Fact-finding

Research. Do you remember being a kid in grade school, "doomed" to write a report or complete a project? One that required--dare I say it aloud?--research? Oh, the horror! The humiliation! The agony of it all!

Research? Arrghh...while the other kids were outside playing?

I hated those dratted assignments, hated poking around for facts, figures, clues and clauses. I always wanted to be outside playing, too.

Thankfully, times have changed. Now I relish research, love digging beneath the surface and learning new things. Before I begin a book I usually have a--delightful!--chunk of hours devoted to research. They are a true pleasure now, an indulgence I relish. So different from hammering away at the keyboard, the research hours are almost like a mental beach stroll. I pick up, and examine, various seashells or bits of driftwood. Some I keep, thinking I'll use them somehow, somewhere, for something. Others, I toss. Who knows? Maybe someone else will see something in those bits I don't see.

Yes, research for a new book is like a bracing seaside stroll. When I'm done walking I'm ready to sit down and get to work. Now the research is the play; writing is the work. Yes, things really do change.

Today I'll begin researching a location for a new book. I've got most of the story plotted but it's taken a while to decide where to set it. Finally, I think I've got it. So, now...research. Between us, I'm looking forward to my hours poking about, learning new things and making them fit into the new story line.

Oh? Where will the story take place? Well, I'd been thinking of keeping it mum but since we're all good friends here I'll share.

Acapulco. I think my characters will have some fun in the sun.

Or maybe Bora Bora.

Or...well, who knows where my research will take us.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever it leads you!

Writing Romance

If you are writing a thriller do you write your novel without a crime of some kind? Do you write a family saga about someone living alone without a family? Would you write a western where the cowboy doesn't have a horse? I can hear you all screaming, what is she on about, has she gone mad? Well perhaps I have.

I have been reading romances that are not romances, that's is why I ask. So many people seem to think they can write a romance about any old thing. I would like to advise them, you can't.

Romance is a genre that is just as specialised as any other kind of writing. There is a craft to it and the main ingredient is ROMANCE. There has to be two main catalysts who are generating sparks. They might initially be sparks because they rub one another up the wrong way (no pun intended) or she might fancy him and he not her and vice-versa. Their conflict is what keeps the story going. Sure other things are happening but the romance is the central theme. This is a world where things are going to work out, no matter how difficult those things become.

Funnily enough my dictionary does not give a listing for romance, but it does for romantic - "involving sexual attraction accompanied by loving feelings" That just about says it all, doesn't it?

So - you are writing your romance - HE - SHE - SPARKS - lots of other things happening but you have to keep going back to those three very important things.

Hope it all works out in the end - I mean it should do, shouldn't it?

Margaret

Following Giants

Many years ago I hit a drought in my writing and couldn't seem to finish my novel in progress. It just seemed like such a big effort for such modest gains. But then I read John Updike's A Month of Sundays and remembered why I began writing in the first place -- love of language, interest in characters, and a desire to entertain.

Now some twenty-five years laters, it's still the giants in literature that keep me glued to my computer. I won't ever write with their complexity and grace but they remind me what I'm aiming for. Funny though as I get older I've shifted from the men of literature --Saul Bellow, John Updike, Philip Roth -- to the women -- Alice Hoffman, Joanna Trollope, Alice Munro.

And I've just read P.D. James and added her to my list. I've always thought of her as a thriller writer and not a role model until I read The Light House which containd sentences like this,"...the secret service, like the monarchy, in yielding up its mystique in response to public enthusiasm for greater openness, seemed to have lost some of that half-ecclesiastical patina of authority bestowed on those who dealt in esoteric mysteries."

Now I'm probably not going to write a sentence like that today but I'm going to jump into current work and try.

Memories

(Standing left to right) Stanley, Ralph, can't recall, Bill, Grandma, Grandpa, Marjorie, Florence, Virginia & Ruth, (kneeling left to right) Byron, Paul and Dad (doesn't he look like Elvis?)

I was looking through a box of pictures and came across an old one of my dad when he was a young man, and a couple of my sister Lois and me. It's funny how looking at pictures can bring back memories of times gone by. And even though these pictures are forty-five and fifty years old, I can look at them and recall so many times spent at family gatherings and picnics. Times visiting aunts and uncles at their homes, bonding with my cousins.

My aunt Virginia and Uncle Bennie lived on a farm over run by cats. Uncle Paul and Aunt Erdine lived in a fairly small house considering they had five children. We spent a lot of time there, as Uncle Paul was the closest brother to my dad's age. And of all my cousins I knew his children the best. To this day cousin Mary and I keep in touch and visit when we can.

Aunt Barbara and Uncle Stanley, he was my favorite uncle, lived in a house on China lake. Aunt Ruth sent my sister and me a big box of clothes for Christmas every year. Uncle Byron lived in a big house on a hill and had ten kids. I recall catching fire flies with them as we played late one after noon.

Aunt Marjorie, believe it or not the very first time I met her was about six years ago. The oldest girl and twenty years older than my dad, she was farmed out to another family when she was a teenager. Something large families did back then. She's the only one still alive at ninety-eight. I don't remember much about Uncle Bill except that he was a drinker. Uncle Ralph and Aunt Lucille? Other than living with them for a while I remember their son turned out gay:) One uncle's name I can't recall.

The pictures of my sister and I when we were around 4 & 5 were taken outside my Aunt Florence's home in China, Maine. She was my favorite

aunt and always remembered our birthdays and Christmas. The earlier picture of Lois and me was taken in Milo, Maine, where we were born.

I miss all of these people, and most of all the simpler times back then when spending time with your families filled your days with adventure and memories. You hope not to lose those with the passing of years, and finding old pictures easily bring them back to the surface.

I just wanted to share a part of myself with you wonderful ladies.

Yes, I'm in a nostalgic mood.

Winding Down

August is winding down. The Olympics? Winding down. The summer...uh huh, that too. And if we look at the calendar, the year is winding down.

Huh?

How did that happen? I'm still getting out my summer skirts and the nights are turning cool. Not really, but that's how it feels. I really wish I could stretch time, to make it last longer so we could enjoy it more fully. I'm totally into the swing of summer, loving every moment of it, and here it is--almost fall!

AHH!!

Scary, no?

When you look back on the summer of '08 will you smile? Cry? Scowl? Or will you be like me, doing all three yet wishing it had been a few weeks longer?

My dad is visiting with us and we're having a wonderful time. I surely don't want to see his visit end. My head knows that's going to happen but my heart...well, that's another story. It's a stubborn heart and is going to savor every fabulous moment of this visit...even if it is, unfortunately, winding down.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :)

Feeling Good

What external forces make you feel happy. Perhaps a good book that you have just read? A piece of music, a movie or television programme? I was mulling on what makes me feel good the other day, it came into my mind because I was feeling really good.



I have a lot going on in my life that does sometimes really get me down. I was feeling down when my friend Teresa called me. We had been trying to fix up a date for an afternoon movie, could we go that afternoon? Sure, why not I thought.



The move we wanted to see was "Mamma Mia" so off we went. The cinema was full of ladies of 50 plus, just like us! The music I love, I have always adored Abba music. Hearing that ignited a small spark inside me - by the first couple of reels I had forgotten my problems. The colour - the music - the exuberence of the cast, everything worked to send those blues packing, not yet to resurface.



I had seen the show but the film is out of this world. I dare anyone to say they do not feel better after seeing it. More importantly, as well as having all these delicious men to gawp at, there is Meryl Streep. What a revelation, Meryl as we have never seen her. Looking older but so full of life and she sings brilliantly too. She gives hope for us all - after all she ends up with....(oh I am not going to tell you that, go see it!).



Now all I need is that cheque in the post from Benny and Bjorn - but not really, if you guys should stop by to read this blog "Thank you for the music..."



And thanks Teresa - you made my day!



Cheers, Margaret.

Cozy with Cora!

Good news!

The always delightful Cora Applebaum has posted our chat at Orchard Hill Highlights. I am a big Orchard Hill fan so cozying up and chatting with Cora is definitely a high point for me.

Thanks Cora!

I hope you'll take a peek. :)