for press.

This is not a job I expect to make a lot of money on, unless any books I edit sell very well. But I believe it is a company I can get behind, it is work I love, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow in my field. I am currently reading the third submission I picked to read. I’m loving this submission. And I’m loving the job. I am noticing plenty of instances of all things working out to my good—no matter how bad, disappointing, or annoying they seem at first. I am rejoicing! Rowf!

Check out BRP at BarkingRainPress.org

Thursday

I was super privileged to attend the Willamette Writers Conference this year. It was my third such conference, and I think my last was in 2009. This year it was easier to reach because it was held at the Doubletree Inn by Portland’s Lloyds Center, right along the Max lightrail track.

The first event, Pitch for the Prize, was Thursday night of July 31, and I was so excited I couldn’t even pack a dinner—or do anything else. So I left as soon as I could and enjoyed a big steak salad at Denny’s along the way, where I flipped a quarter to help me decide which workshops to attend that were slated for the same time slots as others I wanted. My quarter would insist I take one workshop—then I would think I wanted the other.

Entering the hotel was pure pleasure. I looked for Willamette Writers nametags everywhere, seeking other crazy people driven to create via the written word and spread their creations throughout the known universe. It still amazes me how many of us there are, because outside such events, writing for publication can be a lonely venture. Most of my friends and family members aren’t writers. My mother didn’t encourage my passion, and although my father did, he insisted I would have to always sell shoes or something for a living. I still believe him, although I’m no good at selling shoes. Is that why I’m still poor?

I picked up my nametag and folder early, so I had plenty of time to look at the Barnes and Noble corner that featured books on writing and other titles, the silent auction area that was just being set up (it was hot in there at the time), and the information table to learn more about Pitch for the Prize and Manuscript ER. In the first event, writers chosen randomly to give a three-minute pitch of their manuscripts to a panel of editors and agents paid $5, got advice from the judges after their pitches, and the writer whose pitch was deemed best took home all the entry money. I didn’t have a manuscript ready to pitch, but after a while I wished I did. I learned a lot. I took notes, and I might write more later about my experience either here or in the Authors by Design blog. But first I will blog about conference details that are more applicable to what I am doing now. These posts are certain to interest other writers who are in the formulation and writing stages of their creations. They may also interest readers who want to understand what moves them and why, how stories work, and how writers make the kinds they most enjoy.

Friday

Friday, I missed the workshop waiting for Manuscript ER and then getting the advice of “ER operator” Cheri Lasota of Stirling Editing. I was told we would have 15 minutes together, but we must have had well over half an hour. She taught me what I need to do to convert my too-long novel into two separate stories, and revealed the importance of making my whole series have its own story arc. She gave me some tips on how to do that, and recommended I learn more from Larry Brooks, who was teaching three workshops at the conference. She referred me to a blog post by Susan Kaye Quinn to help me brainstorm the rest of my series. The link is www.susankayequinn.com/2013/12/brainstorming-book.html>. Lasota’s website is CheeriLasota.com/StirlingEditing/.
Waiting for Manuscript ER was no chore. While I did so, I began meeting interesting writers, some whom I would run into later throughout the conference. Like Brittany “Bri” Maresh from Alaska, who, when I told her I was writing a vampire series, said, “We love you!” and named me some books she said I must read (Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhedes , Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black , and Sunshine by Robin McKinley ).
I’m so glad my drive to finish what I was first inspired to write some fourteen years ago didn’t let me stop when some “experts” in publishing told me “Vampires are dead” (no pun intended?) I don’t chase trends. I write what God gives me to write and what speaks to me, what I hope will speak to others, whatever people might think of the subject matter. I don’t copy other’s work. I almost cringe when anyone responds to me by saying, “Oh yes, vampires are so in now,” or “Of course you write about vampires. Ever since Twilight…” FYI, I got the dream that started me writing my AVS stories before there was a Twilight, and when I started reading the thing and heard it was a bestseller, I was heartbroken and scared. Is this what the audience I’m aiming for likes? I thought. Drivel by a person who breaks every writing rule I was ever taught? Do I have to be compared and contrasted to this amateur? The only really good thing about those books, I thought, was the cover art, and that was only for the original hardbacks. I thought it might be death to my dream. But this Willamette Writers Conference included the videoed opinions of actual high school students, one who said she was sick of vampires because of Twilight. That quote mostly encouraged me; they are not looking for a duplicate. I just have to make my stories different and better. My vampires are not like Stephanie Meyers’s, and my stories are fresh.

From ER, I ran quickly down to the big, crowded room where Larry Brooks taught Story 101: The Three-Way Collision of Idea, Concept, and Premise. He also talked about theme but for some reason didn’t include it in his title. He challenged us to define “story.” One single word that epitomizes a story: Conflict. “Without plot,” he said, “the exploration of a character is a biography of a fictional character, not a story.”

Lunch followed. Having the deluxe admission, I got to hear a speaker with each lunch as well as meet more wonderful fellow writers. Friday’s speaker was Gayathri Ramprasad, who wrote Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within . I wish my camera was working, because Ramprasad was drop-dead gorgeous in her purple sari, all her jewelry, and her black hair piled high on her head. When she read that as a child she was "a princess," I could believe it. Later, mental illness and abuse drew her down into a deep chasm. But getting locked up set her free to learn they couldn’t lock up her spirit. She found love, acceptance, courage, and compassion among the mentally ill. Yet she discovered that they are misplaced and mistreated in prisons and asylums around the world. Overwhelmed, she was comforted by the words of Mother Teresa: “We can do no great things. We can do small things with great love.” (This saying also spoke to me on a special occasion, just two days after Mother Teresa went to Heaven.) Ramprasad formed ASHA International (www.myasha.org) to spread understanding about mental illness and to reduce stigma against this cluster of diseases that one out of four people experience sometime in life.

It was at one of these lunches I met Paula Blackwelder (from Florida), who is working on a documentary about a trapeze artist she knew while performing for the circus herself. I was to run into her several more times (who could miss her long, straight, black hair?), and hear more than one person encourage her to write her own story. If interested in her projects, check out Circus Nation TV Network at www.OnNowTV.com/232.

Next I attended Gordon Warnock’s workshop, An Agent Explains Author Platforms. I had high hopes for this one, but it was the one event that didn’t help me much. It seemed most helpful for non-fiction writers. Other than attending horror conventions, I couldn’t think what real organizations to get involved in to draw attention to my vampire books. I couldn’t even think of any questions to ask.

My next workshop more than made up for that. Laura Whitcomb, author of the YA love stories A Certain Slant of Light , Under the Light and The Fetch , taught Magical Worlds and Real Romance. She said that you can make any world seem so real and down to earth it becomes like magic. She gave us several writing exercises (some which I will continue for some time to come), to help us establish the rules of our magical worlds and to inspire us to believe for the best and keep on writing until we achieve it.

Saturday

My first Saturday workshop was helpful, but I can’t do it justice without sharing a lot of pictures. The subject was Cover Design Secrets You Can Use to Sell More Books, by designer Derek Murphy. It would take me a long time to post a small portion of the covers he showed us, and here they would appear awfully small. His website, www.creativeindie.com will give you some good examples. Here are some highlights of his advice: It is the job of the cover to tell readers what’s in the book. A cover should not so much explain as attract. There are conventions for each genre that help readers find what they want—for instance, vampire books are black, red, and maybe white, sometimes with blood splatters on them. Spirituality is purple or blue. Covers for fiction should make an emotional connection, nonfiction more of a cognitive one. Consider how your cover should look when it’s really small as well as up close. Contrasting colors make a good cover “pop.” The cover should not be crowded but have lots of space. Murphy provided a number of web addresses for stock photography and text, but if you use stock pictures, be sure to change them enough that they don’t look like every other book using that art. If you want to know more from my notes of this workshop or my others, just comment below or message me. It will help me decide what to publish, and if I don’t post about the event you want more info on, I will send you the info personally.

I showed Murphy my sketch for the cover of my first AVS book. Like I thought when he was teaching, it’s too busy. I had Mary, my main character, looking into a dream catcher (because she has prophetic dreams) and behind the dream catcher my vampire girl luring her boyfriend away and the boy approaching her with interest. Murphy advised just featuring Mary behind the dream catcher with her distraught expression. I don’t know if I like that idea as much, but he said that the best cover often isn’t the author’s favorite. At least a front view would show her silver heart locket, which is an important to the story.

I then went to hear Larry Brooks again. In Story 202: Discovering Story Through Structure, he said a great story is about something happening in the pursuit of a resolution to something. A story has four parts: set up (introducing the hero); response (the situation grows darker, the stakes bigger, and the hero becomes a “wanderer”); attack (the hero becomes a “warrior” and has some effectiveness with the problem); and resolution (in which the hero must be a primary catalyst). The setup contains one or more inciting incidents—parts where the conflict becomes apparent. The most important part of the story is the first plot point, which happens between the first and second of the four sections; this event launches the hero’s journey and what he/she needs to do. Between the response and attack is a second plot point (there can be more), which makes the journey different or new. This midpoint a good place for revealing secrets. Between the attack and the resolution is sometimes a lull—a place of despondency for the main characters. If this leaves you scratching your head, please realize I’m giving a quick outline and I’m just learning this stuff. It helps to note examples and figure out how the model fits your own work or those of others who have succeeded before you. Brooks gave many examples from movies and books.
The man gave out so much information in so little time that I found his workshops confusing. But I was sold on his idea that understanding how the elements of story work as soon as possible saves huge time and effort in writing. Because the first story in my vampire series is so long I’m trying to turn it into two books, I went up afterwards and asked Brooks, “Is The Lord of the Rings one story or two?” He said, “That’s why I clarified ‘modern book.’” In other words, what I could most easily do is not allowed today, though it was in the ancient days of J.R.R. Tolkien. I told him of my dilemma—that I feel like I may be forcing a long tale into two separate boxes. He said, “If it won’t work as two stories, you’ll just have to write it as a 70,000-word book and let the editors help you hone it down.” Actually, I don’t know how many words I have in all. I know I have over 500 pages, mostly single-spaced, and that the draft isn’t finished. I question whether a publisher would accept a manuscript that long from a first-time author and go through all the trouble it would take to shorten it. And I don’t have the money to pay a freelance editor to do that for me. So for now my story is in limbo again. It’s time for faith to carry me and my project through another crisis.

I would miss Sunday’s Story 303 because of another workshop in that timeslot, but I bought Brooks' book, Story Engineering . He signed it, “Robin—One book or two? Go for it … and enjoy!” I will be writing more about Brooks’ model of story writing in one of the blogs as I study my notes and read his book. I may also consult the diagrams on his website.

Rushing Ahead to Great News

This brings us to about midpoint of Saturday in a description I wanted to keep much briefer. Since my text in Word is over four pages long in 11-point type, and since the conference ended 11 days ago, I’m going to stop here and take up the rest of this story in my next blog. Because this post is more biographical and informational than a structured story, I don’t have a problem with cutting it in half—or in more parts, if need be. But before I stop for today, I’m going to rush ahead and tell you the big perk of the whole conference for me: Sunday, as the conference was wrapping up, I sat at a very lucky table. I say that tongue-in-cheek, as I really don’t believe in luck. Maybe I should say a blessed table? The guy next to me won a book when his returned nametag was drawn at random. Then the guy next to him won a book the same way. Lastly, I won one of the raffles to “Hobnob with an Author.” I had paid $10 for 15 tickets and, because I couldn’t decide which author on the list I wanted to spend an hour with, I specified some for mystery writer April Henry and some for playwright and screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb (Saturday's lunch speaker and sister of Laura Whitcomb). I won the opportunity to meet with Cynthia Whitcomb. I will be having coffee with her tomorrow morning, and I’m still not entirely sure what I will ask or say. Stay tuned and you will find out how it went.

To Be Continued…

I may be a lady in red, but I do not write erotica. The book, "One of my Sordid Affairs" is not mine, although someone has put it on my page.

When I chose to used my first and middle name as my pseudonym, I didn't suspect that I would ever be pursued by an "evil twin" of the same name who tells sexual secrets true or false. I did find out there was a musician (a percussionist, to be exact) named Robin Layne who also showed up on a Google search, so I was careful to name my Wordpress blog "Robin Layne, Author," for clarity's sake. But yesterday I discovered someone has added a book to my profile page that I did not write.

I don't want this other writer's reputation, and I suspect she doesn't want mine. I don't choose to publish my own sordid affairs (which are all behind me), and I don't go into detail about the private details of my characters', either.

One good thing has come out of this event so far: When I looked up Robin Layne on Amazon, I found out that "A Medley of Fiction" is available there for purchase. That is an anthology I contributed a poem to "Eros at My Window." It is the single book that AuthorsByDesign.com created. I used to be active on that site in its heyday, back when it was among Writer's Digest's 100 best websites for writers. AbD, as we called it, awarded me three different awards (two for short horror stories, one for persistent posts in it's own NanoWriMo-like event). For a time, I was moderator of its "Grammar Grapplers" thread. Alas, even after an attempt to revamp and resurrect the site, it has died--leaving the book and a few scattered members and what they choose to do with their works as the only survivors. Who knows--the book might be worth some money someday. It is certainly worth a good read. I just didn't finish it due to other priorities, and so for now it is listed as a book I'm still reading. One of the stories that won an AbD contest (and a contest at an anime convention as well) is on my profile: "Blood Ties."

I have written to the moderators about the unwanted book on my page. I shall be thinking about an alternate pen name that will be unique and characterize me. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

There is more I want to say about other things, but I have no time right now. Blessings to all! And friends--send me a message now and then, okay?

Hi, I have an apology to make. I've been sooo busy with writing, publishing, trying to publish, and editing, that I haven't had time to write here. I suppose I could have made time, but I strangely hold sacred the late hours of night, when I relax with Facebook, playing games and talking to people, sometimes reading other people's posts, and sometimes posting and commenting myself. Do you think that's lame? Maybe. But I seem to need downtime. You know what they say about all work and no play.

Anyway, I just submitted some poems to "Rattle" magazine and website, and I gave my Goodreads address as a contact point, because my website needs work, isn't what I'd like it to be, and is a big pain to correct and update. Why? Long story I may get into another time. But I haven't made that site much of a priority. I had no paid freelance editing business in 2016, but I have been busy editing another book with Barking Rain Press. As of yesterday, I completed my part in the copyedit. Whew! What an accomplishment!

The past year saw many new, exciting activities and progress. Some of them came about because I'd been part of a critique group that met in a local library, which went over my vampire novel chapters 1 or 2 at a time and looked at other stuff, too, like my first sonnet (Shakespearean style; it was hard to take in the rules, but once I got that down, the structure helped me compose). A lady named Minnie showed up one time and not only continued coming but got me interested in another group, The Portland Writers' Mill, which has about 20 people attending each time and keeps me busy with monthly contests and annual anthologies. I helped edit The Portland Writers' Mill Journal Volume 5, 2016, and contributed far more writing than I've ever published in one place before: 17 poems, 7 fiction short stories, and 12 pictures, including photographs, drawings, and paintings. The book was broken up into categories, mostly based on the subjects of the monthly contests. Being a newcomer, I only had a few contest entries, but I also submitted material I'd written earlier. The book is available on Amazon, which is also a first for me. It's $7.95, and proceeds go to the Cedar Mill Main Library in Portland, Oregon, where we meet.



As if that weren't enough, we published a second book right on the heels of the first: a thin volume of animal stories called Zeus and Bo and Fred and Jo and Co. This kid-friendly book features fan fiction about Sheila Deeth's animal and human characters from her "Tails of Mystery" series, plus other animal stories and poems. My contribution is "A Dog's Eye View," which tells about life in my family when I was still living with my parents, from the point of view of my beloved Mitsie, the only dog I ever owned. It's $5.95 or less.

I've placed in the monthly contests three times so far: 2 3rd places for the essay, "Home Was Where They Never Let Me In" and the fiction snippet, "As in Identical" (which you can read here: https://madmimi.com/p/b0c6d8 (it's the last story under "Showcase: Prompt Contest Winners"); and 1st place for the flash fiction story, "The Duprass" (named for a term coined in Kurt Vonnegut's book, "Cat's Cradle"). Winners are chosen by popular vote, ranked by each member after we read them on the website and comment on them as we feel moved. The group also has guest speakers and usually a critique, and a snack break, all packed into the hours 1-3 on the third Sunday of each month. I don't know how we manage to do so much every time. Must be a touch of magic!

I also had an article accepted by "The War Cry" magazine of the Salvation Army. It's a story about my adventures as a bell ringer, especially the winter of 2015. I was paid very handsomely. Also the same month, July, received decent pay for a story I provided for the "Miracles of Kindness" iPad book--now also available on Kindle and Nook, I just found out!-- http://www.sangamonhouse.com/. (My contribution is "Kindness from the Christian Writers' Group" in the section, "The Congregation Sings.") I expected to see my War Cry article in the 2016 Christmas issue, but, alas, it did not appear! And my inquiries about it have met quiet dead ends. I don't know how to find out what happened or will happen.

I'm happy to see that my career as a WRITER is taking off, although still frustrated that I haven't managed to put much work into, or get much help with, my vampire novel series. It's always been my dream to be a novelist. The critique group at the library stopped when the librarian who led it retired without prior notice. I kept the group going with Minnie and another friend from the Writers' Mill, but once a month critiques feel like they will take forever. I thought I would have to put in most of my time as an editor to survive financially. Although I am far from making a living wage from my freelance writing, I made more on writing than editing this year.

The same day I got the check from "The War Cry," I got an invitation to subscribe to "Poets and Writers" for only $9.95. I read most of my first issue of this semi-monthly magazine; with the second one, I got smart and read the classifieds first--the publishers with deadlines coming up--and that is how I discovered Rattle, which pays $100 per poem for its magazine, and $50 per poem for its website, and also has some other contests that pay great. And I'd been taught in college, "There's no money in poetry... but then, there's no poetry in money." I wrote a poem about money a while back, so I guess both parts of this saying are wrong! And that's good news for me, because I've written so many poems and continue to write more. Rattle likes a variety of subject matter and style, too. So do I.

My increased financial success began with a scary occasion: My rent went sky high at the beginning of 2016. I got desperate and got myself a job that was nothing like I or anyone else thought I'd find. Since May, I've worked most Saturdays in a posh theater, showing people private views of unreleased movie trailers and getting their opinions. It's fun. There hasn't been much work for me in December and early January, but it's okay, because the housing department changed its rules and my portion of the rent went WAY DOWN this year. Also, a cousin who likes my writing helped me out a lot financially. In addition to sending me some gift cards and lots of stamps, he also paid for a new computer when my laptop got a terminal problem. And I should be starting a second job soon, providing some meals and other household help for a young adult neighbor. I have been blessed in more ways than these. 2016 was a challenge, but a wonderful year for me ultimately, and 2017 looks great, too.

I'll probably think of more to say after I've posted this. But there's only so long you can sit in the same chair, and this is enough for now!

May you be blessed in every way, every day!

--The Red, Read, Robin