Category: Random

Book research can be enlivening and fun! Especially when one has friends just as bizarre as me, who agree to help choreograph certain scenes. I have such a friend. For the sake of anonymity, I’ll call her “Annie Oakley.”

Annie Oakley has a 38 revolver. Annie Oakley’s cousin has a 22, 25, 38, and a 45.

The only gun I’ve ever seen or held was a toy one when I played cops/robbers as a child. I had no idea how much they weigh. I had no idea how one felt if pressed in my side. What’s the best gun in a crowd to get someone to come with them? What’s the best position so the gun remains unseen? What’s the best angle to scare the person you’re aiming it at?

I have several of these scenes in book 3, the one I’m currently editing with that familiar red pen. I’d guessed at the best way to write these scenes in my head. However, after playing with Annie Oakley’s (unloaded, of course—I am not an idiot) guns, I learned the scenes in my head were completely unrealistic.

This is why it’s imperative to do authentic research when you can.
Elaine’s disclaimer: Never do anything remotely dangerous with someone you don’t know or trust. I’ve known Annie Oakley for 10 years.

The evening was so much fun! Three of us, standing in different positions in the room, saying things like, “Oh! That will work! Come stick that 22 in my rib cage and we’ll try that!” and “No, that’s unrealistic. Back up five feet and aim the gun at me.”

At one point, she sat 3 feet away, aiming her 38 at me so I could get the feeling of being at gunpoint. But Annie Oakley owns 3 Pomeranians. So I’m looking down the barrel of her gun, her fixed face aiming it at me. And along side her, I see 3 puffball dogs. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, wishing for a camera. German Shepherds, perhaps. Pomeranians? Made it seem a bit surreal.

What all writers want to attain is that emotional core. Not just list details, but relay experiences and extract emotion. Fortunately, after several mix and match scenes, I found the perfect moment which did it. I never could have arrived there without their help.

Book research can be fun. Resources are everywhere: Internet, books, magazines, and people. Sometimes you can gather enough information about a place/profession by reading articles. I find it’s invaluable to get a personal account—either by personal experience or talking to someone who intimately knows what you’re trying to authenticate on those manuscript pages.

Today’s blog lists the strangest questions I’ve asked people in the name of book research. Surprisingly, complete strangers were willing to talk with me, often giving up to an hour of their time.

This doesn’t work for all authors. Nora Roberts admits she would rather read 20 books than meet with a stranger to ask questions. Yet Jodi Picoult insisted on personal experience to research her books. She trekked through the Alaskan tundra (The Tenth Circle), lived with an Amish family (Plain Truth), and spent the night in jail (The Pact).

I encourage writers to get over their shyness and try it. It gives us an opportunity to learn, see the world differently, and those gems can’t help but find their way onto the page.

1. Has anyone died in this room?
2. Can you show me the cremation room?
3. How is a body cremated?
4. Where did embalming begin?
5. Has anyone stolen a casket?
6. How much blood is on you by the end of the day?
7. (to a friend) Can I come to your house and you point your gun at me?
8. (to a friend) Can you press it (unloaded, please!) against my neck so I can feel the cold steel?
9. How many flavors of pipe tobacco are there? Can I take a whiff of each?
10. What did the lost baby zebra do when he saw your black and white striped van in the Serengeti?

    There are many more, I’m sure, but these are the more recent. Have a good Friday, everyone!

Indie # 10 is “Passion Fish” written/directed by John Sayles. Starring Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, and David Strathairn.

Watch the preview.

There are 2 types of people in the world. Those who like John Sayles films, and those who don’t. I typically like the powerful statements he makes about the world, life, and humanity within the last 10 minutes of each of his movies. But getting to those last 10 minutes is sometimes challenging for me. Passion Fish is one where I am captivated for the duration.

Set in small bayou towns in Louisiana, this is the story of a soap actress who becomes paralyzed from the waist down, and is bound to a wheelchair for life. Spending her days letting the TV glaze over her, and pouring enough wine in her body to set her afloat, she drives away the first several home care nurses sent out to care for her. It’s only when Alfre Woodard shows up that each will bring about a way to cope with the other.

1. This film is set in Louisiana, and we see plenty of oak trees adorned with dangling Spanish moss. Even though I’m not from the bayou areas, I love the scenery and Louisiana water landscapes in this film.

2. Great Louisiana Zydeco music, without the fake accents and overdone effects of many Louisiana-set films.

3. I love all the actors in this film. Although I was surprised (and a bit disheartened) to learn that the bayou legend origin of the “Passion Fish” was completely made up, and has no Louisiana legend truth in it.

4. Movies where characters meet and bring about change in the other (without explosions, nudity or aliens showing up) are my favorite ones.

Since we’re at # 10 on the Indie List, I’m going to occasionally list another Indie but will change the subject of the blogs for a few weeks.

Indie # 9 is The Squid and the Whale, written/directed by Noah Baumbach.
Starting Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, and a brief Anna Paquin.

Watch the preview.

Admittedly, I will see anything with Laura Linney. However, this heartfelt story is well-written and well-cast.

What happens to a family when 2 literary parents suddenly separate? When each child idolizes one parent and blames the other, seeing things in black and white terms? As the kids begin seeing their parents’ flaws, can they accept the shades of gray?

Baumbach’s simplicity and complex family dynamics strike a chord with me, but I must admit I also have selfish reasons for liking this film. Being a stepmom of 3 for 13 years, it’s frustrating when children don’t see his/her parent in a realistic light, but instead see them as someone without any flaws. Yes, this is imperative when the children are young and need to feel safe. But as the kids get older, I think it’s healthy to begin challenging certain things, making up their own mind instead of automatically accepting everything as fact.

When the movie “Stepmom” came out many years ago, my younger stepdaughter walked out and claimed, “But no mommy could ever do mean things like the mommy in the movie did.” I bit my tongue so hard it turned purple, for in fact that very DAY her mother had done something insensitive and careless which affected them.

As we grow older and (hopefully) make amends with our childhoods, parents, and lives, we grow wiser. This film is a tiny snippet of how that wisdom’s spark begins.

Today I’m taking a break from Indies because I can hardly think straight.

A wonderful thing happened at 2:15pm EST today…I typed the last words of the book!!! WOO HOO!

Finishing a book, especially the first draft, brings an array of emotions into play: elation, anticipation of more work/edits, happiness, pride, fear, depression, sadness, happiness, and back around again!

I’ve learned to let these feelings flow where they may. Stifling them only prevents moving to the next level: rewriting. All writers have their favorite/most hated parts of the process, but I enjoy rewriting. It’s like sifting through treasures collected at the beach, figuring out what to polish and what to discard. Parts of this can be tedious, but in the end I enjoy this part.

I’m taking this afternoon and tomorrow off. Not looking at the manuscript. On Tuesday, I’ll start going through it with a fine tooth comb, editing things such as:

• Layering in Setting. Sure, those scenes have the beautiful Savannah background in my head, but are they clear to the reader?
• Removing those “um” words. You know the ones. In everyday speech, it’s “um” that we say more often than we realize. In fiction, it’s words like “that,” “just,” “really,” “very,” and more. These aren’t bad words in themselves, but like the “um” of a nervous public speaker, overdoing them can take the reader out of the story.
• Correcting my forgetfulness. Was my character from Boston on page 1, but from Miami on page 200? Side character names and features are my weakness. Highlighting those spots in green as I write them helps me correct them easily. It’s not uncommon to see “her boss, whatever his name is” written in and highlighted, and I can find out the name on the 2nd draft.
• Adding in any research tidbits. Nora Roberts claims she writes/researches simultaneously. I will occasionally swing over and do some research, but on some items I’ll wait until the 2nd draft to make the scene fill out more. A simple “research this” note in green highlight reminds me to do some brief Google inquiries. Any research needed from books or human beings, I’ll try tackling in the first draft.

After these steps are done, it’s best to let it sit for at least a few days, preferably a week or more. Then go back through and polish up word choices, make sure it flows smoothly, do one last printout/edit, and then the book is complete!

More tomorrow!