The Fortunate Mistake

I was getting a belated start on my weekly blog post and stopped to look up the mission statement for the Midwest Writing Center, my favorite not-for-profit organization.

I expected to find the following the simple sentence:

Fostering the appreciation of the written word and supporting its creators.

Instead, I found a nice photo of a bunch of kids, probably some middle-schoolers from a recent summer-camp-style workshop, with this displayed underneath:

Fostering the appreciation of the writeen word and supporting its creators.

My first thought, “Ugh, typo alert. They should fix that.”

Then I took a minute, looked at it again, and began to appreciate the cleverness of that particular misspelling. Especially in the context of a group of young people.

By entering one T and two Es instead of two Ts and one E, the word transformed to something new and exciting. A few misplaced keystrokes produced a superior caption for that photo.

It put “teen” into the writing picture.

After all, getting young folks into writing was the whole focus of the Midwest Writing Center’s YEW Middle School Camp and Young Emerging Writers Summer Internship Program.

Sometimes typos and other artistic mistakes have to be appreciated and savored for the subconscious gifts they are.

“Totally cool,” in oldie speak.

In other words, “Awesome.”

What It Is NOT About

I tried for a very long time NOT to make my novel about mothers.

I failed.

There are subplots about mothers…and daughters…and growing up…and coming to terms with less than perfect parents.

I also tried to keep Erik Jansson’s presence to a bare minimum because there were things I didn’t want to discuss.

Failed at that, too.

But I managed to put off dealing with him until close to the end of the book.

I wasted a lot of time in the process of failing to deal with those issues.

The lesson I learned was not to avoid the difficult topics. Not to try for definitive answers. Just put in enough information and thought to be enticing.

I think it turned out to be a lot like one of my favorite Rhymes with Orange cartoons:

A woman tries to decide which piece of pizza to buy for lunch. She asks the guy behind the counter what’s on each.

He says, “One has pepperoni and one has little bits of truth.”

She chooses the slice of life.

Write To Read

They say to write what you want to read.

“They” being the experts we’re supposed to pay attention to because: a. They’ve been there, b. They’ve done that.

Well, I’ve spent the better part of the last five years adding layers of detail and nuance to my novel, because that’s what I wanted to read. I like books that are: smart, involved, and complex enough to be interesting.

To that end I’ve tried the following:

·        My novel doesn’t deal with one mysterious painting—it deals with three of them.

·        My protagonist has mommy issues with not one but two parental figures.

Also:

·        She has issues with a well-meaning uncle.

·        And guy issues.

·        And roommate issues.

·        And work issues.

·        And finally, she has to figure out that each of my villains has his own selfish agenda.

I’ve heard “them” say to write what you know.

After spending a large chunk of my adult life in one small place, I think I know Bishop Hill. It may not always present itself in an obvious manner, but the currents swirl around in my subconscious mind. They surface when I need them, allowing me to built fictitious characters and events out of bits and pieces of the stuff I remember.

The whole process has been an education in writing longer works of fiction. I hope the end product will be an enjoyable read.

A “good read” has been my goal all along.

Getting Things Right

Recently, I was given a gift, a nice Facebook gift, when a young friend, who has a really cool job at an art auction house, connected me to a Christie’s article about paintings.

I took art classes in high school and college. I did some painting…but not all that much…so I knew writing about paintings in a mystery novel would be a stretch. I had to pay attention to books like The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro for painting terminology and descriptions of techniques, and carefully read anything I could find on Olof Krans. Even if I couldn’t directly use the information, I needed to understand it all.

Now, I had another good source. The Christie’s article was about the backs of paintings. Yes, the backs.

As museum visitors, we rarely get to see the backs of paintings. I can only think of one occasion where a Grant Wood painting was displayed on an easel in the middle of the room leaving the back exposed.

So, this article was a treat from the start:

“5 things you can learn from the back of a painting.

The most overlooked aspect of an artwork is by no means the least important, as specialist Tom Rooth explains.

“…What lurks beneath the back of a painting can often be as surprising as what is marked upon it. Though it’s incredibly rare, there have been cases where paintings have been found hidden behind other works — sometimes for hundreds of years, escaping the attention of galleries and auction houses. A loose lining, or an unusual run of nails can be a clue, though sometimes these secret masterpieces are only revealed when a work is reframed. It’s impossible to say why a work is hidden in this way: it may have been a way to store and preserve a work, or it might simply be that the frame was repurposed.

“Where reframing would be difficult, improvements in imaging technology have allowed experts to see through the top layers of a work to any original paintings or drawings below; it has not been uncommon for penniless artists to reuse canvases.”

There’s nothing like the feeling of being totally on target. The “I was sooo right” moment.

I savor it because…it doesn’t come by all that often.

To read the entire article go to:

http://www.christies.com/features/What-you-can-learn-from-the-back-of-a-painting-6359-1.aspx?pid=en_homepage_row1_slot2_1

Cover Art

When I looked out my kitchen window on Dec. 23, 2010, I was stunned by what I saw. The sun was coming up and the sparse clouds had a rose-tinged golden glow. I stared for way too long before it sunk in that I was looking at a perfectly recognizable cross.

It took even longer for my brain to kick in with “Get a photo of it. Now!”

I got several shots before the cross drifted off toward Galva, leaving me overjoyed with my good luck. I had some amazing images of something I’d never seen before. When I checked online, I found my photos held up remarkably well to those taken by other people.

My first thought…I have to use this in my book.

Easy enough. I worked it into some early action. It fit perfectly.

Second thought…which came somewhat later…I have to use this for the cover.

Major problem…when cover design time came, it’s obvious the photo was taken in December—there’s snow on the ground—my novel takes place the end of May through early June—college graduation time—there shouldn’t be any snow.

After sending my cloudy cross photo to the cover designer, Ken Small, I get a couple of samples to look at. It’s obvious—there’s snow. Not good.

I spent the weekend with the problem on the back burner, while my husband and I walked the Bix7.

The easy, best solution presented itself as I sat around the house recovering: crop the photo. Simplify the whole thing.

That’s where it stands: blue morning sky, cloudy cross that’s mostly there, and the title for my mystery—Clouds Over Bishop Hill.

Everything still fitting together very nicely.

Self-publishing

The time has come. I’m checking into the world self-publishing.

My writing group meets at the MWC two Saturdays a month and Lori Perkins and Lyle Ernst, local representatives of Absolute Publishing Services, came in earlier this year and made a presentation about the services they could offer.

This last week, I finally got around to making an appointment to meet with Lori and Lyle to open the discussion and begin the process.

Even with some idea of what might happen, I still wasn’t prepared to have to make so many decisions so soon.

Decisions such as:

·        Book size: 5”x 8”, 5 ½”x 8 ½”, 6”x 9”

·        Type: font style and size

·        Chapters: always starting on the right, starting left or right

·        Margins: wide, narrow, in between

·        Photos: color or black-and-white

·        Paper: white, off white, buff, etc.

·        Copy editing: the final fine tuning

·        Cover design

I figured there was probably more, but they wisely waited to spring it on me. That was quite enough for an initial exposure.

Since I really had no firm preferences, I did my usual thing…I asked for other people’s opinions. People who would probably be in my target audience—the infamous “Ladies Who Lunch” crowd.

I picked out three representative paperback books and polled my neighbor ladies on book size and type style. The results were enlightening:

·        Book size: one vote for each size. Initially not too helpful, but listening to their reasoning was worthwhile.

·        Font size & style: they all voted for the same, most readable one. That was good to know we agreed on a key issue.

With the information I’d gathered, I sent off my preliminary choices. Lori, of course, turned around and asked, “Could I give her something for the back of the book? Anything would do.”

This is no small request. Back of the book blurbs and info form the hooks that can make a sale. I’ve been struggling with that for ages. This stuff is important and it took quite awhile to put together something I didn’t cringe at…too much.

I’m not good at self promotion. Sad, but that’s what selling books is all about any more. Even those with a traditional publishing company behind them have to go out and do the heavy lifting of marketing.

Anyway, the process has begun and I will see where it leads.

The really good thing about all this…it feels right.

Now is the time for this step. And the chances are good that I will have books in hand before Ag Days in Bishop Hill.

Another Way to Edit?

There are a few ways to read:

·        Slow #1-trying to savor the experience

·        Slow #2-having to stop to look up words, or, worse yet, trying to figure out who’s talking

·        Out loud-preferably to a youngster

·        Fast-speed reading to get it done and out of the way

Similarly, there are different ways to edit:

·        Slow & meticulous-trying to stay alert to every possible problem

·        Reading out loud-listening to your words to hear if they flow, or not

·        Reading backwards-trying to trick your brain out of automatically “filling in the gap” instead of recognizing a mistake

·        Fast and furious-only hitting the high points that need the most attention

I’m not sure this last one is a valid tool or not. All I can say is that I happened upon it pretty much by accident and it worked for me.

I had started an editing read for my novel a couple of weeks ago, but couldn’t quite muster up the momentum for an in-depth, motivated, and all out thorough editing read.

After all, what I wanted most was to add a few tidbits of color here and there by using the tips on sheriffing terminology I’d gotten from talking to Donald Harstad. I also wanted to add a couple of other small “adjustments” I’d discovered through my recreational reading. I sometimes come across a word or phrase that sounds just perfect and wish “I’d thought of that.” I use them when I remember, and I remember to make them “my own” and not simply copy verbatim.

So, I noticed that as I was picking up speed for this quick read through the heaviness lifted, it didn’t feel like a chore any more.

Another odd thing happened. I was able to pick up some long standing mistakes: like finding a “the” that should have been a “them.” That shouldn’t have happened. All I can figure is that the subconscious mind is an amazing tool. It works best when you let it loose.

In the end, I was able to pleasantly accomplish a great deal with this fast and furious approach to editing.

Did I stumble onto something new?

Probably not.

But it was all new to me.

And that’s what matters most for me and my novel.