The Princess Ride

By Deborah Sharp

With tears in my eyes, I watched Rapunzel try to use her magical hair to save her dying love. Yep, there I was in a darkened theater at age well-over-fifty-something, watching Tangled, the movie that Disney claims will be its last offering in a very long line of tiara tales.

I feel like I should be standing in front of a group of fellow addicts, confessing: Hi, I'm Deborah and I have a princess obsession. Ever since I was a little girl, and watched an animated prince slip a crystal slipper on Cinderella's dainty foot, I've been taken in by the happily ever after. And it's not just cartoons, either. I'm a sucker for any story featuring a princess: Enchanted, the Princess Diaries, the Princess Bride.

P.S., I don't have kids, or grand-kids, so I can't even use that as an excuse for sneaking off to see Tangled.

So, what am I supposed to do now? Disney told the L.A. Times in November that this animated story of a princess, stolen by a wicked woman and imprisoned in a tower, would be its final fairy tale for the foreseeable future. Looks like the clock may have finally struck midnight on the genre. Disney execs fear it's too girlish to attract little boys and their daddies. Well, duh. The princess fantasy is a girl thing. Aren't there enough movies with fast cars and things that go BOOM for the boys?

Spoiler alert: Despite the imminent death of the princess tale, the story ended well for fair Rapunzel. And the fact that I cheered her on, that I loved this children's movie, got me to thinking about the endurance of this theme in books and movies. Are you pro-princess, or anti? Are princess stories a plot to delude women into waiting hopelessly for Prince Charming? Or, are they a sweet sojourn into Fantasyland? How about you men? Do you have a secret prince fantasy, where you get to save the day and end up with the beautiful girl? Wait a minute . . . isn't that the plot of every action movie ever made?

Reality TKO's fantasy

So I received a text the other day from a friend. He says, "Oh my God, you have to write about this!" And he goes on to tell me about a story he'd just read in the StarTribune, our local newspaper, about nutjob who was going to mail one of his ex-girlfriends an intimate toy that was loaded with gunpowder, buckshot and BB's. Then he was going to blow it up at an "opportune" time. WHAT? No way! You've got to be kidding!!! In the newspaper? Really?????? I Googled it, and sure enough, my friend was not messing with my mind. This time.

Never in my wildest imaginings have I or any of the writers I know come up with something that horrifying, intriguing, or twisted. Which brings me to the point of this post. I was at a gas station in my home town of Siren, WI tonight. The clerk saw the word "writer" on my t-shirt and engaged me in a short conversation. He's a newspaper journalist for the county paper, and would like to delve into novel writing one day. He asked me where I get my plot ideas from...and isn't that just the question?

That interaction made me remember that I'd attended a great session at Bouchercon this past October on just that subject. There was a lineup of I think five authors, and the moderator had passed out a different section of the newspaper to a number of the attendees. One person got the sports page, one the business section, another the front page, and so on.

The object was for the audience member to read the first paragraph of any story of their choosing, and the authors had to brainstorm a plot out of that paragraph. And I'll be darned if they didn't manage to do it for each section, even sports and business. It sure made me look at the newspaper in quite a different light. I'd always kept an eye out for unusual stories, but to take ANY one of the pieces on the page and twist it into a murder mystery was something I hadn't considered.

So the next time you sit down with your morning coffee and your favorite paper, pick out a story, read that first paragraph, and see what you can come up with. Even ask your wife or husband or partner to brainstorm with you if they're around. I guarantee you'll come up with something. If it's useable or not, who knows, but what a simple exercise to get that writer's brain all juiced up. Since reality is so often loonier than fiction, run with the truth once in awhile. Who knows where you'll end up, and it'll probably be a hell of a ride!

LABOR PAINS

We normally don’t post blatant self-promotion here at Inkspot, but it’s not every day that one of us has a book about to be released. So today I’m breaking with tradition and will give the blogging boat a sound rocking. Hopefully, my fellow MInkers, as we fondly refer to ourselves, won’t cyber-smack me around for doing so. You never know, though, given their propensity for writing about murder and mayhem.

Tomorrow, Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, my latest book and first mystery, will be released. Actually, the book has been available on Amazon for nearly a month and is probably already on bookstore shelves, but tomorrow is the official release date. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun is an amateur sleuth mystery and the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, published by Midnight Ink.

I’ve often heard authors refer to their books as their “babies” and the road to publication as “labor pains.” There’s a big difference between birthing a baby and birthing a book, though. With each progressive baby, the birthing process generally becomes a lot easier. I remember being in labor with my first son and resolving that I’d NEVER go through that pain again. Nearly three years later, I was giving birth to his brother when I remembered that I’d vowed not to go through labor ever again. I’m convinced nature makes us forget the pain of childbirth in order to keep our species from going extinct. In truth, though, that second delivery was a lot easier and less painful than the first.

Then there’s birthing a book. Ask any multi-published author, and he or she will tell you it never gets any easier. Or less painful. We sweat and worry over each sentence, each page, each scene, each chapter. When we type “THE END,” we continue to worry.

Will my editor love the book or hate it?
What will the reviewers say?
Will readers buy the book?
Will I earn out my advance?
Will sales be good enough to secure my next contract?

The worries never end. But maybe it’s the act of worrying that spurs us to continue to hone and improve our writing, knowing that with each book more is expected of us, making readers clamor for the next book even before they’ve finished the current one. One of the greatest compliments an author can receive is when a reader says, “I can’t believe I have to wait a whole year for your next book!”

I’ve been lucky so far in that Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. PW said, “Crafty cozies don't get any better than this hilarious confection,” and Booklist stated, “Winston has hit a home run with this hilarious, laugh-until-your-sides-hurt tale. Oddball characters, uproariously funny situations, and a heroine with a strong sense of irony will delight fans of Janet Evanovich….” Kirkus Reviews called it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.”

However, it became evident that the cosmos wanted to keep me from getting too swelled a head when Library Journal pronounced, “This funny and clever debut almost makes the reader forget that there is not much of a mystery here.” Ouch! That’s another thing that never gets any easier no matter how many books an author has published. When someone finds fault with your baby, whether it’s your first, fifth, or fiftieth, it hurts.

In celebration of the release of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, Lois is doing a blog tour throughout January. You can find the schedule at her website and at Anastasia’s blog. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs during the tour will be entered into a drawing to receive one of 5 signed copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun.

New Beginnings (Again)

When I was a teenager, I bowled in a league. Every Saturday, we’d wake up (relatively) early and go roll a series. Sometimes things were going well; sometimes we’d get a few too many splits. Whenever we’d hit a rough patch, we’d walk up to the scoresheet (you kept your own score in those Neanderthal days) and scratch out a big fat pencil line after the most recent frame to signify that we were now going to “start bowling.”

Sometimes we’d have six or seven pencil scratches in a single 10-frame game. We weren’t shy about our “new beginnings.”

To some extent, I continue to use that philosophy. I look for opportunities to “start fresh.” (Before I go any farther, this is not a prelude to some kind of momentous announcement. In fact, things are going well right now and I hope they’ll continue.)

Here are some of my favorite “starting fresh” points, in no particular order:

• New Year’s Day
• Jewish New Year
• Chinese New Year
• Beginning of each season
• First of every month
• Beginning of school
• Beginning of school vacation
• Any day ending in “y”
• Beginning of each meal
• Beginning of dessert
• When the clock chimes at the top of the hour
• When I click the “new document” button in WORD

How about you? Content with the same ol’, same ol’, or do you crave a fresh beginning?

 

{By the way, you can view my latest fresh beginning here. I just gave my website yet another facelift (Joan Rivers, watch out!).}

 

Alan

Goals vs. Wishes

by G.M. Malliet

Years ago, I read an interview with comedian and actor Drew Carey in which he talked about how he'd achieved success in his career. The world is full of talented would-be comedians and actors, after all. How did Drew manage, after years of struggle, finally to rise to the top of his profession?

His secret was simple: He decided exactly what he wanted to achieve - his goal - and he wrote it down. Then he pinned his goal somewhere where he would see it each each day - on the fridge or the bathroom mirror. His reasoning? "If it's not visible and in your face all the time, it's not a goal. It's a wish."

His good advice has stayed with me. The tendency to wish and dream and hope is part of any writer's makeup - certainly it's part of mine. At what point do you decide you're serious? I think it's at the moment you write down when you're going to be a published author - by what date. What kind of book you're going to write. How many hours you're going to devote to your manuscript. How many pages long it's going to be.

Or anything else that makes the dream specific and alive to you. If you are off by a few pages or even years, what difference does it make when you do reach your goal?


As this is the time of year when we set new goals, here's mine: Within the next three years, I want to spend time in Italy. Not just a vacation, but a real immersion in the country. I want to wake up each day to the rolling landscape, and visit the markets blooming with the different-colored harvests of the seasons. To learn how to cook authentic Italian meals. To share those meals with friends - meals that go on for hours. To see the works of artists who helped invent art as we now know it. To wallow in the sense of limitless time - time to shop, to sip coffee, to people watch, to visit museums, to speculate and to dream. There are few places in the world that allow and encourage this way of life outside of Italy.


If I put money aside for this adventure, the only thing really getting in my way is the language. I tell myself I've never been good at learning languages - that I have one of those brains hard-wired just for English. But with sufficient motivation I know I can learn Italian, even at my great age. The motivation is to be able to purchase Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar and fruits and vegetables from a vendor who speaks no English, and to be able to do this with with more than my point, nod, and smile methods of the past. 

So here's the first step that will take me to my overall goal, and I'm writing it down and printing it out: 

I will spend one hour a day in 2011 studying Italian online.

Not a wish, but a goal.


[The photo at right of the happy couple was taken in Cortona, Italy, the perfect place to sip coffee and people watch. The photo at top is from outside a grocers shop in Cortona. And I think the photo in the center is of a place where actor George Clooney stays when he's in Italy. I wonder if the struggling young actor George wrote down his goals, too.]


G.M. Malliet | http://GMMalliet.com
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What Kids Are Saying About Books

by Julia Buckley

At this time of year all sorts of reading polls go up: books of the year, best lists, tips for good writing, et cetera. But mainly we're asking adults these questions. I thought I'd poll my children--ages twelve and sixteen--about their views on books.


IAN (age 16)

What's the best book you read in 2010?'

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. More accurately, it was one of the only books I read in 2010.

On what form of entertainment do you spend most of your time? Do you still make time for reading?

The computer. Does reading computer font count?

Sort of. What sorts of books will you NOT read?

Twilight, and the other stuff in that area. Also post-modern poetry.

If you were a writer, what would be your genre?

Horror.

If you could choose between reading a really good book or seeing a movie based on that book, which would you choose?

It depends on the ratio of pages in book to hours in movie. If the book is like 700 pages, I may just watch the movie. If the movie was good, I'll try the book.

GRAHAM (age 12)

What's the best book you read in 2010?

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster.

On what form of entertainment do you spend the most of your time? Do you still make time for reading?

I spend a lot of time on my Play Station 3, but I try to make time for reading.

Hmmm. What sorts of books will you NOT read?

I will read any type of book; it depends on the contents of the specific book.


If you were a writer, what would be your genre?

I would choose adventure, because it's more interesting when there is more excitement.

If you could choose between reading a really good book or seeing a movie based on that book, which would you choose?

It depends on the book/movie, but honestly? Probably the movie.

Very revealing; thank you, Graham.

A recent interview on NPR about the future of entertainment informed me of the fact that everything is changing (which we already knew), and that entertainers and producers will need to decide NOW how they will respond to that change.

In the case of writers, things are becoming more visual and more integrated with other media. My sons' comments (albeit extremely brief) seem to highlight that idea. The book is not always the first choice (although, to my relief, they are both in the process of reading one now).

If we want to see the future, we need look no farther than the young people in our midst. They can tell us exactly what it looks like.

May Auld Acquaintance

Keith here.

In 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, I started a new book in January. Each year I finished that manuscript by December. About three weeks ago, I sent off my latest to my agent. What does that mean? I reckon that I should get started on something new. Right?

Like most writers, the most common question I'm asked is "Where do you get your ideas from?" I do have an idea for a book and like my Dot Dead and Smasher, it's set against a Silicon Valley background. Weirdly though, this time it's non-fiction. Here in the Valley, history is written and rewritten every day. Way back before I was a software guy, I was a history grad student. Maybe I can combine both those earlier callings with my current one as a writer. I'm going to call an editor friend of mine who specializes in business books and see if my idea makes sense to him. Wish me luck.

Any other resolutions for 2011 besides to get going on whatever comes next? One more is to read more books. I've stopped subscribing to The Economist, which I love, but reading what a mess our world is in doesn't seem to help in fixing it. So I'll escape this world for a couple of extra hours a week and spend the time in another world some author has created.

* * *

BTW, I did want to mention the book that had the greatest impact on me in 2010. The memoir, Serenade to the Big Bird, reminded me of Anne Frank's Diary. The author, Bert Stiles, was a B-17 co-pilot in his early twenties during World War II. As with Anne Frank, you know before starting to read the book that he didn't live to see the end of the war. His language is stark and moving and cynical. He gets a medal and reports, "The citation was mimeographed, with my name typed in. The mimeograph was just about out of ink when it got to mine. The exceptional gallantry part was pretty thin.... We were late for chow and all the seats were taken." But like all the best American heroes, under the cynicism runs a streak of old-fashioned idealism:

"There are all kinds of people: senators and whores and barristers and bankers and dishwashers. There are Chinamen and Cockneys and Gypsies and Negroes. There are Lesbians and and cornhuskers and longshoremen.... And some day we are going to catch on that no matter where people are born, or how their eyes slant, and what their blood type, they are just people.... They are not masses.... And until we call them people, and know they are people, all of them, we are going to have a sick world on our hands."

* * *

As I've mentioned, I'm sending out a literary quote each weekday on Twitter (@writerkeith) and here are two for the new year with slightly different outlooks . A wonderful 2011 to you all!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." Edith Lovejoy Pierce

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." Mark Twain