(Sorry for missing last week.)
Long Lost Dog of It by Michael Kazepis
A large cast of characters will take the reader on a tour of the wine dark Greek underbelly. There is a sex show scene that wouldn't have been out of place in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie with Mr. Sophistication as the mc. There's a lot to like here. Characters that you will get to know, situations that take their time to come together, and an explosion of consequences when they do. Good stuff.
Recommended
The Elvis Room by Stephen Graham Jones
One of Stephen Graham Jones' greatest gifts is to be so enamored to the simplest ideas then weave a story from them. The launching pad for The Elvis Room is that hotels never fully book their rooms, that they always leave at least one room available. The secret, and dare I say real, reason is a frightening tale that goes in some unexpected places. Hell of a ghost story.
Highly Recommended
Hoods, Hot Rods, and Hellcats
I'm still reading this but I'm enjoying the hell out of it so far. If greaser noir from some great short story writers sounds like a winner to you then this collection is only a buck. Thomas Pluck's story "Red Hot" is a stand out so far.
Recommended (so far)
Monday, April 21, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
I'm not Gabriella Giovanni
By Kristi Belcamino
A few weeks ago when I got a sneak peek at the cover for my
novel, Blessed are the Dead, featuring a dark-haired woman, I showed it to a
good friend who has read the book.
His response, “Huh. I always imagined Gabriella looked just like you.”
Because the woman on my book cover doesn’t look like me. Not really. (See sidebar to the right for the picture of Gabriella on my book cover, sidebar to the left for my picture.)
It isn’t the first time someone who has read Blessed are the Dead has said this. Some people read my book and think I’m the main character.
In a way, I think it is sort of natural for readers (me included) to assign attributes of a book’s character — physical and otherwise — to the character’s creator, the author.
Sure, there are similarities:
Like Gabriella, I’m Italian-American, have longish brown hair, and worked as a crime reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Like my character, I spent several months trying to convince a man who kidnapped and killed girls and women to confess his crimes to me.
But I’m not Gabriella Giovanni.
Proof — she is smarter, wittier, prettier, and a much better reporter than I ever was.
In addition, her life has had more than it’s fair share of tragedies. I have (making the sign of the cross here) led a pretty uneventful life this way and count my blessings every single day that this is the case.
Is it natural for readers to envision the character and the author as the same person? Maybe.
Heck, I’ve even been guilty of this myself.
After reading Jess Lourey’s books featuring spunky, loveable Mira James, I assumed that Jess — like her character, Mira — loved Nut Goodies. Not so much, Jess told me when I met her in person. She is completely indifferent to them, in fact.
Mystery writers might have this happen a lot because many books in our genre are written from a first person perspective, which brings us right into the character’s head. We know their thoughts and feelings first hand.
So, as readers, we tend to do this — we tend to think the author is the character.
But how about as writers? Do we throw ourselves into our characters too much? Or do we let them strike out in a life of their own?
Recently, I read a blog that mentioned this and a great way to test and see if you are putting yourself too much into your main character by looking at Myers Briggs personality traits.
Here is the blog that talks about this:
And a link to descriptions of the sixteen personality types.
I took the test. I took it years before, but wanted to see if I had changed. (I hadn’t.)
I am:
The Protector (INFJ)
Quietly forceful, original, and sensitive. Tend to stick to things until they are done. Extremely intuitive about people, and concerned for their feelings. Well-developed value systems, which they strictly adhere to. Well-respected for their perseverance in doing the right thing. Likely to be individualistic, rather than leading or following.
I looked at the descriptions of the 16 personality types to see which one matched Gabriella the best.
Gabriella is very clearly — based on not only my observations, but what other people have said about her — The Doer (ESTP)
The Doer (ESTP)
Friendly, adaptable, action-oriented. "Doers" who are focused on immediate results. Living in the here-and-now, they're risk-takers who live fast-paced lifestyles. Impatient with long explanations. Extremely loyal to their peers, but not usually respectful of laws and rules if they get in the way of getting things done. Great people skills.
If you look at the letters ESTP (extroverted, sensing, thinking, perceiving) — they are the exact opposite traits of INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging).
So, according to a personality test, my character, Gabriella Giovanni, is the exact opposite of me. Wonder what a psychotherapist would have to say about that?
My question for you: As writers, do you inject too much of yourself in your characters? Do you consciously try to avoid this?
As readers: Do you often assume the character is a thinly veiled portrait of the author?
His response, “Huh. I always imagined Gabriella looked just like you.”
Because the woman on my book cover doesn’t look like me. Not really. (See sidebar to the right for the picture of Gabriella on my book cover, sidebar to the left for my picture.)
It isn’t the first time someone who has read Blessed are the Dead has said this. Some people read my book and think I’m the main character.
In a way, I think it is sort of natural for readers (me included) to assign attributes of a book’s character — physical and otherwise — to the character’s creator, the author.
Sure, there are similarities:
Like Gabriella, I’m Italian-American, have longish brown hair, and worked as a crime reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Like my character, I spent several months trying to convince a man who kidnapped and killed girls and women to confess his crimes to me.
But I’m not Gabriella Giovanni.
Proof — she is smarter, wittier, prettier, and a much better reporter than I ever was.
In addition, her life has had more than it’s fair share of tragedies. I have (making the sign of the cross here) led a pretty uneventful life this way and count my blessings every single day that this is the case.
Is it natural for readers to envision the character and the author as the same person? Maybe.
Heck, I’ve even been guilty of this myself.
After reading Jess Lourey’s books featuring spunky, loveable Mira James, I assumed that Jess — like her character, Mira — loved Nut Goodies. Not so much, Jess told me when I met her in person. She is completely indifferent to them, in fact.
Mystery writers might have this happen a lot because many books in our genre are written from a first person perspective, which brings us right into the character’s head. We know their thoughts and feelings first hand.
So, as readers, we tend to do this — we tend to think the author is the character.
But how about as writers? Do we throw ourselves into our characters too much? Or do we let them strike out in a life of their own?
Recently, I read a blog that mentioned this and a great way to test and see if you are putting yourself too much into your main character by looking at Myers Briggs personality traits.
Here is the blog that talks about this:
And a link to descriptions of the sixteen personality types.
I took the test. I took it years before, but wanted to see if I had changed. (I hadn’t.)
I am:
The Protector (INFJ)
Quietly forceful, original, and sensitive. Tend to stick to things until they are done. Extremely intuitive about people, and concerned for their feelings. Well-developed value systems, which they strictly adhere to. Well-respected for their perseverance in doing the right thing. Likely to be individualistic, rather than leading or following.
I looked at the descriptions of the 16 personality types to see which one matched Gabriella the best.
Gabriella is very clearly — based on not only my observations, but what other people have said about her — The Doer (ESTP)
The Doer (ESTP)
Friendly, adaptable, action-oriented. "Doers" who are focused on immediate results. Living in the here-and-now, they're risk-takers who live fast-paced lifestyles. Impatient with long explanations. Extremely loyal to their peers, but not usually respectful of laws and rules if they get in the way of getting things done. Great people skills.
If you look at the letters ESTP (extroverted, sensing, thinking, perceiving) — they are the exact opposite traits of INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging).
So, according to a personality test, my character, Gabriella Giovanni, is the exact opposite of me. Wonder what a psychotherapist would have to say about that?
My question for you: As writers, do you inject too much of yourself in your characters? Do you consciously try to avoid this?
As readers: Do you often assume the character is a thinly veiled portrait of the author?
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Setting Goals and Honing the Craft: How Do You Measure It?
By
Scott D. Parker
Sometimes, you just need to set a goal. For lots of people who want to do something other than writing, goal setting is a bit more straightforward, even measurable. Now that we can see summer coming, you might want to get in shape. Your goal might be to lose five pounds. That's measurable. If you want to run a marathon (a bucket list thing for me), there are wonderful training regimes out there to follow and you can measure your progress. Even if you want to learn a new craft, woodturning, say, there are steps you can take to get there and measure your progress.
What about writing? In particular, what about professional writing? What kinds of goals do you set? How do you measure them?
These were the questions I asked myself yesterday while sitting outside on my deck eating breakfast and enjoying a nice spring morning. As is my wont, I had a 11 x 17 sheet of paper in front of me and I wrote the first thing that came to mind: write and sell fiction. I mean, that’s the most basic, fundamental thing, right? It's the reason why blogs like this one exist. It is the reason why there are tons of books about writing and how to write.
But how do you go about doing it? The very next thing I jotted down was “Hone the craft.” And, that, too, is pretty fundamental. Just get better, each time you write. Look, I know this is elementary, but, again, I ask: How do you measure that? If you learn how to turn wood, you can tell when you look at the final product that you at better. You can see your missteps and mistakes and learn from them.
How do you do the same thing with writing? Is sales a true barometer? Or can you just tell after you do it for awhile?
What are your thoughts?
P.S., I wrote other things on my list, but I’ll discuss them next week.
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