New York Pitch and Write to Pitch 2022

I haven't posted in a bit. That’s because I’ve not only been taking care of my new twin babies, but because I’ve been a bit preoccupied with my other baby…my first novel. Transitioning from writing games to writing a book has been a challenge, but I’ve learned a lot along the way. I thought I’d take some time to share some of my biggest takeaways. World Building is Anthropology When I started writing my novel, I attempted to be as “realistic” with my world building as possible. My protagonist is a merchant sailor in a culture with tech equivalent to the late middle ages. I did in-depth research about several real world cultures from that time. I learned a lot, but it was exhausting, daunting, and almost paralyzing. I began to question if I could even write the book. I mean, after all, I’m not a medieval historian. I was bound to get things wrong. And since in some cases I was writing outside of my own ethnic background, I was worried getting things wrong could end my career before it even began. Things changed after I listened to this talk by NK Jeminson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6xyFQhbsjQ I won’t spoil the whole thing for you, because you should really, really listen to it yourself. But the TLDR is that fantasy worlds are better if they aren’t “based” off a specific real world culture. Instead, think about how the world you want to write about is fundamentally different from our own. Imagine what culture or cultures would grow out of that difference. What you get will be more unique and feel more real than taking an existing culture and tweaking it to feel fantastical. Outlines are a Living Document There’s a lot of talk in writing circles about the advantages of plotters *people who outline their books before writing) versus pantsers (people who just write what comes to them). Traditionally you’ll learn that writers who are “plotters” tend to have better stories whereas writers who are “pantsers” tend to have better character development. I say, why not both? While I started out with a strong outline, I noticed that as I wrote, things changed. Some important beats that I had in the outline just didn’t feel natural on the page. Instead of forcing the characters to behave like my outline wanted I temporarily embraced the mindset of a pantser and let the characters do their thing. But I didn’t go full pantser. After making a major change, I’d go back to my outline and see how those intuitive changes affected the act structure as a whole and rewrite the outline until I had a solid plot again. Sentence Structure Matters I’ve always thought of myself as a substance over style kind of person. So naturally when I began writing, my first impulse was to think of the style as secondary to the content. What I didn’t realize was that the style of the writing is what allows the reader to get immersed in the content. That may seem obvious, but as someone with experience mostly in a dialogue focused medium, I hadn’t put much thought into writing action or description until I tried writing a novel. While I still employ a simple, straightforward writing style, I find that writing in a way that doesn’t call attention to the writing is a skill in itself. A book that I highly recommend for teaching that skill is Ken Rand’s “The Ten Percent Solution.” Take Beta Reader Feedback with a Heaping Helping of Salt While I do think having a beta reader period is important, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you don’t let amateur feedback put you in a worse position than when you started. Firstly, you should be selective of who you invite to participate. If your target audience is 18-25 year old males, then your 60 year old mom’s feedback isn’t very useful. In fact, your mom’s feedback probably isn’t very useful anyway because she’s likely already biased to like your book. When selecting beta readers, the most useful readers are people within your target demographic who’s taste you respect. If possible, I also find it useful to do a second round of feedback with people I don’t know personally to eliminate bias. People in this category include friends of friends or other writers I find through trusted groups and forums. When working with this second group, I’m especially careful not to take the advice they have too seriously. One person’s opinion is just that, one person’s opinion. People you meet in writer’s groups aren’t professional agents or editors. They don’t know what will or won’t get you published. Instead of using beta readers as editors, use them as a temperature check. Is there a part of the book where multiple people stop reading? A character more people tend to like or dislike? I find sending out a survey at the end of a beta reading period is useful for collecting this kind of data. When It Comes to Publishing…Patience is a Virtue The worst thing I did when working on my book was sending it out to some of my top choice agents before it was ready which led to form rejections. Of course, I didn’t know anything was wrong with my book at the time or I wouldn’t have sent it out. It wasn’t until rejections started rolling in that I realized something had to change. After that I decided to go to New York Pitch where I talked to professionals and realized that my antagonist wasn’t strong enough, which led to the book coming across as uneventful and therefore difficult to market. Obviously since you are here, you know about New York Pitch so I won’t rehash the benefits with you. Another way to talk to professionals before submitting would be to other professional conventions. In the case of Science Fiction and Fantasy, WorldCon and the Nebula Conference are good opportunities for meeting publishers and agents. Secondly, if you can afford it Manuscript Academy does paid consultations with top agents that can be a good temperature check before submitting. Obviously, if any of this advice doesn't appeal to you, you by no means have to follow it. No one person's experience as a writer is universal. These are just a few things I wish I'd read before I got started.

A The Stand-In by Lily Chu May 3, 2022 · Sourcebooks Casablanca Contemporary Romance TW: Sexual Harassment The Stand-In is a celebrity romance that also celebrates female friendships, openly discusses the stigma against mental illness, and allows the main character the space to explore the complexities of being bi-racial. It does all of that without feeling unbalanced or taking away from the romance that’s the center of the plot. I listened to this on Audible and the narrator, Philippa Soo, does a wonderful job of delivering the story. Gracie Reed is in an untenable position. She was fired from her job by her disgusting boss, Todd, who has been sexually harassing her. Todd is smart enough not to do anything in front of anyone else, and his advances (like standing too close, brushing up against her) would be difficult to prove in a court of law without witnesses or recordings. Gracie’s mother has Alzheimers and is in a nursing home, and Gracie needs to keep paying for her room and has been trying to save up to get her into a better facility. Basically she needs to find a new job–fast. She’s at a coffee shop one day when a photographer takes her picture. It’s weird, but she doesn’t think much of it until she’s approached by one of China’s most famous actresses, Wei Fangli. The paparazzi took Gracie’s picture thinking she was Fangli, who is in town to do a play. They look alike, and Fangli offers Gracie a job. She will be Fangli’s stand-in for social events and promotions, so Fangli can focus on the play. It’s a three month gig, and the money will help Gracie keep her mom in a private room and float her until she finds a new job. It sounds risky and uncertain, but Gracie has always done the cautious and responsible thing, and she wants to be a little spontaneous right now. Fangli’s costar and close friend, heartthrob Sam Yao, will be accompanying Gracie to most of these promotions and helping her play the part of Fangli. He thinks the whole idea is foolish, and initially is pretty frosty to her. This book is told entirely from Gracie’s first person POV, so we don’t get any of Sam’s thoughts. Rather we see him start to soften to Gracie as he realizes she’s one of the few people who see him as an actual person and not someone who can be used for his connections, fame or money. A big theme in this book is how celebrities aren’t treated like actual people. At certain times when she’s portraying Fangli, Gracie will be accosted by a fan who feels entitled to a selfie or a hug without permission. Because Sam and Fangli operate in a public space, the public feels like they are accessible to them. It’s somewhat worse in Sam’s case because he’s the son of a famous actress and a famous director so he hasn’t known much else. It’s a lonely life for him. Gracie helps Sam experience some normalcy, helping him dress down and going out on the town to eat at a burger joint, or taking a ferry to walk around a local island for awhile. Just as Sam is her conduit into a supposedly glamorous world, she’s his introduction to a more mundane one and it’s through these shared “fish out of water” experiences that they begin to fall in love. What I really loved about this book was that even though we got a romance between Sam and Gracie, we also get to see a really beautiful friendship form between Gracie and Fangli. Fangli, like Sam, is isolated by her fame so it’s hard to make friends that aren’t in the industry. Gracie and Fangli connect through shared struggles with depression and anxiety. We learn that Fangli’s real reason for needing a stand-in is that her mental health is fragile and she’s been encouraged by her “team” not to seek treatment for fear that word will get out. There’s a stigma against mental illness and Fangli doesn’t want to be the actress that “has issues.” Gracie, without being pushy, helps Fangli come to the conclusion that she does need to talk to a professional, and she does so by explaining her own struggles that led her to seek therapy and start taking SSRIs. It’s a really lovely part of the novel because it shows two women being candid and vulnerable about an uncomfortable topic, and using that as a bridge to a close friendship. The book also doesn’t shy away from Gracie’s feelings about being half-white and half-Chinese. Fangli and Sam are both Chinese nationals and she feels like she doesn’t quite fit in with them or with her community at large: If only I’d known more people like me growing up. Or even now. Anjali once told me she could go home to her parent’s village and be surrounded with people who looked like her, spoke her language, and knew her history generations back. Maybe it would be stifling. I’ll never know because there will never be a place like that for me, a community who shared my history and family. So we have a celebrity romance, women being friends and helping each other with their mental health, and reflections on identity and community. That’s a lot to pack into a book, but it all works and delivered by Philippa Soo’s incredibly soothing voice, it was totally my jam. View the full article

The transcript for Podcast 522. Five Books that Rocked my World with Agatha Andrews from She Wore Black Podcast has been posted! This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks. ❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast → View the full article

The best damn, intimidating syllabus for any online novel development program I've ever seen.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay is $1.99! From reviews, this seems like it leans more toward fiction with strong romantic elements, rather than an outright contemporary romance. Have you read this one? It’s been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong post-college European adventure. Since then, she’s lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea’s thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most talented fundraiser is unquestioned. When her introverted mathematician father announces he’s getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died, and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her gap year. Inspired to retrace her steps–to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy–Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago, can help her find it again. From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. Sadie RECOMMENDED: Sadie by Courtney Summers is $1.99! This is a young adult thriller that I thought was pretty good. It came out right around the peak of true crime stuff and the added podcast element in the book definitely tapped into that. A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial-like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him. When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late. Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Unfit Heiress The Unfit Heiress by Clare Audrey Farley is $3.99! I mentioned this non-fiction title on a previous Get Rec’d and definitely suggest it for people who love Old Hollywood settings and family scandals. However, it is incredibly sad and does involve the removal of a woman’s bodily autonomy, which might not be something you want to dig into right now. For readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a page-turning drama of fortunes, eugenics and women’s reproductive rights framed by the sordid court battle between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother. At the turn of the twentieth century, American women began to reject Victorian propriety in favor of passion and livelihood outside the home. This alarmed authorities, who feared certain “over-sexed” women could destroy civilization if allowed to reproduce and pass on their defects. Set against this backdrop, The Unfit Heiress chronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon. In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her “promiscuous” daughter declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge. She did this to deprive Ann of millions of dollars from her father’s estate, which contained a child-bearing stipulation. When a sensational court case ensued, the American public was captivated. So were eugenicists, who saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come. This riveting story unfolds through the brilliant research of Audrey Clare Farley, who captures the interior lives of these women on the pages and poses questions that remain relevant today: What does it mean to be “unfit” for motherhood? In the battle for reproductive rights, can we forgive the women who side against us? And can we forgive our mothers if they are the ones who inflict the deepest wounds? Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Regency Romances The Regency Romances by Laura Kinsale is $4.99! This set collects three historical romances by Kinsale. Those are: Midsummer Moon, My Sweet Folly, and Uncertain Magic. I think one of these has a hedgehog in it? A trio of captivating historical romances by a New York Times–bestselling author whose “work is unfailingly brilliant and beautiful” (Julia Quinn). “No one—repeat no one—writes historical romance better than Laura Kinsale” (Mary Jo Putney), and one of the New York Times–bestselling and Rita Award–winning author’s specialties is the Regency period. This trio of enchanting love stories introduces unforgettable couples who leap off the pages and into our hearts. Midsummer Moon: Merlin Lambourne has invented the “speaking box”—a sort of telephone—which is so valuable that Napoleon has killed for it. Sent by the crown to bring both inventor and invention to safety, Ransom Falconer, Duke of Damerell, is shocked to learn the eccentric genius is female. More shocking is how beguiled he is by her. Now if he could just get her mind out of the clouds and convince her to marry him . . . “One of the greatest, unacknowledged romantic comedy novels.” —All About Romance My Sweet Folly: In a loveless marriage, Folie Hamilton finds her lonely days brightened by letters from her husband’s cousin, Lt. Robert Cambourne, stationed in Calcutta. Unbidden love blossoms, yet upon the death of her husband, Robert’s last letter shatters her heart with three words: I am married. Four years later, Robert summons Folie and her stepdaughter to England. But the haunted widower is not the man she once knew; he has become paranoid and delusional. In this RITA Award nominee, will Folie find the man who once captured her heart? “Laura Kinsale is one of the romance genre’s brightest stars.” —Loretta Chase Uncertain Magic: In nineteenth-century Ireland, Roddy Delamore has little chance of finding a husband, cursed as she is with the gift of mind reading. Privy to the dishonorable thoughts of her suitors, she seizes on the chance to marry Faelan Savigar, the Earl of Iveragh, despite his poor reputation and murky past. Condemned by dark rumors, Lord Iveragh is taken aback by the woman’s proposal. How is it that she believes in him? And does he dare give her his heart? “First-rate . . . Laura Kinsale delivers powerful unique romance.” —Amanda Quick Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. View the full article

In Bodies Bodies Bodies, the new film from director Halina Reijn and writers Sarah DeLappe and Kristen Roupenian (of “Cat Person” fame), a group of mean, rich, and very high twentysomethings weather a storm in a huge mansion, believing one among them to be a killer after the lights go out and a party game goes awry. When wealthy, newly sober Sophie (Amandla Steinberg) brings her new girlfriend Bee (Academy Award-nominee Maria Bakalova) to her friend’s manor house for a super-sleepover, not only are the party-attendees surprised to see Sophie and meet Bee (Sophie is briefly excoriated for not responding to their group chat), but they’re also dealing with their own petty frustrations. Sophie’s best friend, David (Pete Davidson), is bored by his girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders) and jealous of Greg (Lee Pace), the strapping forty-year-old Tinder hookup brought along by Alice (Twitter personality Rachel Sennott). (Technically, though, everyone’s a little weirded out that Alice would bring Greg in the first place.) And Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) is clearly invested in challenging Sophie and Bee’s new relationship, seemingly interested in both of them. A friend named Max has evidently left the party already, after a personal confession of his had led to drama and conflict. They are going to spend the impending hurricane together, literally and metaphorically. As soon as the rain begins to fall, the friends start doing shots and snorting lines and playing a vicious game, in which one person draws a card designating them “the killer” and must prey upon others in the dark. When a “body” is found, the lights go back on, and everyone must try to guess who the killer is, laboring to see who is lying about their activities. But, there’s a twist! Each round begins with taking shots and slapping someone in the face, as if the friends’ secret, pent-up hatreds and jealousies of one another were not clear enough already. Anyway, it’s not long before there’s a blackout, cell phone service vanishes, and the game seems to become real. Is an unknown entity targeting the group? Has someone from the inner-circle finally lost it? Is Greg (the random, much larger adult male stranger who seems to want to hang out with girls a decade and a half younger than he is) menacing them all? These self-absorbed, passive-aggressive, emotionally-stunted, over-medicated zoomers are quick to suspect and turn on one another, and do so in ways that offer copious satirization of the hyper-digitally-literate, fake-woke, pseudo-intellectual fashions of today Less interesting than this answer is the vitriolic brutality that quickly mounts between the two-faced friends once the electricity and technology disappear. It makes you think, Are the kids so reliant on their devices and wifi that when they are no longer available, they go berserk? Or have they been so shaped into self-obsessed beings by technology that once it’s gone, they have no means to mediate their cruel indifference toward others? The performances in the film are all so convincing that you’ll worry you know some of these people and you’ll hope you’re never trapped in a house with them. These self-absorbed, passive-aggressive, emotionally-stunted, over-medicated zoomers are quick to suspect and turn on one another, and do so in ways that offer copious satirization of the hyper-digitally-literate, fake-woke, pseudo-intellectual fashions of today (the kind of culture that co-opts and twists actual progressive ideas into meaningless pantomimes). These people embody (to hypocritical perfection) the kinds of performative-progressiveness and influencery narcissism that are often found twisted in today’s zeitgeist. Perhaps this is no better exemplified than in the friends’ over-use of buzzwords in attempts to portray themselves as allies or victims or, really, both. I found myself smiling wryly when a character accuses another of gaslighting her, and another embarks on a tirade about how that word in that context doesn’t even make sense. Bee, who brings a loaf of zucchini bread to thank the group for the invitation, is clearly the outsider here, the kind of rube we’re expecting to emerge as our Final Girl, if the film plays by slasher film rules. Socioeconomically but also interpersonally, Bee is out of her element. She works at “Game Hut” in the mall. She’s nervous when she accidentally consumes an edible. She ducks into corners to make phone calls to her mom. She is the foil to these people, a member of the generation who does not personify all of its ills. Bakalova (the breakout star of last year’s Borat sequel) deftly wields her character’s credulousness and shyness without making her seem the least bit helpless against the fuming, coked-up horde. Shot in and around the darkness of the mansion, Bodies Bodies Bodies is also noteworthy for its excellent, understated cinematography—it’s not easy to make a film literally watchable (let alone visually interesting) when it’s illuminated mostly by harsh blue-white iPhone light and glowstick necklaces. Generally, the film seems to both appeal to Gen-Z and its detractors by placing young people who embody the worst kind of societal discourse in a mansion together with lots of murder weapons. Watching it, I wondered if the movie would find itself compared to “Euphoria” or even “White Lotus,” or even—going back a ways—“Girls”; if its reception would dwell on its Gen-Z/very-online aura or even its Gen-Z/very-online cast and creators, or if the movie would be specifically held up as some sort of model of the presumed dysfunction of the generation it represents. I hoped recognition of its crackerjack parodying wouldn’t obfuscate its clever genre machinations. Bodies Bodies Bodies is a nice, nasty little game of a movie, using its modern hallmarks to illuminate the murder mystery and slasher genres, instead of simply the other way around. The movie is also a proper whodunnit, a classic murder mystery, but it’s also definitely a slasher movie, and it places these two genres in conversation with one another so clearly that you might, at times, feel you were watching a version of And Then There Were None, the ur-text for this kind of thing. Indeed, murder mysteries and horror movie set-ups share much of the same real estate. Movies like James Whale’s The Old Dark House from 1932 or its Hammer Horror remake from 1963, or The House on Haunted Hill from 1953 or its 1999 remake are guilty of similar genre-melding. In Bodies Bodies Bodies, there’s a different murder weapon in every room at the estate, so the whole thing might as well be Clue, which features even more dead bodies than Bodies Bodies Bodies and might be a little bit of a slasher, too. The movie Clue, that is, not the game. Bodies Bodies Bodies is a nice, nasty little game of a movie, using its modern hallmarks to illuminate the murder mystery and slasher genres, instead of simply the other way around. The film gives its characters an outlet to really unleash their true feelings about one another, to sadistically play with one another, but this does not have to function as a commentary on Gen-Z as much as on humanity itself. Putting terrible people in a bottle together and picking them off is the oldest trick in the book (or the movie). In fact, it’s a hallmark of Agatha Christie ensemble whodunnits that nearly everyone locked in together has something shady to hide, something to resent about someone else. Many are terrible, guilty of some past sin. Oh, by the way, the kids call the party game they’re playing “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” but the quadragenarian/old millennial/maybe-even-Gen-x Greg knows the game by another name: “werewolf.” (For what it’s worth, I, nestled in between these generations as one of the youngest millennials, know the game as “mafia.” Except without the slapping. That’s new to me.) The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. But there’s no real harm in that. View the full article

We’re delighted to be back at the Fantasy Hive to reveal the cover for our upcoming publication, E.J. Swift’s The Coral Bones. Here’s the blurb: This is what it looks like when coral dies. Present day. Marine biologist Hana Ishikawa is racing against time to save the coral as of the Great Barrier Reef, but struggles to ght for a future in a world where so much has already been lost. 1839. Seventeen-year-old Judith Holliman escapes the monotony of Sydney Town when her naval captain father lets her accompany him on a voyage, unaware of the wonders and dangers she will soon encounter. The sun-scorched 22nd century. Telma Velasco is hunting for a miracle: a leafy seadragon, long believed extinct, has been sighted. But as Telma investigates, she nds hope in unexpected places. Three women: divided by time, connected by the ocean. Past, present and future collide in E. J. Swift’s The Coral Bones, a powerful elegy to a disappearing world – and a vision of a more hopeful future. E.J. Swift: “I’m thrilled to share the cover for my new novel, The Coral Bones. Central to the design is a leafy seadragon, a creature I came across early in my research into Australia’s dazzling marine life, having previously only known of their more familiar relative, the weedy seadragon. For me, the leafy represents the sheer beauty, ingenuity, and eccentricity of the more-than-human world, and I knew at once that this animal would have a pivotal role to play in the novel’s future strand, where humanity is striving to restore ecosystems and save our fellow inhabitants of the planet. Vince Haig’s stunning design captures the seadragon’s fragile, otherworldly presence, whilst the placement of the white title text speaks of the corals, their protective and symbiotic role within ocean ecosystems and the threat they face from bleaching, which is central to Hana’s present day storyline. Placed against a luminous background suggestive of rolling ocean and reef, I couldn’t have asked for a more evocative cover for this book. I hope the novel lives up to this lovely image and that readers will find something to connect with in the stories of Hana, Judith and Telma.” Dan Coxon, Editor: “We had so many discussions about the cover for this one! The Coral Bones is such a unique book that getting the right tone for it took a few attempts. It’s intimate but also plays out against the expansive backdrop of a dying planet; it’s science fiction but it also dabbles in history and crime. In the end, though, I think we nailed it with this design by Vince Haig. The leafy seadragon takes centre stage, as it does in the story, but hopefully there’s just a hint of literary fiction about it as well as SF – think David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas with a climate fiction twist.” E. J. Swift is a speculative fiction writer based in London. She is the author of The Osiris Project trilogy, a series set in a world radically altered by climate change, and Paris Adrift, a tale of bartenders and time travel in the City of Light. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Sunday Times short story award and the British Science Fiction Award, and has appeared in a variety of anthologies from Solaris, Salt Publishing, Jurassic London and Penguin Random House Digital. The Coral Bones is her latest novel. Twitter: @catamaroon Instagram: @catamaroon The Coral Bones will be published 8th September 2022 by Unsung Stories and is available for pre-order: Forbidden Planet | Amazon.co.uk | Waterstones The post THE CORAL BONES by E. J. Swift (COVER REVEAL) appeared first on The Fantasy Hive. View the full article

Writer Unboxed is known for its tight-knight community, and the ability to connect in person has become a favorite aspect of the WU UnConference. Can our first online conference (9/29-10/16) compare? Can it bring this community together in a way that goes far beyond what we do here online every week, and that provides opportunities for both networking and lasting friendships? What’s the plan for that? The 3-Part Plan: THE WU LOUNGE The WU Lounge is a virtual space that’s open 24/7 for connecting with others. And here’s a little breaking news: It will not open on 9/29, when the event itself starts. Rather, it will open on 9/2. So you will have this space for nearly a full month before the event begins. And here’s some additional breaking news: You’ll have the space for the rest of the year–through the end of 2022. Why is this a huge plus? The WU lounge brings people together via video conferencing. It may seem at first like the traditional Zoom meet, even though you connect at a virtual table. But it’s different beyond appearances. First, you can virtually move from one table to another to say hello to whomever happens to be in the lounge. Tables can also be labeled, so you may find a table you’d like to join by its label (e.g. “Debut Authors”). You can name your own table, too, to help create the experience you’re looking for in the event. For example, you can sit at an empty table and name it “Let’s Brainstorm Some Stuff” or “Looking for Critique Partners” or “Self Publishing Q&A” or “I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT SESSION WITH KATHRYN CRAFT!” The sky’s the limit. Want to grab a private seat, to speak with just one or two others? You can do that, too. Want to join other writers in your genre for a chat? You’ll have a way to search for them by genre and invite them to a table anytime throughout the event. And after the event. Grab tables for NaNoWriMo in November, or create a regular writing sprint this fall with old friends you’ve just met (ht Jim Henson). Want to join others over lunch? For cocktail hour? Pull up a virtual chair at any open table to listen, learn, and share. For four full months. The lounge will also host some important community activities. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES The Speed-Meet. We’ve all heard of speed-dating, and its speed-networking equivalent. We’re going to try something similar but different. Connect with your community members in this fun randomized pairing event but with prompts that relate to storytelling and help you get to know one another better. Book Therapy. A favorite event at our in-person UnConferences, bring your storytelling woes to Book Therapy, where others will be on hand to offer suggestions and encouragement. Genre Meetups. A huge UnConference hit, our genre meetups are a great way to get to know others in your genre. You write in three genres? Hop between tables. WU meetups have led to finding a mentor, building critique partnerships, sprint-writing buddies, and more. Bedtime Stories. What’s a WU event without bedtime stories? Sidle up to a table with your first few pages to share — just don’t let anyone fall asleep. INTERACTIVE SESSIONS Many of us have taken at least one online class, and they’re all pretty similar. There’s a window at the top of the screen featuring the presenter / any media / etc. And comments are ‘live,’ so that you can chat with other attendees and ask questions of the session leader. Those questions are buried sometimes, though, in the chatter. And there doesn’t seem to be a way to expand on the topic during a session — at least not in an engaging manner. On our platform, questions for the session leader are isolated so they aren’t lost in a jumble of comments to the group. Not only that, anyone can “upvote” a question, so that questions with the most group interest are addressed first. Like our in-person conferences, where we encourage community members to speak up when they have something to contribute or to ask the question central to the advancement of their own storytelling, if you have something vital to say during a session, simply “raise a (virtual) hand” to be heard, and even be invited “to the stage.” And while nothing can replace REAL, we also like that sessions can be enhanced with emojis. Love what a session leader is saying? There’s a way to show that session leader a little love. And they deserve it. You can learn more about our upcoming OnConference on Eventbrite HERE, or read on for a description of our 17 sessions on deep craft and the writing life. Our Sessions From Crisis to Character: How to Create and Develop a Realistic, Compelling, and Dramatic Character Arc, with David Corbett Part 1: Creating Formative Backstory Explore your character’s formative moments of helplessness, the habits those moments create, and how your character views their needs and desires because of them. Once you are secure in this formative backstory, then what? Part 2: Creating Dramatic Character Arc Consider how story can evolve from your character’s formative backstory, those “mistaken desires and misbegotten yearnings,” and how to build a plot that demonstrates “success through failure,” as the character makes the inevitable errors and blunders required as she moves from misunderstanding to clarity—or stubbornly rejects the opportunity to change. I’ll Buy That: Encourage Your Reader to Suspend Disbelief, with Kathryn Craft Circuses that arrive by night, meteors hollowed out for low-tech space travel, literary characters that narrate their own births—stories are born from imagination. But how can we make our readers believe? With examples from genres across the board, we’ll analyze concrete techniques that best-selling authors use to navigate the implausible. Get That Story Moving, with Kathryn Craft At the first indication you can’t keep your story moving, your busy reader will move it for you—right off of her nightstand. Even go-to scenes that are chock full of movement, like explosive action, combat, and sex, may not be able to salvage a stalled story. With examples from popular novels, this look at story movement—what it is, why it begs reader investment, and how to create it—will show why this specialized “movement” should be central to your storytelling efforts. Searching for “The One”: Excavating the Story Hiding Inside You, with Keith Cronin An interactive series of prompts, questions and challenges that probe your hot-buttons, fears and insecurities, aimed at sparking your imagination to unpack the story that lies deep within you. The one that’s burning to get out, but there’s something standing in the way. We’ll explore processes and criteria for figuring out which story is “the one,” and how to take that kernel of an idea and let it morph and grow without losing control—or killing your passion. I, Writer, with Julie Duffy Reframe your writing life and you’ll see there are lots of opportunities for success and fulfillment at every stage. In this session, you will explore seven realms of writing that ascending writers must manage—including generating ideas; drafting and revising; engaging with other writers, readers and the publishing industry; learning to celebrate your tiny wins; and putting systems in place to keep yourself on track. You’ll learn to identify your next step based on your stage and any strengths or weaknesses, and in this way can make meaningful progress, step by step. The Dynamics of Opposition, with Desmond Hall We need to create meaningful challenges for our protagonists, and many times we don’t create enough of them or those challenges lack the complexity needed to bring out a protagonist’s real character. Digging into the negative side of our stories as well as the protagonist’s perspective can create solutions. In this workshop we’ll explore different ways of generating obstacles for our protagonists. Come with a one- to two-sentence description of your story. Be ready to work on a 15-minute exercise where you will create obstacles of opposition that will make your plot more compelling. Losing the Plot: Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, with Gwen Hernandez The writing world is full of plotting methods, but what if none of them work for you? You’re not alone—and you’re not lazy or doing it wrong!—you might just be wired differently. Join this seasoned writer-without-a-plan for tips on figuring out what type of writer you are, why knowing matters, and how to make not plotting a manuscript less stressful. On Voice, with Elizabeth Huergo We all know what it means to “voice” an opinion. What does “voice” mean when it comes to writing? In our conversation, we will be defining this elusive quality, exploring revision strategies meant to enhance how sound works hand-in-hand with sense, as well as considering why “voice” matters. Attendees are welcome to bring any 3 sample paragraphs (one sample per page/about 600 words total) of their writing for hands-on practice. All writers, all levels are welcome. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: Dialogue Workshop, with Dave King The Dialogue Workshop, which will cover both the mechanics of dialogue and techniques to make dialogue flow naturally, will present material from Dave King’s classic book on writers, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, along with material that will appear in the book’s not-yet-published updated edition. Participants are invited to submit two pages of dialogue, from which Dave will draw examples. Draw Your Next Draft, with Arthur Klepchukov Still staring at the same words for your next draft? Learn how to revise in this playful, hands-on workshop by experimenting with techniques that go beyond writing–like creating movie posters, floor plans, caricatures, mind maps, and typography bombs. Your next draft needs you to dream bigger. Bring at least 1,000 words to revise, and plan to practice and discuss various techniques. Let’s draw your next draft! THE BONES OF THE GODS master sequence, with Donald Maass featuring new material from a book-in-progress Part 1: Timeless Characters Certain characters linger in our minds not just for days but for decades. What components of character create that effect? In this hands-on workshop, learn what not only brings characters alive but also makes them people that we can never forget. Every character can create an archetype once you know how. Part 2: Timeless Story Elements Buried beneath familiar plots are the hidden structures of story, enduring patterns and elements that have captured the human imagination for millennia. They work because they enact human struggles that remain constant through time. Older than the hero’s journey and as immediate as the latest trend, learn the methods of building enduring stories in this hands-on workshop. Part 3: Universal Human Experience Beyond character arc there is a journey that ties together all of humanity, through all time. What have humans always searched for? What makes the journeys of your characters the journeys of us all? In this hands-on workshop, discover the methods of capturing in your current novel the greatest treasure of timeless fiction: universal human experience. The Building Blocks of a Story: Crafting Scenes with Purpose and Power, with Barbara Linn Probst This interactive, step-by-step workshop will guide participants through the components of a well-crafted scene: how they relate to each other and to the larger narrative that the scene must serve, and why each is important. Using examples, we’ll look at eight core elements of a purposeful and effective scene; learn to identify and address potential weaknesses such as gaps, false cues, fuzziness, “doing too much,” and “doing too little;” and explore ways to strengthen a scene’s impact and cohesion. Attendees will then have several hands-on opportunities to apply these principles to one of their own scenes-in-progress. Experiential Description, with Ray Rhamey This interactive workshop details techniques for emotionalizing the descriptions of action, people, and place. You can not only enhance your overall story but create a deeply immersive experience for your readers by sharing a character’s singular perspective. Brief writing and class exercises will explore the craft of creating a rich sense of character through artful description. Inclusive Storytelling, with Grace Wynter Too often, stories welcome some readers at the expense of others. But inclusive storytelling strives to move beyond stereotypes and outdated language and archetypes by creating stories that come to life for all readers. In this session, Professional Editor and Authenticity Reader Grace Wynter provides insight into language, cultural shifts, and resources that will help authors tell stories that more accurately and authentically reflect the changing world around them. Early-Bird tickets to the Writer Unboxed OnConference are $299. You can secure your seat at Eventbrite, HERE. We hope to see you online this September and beyond. Write on. About Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton in 2006. Since then the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors--including bestselling authors and industry leaders--and frequent guests. In 2014, the first Writer Unboxed UnConference (part UNtraditional conference, part intensive craft event, part networking affair) was held in Salem, MA. Learn more about our 2019 event, ESCAPE TO WuNDERLAND, on Eventbrite. In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer's Digest. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published has been well-received by readers who seek help in overcoming the hurdles faced at every step of the novel-writing process--from setting goals, researching, and drafting to giving and receiving critiques, polishing prose, and seeking publication. James Scott Bell has said of the guide, "Nourishment for the writer's soul and motivation for the writer's heart." You can follow Writer Unboxed on Twitter, and join our thriving Facebook community. Twitter | Facebook | More Posts [url={url}]View the full article[/url]

When I first set my sights on writing crime fiction, it was a no-brainer that it would have to be a culinary mystery. Not only have I been obsessed with food and cooking since my teens, but I even returned to school as an adult to obtain a degree in culinary arts (while working as an attorney, mind you—but that’s a whole other story). Now, with five books in the Sally Solari culinary mystery series under my belt, I find myself looking back to my time in cooking school and wondering, did that experience have an impact on my later vocation as an author of mystery novels? It seems obvious, of course, that being comfortable handling a filleting knife and understanding what sorts of foods would best hide the flavor of arsenic would be invaluable in devising ways to commit (fictional) murder in a restaurant setting. And it’s equally true that knowing your way around a commercial kitchen can be of great help to an author whose protagonist—like mine—is a restaurateur and chef. (And it doesn’t hurt when it comes time to concoct the recipes for the books, either.) But what did the process of attending cooking school teach me about crime fiction in general—that I might not have learned otherwise? Can studying culinary arts teach you to write better a better mystery novel? I believe it can, and that in my case it most certainly did. Many of the skills taught in cooking school—those necessary to create a tempting and delicious meal—are similar and parallel to those required to write a compelling story. As a result, it turns out that my experience as a culinary arts student acted as a sort of metaphor—or perhaps a template—for when I later set fingers to keyboard to commence my first Sally Solari mystery. I’ll divide these skill sets into five areas: culinary basics, sauces, seasoning, kitchen work, and presentation. Culinary Basics Every culinary student starts by taking an introductory class, with a focus on food science and chemistry; meats, vegetables, and knife skills; and the various cooking methods (sautéing, braising, roasting, baking etc.). And it is only after becoming familiar enough with these basics of food and cooking such that they become second nature to the cook, that she can begin to insert her own individual touch into the dishes she prepares. The same is true for writing: One must master the basics such as grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure before moving on to full paragraphs, and without an understanding of plotting and tension (which I see as parallel to food chemistry), it’s impossible to create an actual story. Sauces A good sauce is often what separates the mundane from the magnificent in the world of cooking. Yet sauces are as varied as the colors of the spectrum, embracing everything from a simple deglazing of the pan with a bit of beer or wine; to a marinara with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs; to a complex sauce Périgueux made of veal demi-glace, butter, Madeira, and truffles. When I learned the secrets of sauces in culinary arts school, it was as if a door had been opened into a previously-locked room, for all at once I’d been gifted with the ability to transform something as basic as a fried chop into a marvel of seared pork smothered in apricot brandy sauce. Similarly, the “sauce” of writing is what transforms a basic plot line into a true “story.” And like with a sauce, the possibilities are boundless: a pastoral or urban setting; quirky or enigmatic characters; a sleuth’s curious profession and compelling backstory; an unusual motive for the murder and reason your protagonist sets out to solve it; a fascinating point in time; the list goes on. But as when deciding on the proper sauce for that cut or meat or shape of pasta, the author must determine what sort of story it is he wants to tell: gritty and noir, or light and cozy; fast-paced and nail-biting, or humorous and sweet. And then you choose to sauce your meal—or novel—accordingly. Seasoning This is similar to the sauce, but on a more detailed, micro level. Seasonings “spice up” one’s cooking by adding accents and delicate touches. A dash of cardamom in a lamb curry or a hint of tarragon in a cream sauce can make the diner sit back and think, “Wow. What exactly is that? It’s delicious!” In a mystery novel as well, the small touches of seasoning which the writer adds are what make the story jump from the page and cause the mystery to sizzle. It’s the dropping of clues and red herrings, and a character’s manner of speaking or turn of a phrase. Or the foods she eats and the fragrances wafting through the garden in which she sits. The bark of a dog or the gunning of a car engine, and the rough hands of the carpenter who lives next door. Without proper seasoning, the story will be bland and lacking in flavor. Kitchen Work There are few jobs more exhausting and hard on the body than working in a commercial kitchen, which I quickly learned in our cooking school’s student-run restaurant. It’s always hot, your back and feet continually ache, the sous chef is shouting in your ear, and the stress of pumping out all those tickets on a busy night when you’re all completely “in the weeds” can cause even the most serene of individuals to become addicted to Prilosec. But the experience teaches you valuable lessons also applicable to the life of a writer, such as learning to write on a deadline and working with an editor who may have very different ideas than you about your work in progress. Deep breathing and meditation can benefit the line cook and the writer, alike. Presentation The plating of a dish is one of the most important steps in restaurant cooking—particularly now, in the age of Instagram and TikTok. Because simply tasting good is no longer enough; you must sell your product by enticing diners to come to your restaurant. Do the colors pop? Are there varied textures and heights on your plate? Do the patterns and geometry please the eye? You’ve no doubt already guessed where I’m going here. For the plating and presentation of a dish corresponds to your cover, and also to the marketing and publicity you do to convince people to actually buy and read the book. Does the design convey the genre and mood of the story you tell? And how’s your social media presence? Are your Facebook and Twitter posts eye-catching and intriguing, so that they entice potential readers? Okay, so I get that these parallels between culinary arts school and mystery writing could be found equally well in many other types of schooling, as well. Law school, for example, provided me with a host of skills I was able to later call on as an author of crime fiction. And I’m guessing the same would be true for a degree in engineering—or medicine, or sociology, or political science, or even French. But c’mon, don’t you think that cooking school would be a lot more fun? *** View the full article

When Cop Land came out in August of 1997, the vast majority of attention was, understandingly and deservedly, given over to star Sylvester Stallone’s turn as sad sack suburban sheriff Freddy Heflin, a role which required the Italian Stallion put on 40 pounds and dig deep into his acting chops—something he hadn’t really done since First Blood, 15 years earlier. It was widely hailed as his finest performance since the original Rocky, if not ever, and for a long time afterwards, Cop Land was best remembered as the movie that should have nabbed Sly an Oscar for Best Actor (or at the very least, a nomination), but not much else. Twenty-five years on, however, the tide has slowly, but surely turned. Today, while it remains underrated and underseen, Cop Land nonetheless stands tall as one of the last great neo-noirs of its era, a provocative story about the American police state and a gritty crime thriller with mythic overtones. The sophomore feature from James Mangold, who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most reliable populist directors, the film is set in the small New Jersey town of Garrison, a place that resides, literally and figuratively, in the shadow of New York. A group of dirty cops from the NYPD’s 37th precinct, led by Lt. Ray Dolan (Harvey Keitel), have exploited a legal loophole that allows them to work in the city while living across the Hudson. There, Dolan has installed Heflin, a local hero who many years ago saved a young woman from drowning, losing his hearing—and thereby his dream of joining the NYPD—in the process, as the Sheriff, knowing that he’ll always turn a blind eye to the dirt he and his crew conduct in the open. Things change when Dolan’s nephew and fellow cop, Superboy (Michael Rappaport), shoots and kills two unarmed black men in a traffic altercation. Dolan secrets Superboy into Garrison, where he intends to kill him before Internal Affairs can get their hands on him. When Heflin realizes what Ray and his crew are planning, he’s finally forced to take a stand. As previously mentioned, Stallone’s performance got all the attention when Cop Land first came out, and for good reason. Like his most famous onscreen persona, Rocky Balboa, Stallone plays Helfin as someone who initially comes off as a morose, muscle-headed simpleton, before gradually revealing the deep and complex layers of his wounded soul. It’s a powerful and empathetic turn, one that has him—to borrow a cliché from Rocky—going all twelve rounds with some of the finest actors of his generation. Speaking of, for as great a showcase as Cop Land is for Sly, it’s really an ensemble drama. And what an ensemble it is. There’s an argument to be made that, pound for pound, it has the best cast of any movie from its decade. Said cast includes Keitel in one of his most subtly menacing roles (speaking of: is there any American actor who has better embodied our conception of the crooked cop?), Robert De Niro in small but memorable part as a manipulative Internal Affairs investigator, and especially the late, great Ray Liotta in what has to be his second best performance of his career (after Goodfellas) as a member of Dolan’s crew whose guilty conscience and addiction issues are rapidly pushing him to his breaking point. The rest of the cast is stacked with some of the best or at least most recognizable character actors of the last several decades, including the aforementioned Rappaport in what’s definitely his best performance, as well as Robert Patrick, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Berg, Annabella Sciorra, Noah Emmerich, John Spencer, Frank Vincent, Paul Calderon, John Doman, Debbie Harry (her scene unfortunately cut out of the theatrical release), Robert John Burke, Method Man, Tony Sirico, Eddie Falco and more. (You’ll notice several of those names, including Falco, Sirico, Vincent, Burke and Sciorra, would all end up in The Sopranos two years later. In fact, there are 11 total actors in Cop Land who would land roles in that game-changing series.) For as much as it is a character driven drama, Cop Land is also a movie with a clear and sharp political POV, one which shines its interrogation lights on the inherent and bone-deep corruption of American policing. It doesn’t merely paint said corruption in broad brush strokes of overt criminality—the murders, bribes and drug running that Dolan and his unit routinely engage in—but in the more quotidian aspects of The Job: the cultish insularity, sense of entitlement, and systemic racism of both officers and their families. Many of the crime films of the late ’80 through the early Aughts—especially those that came in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating and the L.A. Riots—were deeply interested in examining the rot at the core of police culture. This is evident in any number of films from that time, including The Big Easy, Do the Right Thing, Deep Cover, Bad Lieutenant, L.A. Confidential, Training Day, Narc, Dark Blue and others. Granted, with a few exceptions, these movies were greatly overshadowed by the more escapist (and usually reactionary) cop movie fare of the time, so rewatching Cop Land today, in a post-Rampart, post-George Floyd, post-BLM, post-Defund, post-Uvalde America, it’s tempting to say it was ahead of its time, when in fact it was very much of its time. And yet, Cop Land also has a timeless quality. Along with its New Jersey setting, it has the same small, yet mythic resonance of one of the Bruce Springsteen ballads that appropriately appears on its soundtrack—all broken dreams, broken promises and broken spirits painted in neon bar lights and back alley shadows. Like those Springsteen ballads, Cop Land is very much influenced by two pillars of American cinema: the western and the film noir. These genres shared a lot of overlap, especially in the post-war decades, when many an oater swapped the cramped concrete jungles of the big city for the barren badlands of the American frontier, while keeping the paranoia, moral ambiguity and inescapable fatalism found in the urban crime film. One of, if not the most iconic example of this is 1951’s High Noon, the controversial, anti-McCarthyite western in which Gary Cooper’s desperate sheriff has to make a one-man stand against a posse of violent criminals after everyone in his town turns their back on him. This is the arc of Freddy Heflin in Cop Land, and his final, brutal and silent—Mangold brilliantly drops all sound, save for a low ringing tinnitus, to match Freddie’s newly deafened state—showdown manages to outdo the older, more iconic film. In terms of its noir, it would be easy to compare Cop Land to the gritty neo-noirs of the 70s, especially since its cast is fronted by several actors who came to prominence during that decade. However, the example it truly shares the most in common with is a film not usually regarded as part of the genre: It’s a Wonderful Life. Frank Capra’s perennial holiday classic has a reputation of being a work of pure schmaltz, when it’s really the exact opposite. As emotionally devastating a story of disappointment and regret as has ever graced the screen, the last third of that film—in which suicidal banker George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is shown a vision of what the world would be like if he’d never been born—is a straight shot of pitch-black noir. Cast in heavy shadow and neon decadence, the increasingly desperate Bailey finds the former peace of his hometown of Bedford Falls, now renamed Pottersville after the town robber baron, transformed into a seedy urban hellscape that feels transported from the most rococo of crime movies from the time. For those coming to the film expecting a piece of fluff, this section is brilliantly jarring. Still, it may seem a stretch to compare It’s a Wonderful Life with Cop Land, but once you start looking at them side-by-side, the connections become quickly evident. Like George Bailey, Freddy Heflin is a man whose life is defined by the things he hasn’t done. Both men dreamed of shaking off the shackles of their small, sheltered communities and making their way in the larger world, only to find themselves stuck behind—in large part because of their brave choice to save a drowning victim, which resulted in the partial loss of their hearing—playing resentful servants to institutions that nearly end up killing them. Both men are constantly falling under the thumb of the corrupt town power broker, and both have to be manipulated by a higher power—a lovable angel and an asshole rat squad lieutenant, respectively—into making the tough choices that will set things in their community right. But the thematic tissue between the films runs deeper than just the similarities between their heroes. It would be wrong to call It’s a Wonderful Life a pessimistic movie—it works extremely hard to earn its redemptive and optimistic ending—but it is a movie that recognizes how easily the human spirit can be corrupted. Without the moral guidance of one man, Bedford Falls falls immediately into vice and depravity, implying that underneath its picture-perfect postcard idyll lay its denizens true dark desires. In this way, Cop Land’s Garrison is both Bedford Falls and Pottersville at once, a place where the clean, quiet surface is just a cover for the foundation of avarice and murder upon which it’s been built. Unlike George Bailey, Freddy Heflin can’t set things back to right, because they were never right to begin with. He can only hope to help build something better after first blowing it down. View the full article

While crime novels, especially those with courtroom scenes, are the most satisfying to read, they’re the most challenging to write. I say this not just as a long-time aficionado but as an author. After publishing four family dramas—lots of feelings, not much plot—I wanted to level up in my fifth. In When We Were Bright and Beautiful, a white, uber-wealthy Princeton athlete is accused of raping his former girlfriend. His sister Cassie narrates the story, and we follow the fallout on their family, from indictment through verdict. In my rendering, a series of twists culminates in a courtroom reveal that casts everything that came before in a different light. By the end, the reader realizes that Cassie is telling two related stories about two separate crimes—and she is the victim of one of them. Well, this was my goal, anyway. Instead, it was immediately clear I was in over my head. Flattened by my insecurities, I wasted 18 months trying to write around the trial. I set the story 25 years in the future, I downgraded the attack from a felony to a misdemeanor, I had the parties settle. Finally, I ran out of options. It was time to either rise to the challenge or set fire to my manuscript and find a new project. Every detail demands painstaking attention when writing a crime novel, from structure to character development to pacing to payoff. There are so many ways to screw up! If your opening chapters are too slow, you lose momentum. Too fast, and you confuse the reader. A few false notes and you lose credibility. Give away too many clues, over-engineer the plot, or wait too long to reveal whodunit, and readers walk away frustrated and unsatisfied. In the end, I stayed the course; after seven years of work, When We Were Bright and Beautiful was released this week. To write it, I studied courtroom dramas going back to the 1970s. I deconstructed each one from every angle, trying to learn how they worked. It was a lesson in abject humility. Here are eight that stunned me with their artistry, insight, and sheer brilliance. Warning: spoilers abound! Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent Scott Turow has published lots of blockbusters since Presumed Innocent, but his debut broke new ground when it hit shelves in 1987. Compulsively readable, the novel was equal parts whodunit, courtroom thriller, and dysfunctional family drama. Rusty Sabich, the prosecutor who’s charged with murder, narrates, and we follow him through every stage of the criminal investigation, the trial, and the aftermath. Turow did a masterful job illustrating Sabich’s evolution. We become invested in the lawyer’s innocence, even as he fails to disclose his affair with the victim, redirects the investigation, and tampers with evidence. To my mind, the novel’s most unforgettable moment is when Turow reveals the murderer. You’re not just left reeling from the killer’s identity; you now have to reevaluate, through a different lens, the entire book you just read and what this means for Sabich’s life and career going forward. Elizabeth Wetmore, Valentine Valentine is one of the most electrifying novels of the past few years. The book opens with the brutal rape of a Mexican American teenager on Valentine’s Day, 1975, in a West Texas town. But unlike thrillers that exploit the plight of young women, Valentine focuses on a few white women who respond to her assault. Like O’ Beautiful by Jung Yun, another brilliant novel that examines male brutality, racism, and insular communities in a small town on the brink of an oil boom, Valentine illustrates how crimes are tried in a community’s churches, bars, and living rooms before they ever move to the courtroom. Chris Bohjalian, Midwives Blending moral, medical, and political issues with a classic coming-of-age story, Midwives is the story of a midwife accused of murdering a pregnant friend in rural Vermont while performing her job. Chris Bohjalian does a remarkable job crafting the character of Connie Danforth, a 14-year-old girl who sat through her mother’s trial and recounts the experience years later. The novel traces Connie’s perspective as she moves from steadfast loyalist to suspicious observer to possible accomplice. Meanwhile, is her mother guilty or innocent? The verdict, which hinges on Connie, is a knockout. Jill Ciment, The Body in Question A short, addictive novel that packs an enormous punch. I read it compulsively in one sitting, and when I finished, I instantly started over. Ciment subverts the traditional courtroom procedural in two clever ways. First, rather than focus on the accused, accuser, or law enforcement, she hones in on the jury, specifically jurors C-2 and F-17, who have a passionate affair while sequestered. Second, Ciment illustrates the jurors’ experience in and out of the courtroom. The first half of the novel details the three-week trial of a wealthy teenager accused of murdering her toddler brother; the latter half deals with the emotional fallout of the trial on the jurors’ private lives. Juror C-2’s observations, thoughts, notes, and relationship with her fellow juror drive the story. As the push and pull of their entanglement play out against the backdrop of a gruesome murder, Ciment explores the big questions: guilt versus innocence, loyalty versus betrayal, life versus death. Sara Collins, The Confessions of Frannie Langton Like Scott Turow, Sara Collins’s ambitious and gripping debut broke new ground when it was published in 2019. Set in London in the early 1800s, The Confessions of Frannie Langton follows the trial of Frances Langton, a Jamaican servant accused of brutally stabbing her white employers to death. By weaving in vivid, sensual elements of historical and gothic fiction, and confronting racism, forbidden love, and drug addiction, Collins reinvented the crime novel for a new generation of readers. William Landay, Defending Jacob I’m a sucker for a terrifying final twist, and Defending Jacob more than delivers. Like Presumed Innocent, this psychological thriller combines elements of a courtroom thriller and multilayered family drama. The two novels also feature a prosecutor who knows more about a murder case than he leads you to believe. In Defending Jacob, however, the accused is the prosecutor’s son, a classmate of the victim, which allows Landay to explore the ties that bind families together and rip them apart. Landay’s approach to the courtroom scenes is spellbinding. While the novel takes place mostly during the aftermath of the murder and the subsequent trial, the story is interwoven with witness testimony from a grand jury trial that occurs six months later. This seemingly unrelated testimony adds to the book’s suspense, especially since it’s not revealed until the final chapter, when you’re hit with the (aforementioned) knockout reveal. Emily Fridlund, The History of Wolves When I was in the throes of my trial avoidance, I tried—and failed—to emulate The History of Wolves. The novel, a gorgeous, insightful, and complex thriller and bildungsroman, haunted me for weeks after I read it. Like Midwives, The History of Wolves is narrated by a woman as she reflects on the life-altering experience she had years before, when she was a lonely, isolated 14-year-old. In Fridlund’s book, however, the trial happens off-stage and is referred to during pivotal moments in the story rather than laid out step by step. These references were so deft and rich, I was convinced Fridlund must’ve written the entire trial and then pulled out the salient points. Either that or she has magical powers. The History of Wolves tackles communal living, loneliness, pedophilia, Christian Science, and freezing Minnesota winters to create one of the past decade’s most transportive and mesmerizing books. Sidney Sheldon, The Other Side of Midnight While The Other Side of Midnight is, admittedly, a sentimental favorite, Sidney Sheldon is the OG of courtroom thrillers. When my sister and I were teenagers, we passed one dog-eared paperback back and forth on a long plane ride. Published in 1973, the novel has a 70’s jet-set vibe that recalls the days of Jackie Kennedy and Ari Onassis soaking in the sun on the Isle of Capri. A sweeping story of doomed love, lust, power, and vengeance, The Other Side of Midnight is centered around four star-crossed characters whose lives become enmeshed: a beautiful French actress, a dynamic Greek tycoon, a handsome war hero, and the unsuspecting American woman. Of this foursome, one will die, and two will stand trial for her murder. Sidney Sheldon was an award-winning writer, director, and producer; and The Other Side of Midnight showcases every one of his prodigious talents. Neither my sister nor I ever forgot this novel. Although I can’t say for sure that it influenced our lives, she’s a lawyer, and I’m a novelist, so it definitely had some impact. *** View the full article

Imagine being arrested for killing someone. Imagine that there are witnesses to the crime, that there is evidence, a trail and trial. The extensive details are presented before a jury of your peers and you are found guilty without a shadow of a doubt. And now imagine that you cannot remember any of it. Not the murder, not what led to it, not even who the victim was. Imagine being put in prison for years, decades, waiting to be executed, and you sit there day in and day out, alone, scared, confused, trying to figure out what exactly you did and why. You feel like you were framed. It’s a slow torture. You beat your head against the wall trying to remember, trying to put the pieces together. But it’s like it happened to a different person. It’s not you. You know you’re being punished but you want to scream you’re innocent even though you’re not. You miss your friends, your family, your old life. You feel your sanity slowly slipping away. Death awaits. Is this justice? Undoubtedly. A crime was committed and the family of the deceased deserves to see such repercussions—this is one of the goals of prison, along with being a deterrent and to provide rehabilitation. But how do you rehabilitate a person who believes they did nothing wrong? And what purpose does execution serve when the murderer doesn’t even remember doing it? [H]ow do you rehabilitate a person who believes they did nothing wrong? And what purpose does execution serve when the murderer doesn’t even remember doing it? The philosopher John Locke believed that we are two different people living at the same time: the person who performed an act and the person who remembers doing it, body and consciousness. Yet, if there is only the former and not the latter, did we in fact carry out this act? If you ran a race but, for the rest of your life, don’t remember doing so and there is no evidence of your participation, did it happen? The race would have certainly been run but it makes no difference to you whatsoever. Conversely, Locke also believed that acts could be committed when we are not our selves, that the body can operate outside our acknowledgement. For example, we have all become so fully immersed in certain activities such as driving a car or dancing, showering or washing dishes, that we cease being conscious of what we are doing and eventually reach an endpoint without any idea of how we got there. We are simply existing, animal-like, with no consciousness. How could we be sure we’re even the same person? To Locke, our identity extends only as far as our memory does. If our memory fades so does our identity. In the case of the aforementioned murder, the victim would still be dead, but the killer it would be as if they never existed to begin with. The person in the present is completely different than the person in the moment of the now forgotten act. Imagine right now I told you you killed somebody. How would you react? Of course if the reason one cannot remember committing a crime was due to being drunk or high they are at least guilty for knowingly indulging in such behavior that could lead to such an act. We are aware of possible consequences in these situations. But let’s imagine that there’s a brain issue going on here, that the murderer can’t remember due to an ailment of some kind. What if, in this new state, he would go on to live a peaceful, loving life? Should he still be executed? Locke would insist we are punishing a body but not a consciousness. The philosopher Rene Descartes, too, believed that the body and the mind are not one and the same, that we are not our bodies. But he also believed we are not our brains, that we exist outside this. We are not even our thoughts, but our minds which are where our thoughts come from. So, if the body acts without an understanding from the mind, which is who we are, why should we be punished? Surely if you lose an arm or a leg you believe you are still the same person, but what if you were to develop complete amnesia? Are you the same then? Descartes is credited with the founding of reflex theory, that the body can have automated reactions completely separate from our minds. What if you are acting on instinct? What if the act was seemingly out of your control? In 1987 a Canadian man killed his mother-in-law, Barbara Ann Woods, while sleepwalking, bludgeoning her with a tire iron, and was acquitted because when awake he was judged to be a different person. The sleepwalking version of him was a killer, not the waking one. What if the murderer committed the act and, years before he was caught, suffered a head injury that suddenly and drastically altered his mind and memory? Is he even the same person? Should he be held accountable for what his previous self did? Both Locke and Descartes would argue his innocence. In my novel, SCARECROW HAS A GUN, a man comes into possession of a machine that can replay every memory a person has ever had, repressed or not. Sean, the protagonist—whose wife was murdered in front of his eyes, an event he can’t remember—spirals quickly after watching his life over again as it does not conform to what he remembers. He begins to see quite clearly that his memory and his life are two completely different things. We are not the lives we lived. False memories pop up all the time. Perhaps we remember an event in our past that is actually a conflation of something we saw in a movie or read in a book. Sometimes we imagine ourselves in places we never were, at events we’ve only seen on TV. What if this so called experience affected everything that came later, though, in reality it never really happened? What is real? What is truth? Our memories should come with the tag, Based on a True Story. It’s all fictionalized to a certain point. We are fiction. But back to our murderer without memory. In 1985, a man named Vernon Madison was convicted in the killing of a police officer, but was given a stay of execution because, after years on Death Row, he suffered memory impairment and could not recall his crime. It was decided that to kill him would be to kill a different person than the one who committed the murder. Although he remained in prison, it was ruled inhumane to execute someone who had no understanding of why they were being put to death. There is no black and white answer to these questions of course. Not with the multitude of variations life offers. But it is important to ponder who we are really. Are we solely our consciousness like Locke said, our bodies irrelevant? Or, like Descartes believed, are we something outside of both our consciousness and bodies, making the world a type of dream state? How much are we being manipulated by our recollections? Are we our lives or our memories? What is the true story of who we are? Whatever you decide, the answer may be different tomorrow. *** View the full article

Around the year 2000 I had an idea for a book about British aristocrats who aided Hitler during WWII. I sent the idea to my agent who replied with a scathing letter that nobody was interested in WWII, and it was disgusting to show people having an easy time in the British countryside when so many were suffering on the Continent. So, I put the idea aside. Many years and a new agent later, I found it again and decided it would still make a good story. I shared it with my current agent who loved it. It was snapped up by Lake Union (Amazon’s women’s fiction line) and came out as IN FARLEIGH FIELD. It has since sold half a million copies. Since then, I have written THE TUSCAN CHILD, THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK and my upcoming title, WHERE THE SKY BEGINS. All featuring aspects of life during the Second World War. THE TUSCAN CHILD has sold close to a million copies worldwide and The Venice Sketchbook is on its way to repeating that success. So clearly people are interested in WWII. In the past few years there have been many successful novels about the war—I’ll give you some suggestions at the end of this. It seems the appetite for these books is unquenchable. So why now? I believe that a primary reason is that we are now far enough away from the war that it has become history and the generation who fought it is now largely dead. If we don’t read and write about it, the details will be forgotten. Grandpa’s legacy will vanish. Immediately after the war there were firsthand accounts, of battles and bravery: all by men. Escape from Colditz, The Dam Busters, Kennedy and his PT Boat. But what about the quiet bravery of women? The unsung heroines who delivered the big planes to air bases (and the government would not pay for their burial should those planes crash). The female spies, operating radios in occupied Europe, whose chance of survival was twenty-five percent. And the women on the home front who made do, without their menfolk, who endured nights of bombing and couldn’t show fear to their children. So many stories waiting to be told. Lives were lost but it was worth it in the end. This is what we hope for now. This is why we read and write about WWII. This is what the recent books have tried to do. My own books have highlighted female bravery: the woman who risked her life to bring food to a downed airman in occupied Italy, the woman who spied for her country and paid the price, the woman who worked at Bletchley Park and could tell nobody what she was doing, and in my new book . WHERE THE SKY BEGINS, the woman who is pulled from the rubble of her bombed house and has to reinvent herself when evacuated to the countryside. Another important reason for telling these stories is that WWII was the last war for which we had a clear sense of good versus evil. Men joined up willingly knowing that if they did not stop evil it would swallow the world. Every war since has been clouded in shades of gray and questions as to whether we were doing the right thing. The themes resonate even more as we have recently witnessed extremism, racial attacks, propaganda and lies and how they can affect and divide a population. In recent months we have seen a brutal dictator set out to conquer a neighboring country. We have seen cities destroyed by bombs, refugees fleeing. War has been brought home to us, making us feel insecure, reminding us of the fragility of peace. And so it is appealing to read about another time, another place, when the world was in turmoil, where there was no safe haven, when people risked their lives to stop a madman. And goodness and justice prevailed. Lives were lost but it was worth it in the end. This is what we hope for now. This is why we read and write about WWII. Here are some of my recent favorites, highlighting various aspects of the war. Some are mysteries, some are thrillers, others straight historical novels. In no particular order: THREE HOURS IN PARIS by Cara Black This is a classic thriller, another Day of the Jackal in which a female sharpshooter is sent to assassinate Hitler in Paris. You won’t breathe until the end! THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn The hidden history of Bletchley Park where three unlikely friends, ordinary women, change the course of the war. A debutante, a spinster and an impoverished dreamer have to work together in breaking the enigma code. THE SECRET KEEPER by Kate Morton An old woman’s wartime secret is gradually revealed as she slips into dementia. A young girl witnesses a horrific crime involving her beloved mother. Fifty years later she has to get to the truth about what happened in war-torn London. WOMAN IN THE SHADOWS by Jane Thynne One of the books in a tense series set in Berlin with a British woman. A British born actress, now a rising star in Nazi Germany, risks her life to find the truth about an SS bride. THE CHILBURY LADIES CHOIR by Jennifer Ryan The women of an English village decide to take over the church choir when the men go off to fight and we see their struggles and triumphs on the home front. Not all wartime books need to be grim. A delightful tale of how ordinary countryfolk rose to the occasion. THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY (Mary Ann Schafer, Annie Burrows) One of my all-time favorites—a seemingly light-hearted tale gradually peels away layers of courage, heartbreak and German brutality to show what the island of Guernsey went through during the war. A writer in post war England thinks she is on to a charming and light story, but as she gets to know the characters she learns of love and bravery and loss that binds them together. And I’ll add mine: WHERE THE SKY BEGINS, coming out August 2, 2022—a woman is pulled from the rubble of her bombed home in London she must reinvent herself in the countryside where a bomber base means she has not escaped from danger and a traitor is a work. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this era in historical fiction. So many settings and themes—Paris dressmakers, Russian female pilots and just the simple bravery of ordinary people reminding us that it’s people like you and me who can change the course of history. *** View the full article

By Sheila Bender What is Abantu? Years ago, poet Robert Hass taught a short couplet form that he had read was an oral tradition among the Abantu people of Africa. In class, he recited this couplet: The sound of an elephant’s tusk cracking The voice of an angry man It was an example of the oral poetry that the Abantu tribe members created as they worked. One person offered an image and another would respond with a an unrelated image that when paired with the first one provided a sensory experience. The participants created something like similes (the sound of an elephant’s tusk cracking is like the voice of an angry man). Whether you imagine that the elephant’s tusk breaks as a consequence of the animal knocking into a tree or that the cracking is the noise the tusk causes when the elephant uses it to fell a tree, the sound has a tangible meaning when compared to the voice of an angry man. Try creating sound, sight, taste, touch, smelling and hearing related images for a first line of an abantu couplet: Clothes fresh from the dryer Clothes tumbling in the dryer Clothes going into the dryer Next “answer back” to these lines with an image that creates the same physical sensation you got from the first line: Clothes fresh from the dryer Patch of carpet where my cat lies in sunshine Clothes tumbling in the dryer Leaves and paper blown by the wind Clothes going into the dryer Seaweed lying on the beach Try some more with these first lines: The cornflakes in my bowl Waiting for the school bus Kids eating in the cafeteria Sitting at my desk The lights in the ceiling Lockers along the hallway Here are some sample responses: The cornflakes in my bowl Sand bars in a bay Waiting for the school bus A jellybean out of the bag Kids eating in the cafeteria Undulating kelp Sitting at my desk Piloting a space craft The lights in the ceiling Egg cartons in the supermarket Lockers along the hallway An army waiting If most of the images turn out to be visual in content (which most often happens at first) try putting sound or smell into your work instead of relying totally on visual images and likenesses: My mother’s voice Water in a fountain My baby’s cry Siren’s behind our car The star jasmine at night Powder on a baby Bubble gum out of the wrapper The plastic skin of a Barbie doll Taste may be harder: A cracker with no butter Brown paper bag in my mouth The rubber bands on my bracesTofu Sometimes the sense of touch needs practice. You can do that with first lines about textures: My wool hat on my head Blades of dry grass Touching the skin of a dolphin The smooth part of the peel under an eggshell The rough skin of an orange Stucco on a building Developing facility with association, you foster new ways of looking at, touching, smelling, tasting and listening to the world. It keeps the writing mind oiled and ready to go: I went downstairs for breakfast. My mother had put cornflakes in a bowl for me and I poured milk over the brown flakes. They peeked out of the milk, sand bars in the bay where my father used to take me fishing. A beginning to a story about fishing with Father. Valuing associational thinking both encourages good writing and the spirit of play essential in its creation. *** Sheila Bender, founder of WritingItReal.com, is the author of many books on writing, including the popular Writing Personal Essays: Shaping and Sharing Your Life Experience and Creative Writing DeMystified. Her memoir is entitled A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief. Her newest book, Since Then: Poems and Short Prose will be available in spring 2022. She has been updating previously published books. Two of them are now available in print and digitally on Amazon and through bookstores: Writing in a Convertible with the Top Down, co-authored with Christi Killien Glover, and Sorrow’s Words: Writing Exercises to Heal Grief. As a writer, teacher and editor, she believes that writing so others understand our hearts and minds helps us understand ourselves, heal grief and sadness and grow. She has presented at conferences and writers' centers including Centrum Foundation's summer Port Townsend Writer's Conference, the Whidbey Island's writer's conference workshops, the Writer's Workshoppe in Port Townsend, WA, and the Kahini writing program's writer's workshops and served as a Distinguished Lecturer in Poetry at Seattle University. --Sheila is also a WOW! Women on Writing instructor. Her class, SPECIFICS TELL THE STORY: Exercises and Strategies for Overcoming Exposition, starts on August 15th! Reserve your your spot here.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (C) Copyright wow-womenonwriting.com Visit WOW! Women On Writing for lively interviews and how-tos. Check out WOW!'s Classroom and learn something new. Enter the Quarterly Writing Contests. Open Now![url={url}]View the full article[/url]

Agatha Andrews is the host of the She Wore Black podcast which focuses on gothic and horror, and a former librarian. I was a guest on her show, and now she comes over to visit with me! Horror and romance need to hang out. So we did! We talk about readers advisory, all the ways to connect books to readers, and then we take a deep dive into the books that rocked her world as a reader. Do you have any erotic unicorn horror to recommend to Agatha? Got a favorite gothic or horror you adore? Tell me about it, please! … Music: purple-planet.com Listen to the podcast → Read the transcript → Here are the books we discuss in this podcast: You can find the She Wore Black podcast wherever you get your fine podcast downloads, and you can check out her catalog of episodes at SheWoreBlackPodcast.com. I was on her show and you can listen right here! If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes. More ways to sponsor: Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?) http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/podcast/patreon.png What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast. Thanks for listening! Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher. View the full article