Never Say Never

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Twenty-five years ago, I finished my first novel manuscript. While I often have trouble coming up with titles, this title, To Catch a Fox, appeared on the first page. It came from a mystery novel, The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. Toward the end of the book, Detective Hercule Poirot compares the killer's act of framing someone else for the crime to a fox hunt. “The cruelty that condemned an innocent man to a living death. To catch a fox and put him in a box and never let him go.” My protagonist, Julie Fox, was a woman chased and trapped by a former boyfriend and her own demons.

The Fox Hunt by Alexandre-Francois Desportes

I worked on To Catch a Fox for six years, in the midst of moving from Montreal to Calgary and raising a family. When the manuscript didn't find a publisher, I tucked it away a drawer. It was my practice-novel, I told myself, my learning-to-write process. I was certain the Fox was put to rest for good and was okay with this, I thought.  

The red fox is the main quarry in European and American fox hunts - Julie Fox has long, red hair

I turned my attention to short stories, which require less time to complete than a novel, with the goal of getting something published for my efforts. The plan worked, although the publishing part took  longer than I'd expected. About once a year, I'd get a story accepted by a magazine or anthology or, in one case, for a radio broadcast, the news often arriving at a point when I felt discouraged about writing. In addition to the encouragement and growing publishing resume, I found the short stories useful for experimenting with writing styles, themes and characters. My first attempt at suspense was a short story about a woman on the run to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

I wrote my suspense story, Zona Romantica, during a holiday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Another short story, Adjusting the Ashes, inspired my mystery series sleuth, Paula Savard. Like Paula, Ashes heroine, Carol, is an insurance adjuster with two grown up daughters, a broken marriage, and a longing for excitement. In her story, Carol investigates an insurance claim in the Calgary neighbourhood of Ramsay, where Paula lives. Adjusting the Ashes segued into my next writing phase, murder mystery novels. I wrote my first Paula novel, Deadly Fall, revised it, and sent queries to publishers and agents. A few expressed interest, but what would I write while waiting for their decisions? 

Insurance adjusters investigate claims, some of which are suspicious

Out of the blue, a fresh concept for To Catch a Fox leapt from my subconscious mind. Same title, same protagonist Julie Fox, same quest - to search for her mother. But almost everything else changed. The new story would have a suspense structure, with five viewpoint characters, plus a whole new cast of supporting players. Rather than Vancouver and Oregon settings, this story would take place in Calgary and California. Julie no longer travelled alone; she'd have a sidekick, her stepsister with whom she has prickly relationship. The plot and what Julie discovers in the end would be totally different. I wrote the story and revised the first draft before getting a publisher's acceptance for Deadly Fall and continued working on To Catch a Fox during breaks in writing mysteries.    

Who knew the Fox buried in the drawer still had life? If you'd told me fifteen years ago that To Catch a Fox would be published this year, I'd have said, "Impossible!" Strangely, I feel the title suits the new version better than the original, since darker demons and characters now hunt Julie and trap her more ruthlessly. You'd almost think it was meant to be.    

It shows that you can never say never in writing, as in life. 

         

       

       

A Slow News Day? Bring on the Doom Watch Dragons by Karla Stover

                           

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Western Washington is currently experiencing a period of slow news. The snow storms are over, Seattle's delayed and over-priced tunnel opened but no one seemed to care, and our never-met-a-tax-he-didn't-like governor is last on the list of presidential candidate wanna-bes. And when slow news happens, the media brings out the old tried-and-true, WE'RE DUE FOR AN EARTHQUAKE---A BIG ONE because though "Earthquake Tracker," recorded 3 in the last 20 hours, the biggest only registered a magnitude of 1.6.

Being prepared requires either a backpack full of stuff that never leaves your side--er--back, or separate kits for home, car, and workplace. On the list is coins for phone calls so, apparently it hasn't been updated in a while.

Zhang's seismoscope was a bronze vessel approximately eight feet tall and six feet in diameter, resembling a samovar. "Eight dragons snaked face-down along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragon's mouth was a small bronze ball. Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls." When the country experienced bad yin and yang ( an earthquake ,) a pendulum inside swung in the direction of the tremor and tilted one of eight horizontal arms which opened the mouth of the appropriate snake. It opened its jaws and dropped its ball into the mouth of the frog beneath.

      


                                                          I vote for the pretty one.

As for preparedness, we have canned goods, pet food, and batteries, and everyone knows the water in the toilet tank is perfectly safe to drink.
  

In the "Olden" Days

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In the “Olden” Days

            I’m sure almost everyone on Facebook has seen the video of two teenagers trying to dial a number on an old rotary style telephone.  For those my age, you probably laughed at their attempts. For those born after the 70s, you may have wondered as those teens did, just how that contraption worked.

            As I watched that video, I thought of other things that had changed over the years, especially in the field of novel writing. I used to go to the library on a regular basis to do research for my novels. I used a card catalog to look up subjects to see if there were any books available. There were encyclopedias and atlases, and row after row of non-fiction books full of facts on anything I needed. If my library didn’t have anything on a particular subject, I could usually get something on inter-library loan, where one library would mail a book to another.  (This worked pretty well except for the time I needed information on indigo and the first book that came in was written in German.)

            Then, once my research was done and my manuscript written, the long process of submission started. With no internet and email, first class letters were sent, always with an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) for a reply from the publishing company. Unless you were an established author, first a query letter was sent, consisting of a letter of introduction and a synopsis of the story; sometimes a first chapter. If you received a positive reply, you usually sent the first three chapters, again by first class mail and with another SASE. Each submission was followed by anywhere from six or more weeks of waiting. If you received a nod on the first chapters, you submitted the full manuscript and again you waited. The entire process could take up to a year or more, but in the meantime you were working on your next book. Even when a manuscript was accepted, it might not be published for more than a year.

            What a difference technology makes! That old rotary telephone was replaced by a push button model, then a cordless, then a push button cell phone. Even that has been upgraded to a voice activated model so that you can “call grandma” without pushing a single button. (I simply activated the speaker on Google search and asked when the rotary phone was replaced with push buttons – 1963.)

Not only is research information available with the touch of a finger, virtual sites allow an author to “visit” places without leaving their office. I can even visit my library online when looking for a particular subject or book.

The process of manuscript submission has also changed to keep up with the times. Often queries can be made via email. The post office no longer gets my double fees for submission and SASE as a simple attachment is all I need when asked to submit a manuscript whether it is a partial or complete novel. Acceptance time and publication can be quicker so that you don’t have time to work on a new book before the edits on the current one are in your “in” box. (This is not always the case, but as with instantaneous information, things tend to speed up in this century.)

            One thing for me as an author that hasn’t changed is research on my setting. Whenever possible, I visit the setting of my current work. There is nothing better than wandering through a museum of 1850 artifacts, or walking through the streets of Boston soaking up the sounds and smells and feel of history. The feel of salt water spray on my face as a wave breaks gives me words that are hard to conjure while sitting at a desk with snow raging outside. These words help me construct a scene so my reader can also hear the sounds of rebels in Boston defying the British. They can taste the salt on their lips and hear the roar of the waves as our ship careens through a tumultuous storm at sea.

            One of the many benefits of the modern age for you as a reader is you have immediate access to many great books. Whether you love the feel of an actual book in your hands or prefer to read on an ebook reader or your computer, a wonderful world to explore is at your fingertips. All you have to do is visit www.bookswelove.com  for all the adventure, mystery, history or romance you are craving.