MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR


It's almost noon on Thanksgiving Day where I live (in an eastern state of the USA). It's that time when we start to get really sentimental. At least I do and, at this time of year, I don't feel that I have to apologize for it. In the US, Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season with a day devoted to sharing a meal with the people we love most. It's unique in that its main purpose is to say out loud how thankful we are for the things we take for granted most of the time.

Like a lot of people, the things I'm most thankful for are the things I take most for granted: my family, friends, good health, a comfortable home, plenty to eat. During this season, and particularly on this day, I actually express my gratitude. Part of that gratitude means I remember and acknowledge that the majority of people on this planet do not share these blessings. That I am thankful for my good fortune is a given. It is also a given that I hope some day, somehow, it will be available to everyone.

On a more personal level, I remember that, in addition to the obvious blessings, there is another whole tier of bounty. I am truly grateful that I have a voice as a writer and that I live in a country and a culture that allows, even encourages, me to say what I want through my writing. I'm grateful that Avalon Books exists and that they want to publish the kind of books I want to write. I know plenty of immensely talented writers who have not (at least not yet) found that outlet. The fact that Avalon sells directly is libraries is an added bonus. Even the fact that libraries exist and that I have easy access to a wonderful one is something to be thankful for. These precious institutions have always held a special place in my heart. I love being within their walls, walking through the shelves that hold the books of writers I admire so much and, perhaps even more, the challenge of exploring the works of writers with whom I am not yet familiar.

Another blessing I take for granted most of the time is this blog and the whole world of the Internet, which allows people to communicate freely beyond distances that until recently made contact impossible except to a privileged few. Through this medium, I've met (well, sort of) people from places that I will probably never be able to visit and I've been exposed to thoughts that have opened whole new realms of ideas for me. Even beyond all this, who knows what the future holds? More blessings? More challenges? Surely, yes to both - and, I am confident, by wise use of the communication avenues that increase almost daily, we will find ways to make the first outweigh the second.

Happy Holidays all - whatever holidays you may celebrate!

Blue Jello and Salsa

In the September 21, 2009, issue of TIME magazine, Nancy Gibbs wrote this:
Every fall, the professors at Beloit College publish their Mindset List, a dictionary of all the deeply ingrained cultural references that will make to sense to students of the incoming class. This year’s freshmen were typically born in 1991. That means, the authors explain, they have never used a card catalog to find a book; salsa has always outsold ketchup; women have always outnumbered men in college; there has always been blue Jell-O.

I remember hours spent going through card catalogs when I was in college. And, when I was in college, men outnumbered women three-to-one. Of course, that did little for me, a humanities major, because most of these guys majored in agriculture or engineering, fields pretty much closed to women way back then.

Think of the phrases students today don’t really understand: both dial and hang up the phone, a broken record. In the future, it may be these will be explained in books that tells us what “the whole nine yards” means.

My husband has a Kindle and will not return to reading real books. He also uses salsa on his scrambled eggs. He’s obviously moving ahead faster than I because I refuse to give up holding a book in my hands and turning the pages plus I’m an egg purist. No salsa or ketchup for me.

And I prefer red Jello although I’ll eat any color of M&Ms.

What changes do you see around you? What do you remember that today’s kids know nothing about? I’d love to hear from you.

Fountain Pens

As some of you know, I spend my days surrounded by fountain pens because that's my day job. As I've worked with "nice" writing instruments pretty much all of my working life, I pay a lot of attention to the pen I use. I enjoy to touch them; I enjoy to write with them; and I don't like to use cheap throw-away ballpens you can get at every corner. I ban them from my house, much to the chagrin of my husband who hardly ever notices what he's writing with. Recently, I got a particularly nice fountain pen for my birthday. Its barrel shows autumn leaves as my birthday is in autumn, it has gorgous colors that make me happy even if the weather is so bland it brings me down, and it writes like a dream. I filled it with brown ink as the finishing touch - and now I enjoy taking notes more than ever.

Beside my fountain pen, I love pencils. They are so . . . forgiving. And flexible. I like that concept of erasing things and starting again. If you look at the tools a writer has to have, a keyboard is certainly more important than a pen . . . but we all take notes whereever we go; we all love to have pen and paper within reach to make sure our darting ideas don't escape before we catch them. How about you? Do you write with fountain pens at all? Do you prefer rollerballs or ball pens? Or even pencils? Do you have a much-loved pen that you never want to lose? Or it it all the same to you as long as the thing writes?

Creating Memorable Characters

Characters in our books begin their lives somewhere in the deep recesses of our brains and in our hearts. At first they are nothing more than an idea - maybe with a name, maybe not. They follow us around as we work through the mundane activities of our lives, taking on personalities with each passing day. They become part of us. They become real.

As writers, our job is to make those characters come alive for our readers as well. So how do we do this?

Every author has a different method for developing character, but I think if we look at characters who stand out as being our favorites, we'll find they have certain qualities that make them memorable. One of my favorite heroes in all the books I've read is Ari Ben Canaan from Leon Uris' EXODUS, and in some ways I think the character that Uris created has found his way into most of my heroes. Ari possessed everything my ideal hero would have: he was courageous, dedicated to his cause, willing to put his life on the line for what he believed, yet with the love of his life, he was gentle and caring.

Now, mind you, I haven't created a character who was part of the Palestine Jewish Underground, but that doesn't matter. We remember characters because we can relate to them. Maybe we see ourselves in them, even including a flaw he or she possesses, or maybe that character has qualities we'd like to have. We don't have to be a great sports star to be able to appreciate a story about a sportsman or be a movie star to appreciate a story about Hollywood. It's not only the physical ability of the athlete or the talent of the actor that we admire, but the gumption, the determination to succeed, and the dedication to what he believes he can do.

If someone asked you to name your favorite character, who would it be? And why? Think about how the author made those characters stand out for you.

As writers we want our characters to be remembered too. Do your characters have what it takes to live on after the reader closes your book?

Outback Hero--Elisabeth Rose Giveaway Draw

Just ten days left to go into the draw for a copy of my December contemporary romance release, Outback Hero. This one is set in outback Australia and the cover gives an indication of what the weather is like here at the moment. Hot!

Go to my website to find the question and email me the answer.

http://www.elisabethrose.com.au

Book-in-a-Month or BIAM

I'm writing this for all of us who struggle to find time to write. There are many time management books and there are books on how to get your priorities straight. On this Blog, I've shared the suggestion of Baby Steps to squeak out a few pages of writing in between a plethora of other tasks. (I just LOVE that word. "Plethora". Has such a wonderful feel on the tongue. Makes me think of geese winging south in a plethora of sqwaking. Which they are doing right now, by the way, and landing in my backyard...What? Oh, Right. Writing time.) You can see how time slips away when you're having fun or when you haven't made writing a priority or when you're watching geese.

Ta-Da! Enter Book-in-a-Month! Take the plunge. Stop having nervous frets over the fact that you still haven't finished that last scene. Push everything else to the fringe and write the draft of your next novel in 30 days. 30 Days! Wow!

Now, this exercise comes in a couple of forms. First, November is National Novel Writing Month. This comes with a web site, online support groups, a daily list of activities to complete and your own goals--number of pages or words per day, finish the outline, etc. Like Boot Camp. In a Chair. On your favorite search engine, type in "BIAM" or "book in a week" or "BIAW" and you'll find other groups to cheer you on this path.

I'm taking the non-online (is that a word? Not near as nice as "plethora") path. I purchased the book Book in a Month: the fool-proof system for writing a novel in 30 days by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. This is a sturdy book with places to take notes, step-by-step instructions ("Write 10 Scene Cards Today", "Brainstorm Characters") and lots of cheering. She takes you through the whole process methodically and steadily until you've completed a first draft.

She suggests adapting the process if you'd like. With my current life, carving out 30 days is just not going to happen. But four devoted hours every Saturday morning with bits and pieces through the week? That I can do. So I'm using Book in a Month to guide me, to give me a portable place to take notes, to make a commitment to regular writing and to keep my subconscious working on whatever writing activity is on the schedule. So far, I'm loving it.

I may not get the draft done in 30 days, but 30 Saturdays? Sure. It beats not writing at all. And I know once I've gotten deeper into my characters and plot, I'll make more time. I won't be able to help myself. I'll let you know how it's going next month.

Have any of you used a BIAM technique? How'd it go? Any of you ready to take the plunge?

Splash!

Pottering in the Garden with Elisabeth Rose

When my grandmother moved into this house in about 1965 it had an absolutely perfect cottage garden. The man who established it was the type who crawled around with nail scissors trimming the grass and glaring at leaves and flowers which dared to dangle out of line.

Grandma couldn’t maintain that standard but I remember as a teenager coming to mow the lawn for her with a hand mower. The emerald green swathe was so smooth and even that pushing the mower over the thick springy surface was easy. Hand mowers give a much smoother, less violent cut in case you didn’t know.

Grandma died in 1970 and I moved into the house in 1971. For the year the house was rented the garden suffered great indignities. The tenants parked their cars on the front lawn which wore it away in no time. After they left I lived there with student friends and we did our best to keep things alive in the garden and re grow the front lawn. Someone had a Belgian boyfriend who threw up his hands in horror when he saw the unpruned roses so took it upon himself to do that for us.

The shrubs and spruce type trees the original owner planted back in the sixties have grown into monsters which continually encroach on the power lines along the back fence. His plan was to plant quick growing trees to create shade and privacy then remove them when other slower growers had gained height. The biggest mistake he made was planting bamboo along one fence. What an absolute nightmare! Bamboo is the most beautiful screen but the most invasive plant known to man. We spent years trying to keep it under control with our back neighbour complaining periodically about bamboo shoots popping up in her back lawn. In the end we hired a man to come and cut it out. It took him and his son a whole day sawing each cane off and pouring poison into the stems. After a few years the rotted roots could be dug out. Another horrible job.

Now my husband and I have fits of gardening activity. Permanent water restrictions mean no-one has a beautiful green lawn anymore unless they use tank or recycled house water. People are turning to hardy native plants like grevillea, kangaroo paw and bottle brush and using tanbark or woodchips to retain moisture and minimise grass cover. We’ve wood-chipped birch trees lost in the drought and spread that over the front half of that long gone perfect lawn of the sixties. We’ve planted native shrubs and grasses as groundcover.

Yesterday I attacked the two ornamental box bushes with hedge clippers so visitors can walk unhindered to our front door. Every time I do that job I have a fleeting urge to take up topiary and sculpt a fancy shape but they’re still square (ish). We’ve planted cucumbers, tomatoes, chilli, garlic, chives, leeks and parsley in a little bit of reclaimed bamboo land in the sunniest back corner and my husband goes out and gives them little pep talks each morning as he waters. We’ve erected a possum proof fence too because the first year we planted out our brave little parsley and herb patch the rotten possums (who live in our unused chimney) ate the lot overnight. Except the basil, they left that. Now the biggest threat is the ball from next door flying over the fence and squashing something.

Our back garden is still reminiscent of that original garden with graceful curving lines, a few surviving roses and most of the shrubs, and of course those whopping great trees on the back fence. The grass there is beautifully green at the moment thanks to recent spring rain but is showing signs of drying out now the weather is warming up. We’re not allowed to do anything other than hand water in the early morning or evening so unless we get more rain soon the green will be short-lived. But because of the extra earlier rain the orchid I inherited from a dear elderly neighbour flowered for the first time in years. The lilac has just finished a wonderful show, the azaleas are out, roses are just starting and my new season petunias look very bright and cheerful.

Although we’re spasmodic gardeners we have a great sense of achievement when we spend a few hours tidying and planting, and we’re really looking forward to our first tomatoes. There are four little green blobs there already.

The heroine of my current work in progress is a gardener. Are you a gardener?