Great Non-Fiction Reads

Posted on September 13, 2016September 12, 2016 by vlaw759

top ten tuesday — Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is “Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books Of X Genre.”

Yes, great non-fiction is a broad topic. Everything falls in there, from memoir to cookbooks to investigative reporting! I loved West With the Night, The Glass Castle, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

immortal life henrietta lacks rebecca skloot — [Photo credit: rebeccaskloot.com]

But I’m not going to deal with that sort of non-fiction. I don’t know how to classify my sub-genre, so I’ll just put the exemplars out there!

Mary Roach makes science reader-friendly. She writes about everything from sex research (Bonk) to human cadavers (Stiff). Without Roach, I’d never have stopped to wonder how crash dummies are calibrated—etc., etc., etc. Pick up any of her books.

Charles Panati is a master of what I call “grouped trivia.” His titles say it all. Choose any one and you’ll get what you expect—except that you’ll likely enjoy it more! I consider Panati’s books reference works—for, as you may know, I often write weird stories (cf. Different Drummer: a collection of off-beat fiction).

bruce felton mark fowler best worst most unusual

In the same category, I treasure The Best, Worst, and Most Unusual. How else would I know that in Hong Kong, cricket fighting (although illegal) is very popular, inspires heavy betting, and has much in common with cockfighting. Or that if you eat bananas, your skin will exude an odor that attracts mosquitoes?

I’m also a fan of Bill Bryson. I became hooked on Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. His tracing of language evolution actually made me more tolerant of “prioritize” as a replacement for “set priorities”—though I still don’t like it!

Last but far from least, I recommend John McPhee. The first book I read was Coming Into The Country, which left me with a dream of traveling to Alaska—a dream as yet unfulfilled, but hope springs eternal. This man can make anything interesting. As a result of his writing, even I know how Bill Bradley was able to make baskets while facing the opposite end of the court: you just have to have a sense of where you are.

I recommend these non-fiction books and authors to readers for pleasure and to writers for enlightenment!

Beware Head-Hopping

Posted on September 9, 2016September 9, 2016 by vlaw759

We all know about Point of View. It’s the narrator’s position in relation to the story being told.

With the objective POV, the writer tells the story entirely with action and dialogue. S/he never discloses anything about thoughts or feelings, leaving it for the reader to infer these from the dialogue and action.

In my experience, writers more often choose to get inside the head and heart of one or more characters.

The closest POV is when the narrator is “I.” I struggled to speak around the lump in my throat. My heart thundered painfully in my chest. I planned the meal carefully, including all of Dad’s favorite dishes.

A step more distant is the third person POV—he, she, or it felt, thought, planned, reacted…

And then there are stories with multiple POVs—not that there’s anything wrong with that! But it is risky. Authors who do it well clearly lead the reader from one head to the next. One good exemplar is Diana Gabaldon. When she’s writing from Claire’s POV, it is first person. Everyone else is third person, and these shifts are typically by chapter.

The danger is changing POV within scenes. For example, a couple argues intensely and the writer tells the reader what each is thinking and feeling. Why is this a problem?

The challenge is to be consistent when two POV characters are in the same scene. It’s incredibly easy to accidentally give the non-POV character fleeting thoughts or feelings.

Head-hopping is jumping from one POV to another quickly, with no warning to the reader. It makes the story feel choppy and can be confusing.

Doing it right means signaling the changes to the reader by chapter breaks or the ubiquitous *** that signals something is changing. The writer sticks with any given POV for the duration of the chapter or scene.

And one last consideration: Readers typically identify with the POV character—whether “I” or a third person “s/he.” With multiple points of view, the reader may have difficulty deciding who to root for. And the more POVs included, the greater the difficulty.

Bottom line: handling multiple POVs effectively is a challenge, and avoid head-hopping, always!

Without Books, TV Would Be Barren

Posted on September 6, 2016September 7, 2016 by vlaw759

We tend to think of TV as something totally separate from literature. Not so! If you’ve enjoyed any of the following on TV, consider reading the books they are based on.

Homicide: Life on the Street, based on Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon

Poldark, based on the Poldark Saga books of Winston Graham

Rizzoli and Isles, based on the Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritson

Boardwalk Empire, based on Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson

Inspector Morse, based on the novels by Colin Dexter

Nero Wolfe, based on the novels by Rex Stout

Outlander, based on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

diana gabaldon outlander — [Photo credit: Tripping Over Books]

Pride and Prejudice and other series based on novels of Jane Austen

Masters of Sex based on Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier.

Sherlock and Elementary based on the Sherlock Holmes books and stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Call the Midwife based on Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

Bones based on Deja Dead and others in the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs

kathy reichs deja dead — [Photo credit: Goodreads]

Game of Thrones based on A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

Orange Is The New Black based on Orange Is The New Black: My Year In a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman

I could go on and on: Roots, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, numerous books by Agatha Christie (including Miss Marple and Poirot), Grantchester, Anne of Green Gables, the Father Dowling mysteries, Great Expectations, the Forsythe Saga. . .

Here’s a thought: Whatever your TV passion, check it online for possible roots in books. You might find an author you love!

Writing Transportation

Posted on September 2, 2016August 31, 2016 by vlaw759

Whoever said, “Getting there is half the fun” wasn’t a writer. For the written word, getting from point A to point B (writing transportation) can be deadly.

Driving holds three potholes for writers.

One is the temptation to “make it real” by including (boring and unnecessary) details about a route driven. Does anyone really care that your character took Three Chopt to Gaskins and merged onto I-64 west, exited onto I-295 to pick up I-95? Ditto with such details as taking Horsepen to Boulevard, taking a right onto Malvern, and a left on Cary St. Local readers might think, “Yeah, s/he knows the territory.” But if these specific turns and streets aren’t central to the plot, find a more dynamic way to establish your credibility!

The other pitfall is to have fallen in love with the Pacific Coast Highway, the Blueridge Parkway, the winding roads through Colorado mountains, or some other scenic road and putting one’s character in a car along the way, rhapsodizing at the beauty.

And then there is the typical road trip. We’ve all been there. People cut you off. Road construction slows you down. But unless the trucker who seems to be jockeying you off the road is going to turn up later, don’t mention it!

Planes are equally tempting.

If your character is flying from Dulles to Frankfurt, you might again be tempted to make it real by describing the drink spilled in his/her lap, the noise, the fatigue. But unless the obnoxious seatmate or the mother with the cute baby will show up later in the plot, don’t mention them. Unless something plot-related happens en route, skip the travel! Put your character on the plan in Dulles (never mind the frustrations of security screening) and get him/her off in Frankfurt, fatigued if it’s relevant.

The same is true of any mode of transportation.

Unless you are writing a travelogue, something like “Walking from Rockaway Beach, NY to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, and all my interesting experiences along the way,” launch your character on their way and skip to the arrival. Anything else just slows the plot line and risks losing the reader.

Bottom line: Unless something or someone important to the plot is encountered along the way, when it comes to writing transportation, don’t!

In Praise of Anthologies

Posted on August 30, 2016August 30, 2016 by vlaw759

An anthology is a published collection of writings (such as poems or short stories) by different authors.

vintage short fiction david madden — [Photo credit: Goodreads]

One of the basic characteristics of anthologies is that the works included are relatively short. They are good for days when focusing for a long time may not be feasible, or when one wants a literary bite before bedtime.

By definition, because anthologies include works by different authors, they include different voices, styles, and maybe genres. If you don’t like one story, move on to the next.

When anthologies draw from previously published sources, the work has already been vetted for quality more than once. Indeed, many anthologies are published annually with titles like The Best X Short Stories of (Year).

Anthologies can be selected by format. Most recent anthologies are available both as physical books and ebooks.

Anthologies are often broad in scope.

100 Great Short Stories by Dover Publications

Great Short Short Stories, edited by Paul Negri

The World’s Greatest Short Stories, edited by James Daley

120 Great Short Stories, by Oldiees Publishing

Doubletakes: Pairs of Contemporary Short Stories, edited by T. C. Boyle et al.

40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology, edited by Beverly Lawn

Some anthologies are mission driven. A couple of examples of these would be Drumvoices Revue (where my short story “Aunt Fan’s Private Journey” appeared), which celebrates diversity, and the Chrysalis Reader series, which describes itself as “original essays, poetry, and short stories illuminating the world of spirit.” One volume included my story “Solid Line.”

Sometimes they are focused by geographic region.

The Best American Short Stories, published annually by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Great American Short Stories, edited by Wallace and Mary Stegner

The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

100 Years of The Best American Short Stories, edited by Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor

The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, Oxford University Press

Themed anthologies are also popular and widely available. Of course I will start with two mystery anthologies, the two volumes of Virginia Is For Mysteries.

The Best American Humorous Short Stories, edited by Alexander Jessup

Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, edited by Jennifer L. Leo

The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger

The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Horror Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger

The Year’s Best Science Fiction, published annually by St. Martin’s Press

The Mammoth Book of Erotica, edited by Maxim Jakubowski

The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger — [Photo credit: Amazon]

Bottom line: Whatever your heart desires, there’s an anthology for you! All you need to do is look.

Bonus Monday Post: Sisters in Crime Mystery Writers Event

Posted on August 29, 2016August 26, 2016 by vlaw759

Come join the Sisters in Crime mystery writers for an exciting event!

Meet the authors (including me!) of Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II, an anthology of mysteries by the Sisters in Crime writers’ group. The event will take place on Saturday, September 10 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Hope to see you there!

Writing to Feed Your Soul

Posted on August 26, 2016August 25, 2016 by vlaw759

Although some people write to put food on the table, more write to feed their souls.

According to an article by Alison Flood of The Guardian, a 2014 survey revealed that 54% of “traditionally-published” authors and nearly 80% of self-published authors earn less than $1,000 a year. In this same survey, only a minority of respondents listed making money as “extremely important”—around 20% of self-published writers and 25% of traditionally-published authors.Overall, Flood concluded, “Most authors write because they want to share something with the world or gain recognition of some sort.” Clearly, most writers aren’t in it to put food on the table.

The joys of writing to feed one’s soul can be summarized in the word freedom.

Free to write on your own schedule.
Free from worry about sales covering the advance.
Free to write in any genre, not just the one(s) that sell best.
Free to ignore industry guidelines/standards for works of a certain genre, such as page length, structure, and language.
Free to switch genres or to write in many genres.
Free to write a series with a different protagonist.
Free to write anything and everything under one name.

Many big-name authors (i.e., those who make a lot of money writing) find themselves limited in the previous three freedoms. The reading public wouldn’t let Arthur Conan Doyle kill off Sherlock Holmes. Many authors write under more than one name. Search online under “famous authors who use multiple pen names” and go from there. Some authors do so to reinvent themselves—e.g.Stephen King/ Richard Bachman, J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith. Some use different names for different genres—e.g., Jenna Peterson writes historicals but uses the name Jesse Michaels for erotic romance. Other multiple-name authors include Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, Joyce Carol Oates, Agatha Christie, C.S. Lewis, and Isaac Asimov. There are more.

Free to mix several genres in the same work.
Free to label oneself or not.

Diana Gabaldon started off writing to feed her soul—in my opinion! She says that she wrote Outlander for practice, to learn the craft, with no intention of showing it to anyone. Not only did she write an impossibly long book (by industry standards) but she mixed romance, adventure, history, time-travel, and magical elements.

diana gabaldon outlander series — The Outlander series [Photo credit: Tripping Over Books]

For an excellent, thoughtful essay on blending genres, read Joyce Dyer’s “What’s on Your Mind?” recently published in The New York Times.

You can also read over seventy comments on this piece online. She starts with a discussion of how writers’ brains work and moves on to the limitations of genres.

When you write to feed your soul, the only real requirement is that you write.

Philosophy for the Pop Culture-Minded

Posted on August 23, 2016August 22, 2016 by vlaw759

I took a couple of philosophy courses in college, and trust me, they didn’t have titles anything like these books! But for your reading pleasure, here are a variety of possibilities:

The Beatles and Philosophy: Popular Culture and Philosophy, edited by Michael & Steven Baur

Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy: The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind, edited by Josef Steiff

Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside, edited by C. Lewis & P. Smithka

Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant, edited by J.T.Eberl & K.S. Decker

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Tetting High Minded About Love and Haight, edited by Steven Gimbel

Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful that Axiom, Eugene!, edited by George A. Reisch

The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West, edited by R.E. Auxier & P.S. Seng

Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box, edited by Eric Bronson

The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Zombie Apocalypse Now, edited by Wayne Yuen

Breaking Bad and Philosophy: Badder Living Through Chemistry, edited by D.R. Koepseil & B. Arp

Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective, edited by D.E. Wittkower

Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts, edited by D. Baggett & S.E. Klein

Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United, edited by J. Berti & D. Bowman

Movies and the Meaning of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood, edited by K.A. Blessing & P.J. Tudico

Dexter and Philosophy: Mind Over Spatter, edited by Richard Greene, et al.

Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed, edited by Scott Calef

The Rolling Stones and Philosophy: It’s Just A Thought Away, edited by L. Dick and G.A. Reisch

Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth, edited by J. Huss & D. Werther

South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating, edited by Richard Hanley

Futurama and Philosophy: Bite My Shiny Metal Axiom, edited by C. Lewis & S.P. Young

Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?, edited by J. Steiff & T.D. Tamplin

Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way, edited by Tom & Matt Morris

Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life, edited by E. McKenna & S.L. Pratt

Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of the Mentat, edited by Jeffery Nicholas

Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth, edited by R.E. Auxier & D. Anderson

World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King, edited by L. Cuddy & J. Nordinger

Bob Dylan and Philosophy: Popular Culture and Philosophy, edited by P. Vernezze & C.J. Porter

The first and last titles say it all! The various volumes focus on issues of life, love, society, politics, spirituality, personal identity, art, ethics, conflict, community, cosmos, truth, American identity, justice, human fulfillment, meaning-of-life, obesity, animal rights, political correctness, religious tolerance, homophobia, moral responsibility, social justice, patriotism, romantic love, artistic creativity, and class oppression. Here’s a chance to explore the more serious underpinning of popular culture that, possibly, account for the popularity. Check these books out online; there’s something for every reader here!

Help for Writing Magical Realism

Posted on August 19, 2016August 19, 2016 by vlaw759

Definitions of magical realism abound. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.” Here’s the definition I am using for this blog: supernatural, paranormal, or unexplainable phenomena which are included and accepted as reasonable within a work of fiction. It could be spiritual, or just plain weird.

Charles Hoy Fort [Image is in the public domain]

Charles Hoy Fort is a goldmine for writing magical realism. He was an American writer and researcher into “anomalous phenomena” who combed scientific writing, libraries, and newspapers to find reports of such phenomena. He is best known for four books, still available today: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931), and Wild Talents (1932). He doesn’t try to explain the phenomena he reports, nor does he posit theories. He takes a “just-the-facts-ma’am” approach. Each phenomenon gets a few pages, with various instances cited—providing a solid base from which writers can launch into literary magic.

In my opinion, Fort’s reports are timeless. He covers things like showers of frogs and blizzards of snails—many extraordinary, and unexplained, skyfalls. He reports having collected 294 records of showers of living things. He writes of ice images, millions of years old, that are later expressed botanically in an onion. He writes of teleportation, spontaneous fires, ball lightning, unexplained disappearances, and alien abduction. Such phenomena have subsequently been labeled Fortean, and Forteana used to characterize collections of them.

Although I consider Fort’s original works timeless, if you want something more contemporary, check out The Fortean Times magazine, in print since 1973.

Although Charles Hoy Fort has been recognized for his influence on science fiction writing, consider the writings of Fort as a source of inspiration for writing magical realism!

Beach Reads vs. Reading at the Beach

Posted on August 16, 2016August 16, 2016 by vlaw759

Recommendations for great beach reads are everywhere, every year; they start in the spring and are often ongoing. Amazon gives us “Superbly Good Beach Reads” while Barnes and Noble more modestly lists “Beach Reads”—totally disinterested advice from both, of course! Real Simple gives us “The 20 Best New Paperback Beach Reads.” The Huffington Post published other people’s lists, including one from The Oprah Magazine. Refinery 29 has “Beach Read Books.” Bustle has “31 Beach Reads for Summer 2016, Because Vacation Should Be Filled With Incredible Stories.” In 2016, POPSUGAR recommended both “Summer Books 2016” and “Beach Reads for Women.”

Many lists seem to presume that women are the readers, because most of these lists appear in magazines targeted to women: Cosmopolitan, “Beach Reads for Summer 2016”; Redbook, “Best Summer Beach Reads of 2016”; Women’s Day, “28 Summer Beach Reads 2016.”

I’ve always loved the beach and books—but I’ve never bought a “beach read,” and didn’t this year. I’m rereading Diana Gabaldon.

I finished Voyager and started Drums of Autumn. Given that these are big, fat books, I didn’t take them. I took my Kindle, instead. For the reasons why I chose these reads, see my earlier blog on “Loving Diana Gabaldon.”

Am I alone in reading at the beach without advice?

I recently shared a beach week with 9 other people, ages eight to eighty-five. Some brought multiple books, but none of them brought a book specifically bought for the beach! Here, in no particular order, are their books and their comments on them.

“I like macabre books. They hold my attention. I wanted to read The Girl on the Train but this book is better. A girl disappears when her family is on vacation in the Rocky Mountains.”

“I brought Lila by Marilyn Robinson, a book I bought the last time I was in Denver. She writes with surprising details about surprising events that call attention to the uniqueness of the most ordinary people, their inarticulateness. Yet somehow she brings out the intensity of their inner lives.”

“I love flowers and Nancy Hugo writes about her gardening experiences in a very down-to-earth, witty way. She makes me feel like I am with her in her garden.”

The Count of Cape Hatteras Washed Ashore Bruce Wilkins

“I brought Killing Reagan but I was out shopping and found a mystery by a local writer that sounded like a good read, about being set up by a friend with cyberspace and assault rifles and, of course, a woman was involved. The author is Bruce Wilkins and the book is The Count of Cape Hatteras.”

“I’m reading The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon. As part of my 2016 Reading Challenge, I am supposed to re-read a book I previously abandoned. I struggled with this, the fifth in the Outlander series, when I started it a few years ago, but my interest was recently renewed by the TV series based on the books. I have found that I am more engaged in the book this time around and I am glad I picked it up again.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is the seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series that I started in May, abandoned, and then started back up in late June, because I had nothing new to read. I have noticed that as the books go, it develops a more grown-up sort of writing, and the type of art on the covers changes as well. On the first book the cover is cartoon-y and on the last book it’s much more… ‘Sirius.’”

“The only book I brought was the daily meditations. I gotta keep up with the program, but the beach is for sun and water, not books!”

“One Time Thing by Anna Quindlon was recommended to me by a friend, I think because it’s about transformation. I like that it starts off with the narrator in her hometown jail and then regresses back to the events leading up to her relaxing gratefully in that cell. The way she illustrates courage, suffering, and everyday acts of love. . . the ingredients for the shifting bond of mother and daughter are beautiful. Anna Quindlon is an excellent storyteller who has managed to hold my attention.”

“I brought Buongiorno Italia! in a foolish attempt to learn enough Italian to use it on a trip in September. But really, my motive was because I like languages. Italian is beautiful to speak. I have picked up phrases that I memorized listening to opera records at age twelve or thirteen and didn’t understand. Right now I am working on the auxiliary verbs and verb endings. What fun! I need oral practice and a better memory.”

“The Young Avengers is about superheroes. I’m reading The Secret Zoo instead. It’s about a girl named Megan who went missing and her brother and his two friends go looking for her. What’s special about the zoo is that the animals are able to get out of their cages and lead Megan’s brother and friends to a secret part of the zoo. And along the way Megan’s brother finds pages of Megan’s notebook that have clues on them.”

Gentle Yoga with Great Benefits Anna Shapiro

“My yoga teacher had surgery early this summer and won’t be back till September. I just wanted to hold my ground. Does looking at the pictures count as reading? If so, it’s a great read!”

When my younger granddaughter was singing nonsense, her older sister said, “That’s not a song!” The younger one said, “If I sing it, it’s a song!” To paraphrase: if you read it at the beach, it’s a beach read!

Vivian Lawry

Writer

Author: vlaw759