Monday, September 9, 2019

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!
 

Sunday, September 8, 2019

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




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' Messor else the legend wouldn't have been born.

Happy reading!
JS

Saturday, September 7, 2019

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.

Friday, September 6, 2019

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:  


Thursday, September 5, 2019

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

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

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:














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