My Outlander Obsession. What makes a novel great?

I've written about Outlander before - about the series of books by Diana Gabaldon that consumed me during a very difficult phase of my life. The same books that sent me to Scotland in search of standing stones and castles an in inhospitable climate. And I think I mentioned that I was anxiously awaiting the debut of the new television series based on those books.

For what it's worth, the series is every bit as intriguing as the books, with the one exception being that I didn't learn enough Gaelic to even begin to understand what they're saying half the time. I wished for subtitles, and then I decided that in the books, Claire didn't know what they were saying either, and the series is filmed from Claire's point of view. So I don't suppose I need to know what they're saying. The message is the same.

What makes these books so enthralling? As an author, I pay attention when something grabs me. That's something I want to replicate in my books, that feeling of wanting to know these characters and live their lives, even in a climate that doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. What is it about these books (and I'm limiting "these" to her first two books, because beyond that I didn't feel the same connection)?

Plain and simple? It's the characters. They were three dimensional, perfectly drawn. We "see" them, from detailed outward descriptions to every facet of their personality. The hero is larger than life, you see him strong, vulnerable, witty, charming, stubborn. He's fiercely loyal, compassionate and an outlaw. And the heroine? Pretty much the same. Tough as nails, beautifully feminine, single-minded, adaptable, witty, out of her element. And that might be why the later books don't work for me. She's no longer out of her element, and because of her strong character, she has mastered her situation.

Then there's the sense of setting. As a reader, I felt the cold in my bones, saw the snow falling, the dark of the forest, the pokes of hay. Those two books described Scotland as desolate with a climate that would scare most people off. And I wanted to go.

Note to self. Characterization and setting are critical.

Another movie that I found to be a perfect example of plot was "Brave." A Disney movie, it demonstrated perfectly how to combine love and hate into one person to create the perfect conflict. When I walked out of that theater, I told my husband, "Now that's how it's done!"

These are things we strive for as authors. To engage our audience, and sometimes it requires using a trope. Sometimes it requires strong characters. I have friends who subscribe to a formula when they write (and I'm not talking about formulaic novels, I'm talking about the process more than the story). That approach leaves me cold. I'm a seat of the pants type writer, following my gut. I'm not going to stop along the way, as a meme I saw recently said, to make sure I inserted the proper elements at the proper points. I tend to follow by example. I know where I need to go, I know how I need to get there. I'm not going to interrupt the process to check the map. I'd rather enjoy the ride.

One last note. I've recently been binge reading books that follow a formula. Victoria Holt followed a formula. I grew up with her books and read every one I could get my hands on. Likewise, I will probably read every book Jill Shalvis writes. I like the formula. And yes, it gets old after a while and I'll need a break eventually, but right now I'm eating them up. The basic plot is the same, with a change in occupation and circumstance. And every one of them has been satisfying to read. (warning: they are Steamy).

I've tucked all this experience away, hoping I can create the same type of magic with the characters I write. I know I've connected with them, and I hope I can write them in such a way that you connect with them, too.

When a Story Takes on a Life of its Own

When I sit down to write a story, generally I have an impression, a direction. Something inspires me and I run with it. Sometimes the conflict is obvious, sometimes not so much. Sometimes I have to take time out to map the story to make sure I don't run off into nowhere, writing something boring.

For the sequel to Mist on the Meadow, I have my map. I know where I want to take it, what questions I need to answer from the first in the series. This series is a continuing saga--a trilogy--from the first book, where Marissa finds out she's "special," to what that means, to what she can do with it. Each book will take us to the ultimate conclusion, which is basically "what does she need her special skills for?" And each book will focus on a different character in their circle.

I've made good progress in the second installment, and thought I had the story headed the right direction, when suddenly Wolf and Marissa hijacked it. This isn't their story (although they are critical to the plot). And I found out something about the characters that I didn't know before. The story has taken on a life of its own and the characters are showing me things I didn't expect.

Plot twist!

First thing I have to do is wrestle control back from Wolf and Marissa. This isn't their story, but they did show me what I needed to know to move forward. So now I have to go back and pick up the broken parts, where they kicked this story's main character to the side, and have her assert her control. And it makes for better conflict.

This is the point when I'm writing that I'm frustrated and thrilled, both at the same time. Frustrated, because things aren't turning out the way I planned, thrilled, because the characters have taken on a life of their own. Looking back, I see a trend. I'm about a quarter of the way into the story. This same thing happened with Heart for Rent, where something I planned took on a whole new meaning. I planned the stranger in the park, but by the time I wrote him, he turned into someone else. It threw me for a loop, and in that book, it complicated my process.

As I write this book, I'm excited by the turn of events. Sometimes the best things are the things you least expect. If the characters can surprise me, the author, hopefully they can surprise the reader, as well. And that makes the book more interesting to read! Mist on the Meadow has been a fun series to write - combining my love of romance with my love of the supernatural and creating my own German Fairy Tale.

Back to it. Time to politely tell Wolf and Marissa to step back and let the other character have her book, while at the same time thanking them for showing me something I didn't know before.

In case you thought I was slacking off on the writing stuff

My editor has finished her first pass on Rekindling and I am busily working out the kinks. And in case you think I've been doing NOTHING during the editor's perusal, NOT SO.

I'm putting down the sequel to Mist on the Meadow, which I am tentatively calling "Gathering Mist." For those of you who have read MOTM, you'll know that it includes that paranormal element along with suspense, not to mention the German folklore piece. Now that you've met Marissa and know about her special talents, you're going to find out what she's going to use them for, along with answering the question, "what's up with Wolf?" The suspense will escalate as they move through this second book in the series, resolving the crisis at hand only to be staring at an event bigger crisis in the third installment (but I'm getting ahead of myself).

In spite of taking some time away from my computer, as you've seen in my recent posts, I continue to hone my craft, mostly because there's always a story buzzing around inside my head. The "down time" is essential to focus -- Rekindling is taking a little longer because I haven't had the "refresh and restore" time. Now that I've given myself that time, I'm ready to tackle my edits and take what I believe is a good story and make it much better (giving a nod to my patient editor who probably thinks I write like a schmo). Even with a straight line while I was writing, even with defined characters, I second-guessed myself too often (lack of down time results in angst and indecision) and the story suffered for it. I'm ready with the lemon Pledge now.

Gathering Mist is spilling onto the page like a broken water main, so after I've switched focus to address the final edits to Rekindling, the long-awaited sequel to Mist on the Meadow shouldn't be far behind.

(Vintage) Book Stores

Nestled down along the river in the city where I live there is a bookstore where they sell used and vintage books. Very simply named. Tucked back on a street people have to use intentionally. I stopped in for a visit the other day.

Appleton's Fourth Reader

The front of the store is mainly a children's section, and ducking into the first room (it is divided into rooms) the first thing that caught my eye (at my eye level, anyway) was a series of Tarzan, the Ape Man books. In hard covers. To which I found myself whispering, "Cool!" Each room was a new discovery, not only of current books (they had an impressive Lee Child selection) but of old, out of print books. With hard covers. Do they even make books with hard covers anymore? And I started to think. Nostalgia set in. I have a collection of hard cover books, not nearly of the same vintage, but I also have my grandmother's primer - Now that's a vintage book. What are we leaving for our children?

My kids read Goosebumps and Bailey Street School Kids (which they had in this bookstore), all of which were released in paperback. A large portion of my bookshelves holds paperback copies, some of which are not withstanding the ravages of time as well as others. I just can't imagine my kids walking up to that bookshelf one day and saying, "Wow, remember when books were made like this?" About paperbacks.

Running off on a tangent for a moment (to make a point, of course). I used to watch Night Gallery, and One Step Beyond, and The Sixth Sense, and The Twilight Zone. There was an episode where Burgess Meredith (an old actor, for those of you too young to recognize the name) was a very myopic man living with a henpecking wife. All he wanted to do was read his books, but his wife kept nagging him to take out the garbage or do everyday life kind of things. And then (remember that many of these shows were set in the 50's, which I'll take a second to note predates me) someone drops a bomb. Literally. The earth is destroyed and Old Burge finds he's the only one who survived the cataclysm. So as he stumbles through the rubble that was once his town, he finds the library. And a mountain of books. All alone in a world with nothing but books to keep him company. And he's ecstatic! Until . . . (this is the Twilight Zone after all), he drops his glasses and inadvertently steps on them. Blind without them, he's now stuck in a world where he can't see, surrounded by the things he loves most and unable to read. Utopia turns into hell with one careless step.

Bringing this all together folks. Walking into that bookstore, I thought about that TV show. About the comforting feeling of finding an old book that I might have read once upon a time. What a cool bookstore! And now? If the bomb drops? With our book collections becoming more and more electronic, we will become like Burgess Meredith. Kindle or Nook in hand, but after a cataclysm and potentially without electricity, that book collection will be rendered unreadable.

Yeah, that's just the way my mind works sometimes. Kinda scary, isn't it? And that's why I continue to buy "real" books from time to time. Generally only the ones I really loved and would read again and again (and yes, my bookshelves are full). Even as paperbacks instead of hard covers, sometimes there's nothing like the feel of a real book in your hand.

"Blessings on thee little man . . " - John G. Whittier

Time to Unwind - Wisconsin

Last week, the Big Guy and I did a tour of Wisconsin. Well, half of Wisconsin (it's a big state, after all). Because of our proximity, Wisconsin tends to be a "go-to." We both have family there and the scenery can be spectacular.

Dopey quote of the day: when I visited the Scottish Highlands, I took a walk through the Birks of Aberfeldy. The first thing out of my mouth? "This is just like Wisconsin!" And in many ways it was. The Birks. Not the country.

So without further ado, I leave you with a pictorial post today. We started in Green Bay (do I really need to post a picture of Lambeau Field?) . . .

To Peninsula State Park, Fish Creek (Door County) with views of Green Bay






To a lighthouse tour that took us to Cana Island


To Cove Point County Park (on the Lake Michigan side)

West to visit family before we took a frivolous ride on the Merrimac Ferry across Lake Wisconsin, the water portion of Highway 113 (because we could).

Life's Too Short

Well you knew I was overdue for a soap box day, so here it is.

As you know, I work a day job. It pays the bills. It's a necessary evil. My son says it best when he says, "you do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do." (smart kid, that son of mine.) So I work the day job, and it allows me to do what I want to do - write books. Sure, sometimes it encroaches on my writing time, but overall, I've learned to work with the ebbs and flows.

I have a very strong sense of order. It's a curse, and it's a blessing. It helps me to prioritize and while there were many years that I went into "tilt" mode because things weren't ordered to my satisfaction, I've learned to let go of a lot of those disorderly details, to understand which of those details is essential and which aren't. Which I could control, and which I couldn't. And folks, if it ain't yours to control, there's no point getting worked up about it.

Recently, I had to remind someone of this at the day job. The work comes in. First time, never been seen before. Someone picks it up and creates a template based on a company standard. The life cycle for this work means that after this point, it will go through numerous revisions and alterations before a final product is presented. For most of our work, we are able to begin with last year's edition and carry it forward, updating for this year's presentation. My experience tells me that this first cut at the template will be revised numerous times, rewritten, reorganized. So if the first cut isn't perfect, well that isn't a big deal to me, because it's going to be revamped to a point where it might not be recognizable by the second round of updates. There are some things I'm just not going to get my undies in a bunch about, and this is one of them. It's going to be horribly "unorderly" the next time we see it, so why waste the energy obsessing over it at the preliminary cut? The first time we put hands on a new project, the best we can do is offer the team something to work with. A starting point. We want to make it good, but perfect is a waste of time at the beginning stages.

Life is too short to obsess over things that will change. Dramatically. Some things you can fix, some things you can't. Know when it's important and when it isn't. Making a perfect first draft is an unreasonable expectation. There's no such animal.

Certainly I obsess over every word I write. Does it belong. Is the usage correct. Does it move the story forward. One of the secrets I've learned is knowing when the story is over. The first book I wrote I didn't know how to end. I wanted the story to go on forever. When do you know its done? (The simple answer to that is when you've resolved the plot. KNOW YOUR THEME.) Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end, all of which tie together. Every word, every paragraph, every chapter needs to move the story forward. If you stop and get stuck obsessing with minor details, it can completely derail you. Been there, done that. Writer's block? The key is to move forward. Don't let it get in your way. Write something. Anything. Move past it. You can always go back and cut out the icky parts later. When I get lost along the way, I stop. Take a step back. Look at the big picture. Does it really matter? Is it important to anyone but me? In a story, if the answer is no, you cut the offensive piece. In life, the same principle applies. If the answer is no, let it go and move on. Save your energy for where it really matters.

Life is too short to get stuck in unnecessary sub plots. Make a difference where it counts and don't beat people up (or yourself) for making a mistake on the first draft. You'll almost always get a second chance, and if you waste your time trying to swim in a puddle, you won't have any energy left when you get to the ocean.

{stepping off my soapbox now}

So what does one do when they've finished writing a novel?

Rekindling is off to the editor! I'd like to tell you that it's in perfect shape and will come back quickly with minimal comments, but that's a post for another day. I will say that I expect it to be in halfway decent shape and it is reasonable to believe it will not be further delayed - still expecting an October release.

That being said, the next question is "what do I do now?"

1.  Clean my house! Mundane things can suffer when you are in the throes of writing and editing.
2.  Take a vacation. Relax. Writing a book is often compared to childbirth and requires a recovery period. Even the men will tell you that. I just read an article by Stephen King where he didn't compare it to childbirth, but he DID say you need at least six weeks of recovery upon finishing the first draft to go back at it with a critical eye. The second benefit to vacation time is inspiration. Get new inspiration in a new environment.
3.  Learn new things that you can use in your next book.
4.  Catch up on your reading. (I just read four new books!)
5.  Start writing/outlining the next book.
6.  Book "housekeeping" things. Prepare marketing efforts, blurbs, elevator pitches.
7.  Bake some cookies! What better way to celebrate!

I plan to do all of the above, not necessarily in that order. Some I've already done, some are on my schedule to do.

The work isn't over until Rekindling is "on the shelves," but I'm at the end of the process. A toast, then, to another happily ever after!