Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
January 13, 2011
by Randy Haselow

Createspace.com Web Seminars
Here is a site than has archived mini-seminars put on by createspace. Amazon owns it now.
https://www.createspace.com/pub/l/webinars.do?rewrite=true

I’ve seen a few of these now and they are chocked full of good info for any writer. Even for writers who have not yet published, these are great for looking ahead. You play the webinar on your desktop. Not fancy but lots of great info. There is a link to upcoming seminars you can sign up for. They are FREE. I just watched one that when it was broadcast had 700+ viewers online.
(thank you, Alicia Connolly-Lohr)

Google versus Amazon: You Test ‘Em
How about an arcane book search in order to discover whether Google’s new e-book service has what it takes to compete with the Kindle-based service of Amazon.com?

This test did not involve the latest science or new technology, but old wooden boats: Checking both online book sellers for Roger Fletcher’s classic Drift Boats and River Dories.

Here’s the Google search result (which you might have to copy and paste into your browser because it exceeds MS Word hyperlink 255-character limit): http://books.google.com/books?id=_AQc_9Agj6QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=drift+boats+and+river+dories&source=bl&ots=7AgOXag-bY&sig=BrnFY25Ya0zJqJEEBOq6JUVpi7w&hl=en&ei=3esYTf-GHJOcnweancHcDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
And here’s the Amazon search result: http://www.amazon.com/Drift-Boats-River-Dories-Construction/dp/0811702340
Amazon does not yet have this book on its Kindle e-book reader, but you can buy the paper edition for $35.18 plus shipping. The book is a Google eBook, which should work on the Barnes & Nobel Nook e-book reader and other platforms, including your personal computer. It costs $39.46.

So, if shipping from Amazon costs more than $4.28 and you’re okay with “virtual” over “actual” and “beta” over “alpha,” then the Google e-Books online service looks pretty good.
(thank you, Clayton)

Just You Try to Kill a Word Gone Viral
Last week, Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, announced its annual list of words it would like to banish from our lexicon. According to the Reuters news story, these are “terms so overused, misused and hackneyed they deserve to be sent to a permanent linguistic trash can in the year ahead.”
Sure enough: “Viral” made the list of 14 words, along with “epic,” “wow factor,” and “a-ha moment.”
For more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101231/lf_nm_life/us_banished_words/print 1/3/2011
(thank you, Clayton)

Notes from Jan. 11th meeting
A small group of readers and writers navigated the slippery roads to gather at Barnes & Noble Tuesday night…
Terry Hoffman started off with The Tome. Jack Freiburger wanted a little more setting-of-the-scene before jumping into all the philosophy and emotions. Carol Hornung thought Rachel asked all the right questions of the book, even leading up to the grand idea of curing everything! Jack would have liked the exaggeration to be a little more clear. Kim wondered why Rachel went to the computer? Carol answered, saying she’d forgotten the screensaver of her lost child was on it. Terry filled in that just for a moment Rachel forgot about the tragedy in her life – and would feel guilty about that. Randy Haselow said he still didn’t really know much about Rachel yet.

Carol Hornung read the next scene from Sapphire Lodge. Jack felt that Saffi’s anger toward Caitlyn was too sudden. Jen Wilcher liked the “silver flash” of anger. More discussion on just exactly how Saffi sees the colors she associates with emotions – a flash seems to refer to her own thoughts, while the word aura tends to describe others’.

Jen Wilcher presented “Misaki’s Point of View.” Jack said there was a bit of a false start in that the orange rays set her mind at ease, but the rest of the chapter is full of unease. Randy wondered how the account of the story came to the reader, since the first person narrator is dead at the end of it? Carol and Terry didn’t mind the idea of a first person narrator perishing, especially since there are several other pov voices in the other chapters. They both agreed the death scene should be built up in intensity, though.

Kim Simmons read from City in Winter. Jack liked the flow of the story, though he did say he hung up on the word “courtroom” since he spends plenty of time in them. Maybe Grand Hall, or something like that instead. Carol felt there was a bit of an information dump at the end of chapter 28, though the information tidbit at the beginning of chapter 29 was well done. Jack also pointed out that a freylac is a Welsh lake fairy, not the made-up word Kim thought it was.

Jack Freiburger read his chapter, “Flame.” Carol really enjoyed having another character tell a story about the storyteller Lester. Kim said she could really picture Maine and the coast through the writing. Discussion over the “verbal hand grenade.” Some thought the reaction was clear enough that the question was blunt and hurtful, but others thought the phrase was needed for clarification.

Randy Haselow presented his two-page New Idea. Clearly inspired by Mr. Twain and his recent encounters with censorship, Randy put just about every nasty word into his piece – some more than once! But when he read it aloud he felt compelled to change each word to … “nnn.” We all thought it was very funny, very entertaining. Some thought it would work as a great stand-alone piece that absolutely no publisher would touch because of the language, and others thought it was time to jump into a story fearing a “nnn.” (Note from Randy: I had just finished reading Huckleberry Finn but hadn’t heard of the controversy. I just wondered if my sudden inspiration would fly with the group. I was using a child’s first-person perspective to satirize racism and homophobia circa 1980.)

Here’s who’s up next on the schedule
January 25th
Andrea Kirchman (???), Kim Simmons (chapter, City of Winter), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Leah Wilbur (chapter, Fog-Gotten), Anne Allen (chapter, Homecoming), and Aaron Boehm (screenplay/part 5, Hell Cage).
February 8th
Annie Potter (memoir), Jack Freiburger (Path to Bray’s Head), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (Coming Up For Air), Jen Wilcher (??)
February 22nd
Terry Hoffman (The Tome), Carol Hornung (Sapphire Lodge), Randy Haselow (??), Kim Simmons (City of Winter)
March 8th
Jack Freiburger (Path to Bray’s Head)
If you’d like to read in February or March, send an email to Carol Hornung.
(thank you, Carol)

Who’s up next for 1st and 3rd:
January 18: Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Greg Spry (chapter 3, Beyond Cloud Nine), Cathy Riddle (chapter, Beer Crimes), John Schneller (chapter, Final Stronghold), Jerry Peterson (chapter 6, Thou Shalt Not Murder).
February 1: Justin Schober (chapter, sci-fi novel), Jen Wilcher (chapter, The Hogoshiro Chronicles), Leah Wilbur (chapter, Fog-Gotten), Clayton Gill (chapter, Fishing Derby), Pat Edwards (poems), and Amber Boudreau (chapter 18, young adult novel)
(thank you, Jerry)

Shelved Books As Visual Art
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/01/05/garden/20110106-BOOKS.html?ref=booksandliterature(thank you, Alicia)

Worth Repeating
Fifth Tuesday update . . . We have a writing challenge for our next Fifth Tuesday, March 29: Write a conversation with your character.
Select one of your fictional characters, major or minor, and take her or him on an adventure – perhaps a rafting trip down the Colorado River – and the two of you talk. Perhaps your character asks, “Why did you kill me in chapter 3? I had so much more to offer.”
Maximum length: 500 words.
Start writing now. Polish your piece to a high luster.

News from our TWS alums . . .
Juliette Crane’s west art exhibition runs through January 31 at Absolutely Art and Café Zoma, 2322 Atwood Avenue in Madison. You can see some of the art Juliette has on display by clicking on this link: http://juliettecrane.etsy.com
(thank you, Jerry; also for last week’s “motor-homeless” and “he-vage”)