I'm one of those people who don't like overly detailed descriptions of a character's looks. I want the barest brushstrokes to guide my inner vision - a proximate height, a build and coloring. A penchant for long flowing skirts and army boots. That's enough. Any more and I feel tied down. Especially in a main character where I hope to inhabit this person, go along with her story and emotions. If she's got grey-green eyes with blond eyebrows, seven freckles per cheek and a nose like a button mushroom. I lose some interest. Because I'm being told exactly what to see, instead of letting my imagination sketch in the image.
The exact opposite is true for descriptions of food. So many books skim over the details of meals the protagonists eat - It was a fine meal with excellent wine. They ate well of many delicacies. He grabbed a sandwich and a bag of chips. WHAT MEAL? WHAT DELICACIES? WAS IT DORITOS OR FUNYONS?
These are questions I must have answers to. Because, more than a person's physical description, food description anchors the time, place and mood. Food should give clues about characters. What they worry about, what they indulge in. Because we have to eat so often (say, compared to a boa constrictor) we get to make new choices several times a day. Those choices reflect on us, even more than the clothes we wear and our hair cuts - choices we make less often.
In Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES, there's food and blood and hunger. And there are November Cakes. November Cakes are not only a food item - an expensive luxury for Puck Connelly and her brothers - they're also a symbol of the isle of Thisby and the violent, chaotic and profitable festival they hold each November. It represents the lifeblood of the island, how dependent they are on the tourists that flock to see the Scorpio Races. November Cakes are part of the culture.
No one dies for a November Cake. A November Cake doesn't win the Scorpio Races. But the description of food in THE SCORPIO RACES is as much a character in the book as any other. It is vital.
Don't let your main character walk out of her next scene carrying a bag of nondescript sustenance - leave that for the Soylent food-substitute crowd. Treat food in fiction like the rich layer of meaning it should be.
I stumbled upon a website - Food Adventures (in fiction) - and immediately fell in love. They have a picture of - and recipe to make - November Cakes. I'm going to try them this weekend.
What about you? How do you handle food in your fiction?
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
PK Hrezo's BUTTERMAN (TIME) TRAVEL INC. Cover Reveal and blogfest
Without further ado, I give you the epic cover of the soon to be released (soon, as in on 11/12/13) book by PK Hrezo.
If you don't know PK, you damn well should. She's extremely talented, smart and fun. And I can prove it. First, look at the cover - so fun, right? It's got a epic, you're going on an adventure feel to it. And here's a little about the book to whet your appetite:
Welcome to Butterman Travel, Incorporated
We are a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs. Family-owned and operated, we offer clients one hundred years of time travel experience. A place where you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first.
Anxious to attend a special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?
You’ve come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides. *Terms and conditions do apply
Conference us directly from our Website. Our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, will handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner, offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the most of your time trip.
We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.
Where can you find PK Hrezo?
Where can you find PK Hrezo?
Amazing concept, isn't it? I mean, who wouldn't want to go back in time to see a specific event, be a witness to history?
Um. Me.
Um. Me.
So when I signed up for this blogfest, I thought I'd have trouble narrowing it down to one place and time. And, being the total pantser I am, I figured I'd just come up with something last minute.
But at the last minute I realized that all the times and places I want to go back to are tinged with sadness. I want to see my grandmother again. I want to see my friend Jenny again (and I wrote about that here, last time I thought about time travel.) Because they've passed, they are truly irretrievable - except in my memory. So assuming Butterman's is very expensive (and I think they must be, because I've seen their business cards and they are pretty fancy.) I couldn't go back in time to, say, be a flapper (GREAT GATSBY, THE DIVINERS) or late 19th, early 20th century New York (THE ALIENIST, TIME AND AGAIN - which is about time travel BTW.) though those would be my first picks, because I'd be too tempted to see some very missed loved ones again.
Anyway I've got a severe weakness for nostalgia, so it's probably a good thing that Butterman's fees are too dear for me. I will stick to the time machines I have at my fingertips - my stacks of books.
Where would YOU go if you could travel in time?
This is a blog hop, so please visit others on the hop!
But at the last minute I realized that all the times and places I want to go back to are tinged with sadness. I want to see my grandmother again. I want to see my friend Jenny again (and I wrote about that here, last time I thought about time travel.) Because they've passed, they are truly irretrievable - except in my memory. So assuming Butterman's is very expensive (and I think they must be, because I've seen their business cards and they are pretty fancy.) I couldn't go back in time to, say, be a flapper (GREAT GATSBY, THE DIVINERS) or late 19th, early 20th century New York (THE ALIENIST, TIME AND AGAIN - which is about time travel BTW.) though those would be my first picks, because I'd be too tempted to see some very missed loved ones again.
Anyway I've got a severe weakness for nostalgia, so it's probably a good thing that Butterman's fees are too dear for me. I will stick to the time machines I have at my fingertips - my stacks of books.
Where would YOU go if you could travel in time?
This is a blog hop, so please visit others on the hop!
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Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Why Voice is Important
Voice. The way your writing speaks. It's what agents all say they want. An authentic, strong voice. But how do you 'get' voice? How do you learn to imbue your writing with voice?
I don't have a clue.
I've been told my writing has a strong voice, and I'm happy about that, because to me voice is like being told you have pretty eyes. Thanks, dude, but they showed up when I did. I didn't have to go looking for it. (Now, plotting and pacing? I'm out looking for those guys every day.)
So, can voice be taught? And what's the difference between good voice and bad voice and weak voice? Again, I'm so not helpful here. It's one of those things I know when I see it/hear it. (Like, in the movie Reality Bites, when Winona Ryder is on a job interview and she struggles to answer the question, What is irony? She says she knows when she hears it. Crap. Just dated myself.)
But in my other, copywriting life, I've been working on explainer videos and this has given me insight to voice. An explainer video is exactly what it sounds like, a video that explains what a company does. This video is uploaded on to the company's site or Youtube and hopefully generates enough buzz to help get the word out and eventually get sales.
Below are two explainer videos for products that I think are successful all because of voice. They are both hard sells: Disposable razors and (I swear it's true) deodorant you spray into your toilet so your poop doesn't smell (so many issues with this product, so many ways it is wrong.)
Disposable razors are cheap and easy to come by - so why mail order them? This video answers that question.
A product called Poop-Pourri. In a sanitized world, we now have to sanitize our poop? This product is not for me...however. This explainer video made me curious, and more importantly it made the ridiculousness of the product funny - like I was in on the joke. It's really effective.
So, how do you work on voice in your writing?
I don't have a clue.
I've been told my writing has a strong voice, and I'm happy about that, because to me voice is like being told you have pretty eyes. Thanks, dude, but they showed up when I did. I didn't have to go looking for it. (Now, plotting and pacing? I'm out looking for those guys every day.)
So, can voice be taught? And what's the difference between good voice and bad voice and weak voice? Again, I'm so not helpful here. It's one of those things I know when I see it/hear it. (Like, in the movie Reality Bites, when Winona Ryder is on a job interview and she struggles to answer the question, What is irony? She says she knows when she hears it. Crap. Just dated myself.)
But in my other, copywriting life, I've been working on explainer videos and this has given me insight to voice. An explainer video is exactly what it sounds like, a video that explains what a company does. This video is uploaded on to the company's site or Youtube and hopefully generates enough buzz to help get the word out and eventually get sales.
Below are two explainer videos for products that I think are successful all because of voice. They are both hard sells: Disposable razors and (I swear it's true) deodorant you spray into your toilet so your poop doesn't smell (so many issues with this product, so many ways it is wrong.)
Disposable razors are cheap and easy to come by - so why mail order them? This video answers that question.
A product called Poop-Pourri. In a sanitized world, we now have to sanitize our poop? This product is not for me...however. This explainer video made me curious, and more importantly it made the ridiculousness of the product funny - like I was in on the joke. It's really effective.
So, how do you work on voice in your writing?
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Listen to the Sound of My Voice (Audiobooks that are Aural Candy)
Well, don't. I actually hate the sound of my voice. But lately, I've been recording myself reading my WIP (on my iphone, with voice memo) and playing the excruciating music back. Why? Because I trust my ears.
This is probably not new advice to you. I heard "read your work out loud" a lot at my first writers conference. It seemed a bit gimmicky, you know? And I did that anyway, with any sentence that was giving me trouble. I'd read it a loud and hear the clunking word right away, fix it and move on.
But since I've been listening to a lot of books lately - I have an Audible subscription - I realize that words read out loud are a lot less forgiving than words read on the page. There are books I won't listen to as audiobooks because I can't get lost in them. I get stopped by repetitive phrasing, by too many dialogue tags, too may 'sighs.'
So listening to books is a kind of litmus test. There are books that I want to read (and enjoy reading) that will go directly to my Kindle. Other books, usually books that I've been waiting to read and want to hold in my hands and ONLY concentrate on reading, I buy, then wait twitchily until the kids are asleep and I can delve. And there are some books that I know are going to be best as voices in my head.
When you can read on your phone, on an e-reader, via your car stereo and more, how do you decide which way you'll read a book?
Below are some of the best audiobooks I've read lately.
CODE NAME VERITY - Elizabeth Wein
Like the book wasn't genius enough. The two actresses who trade off the narration are brilliant. They are able to slip in and out of spot on accents and go from the dizzying heights of flying a plane to the horrific lows of being tortured by Nazis. All without a drop of self indulgence. I would listen to this again in a heart beat because it's so rich.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE - Margaret Atwood
I read THE HANDMAID'S TALE in college and liked it fine. But hearing Clare Danes read it made me love it. She imbues the narrator's story with so much depth and realness, that I easily slotted myself into her oppressive, mundane life. It made the story much more terrifying.
THE NEVERENDING STORY - Michael Ende
Another story I read in book form when I was younger. Now, hearing it I have the amazing feeling that I'm in the story, I'm 'watching' Bastian as he watches Atreyu and the unfolding story. It doesn't matter that I know what is going to happen, I'm happy to be along for the ride.
This is probably not new advice to you. I heard "read your work out loud" a lot at my first writers conference. It seemed a bit gimmicky, you know? And I did that anyway, with any sentence that was giving me trouble. I'd read it a loud and hear the clunking word right away, fix it and move on.
But since I've been listening to a lot of books lately - I have an Audible subscription - I realize that words read out loud are a lot less forgiving than words read on the page. There are books I won't listen to as audiobooks because I can't get lost in them. I get stopped by repetitive phrasing, by too many dialogue tags, too may 'sighs.'
So listening to books is a kind of litmus test. There are books that I want to read (and enjoy reading) that will go directly to my Kindle. Other books, usually books that I've been waiting to read and want to hold in my hands and ONLY concentrate on reading, I buy, then wait twitchily until the kids are asleep and I can delve. And there are some books that I know are going to be best as voices in my head.
When you can read on your phone, on an e-reader, via your car stereo and more, how do you decide which way you'll read a book?
Below are some of the best audiobooks I've read lately.
CODE NAME VERITY - Elizabeth Wein
Like the book wasn't genius enough. The two actresses who trade off the narration are brilliant. They are able to slip in and out of spot on accents and go from the dizzying heights of flying a plane to the horrific lows of being tortured by Nazis. All without a drop of self indulgence. I would listen to this again in a heart beat because it's so rich.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE - Margaret Atwood
I read THE HANDMAID'S TALE in college and liked it fine. But hearing Clare Danes read it made me love it. She imbues the narrator's story with so much depth and realness, that I easily slotted myself into her oppressive, mundane life. It made the story much more terrifying.
THE NEVERENDING STORY - Michael Ende
Another story I read in book form when I was younger. Now, hearing it I have the amazing feeling that I'm in the story, I'm 'watching' Bastian as he watches Atreyu and the unfolding story. It doesn't matter that I know what is going to happen, I'm happy to be along for the ride.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Nerdiest Thing About Me
In celebration of Cassie Mae's new book HOW TO DATE A NERD, I've joined her blog hop - The Nerdiest Thing About Me. Before I get to that stunning revelation, I want to tell you a little about Cassie's new book.
Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy ‘you only wish you were me’ reputation, burying who she really is—an all-out nerd.
The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con. Keeping up her popular rep is too important, and she’s so damn insecure to care about the consequences. But when Zoe’s sister takes her car for a ‘crash and burn into a tree’ joyride, her parents get her a replacement. A manual. Something she doesn’t know how to operate, but her next door neighbor Zak sure as heck does.
Zak’s a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing “Use the Force” t-shirts. And Zoe’s got it bad for the boy. Only Zak doesn’t want Popular Zoe. He wants Geek Zoe.
Click here to go to Goodreads for more info and to put HOW TO DATE A NERD on your TBR pile!
So - what's the nerdiest thing about me? Where to start? Obviously I'm a book nerd - any writer worth their salt is obsessed by books. (Side Note: "What is a nerd?" My nine year old daughter asked me recently. "A nerd is someone who is passionate about something and doesn't care what other people think of their passion." "Oh. I thought it was something bad." "NO!," I said. "I'm a nerd about books and music," I told her. This did not convince her.)
But I think I'm AM music nerd. I listen to a lot of music. Music is my poetry (not knocking poetry here.) I have trouble doing work - paid or writing - without some kind of soundtrack. I know there's a great divide with writers as to whether they can write with music or with silence better. I am not a silent type of writer.
The nerdy part I can describe two ways. First, when we were drafting names (in an Excel document. See? I told you I was a nerd) for our first daughter, I was brainstorming with my husband. I said to him, "Do you like 'Charlotte'?" because it was on my maybe list. He immediately said, "Sometimes." Which made me love him even more than I did before. Because Charlotte Sometimes is a great Cure song and we are music nerds.
Second illustration of my music nerdery. Husband and I don't get to go out much but every so often a movie comes out that we move heaven and earth (and shovel cash at our babysitter) to go and see together. This summer that movie was THE WORLD'S END. At the climactic end, against an old school goth soundtrack - I nearly had an aneurysm of joy. Because I'm a nerd.
What's your secret Nerd Power?
Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy ‘you only wish you were me’ reputation, burying who she really is—an all-out nerd.
The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con. Keeping up her popular rep is too important, and she’s so damn insecure to care about the consequences. But when Zoe’s sister takes her car for a ‘crash and burn into a tree’ joyride, her parents get her a replacement. A manual. Something she doesn’t know how to operate, but her next door neighbor Zak sure as heck does.
Zak’s a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing “Use the Force” t-shirts. And Zoe’s got it bad for the boy. Only Zak doesn’t want Popular Zoe. He wants Geek Zoe.
Click here to go to Goodreads for more info and to put HOW TO DATE A NERD on your TBR pile!
So - what's the nerdiest thing about me? Where to start? Obviously I'm a book nerd - any writer worth their salt is obsessed by books. (Side Note: "What is a nerd?" My nine year old daughter asked me recently. "A nerd is someone who is passionate about something and doesn't care what other people think of their passion." "Oh. I thought it was something bad." "NO!," I said. "I'm a nerd about books and music," I told her. This did not convince her.)
But I think I'm AM music nerd. I listen to a lot of music. Music is my poetry (not knocking poetry here.) I have trouble doing work - paid or writing - without some kind of soundtrack. I know there's a great divide with writers as to whether they can write with music or with silence better. I am not a silent type of writer.
The nerdy part I can describe two ways. First, when we were drafting names (in an Excel document. See? I told you I was a nerd) for our first daughter, I was brainstorming with my husband. I said to him, "Do you like 'Charlotte'?" because it was on my maybe list. He immediately said, "Sometimes." Which made me love him even more than I did before. Because Charlotte Sometimes is a great Cure song and we are music nerds.
Second illustration of my music nerdery. Husband and I don't get to go out much but every so often a movie comes out that we move heaven and earth (and shovel cash at our babysitter) to go and see together. This summer that movie was THE WORLD'S END. At the climactic end, against an old school goth soundtrack - I nearly had an aneurysm of joy. Because I'm a nerd.
What's your secret Nerd Power?
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