Ode to Black Cat

This cat who's slowly making me his . . .  A glossy creature, black as shadows on a moonless night.  A beguiling fellow, he is by turns aloof and tender, watchful and remote, then curling at my feet. 

Last night he brought his lady friend to visit.  He proudly led the way to his new-found trove of food and warmth, coaxing her along.  A shy thing, she hung back, afraid to enter. He murmured softly, nuzzling her ear, until she darted through to safety behind a chair.  I left her alone, just put out two dishes and a bowl of water and then retired to the sofa to watch in silence. 

The Prince of Midnight is not normally inclined to share, growling low in his throat and occasionally charging at neighboring cats who venture near.  But this night he turned all his charm toward his sole invited guest.  He rolled and wriggled, batting gently in the air, blinking his sloe green eyes at her.

She gradually succumbed, and together they ate, first from one dish, then the other. 

________________ 

Some years ago I worked in a small town in the mountains and stayed in an efficiency apartment on the bank of the Pigeon River. I gradually made friends with a couple of the feral cats who haunted the area. One stayed for thirteen years. Black Cat, her offspring, stayed for two years before feline aids took him. His lady friend, whom I called PK (for Pretty Kitty) came with him often but remained shy of people. She learned her name and came for food, but she could never relax if I shut the door and she was closed in my apartment. She never returned after Black Cat died. If I find a picture of them, I'll post it. I miss those slinking, shadowy creatures who stayed near but never close.

Blooms Are Clues

The dynamic duo that is Nash Black is my guest this week. The way Shakespeare uses clues is fascinating.

Shakespeare was a master of Elizabethan English. A vital aspect of that language was the language of flowers both figuratively and symbolically. Flowers and herbs conveyed a silent message to ordinary playgoers who filled the seats of the Globe Theater.

Using this basic means of show and tell, he created a classic scene of accusation when Ophelia distributes flowers from her bouquet around the throne room to the principles of Hamlet. The flowers convey meaning to each individual and symbolize the play’s themes of fidelity and betrayal, innocence and guilt.

To Hamlet she gives rosemary, pansies, fennel, rue, and a daisy.

She says to him, “Pray you, love, remember.” Is she asking him to remember her or are the words an echo of the ghost of Hamlet’s father, “...remember me”? Rosemary was used to strengthen the brain and it is followed by pansies which indicates thoughts or apply the Elizabethan name for the flower, heartease.

Fennel indicated flattery and it is followed by rue. “You must wear your rue with a difference.” Difference is a heraldic term, referring to coats-of-arms, which designate the joining of houses and lineages. She is telling him to have care against listening to false flattery. The last flower is the daisy the symbol for dissembling another warning against false speakers.

Laertes is the next recipient of rosemary and pansies. Telling him he should both remember and think or “...thoughts and remembrance fitted.” He is cautioned to have an open mind as to who is friend or foe.

Ophelia turns to the Claudius, the king, who fears the discovery of his fratricide. She gives him fennel and columbine which means thanklessness. It was often linked with kings who usurped the throne and can never rest again.

The Queen is the next recipient and Ophelia hands her rue. “There’s rue for you.” Rue is a bitter herb. It is an herb for funerals and prayers, hence having a dual meaning instructing the acknowledgment one’s sins and seeking forgiveness. The Queen must bear her own guilt, but is “left to heaven” for judgment.

One flower is missing from her bouquet. “I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died.” Her lament tells her audience that loyalty and fidelity have ceased.

Finally she gathers a crown of weeds. The coronet is crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples (wild orchids). All were symbols of waste in Shakespeare’s time. Did her warnings fall on deaf ears?

Ophelia wasn’t insane as she has been portrayed through the centuries. Her words and actions are too precise to be the actions of an out-of-control mind.

 Was her death an accident, suicide, or murder?

_____________

Who is Nash Black?

Nash Black is the pen name for Irene Black and Ford Nashett. They create ghost stories and mysteries from their lakeside retirement home. Their most recent publications are Visitors (holiday story) and Sandprints of Death. You can visit with Nash Black on Twitter @Pennhand.

Books

    Visitors is a blending scientific and historical fact spiced with charm and imagination when a banished 12th century leprechaun finds a shelter in a mailman’s bag on Christmas Eve. Two ghosts and a mischievous sprite give an entire new meaning to the story of wisemen bearing gifts. Ho Jolly, Fella, and Frank Washington will live in your heart for all seasons. Visitors is available in e-book editions  or paperback. Just click on the links.

    The cover art for Visitors is ‘Life Giver’ from a series by ML Carpenter, who created the wall art for the JFK Plaza lobby in New York.

Can You Hear Me Now?

An Echelon Press book

My guest is Stephen Brayton, author of Beta, the new Mallory Petersen, PI, novel. Mallory has a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo. She's almost up with her creator.
Maybe a more appropriate title would be “How do you hear me?” Or maybe, “Sounds like…” with the proper charades gesture.

What I’d like to discuss is how to add voice or sound to your stories. How do characters speak? What do specific noises sound like? Taking the second question first, it’s not enough sometimes just to write something making noise. To add elements such as mood or emotion, you must show the reader how things sound. You do this by relating the particular noise to something recognizable. For instance, “The rain fell hard against the roof.” This can be spiced up depending on what you’re trying to convey. “The rain falling against the metal slats sounded like a hail of machine gun bullets.” “She sat alone in the cabin. The light rain against the screens was as many whispers silently calling to her.”

Wind and rain are fairly easy to bring to life. The wind can moan like a dying asthmatic, cry like ghosts from the past mourning their own passing, sing like a teakettle on full alert, or whine like an injured animal. Other sounds may challenge the writer. I’ve heard the familiar blatting exhaust of a passing bus described as ‘snoring’ and ‘farting.’ Did you know cats doing the courting dance sound exactly like a crying baby? The similarity is downright eerie.

Voices are another area where you can bring the reader closer to your story. In nearly every story I read, I assign a specific voice to each character, sometimes by the author telling me how someone speaks, sometimes with only the character’s description.

I have a friend who suffers from MS and as a result she can’t read a book very long before her mind gets tired. So she listens to audio books. When we dated, I’d spend hours reading aloud to her. She ended up with someone else, but since then, when I discover a book I think she might like, I’ll record it for her. I’ve heard hundreds of audio books and I enjoy them so much more when the narrator uses a different voice for each character. One who reads in a monotone or with no emotion even in the action packed scenes tends to make a good story boring.

I’ve developed a standard set of voices for various types of characters when I read aloud. Unless I’m specifically told the person has a particular voice, I usually rely on past experience and descriptions. With exceptions, of course, see if you hear the same voices.

Attorneys, especially the adversarial ones usually have an aristocratic tone.

Techno geeks and some doctors are nasally.

Military colonels and general will speak in a bass or gravelly voice.

The beat cop or veteran detective talks out of the side of his mouth while their captains are gruff speakers.

Preachers are charismatic with maybe a touch of southern. On the other hand, priests are quiet and subdued.

Unless specifically mentioned, I usually put a little high pitched waver to elderly voices.

Women are of course done in a higher voice except when you have a Lauren Bacall type character. Breathy, perky, whiny, nasally, domineering, seductive, grating…the voice depends on the character.

Accents are fun, too. Does the Irishman have a Dublin or north country accent? Is the British speaking in a London or rural twang? Cockney or House of Lords? Is the Mexican high pitched or raspy? Is the black person speaking in a deep, formal, commanding voice (think James Earl Jones), sassy street slang (think Martin Lawrence or Eddie Murphy), or very distinctive (everybody recognizes Morgan Freeman)? Is the businessman from Mississippi, Alabama, or is he a boisterous Texan with a hat too big to fit inside his pickup truck? Is the Russian a weary ex-KGB officer or his sexy partner (a’la James Bond movies)?

The point is to make the reader mentally hear the sounds and the voices by giving them life and distinction. How many books have you read where everybody sounds the same, where you don’t here any “grinding metal gates, nerve shattering creaking doors, Armageddon like eruptions, droning insects like miniature model airplanes?” They’re not very exciting, are they?

Give your readers some sound. Their ears will thank you.

Stephen describes himself as a reader, writer, and instructor. He's also a fifth degree black belt in Taekwondo among many other things. For more about Stephen, visit his website at www.stephenbrayton.com or find him on Facebook.

 

 

Creating Interesting Characters

Lauren Hutton's Teeth

Characters are usually the most important part of a story. Even the best plot needs good characters. Strong, interesting characters stay with me for years, maybe always. So what can we do to help make them vivid and real?

Show characterization through actions and reactions; keep descriptions visual whenever possible, but that doesn’t mean to give a driver’s license description. Show rather than tell. There are at least five ways to show your character to the reader:

1. Through physical attributes

2. Through psychological attributes and mannerisms

3. With clothing or the manner and style of wearing it

4. Through actions

5. In dialogue

Physical attributes are more than hair and eye color. You might show how the person walks—does he walk, swagger, amble, sidle, or slither into the room? Does he look directly at you when he talks or does his gaze slide away?

Show, don't tell. Give her an unusual feature. Remember Lauren Hutton's gap-toothed charm? That little imperfection was endearing and made her stand out.

 How the character looks can be shown through the effect on others. Instead of She was breathtakingly beautiful, you might say Joe and every other man present forgot to breathe when Angela entered the room. Instead of George was big and mean-looking, try something like Walking with George was like walking with a Doberman—one look and people made way in a hurry.

Who could forget John Wayne's walk?

Clothing can show a great deal. Is the character neat and clean but wearing an obviously homemade dress? Does Dan have snagged threads and salsa stains on his Dior tie? And there's always the church organist with the red lace underwear. List all the physical characteristics on a separate page so you don't forget that on page twenty she had green eyes and on page two hundred you make them match the topaz necklace she's wearing. If she's only an inch shorter than another character, she'd better not be looking up at him unless she's sitting down. I often use pictures I cut from magazines or wherever and tape them to the wall by my desk.

Mannerisms are good ways to make a character memorable, but use the mannerism sparingly. Don’t limit your character to a single action so that you repeat the same thing over and over.  Instead of having her twist a strand of hair around her finger until the reader wants to cut it off (either the finger or the hair—watch those pronouns), find ways to vary a nervous habit. Make a list of applicable verbs if she plays with her hair: chew, finger, pull, stroke, tuck, whatever. Or maybe she fiddled with her clothing, adjusted her glasses, pushed her hair back, picked at her nails. Use these things sparingly.

You can also use physical surroundings, the character’s past, and his or her name to enhance the character’s personality. Someone told me that Margaret Mitchell started out calling her heroine Pansy. Thank goodness she changed her to Scarlett. How about Eudora Welty’s Stella Rondo? The name rolls off the tongue and stays with you. Faulkner’s Colonel Sartoris Snopes. It suits the character.

Do you have any pet peeves? What turns you off? Turns you on? How do you come up with interesting characters?

Your Embassy Invitation

Come for a tour of the glittering--and gritty--world of foreign embassies with this week's guest, William S. Shepard. William is the author of the diplomatic mysteries featuring Robbie Cutler.

 Buy Murder on the Danube

     Last Sunday we were having luncheon with some old friends who were celebrating their wedding anniversary. At my table was their eldest grandson, just out of college with an interest in international business, and no job. I mentioned to him the State Department’s Foreign Service, and the fact that they are hiring new economic officers, following a rigorous set of written and oral exams. His eyes lit up – he had never really considered this career option. Perhaps you have a grandson, or a brother, niece, or son or daughter in college who might be intrigued. My own interest was started by a book on diplomacy that I chanced upon while rummaging through books in our high school library. It looked like a fabulous career. In many respects, it still does.

     Have you ever wondered if diplomacy is all glittering Cary Grant or Sean Connery with no down to earth Dennis Farina or Sylvester Stallone? Would you be intrigued by an invitation to an Embassy reception? And have you ever wondered how diplomats are chosen, and what they do?

     The classic, cynical answer to the last question was phrased by an English statesman many years ago: “A diplomat is an honest man who is sent abroad to lie for his country.” However, my experience, gleaned from negotiating a treaty with a communist government, is that the farther apart your country is politically from the host government overseas, the greater the need for candor and honesty. 

     This all comes up because I took the good advice that every writer is given – write about what you know.  And my career was in the Foreign Service as a career diplomat, or Foreign Service Officer (FSO).

 Buy Vintage Murder

     My new series of “diplomatic mysteries” explore this world. In the first, “Vintage Murder,” a thirtyish career diplomat, Robbie Cutler, is assigned as Consul in Bordeaux.  He is brought into a murder and blackmail scheme on the part of a terrorist organization, the Basque ETA (a real group which operates on the border between France and Spain). In the sequel, “Murder On The Danube,” Robbie is reassigned to the American Embassy in Budapest as Political Officer. He must sort out the murder of a prominent visiting American, against the background of the Hungarian Revolution years ago.

     The diplomatic world is pictured here. Robbie holds a staff meeting in Bordeaux, and participates both in an Embassy conference at Paris (very like the ones I attended), and an Ambassadorial dinner party for visiting Senators. In Budapest he briefs a visiting Congressman, shares notes with political officer colleagues from friendly embassies, and takes us inside an Embassy staff meeting. All of this is the actual diplomatic world at work. It is, however, projected upon the need to solve crimes, Robbie’s specialty. And to do so, Robbie must dig deep behind the masks of what people are saying to get to the truth – as a competent diplomat or detective must do. Robbie Cutler, aided by his fiancée Sylvie Marceau, must do both.

     I suppose at one time, diplomacy was like the elegant popular image.  That began to fade in Viet-Nam, when FSOs were assigned out of the Embassy and into the countryside. That is becoming more the norm than the exception, as FSOs in current war-torn areas perform civil affairs work. The days of “The Ugly American,” when diplomats did not speak the local language, are long since past. (That film, by the way, inspired the establishment of our Foreign Service Institute, with intensive training in every conceivable foreign language.)

     Don’t worry. There are still glittering Embassy receptions, and Robbie Cutler will find lots of scope for his investigations at his next assignment. And the diplomatic world despite the surface glitter is a very real and perilous one, as Robbie will find out as he climbs the career ladder of diplomacy. Fortunately, his wife will then be able to interpret for him with a keen insight what people are trying to hide.  She may even solve a murder or two that he hadn’t suspected!

_________________

About William S. Shepard

Now residents of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Shepards enjoy visits from their daughters and granddaughters, fine and moderate weather, ocean swims at Assateague, Chesapeake Bay crabs, and the company of Rajah and Rani, their two rescued cats.

Prize winning mystery writer William S. Shepard is the creator of a new genre, the diplomatic mystery, whose plots are set in American Embassies overseas. That mirrors Shepard’s own career in the Foreign Service of the United States, during which he served in Singapore, Saigon, Budapest, Athens and Bordeaux, in addition to five Washington tours of duty.

His books explore this rich, insider background into the world of high stakes diplomacy and government. He evokes his last Foreign Service post, Consul General in Bordeaux, in Vintage Murder, the first of the series of four “diplomatic mysteries.” The second, Murder On The Danube, now also available on Kindle, mines his knowledge of Hungary and the 1956 Revolution. In Murder In Dordogne Robbie Cutler, his main character, is just married, but their honeymoon in the scenic southwest of France is interrupted by murders. The most recent of the series, The Saladin Affair, has Cutler transferred to work for the Secretary of State. Like the author, Cutler arranges trips on Air Force Two – now enlivened by serial Al Qaeda attempts to assassinate the Secretary of State.

Visit William at

http://www.diplomaticmysteries.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/WSShepard

When does it become formulaic?

I've often heard the term used in a derogatory tone, and to be certain about its  meaning, I looked it up. The best explanation came from ArticleWorld.org .  Ah, a standard set of plots, characters, and so on. Yes, I've read many. I still dislike the word. It's in the same category as "literary." Literary is often used to imply that other styles of writing are somehow lacking in quality or generally unworthy.  Then again, used by genre writers, "literary" may mean plotless. (I've heard it described as self-absorbed and about as exciting as watching paint dry.) We seem to need something or someone to look down upon--one of our less desirable human traits.

Considering the number of books on the market and how many I read, I'm bound to recognize elements of the story. So does that make the book formulaic?  Perhaps, but that doesn’t necessarily cause me to reject it. What allows me to overlook the commonplace, what sets many of them apart, is the writing. If it flows well and the characters are believable and likeable—or at least interesting—I'm halfway there. Sometimes the plot falls apart for me—too many convenient events that don't tie in to the story, as if hurled from the heavens by a capricious diety solely to cause problems. Still, I've read many a good book that others consider formulaic (always described with a little disdain).

How far down into the story do you have to go to decide whether a story is formulaic? Take this as an example: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, crisis occurs, boy gets girl. There's a formula that's been used more than once, but is it bad? The treatment of the story, the setting, and the characters can make it all seem new—something to read with pleasure and enthusiasm. You could go down another layer and see if there are still tried and true (or tired and overworked) secondary characters and situations. But it can still be fun to read. It depends on the pacing, the way the story unfolds, and how much we care about the characters.

When does it become a formula?

For me, the biggest challenge to my reading pleasure comes in the second phase—boy loses girl. The conflict is often artificial and contrived, but I think it's that old round hole thing—writers are forced to shove and squeeze their oddly shaped stories into that rigid mold. If it's formulaic, who can blame them? How many ways can you create enough conflict to keep apart otherwise sensible people who are attracted to each other? Personally, I'd like to see a little flexibility in that one. A little more credibility and realism would be a welcome change. Shakespeare handled it well, but I like happy endings. How often can a theme be used before it becomes trite? Is frequency the only measure?

I'll admit some books are so familiar that I can't remember whether I've read them before. I don't usually finish them. But I find "formulaic" applied to many that seem quite good to me. I'd have to go several layers down to reject a book because it's been done to often. Maybe I just don't have a discerning eye.

Every genre and just as many mainstream and literary stories follow some basic  theme or idea. Does it bother you? Do you see it? Do you look for something totally different? Do you consider many books formulaic?

Writing and Authors and Lawyers, Oh My!

Una Tiers is my guest this week. Her debut novel, Judge vs. Nuts, will be released soon by Echelon Press.

Una Tiers has written a story about a lawyer in Chicago, a goldfish and a dead judge.  The protagonist, Fiona Gavelle, blithely plods along in her first probate case until she learns that her client may have been murdered.  Her efforts set out to prove that his death was accidental.  While she learns about the practice of law, she will introduce you to her mostly lawyer friends, her favorite aunt and only reveal a glimpse of her personal life, which is in shambles. 

Judge vs. Nuts is a hilariously funny take on judges, but also a scathing indictment of judicial politics.  Lawyer Fiona Gavelle narrates with a wonderful, self-deprecating wit, as she goes about unraveling the murder of a Cook County judge. 
   --Barbara D'Amato, author of Other Eyes.

In Una's words . . .   By day I’m a lawyer and at night I fight crime.  Despite the seeming differences, both of my roles rely on writing and editing.  Whether it’s a court pleading, opening statement, a letter, will or loophole, I write for accuracy and one meaning only.  When the sun sets, I look for double meanings, humor, chilling sentences and plot twists.

My bottom line is that I teach people about their rights and options. 

My mystery writing didn’t start out as a surreptitious teaching tool; it started with a need to reduce stress after a particularly awful day in court.  From time to time I added a victim and did more editing than writing.  It is really fun.

After meeting a slew of mystery writers, I noticed that I was introduced to the day to day life of a librarian, a food critic, a minister’s family, a several detectives and more. 

Given the opportunity, I invite you to meet one attorney on a day to day basis.  We’ll untangle a murder along the way and slip in a great deal of information about the legal system.  Thank you to my sight unseen writing buddy, Ellis Vidler, for inviting me to her magnificent blog.

  __________________________

About Una

Una Tiers (pen name) is an attorney in Chicago, Illinois.  She writes daily, wills, trusts, court documents and of course, threatening letters.  For years, her creative writing was on hold.  After one nasty day in court, she wrote a short story, murdering the bane of her existence.  It made her laugh and happy. Periodically chapters were added to the story and she laughed some more.  After meeting some amazing authors, Una came to regard fiction writing as a way to teach about the law.   The result is Judge vs. Nuts.   Available at Amazon.com in early 2012. 

 For more information, visit her website:  http://www.unatiers.com/
Connect with her on Facebook  and Linkedin.