In memoriam

My lovely daughter, Lani Nicole Schiller passed away on March 21, 2019 from the ravages of cancer. She left behind two sons and a husband. My heart is broken, and breaks everyday. She was a sweet caring woman of color with a vision of a better society. She marched, as her daddy did years ago, for equal rights, civil rights, and every cause that required compassion in our souls.

On the day she died, she, being a kindergarten teacher brought each one of the forty there in one by one to give an assignment. She told me I must find a traditional publisher for my current romance novel.

Okay, writers, can you think of a better motivation.

Tell over show?

Tell over show?

Writers are often vexed over show versus tell. The problem boils down to knowing when to tell.

First let’s look at the reasons for showing.

1.      To help the reader become emotionally invested in your character. Telling: Nell was tied to the tracks and saw the train coming. Showing: Nell struggled to free herself, biting at the ropes. The train blew its whistle as it came around the bent. Shit. [Stay tuned.]

2.      When chemistry is involved: Telling: The moment she first saw Snidely she knew he only wanted one thing. [The deed to her ranch.] Showing. He had the look of a cad. His mustache oozed of grease, his cold rat eyes said you’re mine.

3.      Transport your reader to your fictional world. Tell: Beside the train track was a lovely place to have a picnic. Perhaps Snidely would have a change of heart. Show: This stretch of worn wood train track, overgrown bushes brushing the rails, the smell of lilac, and scampering deer gave her ease. Surely no train would interrupt their picnic.

4.      Important pieces of the story. Tell: Snidely collected deeds as a means of insuring his financial wellbeing. Show: Snidely played the townsfolk as if they were part of a giant Monopoly game.

Pretty damning, right?

Here’s when you should tell:

1.      Transition. Also known as sequel and often involving the character’s internal arc during a scene, perhaps a summary in the mind of the protagonist. True, the character can show via description, but keep the description to a minimum and get on with the story.

2.      Redundant. If you must, be quick.

3.      Too melodramatic. A characteristic of melodrama, especially in being exaggerated, sensationalized, or overemotional. She melted before him. A slave to his whim. What was to become of her? This one is easy to screw up. My only advice is to be precise. Another example: He was stabbed. The blood squirted like ketchup. He was not going to relish this. Cut the details even if well written. There’s action and it moves. It’s the story.

4.      A bomb goes off. Much like 3. Let’s get carried away describing in slo-mo every color, every body part flying by. Stick to the human reactions mostly.

5.      Sometimes what you want to impart is not too important to the story. Go fast through this part.

Please add to this your ideas.

Unreliable narrators

The term unreliable narrator is a misnomer. Everybody is unreliable because they see the world through their own eyes. A writer thinks they must make the unreliability obvious, so that the reader will know the truth. Don’t go there. Trust your reader. Besides, the truth is what the character thinks it is. If they don’t get it, it’s because they’re unreliable, LOL. There’s a circular argument here, somewhere.

Readers want flawed characters and that includes how the character sees the world.

Here’s an example. Set up, a man is dying and on the ground:

...As his vision turned to hallucination. He heard a rifle shot echo through the park. An ambulance wailed. He was on his Harley, Alice holding him tight again. He smiled.

...As his vision turned to hallucination. He heard a rifle shot echo through the park. An ambulance wailed. He swore he was on his Harley, Alice holding him tight again. He smiled.

Which is better?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

On Sunday morning, I often steal material from my priest (insert minister, rabbi, imam and season to taste). Later, I go to confession for the theft.

It may be hard for some of you to believe, that every week this holy person gets up there and talks about romance (and related issues, LOL.) The golden rule is the base for religion as it should be practiced. How the hero and heroine change to love and caring with all its ups and downs is the base of romance.

The core and often the arc of every romance is love, of course. Whether it be sweet, religious, or if you like chili peppers, a 1 to 10 in hotness. This includes erotic romances, because believe it or not people yearn for and lust after each other. There's something like 7 billion of us and how did that happen??

So, the story does not go boy meets girl, they fall in love, the end. This ignores the dichotomy of man. Romance must have interior and exterior forces that fully show how these two people and why they get together, gay, straight or other.

So a priest, minister, rabbi, and imam walk into a bar. The bartender asks, "What are you having?"

They speak up in unison. "An epiphany, no olives."

Hate or Love?

My new manuscript is an interracial love story.

When an eight year old boy is abandoned by his mother who then marries a black man, a joint custody battle begins over his soul, the father being racist, the mother the opposite.
In chapter 1, the hero, now twenty, decides to reject his father's hate, when he's confronted by a life and death situation.
The heroine, a black girl of nearly eighteen, would rather have died drowning than be saved by scum.
What a great way to build a relationship, but journey they must, for herein lies a surprising story of growth (by him) in which the protagonists are equals as we all are.

It's university, at first they're after. It's murderous racists chasing them. They must hide. Like the great movie (one of the best) It Happened One Night, these two misfits find a way.

If interracial stories offend you, please do write me because through dialogue we may both learn something. Just don't ask me to hate.

For my fans:

Cinnamon & Sugar

goes well with toast and a bit of butter

Chapter 1

Humphrey was a smart eight-year-old. His daddy said so. He learned how to build karts, repair cars, study math, and learn about architecture. Someday he’d go to Virginia Tech, maybe, or be president.

On too many nights, Daddy went out to a bar with the white power boys, especially Tuesday. On this hot Tuesday night, Momma came into Humphrey’s room to tuck him in. She set the fan on blast and sat next to him on the bed. Stroking his long blond locks, she started what would soon be the worst day of his life. “My dearest boy, you know Momma loves you, right?”

“Yes, Momma.” She was always fussing on him, telling him how handsome he was, giving him the best toys and school stuff.

“You know your daddy loves you to pieces.”

“Yes, Momma.”

“Well, your father doesn’t love me. Much. He’s been hitting me, and I’m afraid of him. You wouldn’t want me to get hurt?”

“Not my daddy. He loves you, Momma. He says so.” Daddy was as perfect as Superman.

“How’d I get this shiner?”

“You said you ran into the clothesline post.” On a second look, the roundish yellow and purple marks did look like a fist, not a clothes pole. His daddy’s fist?

“Yeah, I didn’t. I’ve been telling fibs for months now.”

“He loves you. He kisses and hugs you. He tells me so. I can see.”

“He loves you, momma. You are his everything. Me, not so much.” She looked at the ceiling as if searching for a bug. “Okay, I’m afraid I’ll be pushed, shoved or hit again. He’s big and I could die. You want your mommy to live, don’t you? To help you when you need me?”

He was crying now, something terrible was going to happen. “I need you every day, every hour, all the time.”

“You stay in bed. Go to sleep. You have school. Did you do your human geography report?”

“Easy peasy. Did it on Saturday.”

“Good. Always do what is right. Treat everybody, black or white, fairly.”

“There are red, blue and yellow people too, Momma.”

“Blue.”

“Yes momma, very rare genetically.”

“And what does all these people tell you?”

“God likes to use colors.”

“And?”

“They’re all people.”

“Good, never forget this simple fact.”

“I won’t.”

“Know that I love you more than anything.” Momma cried, kissed him on the head. Got up to leave.

“Yes, Momma.”

She smiled and closed the door.

He watched from his window as she ran out the door into the arms of a black man. His daddy told him black people were bad. Momma said they were good. Just people.

There under the street lamp for the whole world to see, she kissed him, on the lips, can you believe that? They jumped into his Stingray and off they roared.

Momma forgot the prayers.

He hated that man for taking his mother away from him.

#

For the next twelve years, mom and dad fought for Humphrey’s soul in court and in his heart. Dad was winning until…

Writing in a vacuum

This may be obvious to the more experienced authors who tune in to my blog. But since I witnessed what I’m about to tell you in person. I must speak.

A romance cannot be written in a vacuum. A romance is not different than any other genre in regards to the rules for writing. What I witnessed was an experienced writer say that a sidekick/sage/mentor/guide/expert/best friend/enemy turned friend to the heroine (or the hero) wasn’t necessary. “What’s the point?”

So, now you know, as if you didn’t already. Next, make that secondary character memorable. Just as the hero and heroine have faults or flaws, so must the secondaries. All the better, if their quirks are humorous. Near the top of anybody’s list of desirable qualities one wants in a mate or friend is a sense of humor. Humor entertains and your job as a writer is not only to show us a great story but entertain along the journey of discovery.
If you are walking down a path never before taken, you'll notice the environment in detail. You'll also note the people you meet and how they'll help or hinder you achieving your goal. Expect the unexpected just as you would in a mystery. Twist.

Description:


Some writers have a vivid idea of how their character looks. Some rely on images. Some use both an image for reinforcement and their own mind's eye. Some don't go for much description at all.

If you're writing a romance, it's important to see this lovely girl (she's seventeen going on eighteen) through the eyes of the hero. A twenty-year old hero would no doubt stop in his tracks. His mind would click away like a camera at  every little detail. Of coarse, her hidden smile, cocked head, long hair over her shoulder, the friendly look would make him walk up to her. Okay, maybe I could choose better words for this young lady. That's where my fellow writers (you) come in. Help. What do you see? I'm a guy so could some one to describe the cut of her blouse? Of course, if I get no responses, I'll do my homework and figure it out. Another thing: what's going on with the corners of her lips?

My Novel, Hate or Love? is almost ready for a freelance editor. Here again if you know of anybody...
The story is about what happens to the hero and heroine when he saves her from drowning in front of white power types. I rarely ask for help, but fellow romance writers, if you think your agent or publisher might be interested please correspond.