by Lynne | May 2, 2016 | News and Events
A friend of mine died after a three-year battle with lung cancer. Last night I attended his memorial service. Family and friends told stories. I learned more about him in an hour than I had in 20 years of friendship. But the most poignant moments for me came at the end, when an old friend of his sang a song he’d written. I thought I’d share the words with you. I don’t think he’d mind.
“It’s the Lessons, Love and Laughter”
By Tom Walker
When your sun no longer sets
What remains will last forever
In the lives of those who love you
In the hearts of those who grieve
It matters not what’s in your will
Rather how you use your skill
It’s the lessons, love and laughter
That’s the legacy you leave.
***
Everyone is a teacher
Every act is a seed
Every day is a lesson
To be bound up or freed.
Every birth a beginning
Of the life that you make
Every breath is new page
Till the final breath you take.
***
It’s how you stand through the trials
It’s how you walk through the pain
It’s how you face every morning
Whether sunshine or the rain
It’s what you build out of nothing
It’s what you give to your friends
It’s how you walk your journey
More than how the journey ends.
Namaste.
by Lynne | Apr 25, 2016 | Researching
Yes, the title is correct. Rather than “write what you know,” I believe you should know what you write.
I’m a native New Yorker, transplanted to the West Coast. In my early writing classes I was told, “write what you know.” What the heck did that mean? I couldn’t write about Alabama or Vancouver because I wasn’t from there?
When I was sixteen, I was strolling through Manhattan, minding my own business. I came across a group of tourists looking up and pointing, shooting pictures at something in the sky. What was it? I looked up and realized they were photographing a tall building. Big deal. So I walked to the building in question and saw a plaque that read Empire State Building. Aha. This was the famous Empire State Building.
I lived in NYC but didn’t even appreciate what was around me. On the other hand, when I moved to San Diego, I scouted out every attraction, neighborhood, restaurant, park and beach within the first two months. I knew San Diego better than San Diegans and often surprised them with my knowledge. My point is that growing up in or living in a place is not necessarily “knowing” a place.
In earlier blogs I talked about the importance of research. Here is a perfect place for it. You don’t need to set a story in the place you grew up in (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) You can set a story anywhere you like, but, and I repeat, but, you must visit that place to make it authentic.
An example from my book, Deadly Provenance: “They drove on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, right up to and around the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elyseés to the Place de la Concorde with the tall obelisk at its center. Henri then turned left into a steady stream of traffic on the Rue de Rivoli, made a dizzying series of rights and lefts and wound up on a narrow alley way called Rue des Pretres-Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, which Maggie did not even attempt to pronounce. He pulled the Peugeot onto the sidewalk in front of a tiny building with glass front: Le Relais du Louvre, their hotel.”
I’ve never lived in Paris, but I have visited a number of times. Can you tell?
If you’re writing about a fictional town, you can have fictional streets and neighborhoods, fictional bars and fictional buildings. But if you’re writing about a real city, you need to make it authentic, by visiting. Maps on the Internet can help, but places change, restaurants close, old houses are torn down and replaced by condos. You must see it first-hand. This is especially important if you want to appeal to readers who actually live there. They will call you on your mistakes.
A dilemma I encountered when writing about Washington, D.C., during the Civil War, was how did it look back then? First of all it was called Washington City, an important note that would have bollixed up everything, had I gotten it wrong. Since I couldn’t transport myself back to Washington City in 1860 (darn), I lucked out when I chanced upon a book called “A Guide to Civil War Washington.” Thank you author, Stephen M. Forman! In this little gem were maps of the different areas in the District, including street names and famous attractions like Ford’s Theatre. Without this book, I would have had to research maps of the time and spent lots of hours at the Library of Congress, if I could get special permission. Whew.
One caveat about the benefit of actually living in the place you’re writing about is that you will know the “locals” better. Their habits, peculiarities, popular night spots, and idiosyncrasies of speech. But this is a post for another time.
For now, “write what you know” is not bad advice. “Know what you write” might be better.
by Lynne | Apr 11, 2016 | Forensic science, Researching
I had an idea for a new mystery. I was always fascinated by the Holocaust and the horrors of WWII. As a museum professional, I happened upon a book called “The Lost Museum” by Hector Feliciano. It’s the story about the systematic plundering of Jewish-owned artwork by the Nazis. I was hooked. I read many books to follow, some of which you may be familiar with like “The Rape of Europa” by Lynn Nicholas.
Since my earlier two books are mysteries that take place in the past around real events, but are solved by modern technology, I pondered my new story line. What about a particular piece of art that was stolen from its Jewish owner, but to this day, has never been seen again? Add to that a photograph of the said painting that comes to light 70 years later. Can the painting be authenticated by a photograph? Now I was doubly hooked.
How do I even begin the research on this book? I needed a missing painting, a backdrop for the historic story, and some state-of-the-art digital photography thrown into the mix. I started with the backdrop: France during the German occupation. The following photos will give you a glimpse into the tour that inspired my book.
My first stop was Normandy because my husband and I were both eager to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the invasion, June 6, 1944.
Normandy, however, specifically the town of Bayeux, is also famous for the Bayeux Tapestry. I knew that the magnificent work had been in jeopardy during the war and was whisked away to the Louvre repository for safekeeping. It is actually not a tapestry but an embroidered cloth. Here’s a small section of it.
From Normandy, we headed straight for the City of Light, Paris. In terms of a novel, there were so many possibilities, I cannot even begin to name them.
The Museum that featured prominently in the looting of art during WWII was the Jeu de Paume, a small, elegant museum of contemporary art, located at the north end of the Tuileries Gardens. This is a central location for my book.
I’m omitting photos of the Louvre because it actually doesn’t play a role in my novel. (Read “The DaVinci Code” for that.) Since the glass pyramid was constructed, the building entrance looks quite different than it did in the 1940s.
One of the characters in my book is a real person and true heroine: Rose Valland. Rose was instrumental in keeping track of art confiscated by the Nazis and stored at the Jeu de Paume. I gave her a fictional niece that helps tell her story. This niece lives in Avignon, Provence, directly across from the stunning Palais des Papes.
Next stop on our trip.
Finally, I decided upon the painting I would use: Vincent van Gogh’s Still Life: Vase With Oleanders.
He is one of my favorite artists. Vase with Oleanders was an oil on canvas that he did in 1888 in Arles. He was not at the asylum at Saint-Remy at that time, but we visited anyway.
Vincent’s painting is still missing today . . . but maybe not forever.
by Lynne | Apr 4, 2016 | Writing Tips
Whether you’re a self-published or traditionally-published author, you are no doubt engaging in marketing your books. One effective way to accomplish this is by blogging regularly on social media sites. However, recently, a number of writer “groups” within those sites have put a kibosh on posting a blog with links that take the reader back to your website, ergo, your books. In other words, no self-promotion.
I can understand this . . . to some extent. But what if you’re trying to make a point about the craft of writing? Can you not use your own writing to emphasize the point? After all, whose writing do you know best?
What about the research you’ve done? Why did you choose a particular location, or a particular time period in history? Can you not reference your own writing to enhance the reader’s understanding? If I discuss how I researched the forensics of fire in 1911 for one of my books, wouldn’t it be helpful to use a bit of background from it to clarify?
There are many self-promo groups on Facebook and Google + and you can post links directly to your books without feeling guilty. But what about sharing your own experiences or knowledge about writing? How you created your characters, developed your plot, built in tension and conflict. Why you choose to write in the past or the future. Who your target audience might be. How do you write a blog like this and never mention examples from your books?
A second concern regarding posting blogs: When a site administrator asks you not to post a link to your blog, the alternative is to cut and paste the blog directly onto the site. Frankly, I think this looks tacky and much less professional than sending someone to the blog page on your website.
Let’s give the readers some credit. If they choose to read your blog, they can click on the link and read it. No one is forcing them to browse the website any further. Certainly no one is forcing them to purchase a book.
Please share your thoughts.
by Lynne | Mar 28, 2016 | Reading
Have you had trouble finding a good read lately? I know, I know, most folks say they have so many books waiting to be read that it’s no problem. But, it seems that every sample I pick up these days just hasn’t made it. Jeez, what did we do before we could download samples? We’d stand around in B&N and read the first chapter, I guess.
What makes you put the book down? And how long do you give it? I still have friends that feel obligated to finish a book once they’ve started. Not me. Life’s too short. So I thought I’d try to figure out what makes me give up on a book. This is a very helpful exercise for writers – if you can figure out what you don’t like to read and why, maybe you can avoid writing the same. Let’s see.
The usual writers’ mistakes come to mind. Too many clichés, too many adjectives and adverbs, passive verbs, poor grammar, spelling or punctuation, run on sentences, which gets you all flummoxed. These are a given for dropping a book quickly.
How about tension? If the characters are just moseying along, going shopping, dying their hair, cleaning their kitchen – I’m bored to tears. If they’re walking through a dimly- lit parking garage at midnight, glancing over their shoulder nervously (ach, an adverb!) I’m still bored. It’s been done.
What about characters? There’s such a thing as too much description. I want to picture the character, but I don’t need to know height, weight, hair and eye color and where every beauty mark is. It’s more about their personality, attitude, sense of humor, values. But I like that in short doses, building as I read on. And character names that all begin with the same letter drive me nuts. Jane, Joan, Jim, John, Jasmine, Judy, Jonathan. Aiyiyiyiyi. How can I keep them straight?
Then there’s plot. I’m sick of serial killers, abductions, sexual abuse and missing kids. Surely there are some other interesting plot lines out there. Or, at the very least, a twist on an old one. What? A missing kid who’s a serial killer. Ugh. I’m beginning to agree with agents and publishers who say it’s all been done . . . many times. Are there really no new plot lines out there?
Background description. I really like to get the atmosphere of the work early so I can step into the character’s shoes. But, again, no trite descriptions, please. No white sails against a deep blue sea, please. Also, flashbacks and back fill to give us the history is okay, but only in bits and pieces at a time. Nice if it comes from the character’s head, too, and not from the omniscient observer.
So, who can I suggest as a writer who has the skill, maybe talent is a better word, to carry all this out? A writer I’m usually not disappointed in? Believe it or not, it’s not often a mystery writer. I think one of the best writers I’ve read is Barbara Kingsolver. She has a splendid way with words and makes the English language sing. I highly recommend “The Poisonwood Bible” or “Prodigal Summer.”
If you’re more interested in characters than beautiful phrasing, try “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry (OMG, a Western!) And if you want a dynamite mystery that has all plus oodles of atmosphere, try “The Blackhouse” by Peter May.
I would have made a good literary agent. If I don’t fall in love with the book in the first five (okay ten) pages, it’s a goner. How about you?
