Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley by Katherine Pym

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Martha Jane Cannery was born in 1852 and Phoebe Ann Moses in 1860. Both were show women, and were crack shots. Both were born in upper Midwest, and both had worked in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, but that is pretty much where the similarities end.

Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley (Phoebe Ann Moses) had a more stable life. Even as her father had died when she was still very young, she never went west. She married and remained married to the same man, Frank Butler. They met at a shooting contest. Frank Butler was a fancy shooter, but Annie won the meet. After Frank licked his wounds, they married two years later. It is said Annie took the name ‘Oakley’ from a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you go to google maps, it is still there, not far from the Ohio River.

Annie joined Frank’s traveling show, but before long Frank realized Annie was the best shot, and the wanted attraction. He relinquished his climb to stardom and became Annie’s business manager when they joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. One of her feats was when she shot a cigar from Kaiser Wilhelm’s mouth.

See how small Annie's waist is???

When I visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum in Cody Wyoming, there were artifacts from Annie’s time with the show, clothes and guns and things. She was a small person. Sitting Bull called her: Little Sure Shot, and I can attest her waist was tiny, amazingly so. She couldn’t have been more than 5’, but don’t quote me on that. I based this statement on how small her clothes were. 

Annie died of that B-12 deficiency in 1926. She was 66 years old. Frank died 18 days later. 

Hers was a good life.  

~*~*~*~*~

Now, Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary) was an entirely different animal altogether. Her parents, not the best in reliability or reputation, died when she was only 12, leaving her to care for her 5 siblings. Reportedly a big woman and strong (sort of manly), she supported her family as well as she could. Some say she even went into prostitution for a while. This is also where fact and fiction come into play. Calamity Jane’s true actions were superseded by her spun autobiography and newsprint’s tall tales. 

Calamity Jane

There is more than one explanation for the ‘Calamity’, which are vague and nonsensical, so I won’t go into it here. Her brothers and sisters fell out of history, too, with Jane moving through life and their existence never mentioned. She dressed like a man and did men’s work. She rode with the cavalry, saving one soldier on a wild horse ride, after which someone called her Calamity. But who knows.

Everyone thinks she was madly in love with Wild Bill Hickock, who was married. She may have been fond of him, but Bill didn’t like her much. There’s another story where she met him only a week or so, outside of Deadwood South Dakota, before he was murdered, holding the ‘dead man’s hand’, a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights.

Word has spread Jane was a kind soul who helped tend the sick during a smallpox epidemic, but on the whole, she sabotaged every good event in her life. She was a terrible alcoholic. She supposedly married and had a child but gave up the girl and wandered the country. She may have met Annie Oakley in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, but her drinking was too much. She was cast adrift after a short while. She was also reported to have ridden in other west shows that toured the Midwest.

By 1903 she was ill and destitute. She found her way near Deadwood where she died at the age of 51. Her last wish was to be buried beside Bill Hickock in Deadwood.

Hers was a sad life.

~*~*~*~

Many thanks to:

Wikicommons, public domain

And the following websites:

http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestlegendarywomen/199-calamityjane

https://www.biography.com/performer/calamity-jane

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-calamityjane/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/annie-oakley/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/famous-female-shooters-of-the-west/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-buffalobillgallery/

The Who, What, Where, Why and When of Writing - Part 6 – HOW? by Diane Bator

Now what???

Thank you for sticking with me through this labor of love as I’ve explored the five Ws of writing:

Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

When – what the best time to write?

But I often here one more question that I’d like to address.

How do I get started?

I actually saw a post on a writing site where someone asked, “I want to be a writer. What do I write about?” As usual, trolls bashed the person. To me, it seemed like an odd question because I’ve always just written. Words come out. I turn them into stories. I’ve never stopped to think about what to write or even how.

In the beginning…

Like me, some people are struck by inspiration continuously. I have binders of ideas waiting for when I’m finished my current work in progress. But how do you get started? One of the best ways I’ve found is to get a book of writing prompts or use Google to search for “writing prompts.” When I started in the writing group there was a standard list of writing prompts for starting writers, “What I remember is…”, “What I forgot was…”, “Why I want to write.”

A Few Guidelines

We all need a plan, so I’ve included a brief outline of things to think about in order to get started.

·       Find a nurturing writing environment.

·       Schedule writing time – even a half hour a day in a hectic day can help.

·       Create an outline of what you want to do, or just write!

·       Focus on writing your book one chapter at a time, even if you write chapter one then chapter twenty then go back to fill in the rest.

·       Maintain focus. Get that book done!

·       Deal with writing distractions before they get out of hand. Put your phone face down. Ask your family to respect your writing time. Sit somewhere alone with everything you need to write.

·       Start writing…Keep writing…don’t give up!!

Keeping the Motivation

Life throws us distractions. That’s a fact. We get sick. Kids get sick. We have to work overtime at work. All of these throw off our plans for writing. As a mom of three who wrote from the time they were little, fitting a little me-time in the day wasn’t always easy. But I did it. My first book was published when my kids were still young. Plus I worked two part-time jobs.

I wrote because I loved to write. Because it kept me sane when life sometimes spun out of my control. To sneak in writing time, I carried a small notebook everywhere I went. I wrote on napkins when I didn’t have paper. I also wrote while I ate lunch and before the kids got up in the mornings.

Finishing Your Book

I know so many people who have started short stories, started novels and have yet to finish them many years later. One quote I found somewhere was “what makes you an author is the ability not to start a project, but to complete one.”

Anyone can be a writer. All you have to do is write.

Starting something – pretty much anything – is easy. You need to find the tenacity to sit and finish your story or your book. Whether you give yourself a daily or weekly word count, have a beta reader who will expect to see a chapter on certain dates, or hold yourself accountable by giving yourself a gold star or some other reward for each day you write. Whatever keeps you going back to work on that next page.

One thing not many people will tell you is to expect negative feedback. Even the biggest name writers get trolls and others who say things that are hurtful. Don’t take these seriously. If you get nine out of ten readers repeating the same criticisms (i.e. typos or unbelievable storyline or characters) do listen and see if those are things you can change in your next book.

Think of Book One as your first child. You don’t have things 100% figured out. There will be mistakes or things you could have done better. Let it be a learning experience. Listen to the suggestions and take the ones you think will make your next book even stronger.

Before you publish, it’s very important to have your book edited by someone who knows what they’re doing! Not your Aunt Jenny, unless she’s a professional editor. Editors are great for giving advice and pointing out things that you won’t see because it’s your baby. Just like with raising kids, when we read our own books, we see what we want to see and ignore the bad stuff. To us, it’s perfect.

Once you’ve written that book and had it thoroughly edited, you have two things left to do.

1.     Find a publisher, either traditional or the many self-publishers who are out there. Just be wary of the vanity presses. Those are the ones who ask you to pay thousands of dollars upfront in order to create your work. Many of these are scams and you could get stuck with a garage full of books. DO ready their websites very carefully to find out what genres they publish, what they require for submissions, and who you need to submit your work to.

2.     Write your next book.

Good luck!!

Diane Bator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and one less mouse... He’s been evicted.

You can find me at:  http://bookswelove.net/authors/bator-diane-mystery/

 

Show, Don't Tell, Session One - Avoiding Adverbs

Over the next four months, I'm going to write about Showing, Not Telling a story. I've been reading a lot lately, and wow, I'm amazed at how many writers tell a story, rather than show it.  A recent series I've read, the author actually told step by step how he made dinner. Seriously. Something like this: and then he turned on the stove. Then he put the broth in a bowl. Then he added flour. Then he mixed it. Then he added it to the pan to make a gravy.  I'm not kidding. It went on and on. He even told how he set the table from taking the dishes out of the cupboard and silverware out of the drawer. Now don't get me wrong, the dishes he made sounded delicious, but there's a way to give a recipe without step by step. Besides, he never said how much of anything he added.So today, I'm starting with Avoiding Adverbs.Session 1- Avoiding Adverbs –.Writing without adverbs??? Then how do we describe people, tone of voice? Some writers think adverbs are the only way to add description to a story.Wrong – the use and over use of adverbs distracts from your story.  It puts YOU, the AUTHOR, in the story.  And we never (one of the few nevers in writing) want the author in the story.There are better ways to add description.  Let’s take this sentence for example:  Roy walked leisurely down the street.  - Okay you, the author, just TOLD us how Roy walked – you interfered with the story.   How much better if you would have showed us how Roy walked –Example:Roy strolled down the street. (Notice how just changing the verb and taking out the adverb shows us how Roy walked.Roy is not in a hurry -strolled implies leisurely without the author saying so. But let’s take it one step farther the author can show more. Roy breathed in the spring air. He loved this time of year with the trees budding, especially the smell of fresh cut grass. He stopped and looked at the sky.Now the author hasn’t even told us that Roy strolled. We know Roy’s not in a hurry because he notices everything around him.  People in a hurry don’t take the time to notice the buds on the trees. They wouldn’t stop to look at the sky.  The author has showed us something about Roy besides the fact that he’s not in a hurry.  Roy loves spring and he loves nature. Other people wouldn't necessarily notice the buds on the trees, even when they’re not in a hurry. People react in different ways to show us they aren't in a hurry.  Maybe they'd lollygag along, watching the traffic, or kids playing. That shows us something different about them.  People see different things and so should our characters.Adverbs can never replace strong verbs. As in the above example, strolled is a much stronger verb then walked in showing us how someone went on his way. Yet, there’s still a better way to show without telling us he strolled. It shows Roy doing something and tells us something about him. We always want to show our characters. If Roy was a grumpy old man, he wouldn’t have noticed the same things Roy, the nature lover, noticed. More than likely, he’d notice something negative, litter on the street or kids yelling while they play, which annoys him. Think about your character before you write. Know him inside out. Know everything about him, his hobbies, occupation, even his favorite color. Make a character worksheet, listing not just his physical characteristics, but his occupation, hobbies, favorite things. I’ve shown example after this lesson.Adverbs combined with strong verbs – He ran quickly – are repetitive.  We already know he ran, that tells us he’s moving fast, why repeat it.  The adverb has the same meaning as the verb.  By adding the adverb we weaken the verb and the sentence, and it shows us nothing. Avoid the use of adverbs whenever possible.  When you feel tempted to add an adverb, stop and think about what you want the reader to know. Is there another way to say it?  Usually there is. Adverbs to describe how someone speaks are also interfering.Example: “Stop, just stop,” John shouted angrily. Well, I don’t know about you but if someone is shouting that usually means he’s angry. Why not show us the anger with an action.  “Stop! Just stop.” John slammed a cupboard door.Now that shows us he’s angry much better than the adverb angrily? And we didn’t have to use the tag line he shouted.  We can say, he shouted and slammed the cupboard door, but does that reinforce the anger? Not really. The action works better alone.Now don’t get me wrong – there are places to use adverbs, but the key is to use them sparingly.  Readers want detail, they want to see and hear the story. They don’t want someone to tell them what happened. They want to feel the anger, sadness, happiness, laughter, and tears.  Readers want to feel our character's emotion.  Characters who display emotion are strong characters.  And readers remember them. They become real, believable. And if we have believable characters, readers will remember us.So next time you write, she hurried quickly down the street, STOP!! Reread what you just wrote.  Do you really want to repeat that she was in a hurry?  Hurried already implies she was going quickly.And next time you write – “I can’t do this anymore,” John said sadly.  Rethink it – is there a better way to show John sad?  “I can’t do this anymore.” John wiped the tears from his eyes. Notice I didn’t say John said as he wiped the tears. You can also eliminate the he said/she said tags and insert an action tag that shows us more of what’s happening. By saying John said sadly, we know John is sad – but we don’t know he’s crying. In fact we don’t know anything about John.  We add so much more to the story by eliminating needless adverbs.  We all enjoy reading strong stories, why not write them.
   Below is a character worksheet I use for my characters before I start writing. I like to know them inside out.CHARACTER WORKSHEET

1. Name – Nickname

1. Age – Birthday

1. General info – Hair color, eyes; height; weight

1. Favorites – color, sport; food

1. Hobbies

1. What do you think of when you first see him/her – phrase or word to describe. Thin fit, tall, short, muscular, flabby

1. First physical impression. Sloppy distinguished, snobby; sophisticated

1. What do you sense from his/her personality? Shy;confident;bold; loud

1. What type of clothes does he/she wear at work? At home?

1. What is his/her voice like? Rough, raspy, soft, smooth, shrill, Is there an accent?

1. Where does he/she live? Why? His/her choice? Necessity?(job school)

1. Where was he/she born? Describe his/ her background. (family life etc.)

1. Who most influenced his/her life?

1. What’s are his/her priorities? Daydreams, fantasies

1. What motivates him/her?

1. What are his/her conflicts? Does he/she settle them him/herself? Or does she have help?

1. What are his/her goals? How far would they go to achieve them?

1. What are his/her fears? Does it keep her/him from achieving their goals?

1. How important is it for him/her to win?

1. How does he/she react to children? Animals? How do you know?

1. How does he/she interact with others in the story?

1. How does he/she shape the plot

1. What are his/her undesirable characteristics? Faults? Quick tempered/impatient?

1. What are his/her quirks? Special talents?

1. What does he/she do for a living?

1. Why does the reader care what happens to him/her?

BWL Publishing Inc. New Releases and Free Read for September, 2019 - http://bookswelove.net

http://bookswelove.netSeptember new releases are listed below.  Visit http://bookswelove.net and find each of these covers hyperlinked to the author page where you can read descriptions, reviews and purchase information from all your favorite etailers.




AND A SPECIAL TREAT FOR SEPTEMBER, MULTI-PUBLISHED BWL BEST SELLING AUTHOR JANET LANE WALTERS' "ROMANCING THE NURSE" IS FREE FOR YOUR DOWNLOADING PLEASURE.  VISIT JANET'S BWL AUTHOR PAGE, AND CLICK THE COVER ON HER PAGE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY.  ALL BWL AUTHORS ARE LISTED IN THE INDEX ON http://bookswelove.net 

To plot or not by Priscilla Brown

As I began Billie's contemporary romance story,

 I  knew only that she's a car mechanic with her own business in a small town. 

A stranger walks in...or have they met before?

https://bookswelove/net/authors/brown-priscilla-romance 

I am not a story plotter, and not for me the structure of the work planned before I begin Chapter One. In my real every day life, I am an organised person, and I used to wonder why I couldn't transfer this inclination to my contemporary romance novels. I'm what is styled among some fiction authors as a 'seat-of-the-pants' writer, not knowing at the start of a story how it would progress; having said that, however, in romance it's accepted that the two protagonists finally get together, so my challenge is to guide them on their journey.

This not-knowing, making it up as I go, is for me part of the enjoyment or writing. I've attended workshops where the intended outcome was a complete plot outline, after which I've tried unsuccessfully to train myself into this. Attempts at constructing a plot before starting a novel ended in confusion and abandonment. While I would still like to be able to do this before I burrow into the story, I've settled into being a 'pantser'.

Writing a novel in this way means that new characters and situations will emerge. I enjoy meeting these personalities and ensuring they have a valid reason for being in the story. Such people and the baggage they bring introduce different elements into the way the story is shaping. My 'pantsing' usually reveals plot holes, places where something in the sequence of events and/or developing relationships between characters doesn't quite make sense. I need to fill these, foreshadowing by dialogue or narrative and/or more research, so the reader doesn't shake her head and mutter "Why did that happen? How did these characters get to this point?" I construct a timeline of the story events as I write; such gaps will often show up, and demand my immediate attention. To  keep matters under control, I make notes of actions and episodes with their consequences, and it's frequently necessary to read back over several scenes.

 Fixing the holes and dealing with other necessary amendments as I find them makes me a slow writer. And when the first draft of this 'seat-of-the-pants' work reaches THE END, it's time  to go back to the beginning with a thorough edit. Does it all hang together?

Enjoy your reading. Priscilla.

https://bwlpublishing.ca

https://priscillabrownauthor.com

What a Difference a Day Makes by Margaret Hanna

 Click this link for details and purchase information from Margaret's BWL Author Page

Authors who write historical fiction know they have to ensure that things such as attitudes, clothing and language are appropriate to the time. Sometimes, even the day of the week matters.

For example:

My current venture into historical fiction, or, as I call it, semi-fictionalized family history, is the story of my maternal grandparents who (independently) came to Canada from different parts of England a hundred years ago. Rather than writing the chapters sequentially, I am hop-scotching around, picking a year or event at random. This year, being the 50^th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon and Neil Armstrong’s famous quote, I decided to work on 1969. What would my then 80-year-old grandfather and his buddies have thought of this event?

Grandpa Higham drank and smoked so I decided to situate him and his friends in the beer parlour watching the event unfold late that evening on the beer parlour’s little black-and-white TV.

Bear in mind: In Saskatchewan in 1969, there were no pubs or sports bars, only beer parlours. If you wanted to drink “up-scale,” you went to cocktail lounges and licenced dining rooms. All were strictly regulated. No one under 21 allowed. Ever!

Beer parlours were dark, dingy and smoke-filled, almost entirely populated with men; no self-respecting “lady” would be caught dead in a beer parlour! Beer choices were limited – no craft beer in those days. Draft beer cost 21 cents a glass. If you wanted to move to another table, you had to ask the waiter to move your beer for you. Beer parlours closed for “supper hour.”

But back to the Apollo 11 landing.

Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. I was curious as to what day of the week that was, so I called up a 1969 calendar on the internet. July 20 was a Sunday.

Oops!

In 1969, in Saskatchewan, any place that sold any kind of alcohol in any form was closed up tighter than a drum on Sunday. All day Sunday. Every Sunday. No exceptions. There went the story I had just crafted. Time to hit the Delete button and start over.

Grandpa Higham and his buddies are now discussing the event over breakfast in the café Monday morning.

                                                                          * * *

My first venture into semi-fictionalized family history was “Our Bull’s Loose in Town!” Tales from the Homestead, the story of my paternal grandparents, Abe and Addie Hanna. I didn’t have to worry about what day of the week it was with their story – they were affirmed teetotalers and staunch believers in prohibition.