Tuesdays With Story
WRITER’S MAIL for December 14, 2012
Good Words from Way Back
“‘I suppose you could put phonographs in your dormitories which repeat “I like to work in sewers. Sewers are lots of fun,”’ said Castle.
“‘No, Walden Two isn’t that kind of brave new world,’ said Frazer. ‘We don’t propagandize….’” – From Walden Two (1948), a novel by B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, social philosopher, and winner of the National Medal of Science (1968).
December 11 Meeting: An Evening at Jack’s Farm
Second-and-Fourth members offered special thanks to Jack Freiburger for hosting a very enjoyable meeting at his Hickory Knoll farm south of Madison. Jack was scheduled to read his poem “Avibus”, Michelle Nightoak to share a chapter from her memoir, Terry Hoffman to read from chapter 17 of The Great Tome, and Katelin Cummins to present recent work. The horrific school shooting in Connecticut this past Friday precluded a more extensive report. Carol Hornung noted, “I think all of us are a bit shaken up and need some downtime to grieve and get our heads around it as best we can.”
Who’s Up Next?
December 18 with First-and-Third group meeting at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library: Lisa McDougal (chapter 9, Follow the Yellow), Susanna Fortunato (part 1, Before & After), Amber Boudreau (chapter, Noble), Millie Mader (chapter 40, Life on Hold), Aaron Boehm (film script/part 2, “Whole Again”), and Jerry Peterson (short story/part 2, “The Santa Train”).
December 25: No meeting for Second-and-Fourth group.
January 1: No meeting for First-and-Third group.
January 8 with Second-and-Fourth group returning to Barnes & Noble West: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Great Tome), Jack Freiburger (rewrite — with illustrations! — Path to Bray’s Head), Jen Wilcher (chapter, Hogoshiro Chronicles), Carol Hornung (chapter 1, scene 1, The Ghost of Heffron College), and time for two more – contact Carol (see below).
January 15: Clayton Gill (chapter 17, Fishing Derby), Susanne Fortunato (?), Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter 14, The Cheese Logue), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapter, Lincoln’s Other War), Bob Kralapp (?), and Michelle Nightoak (chapter, memoir).
To read or reschedule reading:
• First-and-Third Tuesdays, contact Jerry Peterson
• Second-and-Fourth Tuesdays, contact Carol Hornung
TWS Post-Christmas Party: Bounteous Buffet and More
Jerry and Marge Peterson invite Tuesday with Story members for their annual post-Christmas potluck and party on Saturday, January 5, at their home in Janesville (920 Glen Street). Feasting, Jerry says, commences promptly at 1:30 p.m.
Members should do the following now, please:
• Email Jerry to (1) tell him you are coming, (2) note what you intend to bring for the banquet table, and (3) who you are bringing as a guest – “Yes,” Jerry says, “spouses and friends are welcome!”
• Look for fellow TWS writers with whom you can carpool.
• Set aside a game (card game, board game, etc.) to bring that we might play.
The Peterson home is a drive of about 45 minutes from Barnes & Noble West in Madison.
Fifth Tuesday: “End o’ World Challenge”
On January 29, First-and-Third group hosts our next Fifth Tuesday at a location to be announced soon. Meanwhile, with the winter solstice looming, it’s not too soon to get to work on the Fifth Tuesday Challenge.
Here’s the premise: You (or your character or characters) absolutely believe the world is going to end on December 21 (in the Mayan calendar, the beginning of a time of extraordinary transition, but which many believe is the Last Day of the World). As a true believer in the End Time, you prepare for the Apocalypse. But come December 22, it seems you’re still around and so is the world. Your Fifth Tuesday Challenge: Write what happens next.
Jerry Peterson will welcome your for your flash fiction, essay, poem, song lyrics, PowerPoint presentation, etc. before Friday, January 25. Please send your End-o’-World Challenge text (250-word maximum) to Jerry.
Books for Kids: Trending Themes
Alicia Connolly-Lohr notes that quite a few TWS members are writing young-adult (YA) fiction. Alicia may be “cooking one up” herself. She points us to a GalleyCat article on “Children’s Books Trends for 2013” which highlights 10 trends likely to “dominate” this market next year. The list, verbatim:
1. Bullying is THE Timely Topic in Kids’ Books
2. ’13 Will be a Lucky Number for Science Fiction Fans
3. Intriguing Nonfiction
4. Novels-in-Cartoons
5. Kid Lit on the Screen
6. War
7. Tough Girls
8. Survival Stories
9. Spotlight on Diversity
10. Nature Runs Amok
For more, see http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/childrens-books-trends-for-2013_b62306#more-6.
Thanks, Alicia!
Bigger Trends
After every U.S. presidential election, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) reports on global trends which are likely to affect national security and the lives of people around the world.
The NIC uses in-depth research, detailed modeling, and analytical tools drawn from public, private and academic sources: “We do not seek to predict the future — which would be an impossible feat — but instead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures and their implications.”
To download an executive summary or the complete Global Trends 2030: http://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/national-intelligence-council-global-trends.
Book Review: The Racketeer
Millie Mader reports that the new best seller from John Grisham is one of his cleverest, most deeply plotted legal thrillers. As Millie tells us…
The treachery and deceptions (mostly by the government) in The Racketeer will keep you awake till the early hours. If you nod off, you will have to reread, as the plots are so convoluted and circuitous that they are mind bending. The novel opens up a timely window into the machinations of the FBI, CIA, DEA — government agencies in general. It is especially relevant in view of the latest CIA scandal.
In The Racketeer, we first meet the black lawyer Malcolm Bannister in a “Club Fed” prison in northern Virginia after he has lost his wife and young son — the loves of his life — and has been disbarred. We follow him through hidden country roads that conceal flourishing meth labs, to urban streets and far off islands. Malcolm is out to best the government for wrongly imprisoning him.
Malcolm had been an upstanding, promising, young attorney. But after graduation from law school he was unable to find a job at one of the more prestigious law firms in Washington, D.C. He moved back to his home town in northern Virginia and was taken in by two struggling elderly law partners. The pay was meager, but the older men took pity on Malcolm and finally made him a partner. Life was good.
“The Fall,” as Malcolm was wont to call his unjust sentencing, began with an offer from Malcolm’s law school friend, now a lawyer for a big firm. This ex-colleague knew of Malcolm’s expertise, especially in finance, and offered him a side job with an extremely wealthy, but mysterious man. It would be extra income for the storefront law office and Malcolm agreed. The big boss turned out to be a “Bernie Madoff” type of con man — but much worse. The con man had been in the sights of the FBI for a lengthy period. None of this horrendously crooked man’s activities were known to his minor employees, attorneys who worked at menial jobs on the periphery of the central offices.
Suddenly the FBI made a massive swoop, arresting everyone remotely connected with the culprit. Seeking publicity, they paraded all of the employees in front of the cameras and the reporters. In a self-serving effort to make the FBI’s conniving sting look heroic, even the lowliest employee was arrested. Malcolm unjustly found himself in a federal “camp.” At about the same time, Federal Judge Fawcett and his mistress were found murdered. This case proved to frustrate the FBI and open a loop hole for Malcolm.
Because of his smarts and his model behavior, Malcolm was awarded the job of prison librarian. However, when other prisoners learned he was a lawyer, they besieged him, looking for legal ways out of prison. Malcolm secured the release of several inmates and soon the convicts considered him a brilliant savior. He was honest about the fact that he was unable to secure the release of the majority of his clients. In the course of his prison “practice,” Malcolm heard a number of confessions and extreme confidences.
While Malcolm was in prison, the FBI remained at a total loss in their search for Judge Fawcett’s murderer. Fawcett was only the fifth federal judge ever murdered. Public outcry hung a black cloud over the government investigators.
Malcolm forged a special friendship with an imprisoned drug dealer and met his sister who visited the prison on a regular basis. Together they initiated an ingenious plan. The sister became a central figure in the plan and in Malcolm’s life.
Through his prison contacts, Malcolm discovered the identity of the judge’s murderer, although the FBI still had no clue. By means of an “entitlement 35” agreement, Malcolm gained release from prison and received federal protection, assuring the FBI that he could provide proof of the judge’s murderer and testify as their star witness. The government agencies were desperate and embarrassed. They pinned their hopes on Malcolm.
As part of the witness protection program, Malcolm underwent an identity change, including plastic surgery and a new passport. He became a free man to pursue his plan, along the way encountering drug caches, back country dealers, off-shore banking, private airstrips, and an immense stash of gold nuggets.
How Malcolm connects the diverse elements to Judge Fawcett’s murder is the crux of this novel. It all seems impossible. Can Grisham’s three characters outsmart the FBI and a U.S. Attorney General? Will Judge Fawcett’s murder be avenged — or did he actually deserve to die? Grisham succeeds in keeping the answers from us until the very end.
Thanks, Millie!
Writing Tips from Anne Lamott
Pat Edwards discovered Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project” blog, where every Wednesday is “Tip Day.” Among those whose tips Rubin recommends is Anne Lamott, the San Francisco Bay Area novelist and non-fiction writer (most recently Imperfect Birds, Riverhead Books, 2010). Here are Rubin’s favorites from Lamott’s “terrific book on writing” — Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life:
1. Write regularly, whether you feel like writing or not, and whether you think what you’re writing is any good or not.
2. Give yourself short assignments. Keep it manageable so you don’t get overwhelmed.
3.Write sh**ty first drafts. (I’m not being prissy about the word choice, just don’t want to get hung up in spam filters.) Don’t expect a piece of writing to flow perfectly out of your fingers on the first go. Of all the points she makes, many people seem to find this one the most helpful.
4. Let the Polaroid develop; in other words, observe, watch, listen, stay in the moment, until you understand what you want to write about.
5. Know your characters.
6. Let the plot grow out of the characters.
7. “If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don’t ever bother finishing… it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately. You need to put yourself at their center, you and what you believe to be true or right.”
8. Figure out ways to jam the transmissions from Radio KFKD, the interior station feeding doubts and criticism into your brain. Especially about jealousy of other writers.
9. Have pen and paper ready at all times. (She always carries an index card.)
10. Call around. Ask for help.
11. Start a writing group.
12. Write in your own voice.
13. Being published brings a quiet joy, but it doesn’t transform your life, and eventually you have to write again.
14. “Devotion and commitment will be their own reward.”
For more, see http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2012/11/14-writing-tips-from-anne-lamott/.
Thanks, Pat!
Definition of “Ohnosecond”
From the Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page), the Word of the Day for November 28: Ohnosecond (n) – “the fraction of time between making a mistake and realizing it.”
Writer’s Mail: Duty Roster
Santa-up holiday makers, edit Writer’s Mail for a month by joining the schedule below.
• December – Clayton, who looks forward to this month’s December 21 issue… and December 28 issue.
• January – Pat Edwards, your first Writer’s Mail editor for the New Year.
• February – Discover how newsletter editing overcomes seasonal affective disorder.
• March – Spring forward with Writer’s Mail editing practice!
Join up with an e-mail to Clayton and send him content for the next issue of Writer’s Mail. Thank you!
The Last Word: Novels in 12 Words
Lots of people got married or visited a casino on December 12, 2012 (aka “12.12.12”). Others got creative. Some took the opportunity to condense famous novels to 12 words, as reported by the Washington Post:
• The Shining by Stephen King – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull — but dangerous – boy. –Anonymous (AP)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell – “Communism stinks because, despite promises, some animals are more equal than others.” –Anonymous (Washington Post)
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – “Happy families are all alike; unhappy families should watch out for trains.” — Laurie Sparham (AP)
• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – “Fiddle-dee-dee. Boom! Atlanta burns, birthin’ babies. Frankly, my dear….: — New South magazine (Georgia State University)
Send your Writer’s Mail contributions to Clayton. Thank you!
Tuesdays with Story 
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