Starting Over – CELEBRATE!!

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Linda Barrett

CELEBRATE! holiday stories with the authors of On Fire Fiction–

This month I’m joined by five other authors with Fingers on their Keyboards. Those fingers have been tapping away, helping their creators bring you brand new, never before published stories. Together, my friends and I have given birth–definitely a labor of love–to an anthology of holiday stories plus one stand-alone holiday novella. We’re celebrating holidays throughout the year – winter, spring, summer and fall.

We’re glad you book lovers are here to join the fun. We’ve got first lines–and you know all about that now if you read last week’s blog– and some interesting background info to share. When you combine romance, family and happy endings….what’s not to like?

First up is KAREN SANDLER who describes herself as a genre conflicted writer. She’s interested in so much–romance, mystery, sci-fi, young adult, and horses (definitely horses) –and she’s so good! She’s published 17 romances, a young adult science fiction series, and the soon to be released Janelle Watkins mystery series. Poor Karen. She can’t make a decision.

But wait! I’m wrong. She did make the decision to select Hanukkah as her story’s background. And speaking of backgrounds, here’s a bit of Karen’s and why she chose the holiday she did:

Karen says:

When the idea of a holiday anthology was first presented, I knew I wanted to do Hanukkah. I have very fond memories of celebrating Hanukkah when my boys were young. Although my father was Jewish (as was my maternal great-grandmother), it wasn’t until I married my Jewish husband that we started celebrating the holidays.

Of course, Hanukkah was the boys’ favorite. The loved lighting the candles and saying the prayer. They both wanted to do the last night so they could light all eight candles. We started trading off with them each year so they could get an equal chance of saying the prayer on the last night.

The teddy bears described in the story were an actual prizes my younger son won at one of the community Hanukkah parties we attended. He apparently has one left of the two from that night and my grandbaby plays with it now.

Linda interrupts – Readers! Do you see the makings of a family story here? From generation to generation? This is what we’ve talked about and shared examples of recently.

I’ve asked all the authors participating in the anthology to submit the title and first line of their stories. Here’s more about Karen Sandler’s story:

Title: The Eighth Gift

First Line: As Sarah Meyer watched the Greenville County sheriff’s deputy tap on the screen of his iPad, she hugged herself to stave off her fear.

Now I want to know what Sarah was afraid of…a ticket? Or something more? And could the deputy be her love interest? I am a nosy reader, and I bet you are, too.

Karen’s book, TILL THE STARS FADE is also available now. The genre? Science Fiction Romance! The reviews are awesome. Here’s one from RT Book Reviews: “it was action packed, fast paced and most definitely a page-turner.” And another: “This book has something for readers of both genres. The writing is exceptional…Good job, Ms. Sandler.” From: Under the Covers.

Check out Karen’s website at: www.karensandler.net

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed meeting Karen and hearing about her story for the holiday anthology. You’ll meet another contributing author at the next edition of Starting Over. Hope to see you then.

POST A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY AUGUST CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of one of the selections below, all stories written by the award-winning members of On Fire Fiction as well as a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Your choice. OH, look. Karen’s got a story in Unsuitably Perfect 🙂

Starting Over ~ Fingers on the Keyboard

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Linda Barrett

GRAB ‘EM AND DON’T LET GO…

That’s the advice authors get about snagging the reader’s attention with the first lines of their stories. Coming up with just the right first sentence is one of the reasons authors stay up at night. If you don’t catch a reader’s attention immediately, she’ll put the book down. You’ve worked hard to bring this baby into the world, and she’s just about ready…she’s almost ready…but…oops! What about that very first line? Is it strong enough, evocative enough, exciting enough to urge the reader to the second line? A third? How about a full paragraph? Better yet, the complete first page.

That’s quite a job and a lot of responsibility for the first line of a story.

Just for fun and some thought, take a look at some of the most famous first lines in literature and see if they pull you in. Some are very short and pithy:

Call me Ishmael. – Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) Three words. Probably the most famous first line of all. It catches our attention because this fella is talking directly to us. “Hey, you guys. You can call me Ishmael, and come on over. Have I got a story for you!” Is his name, itself, important? Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, a woman who lived with the family. Hagar and Ishmael were sent away after Sarah finally gave birth to Isaac. Some scholars say this is important. But… others question if Ishmael is even the narrator’s real name. We never find out. So maybe we should call him Stanley.

Movie poster for Moby Dick, starring Gregory Peck.

Elmer Gantry was drunk. – Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry (1927) So what? There could be a hundred drunks in town. Curious minds want to know why Gantry was important enough to be singled out. And, oh my God, we sure find out.

Mother died today. – Albert Camus, The Stranger. (1942) Ah…a day of change. What happens next?

Some first lines are quite long:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Yeah, yeah. I know. No one ever keeps on going after the first two phrases. But the man really did set the stage: England and France, 1775. And because he set that stage, he promised you a story, a big story, about people and events and the choices made. What greater contrast than hope and despair?

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. – J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Wow! That’s Holden Caufield, talking in his own voice. Telling it like it really is. His personality and style is directly in your face–whether you like it or not. This is one of the best known openings in American fiction.

And some first lines are right in between, a medium length. Here’s one to make you romantics out there smile:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) Is it really universally acknowledged? Or just in the mind of Mrs. Bennett who wants to marry off a daughter to a wealthy man? She’s shown us her goal and set up the story for us to enjoy. It is universally acknowledged, by the way, that Jane Austen is considered the mother of the romance novel.

Here’s a recent one reflecting more current times:

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. – Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002) Born twice. First a girl, then a boy. If that doesn’t raise your curiosity, I don’t know what will.

And finally, these two openings from contemporary women’s fiction captured my attention. No explanations needed:

I never wanted to be a mother. – Emily Giffin, Baby Proof (2006)

Here is one way to say it: Grief is a love story told backward.—Bridget Asher, The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted (2011)

First lines set the stage, the tone and the story. During the next few weeks, I’m going to introduce you to the authors and opening lines from an anthology called CELEBRATE! This volume is a collection of short stories highlighting several American holidays in different seasons of the year. The stories involve romance, family and second chances. They provide happy and hopeful endings. Also guaranteed to put you in a feel-good mood.

Who are the contributing writers? They are five authors of On Fire Fiction, including moi! You’ll be able to enjoy brand new stories, never before published anywhere. The collection will be available on October 1^st for 99 cents at all on-line retail outlets. The price is small, the enjoyment large.

Do you have any favorite opening lines from stories you’ve loved? Let me know.

POST A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY AUGUST CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of one of the selections below–all written by On Fire Fiction authors– as well as a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Your choice.

Starting Over ~ Family Stories, Part II

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Linda Barrett

WORDS AND PICTURES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION –

As promised, today I’m giving you concrete examples to help you write stories about your family. Whether you have a large family or a small one, you’ve got stories to share. Funny stories. Poignant stories. Life-changing events. Family traditions. And characters. Oh, yes, we can’t forget the characters. And one of them is you! I think writing family stories is not only fun, but important. How else will your children and grandchildren know who they are?

Last time at Starting Over, I suggested a number of topics for you to consider writing about. Of course, a dozen of your own ideas might have sprung to mind, and that’s wonderful. For those of you needing suggestions, however, I offered the gamut from family recipes, to holidays, to life cycle events, to particular family members. Everything is fodder. Just reach in and grab an idea.

Today we’re going to figure out some specific ways to start your story. Even for professional writers, choosing the right opening is very challenging if not the hardest part of the work. I’m here to make life easy for you! Here are three different ways to begin your tale–examples from my own stories are included:

SETTING — Using this option, you start by revealing such items as time, place and weather. The goal here is for your children to see and feel what you saw and felt at the time the real event took place. Use the real dates and places. After all, these stories are not fiction. If this is a story about your parents or grandparents, gather the information now.

Example: “Houston’s so flat,” I protested, “and the houses have no basements.” Too disappointed to hide my feelings, I looked at my husband with dismay and wondered if my friends up north were right. “Too hot and humid,” they’d warned. “Don’t go.” But I hadn’t cared, In fact, I’d looked forward to getting away from New England winters…until now.

Home of the Houston Astros! Beautiful park.

Minute Maid Park — Home of the Houston Astros! I always think of it as a happy
place.

ACTION — Using this option, you start with an event, then go back in time to explain how and why this event happened.

Example: I often tell people that Michael and I met by accident, but that’s not quite true. My uncle Sid introduced us. On our very first date, however, we did hit a telephone pole head on. The car was totally wrecked. Fortunately, we weren’t. (I then explained where we were, why we were out so late and what my dad’s reaction was–oh, yes, that made for a story 🙂

CHARACTERS — these are your family members, Using this option, it’s fun to describe how the personality affected you and others. The person you choose to write about can be quiet or larger- than-life or somewhere in between. Everyone is unique and worthy.

Something wrong, sweetie? Find Aunt Ethel.

Example: Aunt Ethel had a reputation among the kids. She was the doctor. In deference to the medical profession, however, we called her “half-a-doctor.” She could make “it” better, whatever “it” was, but her specialties were splinters and specs-in-the-eyes. The combination of her infinite patience and excellent eyesight earned her the reward of fixing us.

I hope you’ll make a stab at writing your family stories. If you have any questions, just ask them in the comment section. And if you want to share something you’ve written, you can do that in the comment section, too. I’ll post your efforts in a later blog as a “follow-up” if you’d like. You don’t have to be Mark Twain or Hemmingway or Dostoyevsky to write for yourself. You just have to pick up a pencil and get started.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY JULY CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of two books below plus a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Remember, some of these are hot, hot hot, while others…not so much. Your choice!