Stephen King: My Favorite Teacher by Joan Hall Hovey

 

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     The year was 1984, a lovely summer’s day and I was sitting in the packed, buzzed audience waiting for Stephen King to appear.  To say I was excited is an understatement. Uncool? Totally. I’d bought my hardcover copy of his book Different Seasons for him to sign.  I wouldn’t be denied. I had all his books in hardcover – Carrie, Cycle of the Werewolf, Danse Macabre, Salem’s Lot -  there would be  many more to come. He was my hero in a time when I was already much too old to be star-struck.  I’ve read that it is mainly teenagers who are addicted to Stephen King’s work, and I was hardly that.  Though probably immature.  I’m at a much more more advanced age now and that hasn’t changed, and I hope it never does.  Stephen King was  the Elvis Presley of the literary world.

     I hadn’t had a novel published yet; that was still a dream, floating somewhere above the horizon. But I’d written and published some articles and short stories, enough to make me eligible for a travel grant through the NB Arts Council to London, England to the writers workshop at Polytechnic Institution  on Marylebone Road, aptly across the street from Madam Tussauds wax museum.  Stephen King would be a panelist, along with authors P.D. James, Robert Parker and some others.  I was eager to hear all the celebrated authors, but I’d flown all this way from New Brunswick, Canada to see and hear Mr. King.  

     He came into the large room through the back door and I swear I knew the instant he did.  You couldn’t miss the rising buzz of the audience, of course, the shifting of bodies as people turned to look, but I also felt the change of energy in the air. On stage, Stephen King joked about his ‘big writing engine’ and I had heard (within my third eye – yes, it can hear) its power, its purr.   Or maybe there’s more to it.

     As he talked to us about writing, he spoke about seeing with that third eye.  The eye of the imagination.  He told us to imagine a chair.  Then he said it was a blue chair.  I saw it clearer now.  He added the detail of a paint blister on the leg of the chair.  Now I saw it close up, with my zoom lens.  We hung on his every word.  He was funny and brilliant and entertaining, and we learned. Everything he said was not necessarily something brand new, but were reminders to pay close attention to details.  To always tell the truth in our writing.  I even got to ask a couple of questions.   And his answers to all our questions were thoughtful and insightful.   I try to pass along a few of those lessons to my own students.

     Stephen King has been teaching creative writing to aspiring and even established writers for decades, long before his wonderful book On Writing came out.  Such a gift to writers that is, regardless of the genre you write in.   I am gushing.  I don’t mind. It’s true.

     I have been fortunate to have had many highlights in my life –  an anniversary trip to Niagara Falls with my wonderful husband, the births of my children and grandchildren, great-grandchildren – a trip to the Bahamas with my eldest son – my own first novel published and several more after that - and I have to say that that workshop in London, England, where Stephen King spoke to us about writing, is right up there.  Thank you, Mr. King. 

     I want to leave you with a quote from an interview with contributing writing for the Atlantic, Jessica Lahey, published in The Atlantic,  Sept  2014.  She asked him if teaching was craft or art.
“It’s both,” he said.  “The best teachers are artists.

     Stephen King is an artist on every level.   He tells the truth.  In his fiction.  And in his teachings.

How do you get in the mood? By Rita Karnopp

How do you get in the mood?  By Rita Karnopp

Has it occurred to you that when you ‘feel’ like writing you do some of your best work?  I’m all about ‘setting the mood.’

 

How do you set the mood for writing – you might ask?

 

Surprisingly, it’s one of the easies and most rewarding thing you can do for your writing career. 

 

I believe we are in one of two states-of-mind.  #1 is our usual state-of-mind - the employee, the mother, the baseball coach, the wife, the craft master, or the confidant.  And #2 is the creative state-of-mind.

 

How do you flip the switch – you might ask?

First-of-all be aware of your state-of-mind.  If you can’t seem to concentrate because you can’t turn-off your usual state-of-mind – it will be a struggle for sure.  You must decide there is a time for your regular life and you deserve a time for your creative life.

 

Let everyone around you know when you are writing – that is your time.  Unless the house is on fire – do not disturb!  You must not only convince your family and friends of this – but you must also convince yourself you deserve this time to yourself.

 

I often told my family (then the kids were young – and the husband was new to the idea of my writing), I write for me.  All the other stuff I do for them – but I deserve some time for me.  They go it … and finally so did I.

 

Now that you’re in the right state-of-mind – what next?  Turn off all responsibilities – demands – obligations - and relax … it’s time to write.  My rule of thumb, after years of developing ways to ‘get me in the mood’ – to write – is to set the atmosphere first-of-all.

 

When I write – say 1800s historical – I read 1800s novels and historical documentary books.  I watch 1800s movies and documentaries.  I self-absorb myself in the 1800s – and sometimes it’s almost hard to snap back into the current year.

 

When I was writing White Berry on the Red Willow – I was so self-absorbed it felt like the future – and I struggled to come up for air.  Some may say this is extreme – but it’s normal for me.

I also ‘get in the mood’ by shifting my music or by playing 1800s video as background ‘mood’ ambiance.  I’m writing a scene in a Blackfoot village and Douglas Spotted Eagle is playing his flute or the Last of the Mohicans’s soundtrack is intensifying in the background will my hero races across an open field … two Blackfeet hell-bent on his heels.

 

Creating mood is so important … it keeps you in-tune with your surroundings … and the book take life because you can smell the trees pine pitch, or you can hear the rustle of the leaves in the trees, or you can taste the buffalo stew, or feel the softness of a ermine lined boot, plus you can see ahead two buffalo skinners who deserve the wrath of the Blackfeet behind him. 

 

Once you lock into the five sense of your story … it will take off like a wild fire.  You are surrounded with your character’s dialog and the action surrounding them.  Nothing else exists …and your fingers fly across the keyboard documenting everything they see, hear, feel, taste, and say.

 

I personally call this moment a ‘writer’s surge.  If you’ve never had one – you’re in for a treat when it happens.   I might venture to add – nothing is more exciting than a writer’s surge!  Nothing!

 

Never stop to correct grammar, sentence structure – the time for editing, revising, or proofreading your scenes is later. Get a drink later and never stop for a minute or so to check you emails.  Any disruption, break, pause, or intrusion –will snap you from the scene you’re writing – you’re snapped from the scene like a blast of cold air from an opened door in the middle of a blizzard.  The ‘mood’ is over!

 

A ghost on a military base? by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

During the Second World War, HMCS Cornwallis (later renamed CFB Cornwallis) was the largest naval training base in the British Commonwealth. Built on the southern shore of the Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia and commissioned in 1942, the military training base closed in 1994.

In the late 1980s, my husband and I enjoyed a three-year posting at CFB Cornwallis. During that time, we attended many functions inside the Officers' Mess. It was a beautiful building (pic on the left), rich in history, and haunted by the ghost of a young woman. I was fascinated by the sad story of that young woman who allegedly hanged herself in one of the upstairs bedrooms after her lover, a sailor in the British Navy during World War II, abandoned her to go back to his wife.

The legend of her ghost was very much alive. While I didn’t know of anyone who had ever seen her, there were reports of strange activities inside the Mess, but was her ghost really roaming the Officers' Mess and only showing herself to unfaithful married men?

Despite all the research I did, I couldn’t find any evidence that a woman ever killed herself inside the Mess, but the basement of the Base Commander’s Residence did shelter grave markers. The dead no longer rest in the basement, their remains were moved to a different burial site, but two of the markers still stand side by side, each engraved with the names of two young children. The four siblings—Edward (1 month), Amelia (1 yr & 6 months), Gilbert (3 yrs), and W.C. (3 yrs)—died between 1850 and 1858.

The legend of the ghost and the grave markers inspired me to write Misguided Honor, my latest novel which was released last week.

In Misguided Honor, Becca Shea sneaks into Cornwallis and travels back in time to 1941 where she meets the young heart-broken woman in the days leading up to her tragic death.

To bring the story of the ghost to life, I took some liberties with history. Among other things, I gave Cornwallis a fictional past as a private shipyard, moved the buildings around, changed their layouts, and delayed the closure of the base. I wish I had unearthed the origin of the legend, and though I didn't, I'm convinced something dreadful happened a long time ago in the Officers' Mess—or else the legend wouldn't have been born.

Happy reading!

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

Many Thanks to Worcester Resident, Randy Bloom

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Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I’ve been researching Worcester history and the neighborhood in which some of the characters in the sequel would have worked and lived as domestic servants. Randy Bloom, a long time resident of the Crown Hill historic district of Worcester generously opened his 1856 home to me for a private two-hour tour.

Like the residents before him, Randy has kept the interior of his home true to its original. What a treat it was to meander through all those rooms – three floors in the main house plus a two-story carriage house – taking the original gas lighting fixtures and coal burning fireplaces, reproduction wallpaper perfectly replicating the original, the floor-to-ceiling windows and the French doors leading from the parlor to a glassed-in porch, which in the 1850s was use as a greenhouse to lengthen the growing season and as a solar collector to add warmth to the porch and parlor in the colder months.

As I walked through the house and grounds, I was struck with inspiration for exactly how this house will fit into the sequel. I’m not telling, though – no spoilers here!

Again, my gratitude to Randy for his generous hospitality!

Original gas lighting fixture in the dining room. The extra gas jet (visible at front center) allowed for an attached rubber tube to hang down and connect with a gas lamp in the center of the table.

Kindling and coal were burned in the basket at the front of this fireplace. Though the mantel and surround appear to be marble they are really soapstone painted to look like marble right down to the gold veining.

How to use your sub-conscious to write and cure writers' block.

Start using a tool we all have but often overlook. The results are worth it.

When focusing on a challenge and unable to find a solution, I turn the problem over to my subconscious. I use what Stephen King calls ‘the boys in the basement.’

I wasn’t sure how the final plot for my first published book would play out. (After all, I had already written five versions of the story.) I tossed it around in my head as I went to sleep. In the morning, I woke with the title bouncing in my head. Came Home Dead. The title came with a host of ideas and shaped the book.

There is a good reason why it works.

Years ago, an instructor described our sub-conscious minds as a honeycomb. As snippets of memory and information enter our brains, they are stored in tiny compartments. Since the subconscious has no sense of organization or judgment, the good, the bad, and the ugly are stored willy-nilly in our honeycombs--one snippet per little cubby.

Given a topic, a question, or an event the boys in the basement or the girls in the backroom, race up and down the rows pulling out any idea that is remotely connected.

The searchers toss all the information into conduits that deliver the bits into the conscious mind. Bingo, we have answers or ideas to work with.

This happens daily without our participation, delivering up joy, anger, comments, and sarcasm. Not all of it is productive when we are non-focused.

Why not use it deliberately, it helps more often than not.

• State your question or problem.
• Be specific. Put it down in writing or typing.
• Occupy your conscious mind with mundane tasks.

 Take a walk, clean the oven, mow the lawn— tasks requiring minimal thought.

Always have the means to capture what comes up. 

This process produces results and provides starting ideas and a cure for writer’s block.

What is a Beta Reader?

Are you a Beta Reader?

Do you need a Beta Reader?

 The key helpers for any author are Beta Readers. They provide valuable input once the book is done but not yet published. There is often confusion about what any readers do. 

What is an Alpha Reader and what is a Beta Reader?

Alpha is first (reader.) That is the author. Alpha readers may also include a critique/challenge team. 

 

Beta means "second". 

A Beta reader is a "reader" first of all - a person who looks at your book the way your targeted audience will. They give you feedback on what works, doesn't work... and possibly typos and spelling although that is NOT their primary function.

What to look for in a Beta Reader

• a person who reads a lot and has time
• a person who reads your genre
• a person who knows NOTHING about your story (fresh eyes)
• a person who will be honest for specific reasons (not nasty comments**)
  

   

  How to educate your Beta readers

  1. Give them a copy of this article.

     1. “How to give constructive criticism.”

  2. Give them a specific list of questions you want them to answer.

  3. Suggest they read the list and then set it aside while they read the book.

      

      ? ASK

• what they liked about the first pages, the characters, the plot
• if they found the story believable - if not, where
• where they laughed, cried, admired the character's actions
• if they were annoyed with how the character acted at any point
• if they were drawn to read the book all in one sitting

...and others in this vein.

More Questions to ask your Beta Readers can be found at this site:  

www.towriteastory.com/ask-beta-reader

Bathing in the Sea during the Regency Period by Rosemary Morris

To learn more about Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.

Mermaids at Brighton swim behind their bathing machines. William Heath 1829.

18th Century to the 19th Century. In the 1730’s few people either bathed in the sea or visited the coast, where each of three towns Scarborough, Margate and Brighton, claimed to be the first seaside resort. By the 1750’s resorts developed in locations within easy reach of the capital and large cities. When sea bathing first became popular the advice was against swimming either after exercise or during warm weather when the pores of the skin were open. Members of the medical profession considered cold water during winter to be best. They advised bathers to swim before 10 a.m. to provide a good start to the day. By 1800 most people preferred to swim early in the morning, but some swam for pleasure all day in every season.

Bathers At first men and women bathed in the same areas but they were soon segregated. In Brighton ladies bathed to the east of the beach and gentlemen to the west.
However, in Bognor, nude bathing was not banned until 1868, and in 1882 byelaws were passed to ensure bathing machines were used to undress in.

Bathing Machines and Dippers. Those, who did not know how to swim but wanted to take advantage of the health benefits of sea bathing, took advantage of bathing machines attended by dippers who dunked their clients in the sea. The bathing machines were wooden huts on large wheels which the dippers or horses pulled in and out of the sea. Female dippers wore gowns with full skirts and hats. In Brighton, the setting for my new novel, Saturday’s Child, Mrs Martha Gunn dipped the Prince Regent and in Southend Mrs Glascock and Mrs Myall dipped Princess Charlotte. For some ladies being dunked was a frightening experience., for example, the novelist, Fanny Burney thought she would never recover.

Jane Austen at Lyme Regis. On the 14h September, 1804, in Jane Austen’s letter to her sister Casandra she wrote. “The bathing was so delightful this morning and Molly so pressing me to enjoy myself that I believe I staid (sic) in rather too long.”

Classic Historical Fiction by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess

Regency Novels False Pretences.

Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week Books one to Six, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child, Thursday’s Child and Friday’s Child.

(The novels in the series are not dependent on each other, although events in previous novels are referred to and characters reappear.)

Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book One

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk http://bookswelove.n1et/authors/morris-rosemary