Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Developing Your Artistic Style

Woman with a Fan, Pablo Picasso
(Hermitage Museum) 
In my early days of fiction writing, the notion of “style” eluded me. 
“What exactly is style?” I repeatedly asked myself.  “Where does style come from?  Is it something that you purposefully develop, or does it somehow manifest by itself?” 
I researched this question in books and asked my various writing teachers about it, but never got a satisfactory answer.
The reason I became so obsessed with style is that I knew that the successful artists of all types—painters, musicians, writers, etc.—have a unique, instantly recognizable style.  (See blog post about this)
If I have no style, I thought, how can I possibly become a successful writer?
  
When I developed my fiction writing skills to the point where agents and editors started taking me seriously, I still saw no style in my work.  I had learned to tell a tight, engaging story, but stylistically, was it very different from anyone else’s? 
If so, I could not see it.
What compounded this problem was the voluminous amount of criticism I received from these publishing industry professionals when I sent out books.  There were no patterns to the feedback.  Much of it was contradictory.  “Very well-developed characters.” “Unbelievable characters.”  “Crisp, catchy dialogue.” “False dialogue, not like real speech.”  “Too much description.”  “Not enough description.”
I pulled out my writing books and tried to make sense of it all.  I couldn’t. 
It seemed to me that the answer had something to do with style, but this was little more than a vague feeling.
I didn’t know what to do.  I finally became so fed up with all the rejection that I decided to take a long break from my writing.  To clear my head, I decided I needed a dramatic change of surroundings.
I ended up moving Russia for a year, taking a part-time teaching job to pay the bills. I moved to St. Petersburg, an amazing city, Russia’s artistic center.  I rented a modest apartment just a block from the spectacular Hermitage Museum, which boasts one of the most impressive art collections in the world.  The first few weeks I spent many hours strolling through it, and became fascinated with the Impressionist collection—they have hundreds of paintings by Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, etc.   I was particularly impressed by Picasso’s work.  Talk about a unique, instantly-recognizable style!  After spending a just little time looking his paintings, I could recognize a Picasso at one hundred yards.
Outside the museum, on the magnificent Palace Square, street artists would set up to draw portraits of tourists for money.   I often stopped and watched the artists at work. Observing this activity stirred something deep inside me.  When I was 6 or 7 years old, I went through a rather intense period where I wanted to be an artist.  My grandmother, who was Hungarian, was a talented oil painter and watching her work inspired me.  This dream didn’t last, but it persisted long enough for me to take drawing lessons every Saturday at the art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, where we lived at the time.
There was one portrait artist on the Palace Square in St. Petersburg who stuck out above all the others—his portraits were awe-inspiring and looked exactly like the subject being painted. 
His name was Andrey.  I paid him to do my portrait, and as he worked, I made some small talk.  It turned out he was a graduate student at the prestigious St. Petersburg Art Academy and drew portraits some afternoons for pocket money.  He spoke English, but just barely. When he finished my portrait, I mustered up the courage to ask him if he would teach me how to draw portraits like he did.
He eyed me skeptically—a middle-aged American tourist asking him to do something like this?
“I took drawing lessons as a kid,” I said.
He shrugged.  “Why not?  We may try.”
I’ll never forget my first lesson.  I wanted Andrey to come to my apartment, where we would have privacy, but he insisted that we meet at the Art Academy campus on Vasilievsky Island, in one of the formal studios.  “We need many material and good light,” he explained.  “Better I learning you in studio.”
To say that I was nervous is an understatement.  I was 38 years old and hadn’t picked up a drawing pencil since I was seven. My apprehension quadrupled when I arrived at the spacious studio and found out that some of Russia’s most famous artists had used it, including Ilya Repin, the man after which the academy was originally named.  On top of that, Andrey had arranged a live model—an undergraduate art student—to pose for me.  There were several other artists milling around the studio, too, which only added to my anxiety.
Andrey stood next to me as we gazed over the top of the blank paper at the model, a beautiful 20 year old girl with a classic Russian features.  She sat on a stool, perfectly still, her head turned, peering back at me.
Andrey put a charcoal pencil in my sweaty hand.  “First step—draw outline of face.”
I swallowed, and barely able to keep the pencil from shaking, slowly started sketching the oval.  Yet, oddly—within 30 seconds—I began to relax, the soft scratching of the charcoal against paper calming me.  The sounds took me back to my childhood, and I actually remembered the sounds and smells from the Cleveland art museum.
“You draw not badly,” Andrey said, looking relieved.  “I think I learn you ok.”  He began coaching me through the drawing.  When it was done, it was pretty bad, but wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared.  At least, nobody in the room was laughing.
I was soon taking lessons from Andrey three times a week, at first at the studio, and later, at my apartment, after I’d bought the requisite easel and materials. 
I threw myself into this work, experiencing one of the most powerful bursts of creative energy I’ve ever had.  I drew portrait after portrait after portrait, very detailed works, sometimes completing two or three a day.  Andrey spent many hours explaining in painstaking detail all the techniques used to draw eyes, noses, lips, ears, cheeks, necks, hair, sideburns, mustaches, wrinkles, birthmarks and so on.  He also arranged for me to buy an actual human skull and taught me all about the anatomy of the head, the bone and facial muscles beneath the skin, the cartridge of the nose and ears, and how all this effected facial structure, shadows, and so on. 
Andrey and I got along marvelously and became close friends.  But by August, I sensed something was wrong.  I was beginning to feel comfortable enough to deviate slightly from all the rules and techniques he had taught me.
“There is only one correct approach to drawing,” he stiffly told me one afternoon.
In late August, just as the weather started to cool, our relationship underwent a dramatic, unexpected rupture.
I was in the middle of drawing a portrait of one of my friends, John, an American about my age, with Andrey looking on.  Andrey was supposedly there to give me pointers, but he was strangely silent.  He hadn’t said one word the whole time.
Suddenly, he pointed at the paper.  “Nose is wrong!”
I studied the nose I’d just sketched, glancing back and forth between it and John’s nose.  I didn’t see anything wrong with it.  “How so?”
“It is simply wrong!”  Andrey shouted.
I glanced at John, then back at Andrey.  “I really don’t what’s wrong with it.  It looks just like John’s nose to me.”
Andrey stomped his foot on the floor it so hard that it sounded like an explosion.
“You no listen me!  I your teacher!”  He pounded his fist into his chest.
“Calm down,” I said. 
 “I need some water,” John said, scurrying into the kitchen to get the hell out of there.
Andrey was staring at me, breathing hard.  He pointed angrily at the drawing.  “You must change nose!”
Now I was beginning to feel stubborn.  I didn’t see anything wrong with my rendering of John’s nose.  “I’m not changing it.  I like it the way it is.”
“Then you find new teacher!”  Andrey bellowed.  He stormed out of my apartment, slamming the door behind him.
I felt terrible the next few days.  I really liked Andrey—I called him a couple of times but as soon as he heard my voice, he hung up.  I wandered back out onto the Palace Square and tried to find another teacher, but no other artist seemed even remotely as good as Andrey. 
Meanwhile, my friend John had hung the portrait I’d made in his living room—he really liked it. “Are you sure you need a teacher?” he said.  “It seems to me you’ve had enough instruction—can’t you just develop your skill on your own?”
I mulled this over and decided maybe he was right.  I continued to make more portraits,  hiking over to the art academy campus every morning and hiring new students to pose for me.  I cranked out drawing after drawing and kept steadily improving.  At least, I thought so. 
One day I decided to put all my latest portraits on display in my studio.  I had signed and dated each one, so I started with the most recent and worked my way back, until I had covered all four walls with them, and even part of the ceiling.
A short time later one of my student models showed up and asked to buy the portrait I’d done of her.  This was an awesome moment for me—it was the first time anyone had actually offered me money for any of my portraits.  I decided to give it to her as a present. 
She was delighted.  “My mother is a curator at the Hermitage Museum,” she said proudly.  “I will show it to her.”
Uh-oh, I thought.
The next day she called, wanting to know if it was okay if she brought her mother over to my apartment to see all my portraits. 
A curator at the Hermitage Museum?  A professional art expert?  No way!
I made excuses, but she kept pressuring me, so I finally gave in.
We met out on the sidewalk, and as the three of us walked up the stairs to my apartment, my knees felt weak.  “Look,” I said, turning to the curator, “I’m just an amateur.  My stuff really isn’t worth seeing.”
“Nonsense.  You must learn to be more confident.”
Bracing myself, I led them into the studio.
The curator stood there in the middle of the room, slowly turning around, taking in one amateurish portrait after another.  I wanted to crawl under the easel.
“These are wonderful!” she finally said, looking back at me, smiling.  She passed her gaze over the portraits again.  “You have already developed your own style!”
“Style?” I muttered.  I was stunned.  It was the last thing I had expected her to say.

I looked around from one charcoal portrait to another, confused.  I really had no idea what she was talking about.   All the portraits looked exactly the same to me.  I saw no more style in those drawings than I did in my novels.
 “There’s no style,” I said, motioning to them, although now I realized I could see that there was a certain sameness about all my portraits, a sameness in the sense that I could tell I had drawn them.  “That's just the way I dra—”
I never finished the sentence.  It was one of those rare epiphanies that hit me with such force I was nearly knocked off my feet.
That's just the way I draw.
As soon as the two ladies left my apartment, I pulled out my oldest portraits, the ones that I had made under Andrey’s strict instruction, and compared them to the ones I was doing now.  They looked completely different.  I found the portrait that Andrey had made of me, the day I met him, and compared it to the others.  What had happened, so gradually that I hadn’t even noticed, was that I had veered from drawing the way he taught me to drawing in my own way...the way that I thought was best.  And in so doing I had developed my own unique style.  Interestingly, this style was not obvious to me then and is still not obvious to me now, but others readily see it.
I also want to point out that I don't believe I could have found my own drawing style without Andrey's instruction.  He was (and perhaps still is) an incredible teacher, and I’m certain that without his expert guidance and training, I would have never been able to draw a charcoal portrait that was worth looking at.  Mastering the fundamental skills and techniques of any art form is crucial—as the old saying goes, “An artist must learn the rules in order to break them.”  But at some point, you have to set yourself apart from the teachers and follow your inner voice.
I had no intention of becoming a professional artist.  But as soon I arrived back in the States, I felt renewed energy and confidence about my writing.  I dove head-first into my next novel.  This time, I told myself to forget about all I had learned in my writing classes, and all the well-meaning criticism and advice from the from agents and editors. 
I just wrote the story the way I thought it should be written.
The book was called Wild Child.
The rest is history.

Monday, November 28, 2011

This Week's Reader Interview - KK Sierra

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm a recently divorced mother of three in my early 30s. I work for a software company so I'm a bit of a nerd. In my free time I love to read, write and play with my kids. I enjoy encouraging them to find their creative sides. We like to go on adventures. We hike, camp, visit museums, take ferrys and road trips.

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?
I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mother in her rocking chair outside my bedroom door, reading aloud to my brothers and me. Her soft voice and the magical words would lull me off to dream land. In elementary school, I went through most the books in the library. I still remember the excitement of getting to move to the main library where the "big kid" books were. In elementary and middle school, I often stayed up late, straining my eyes to read by the light of my alarm clock. When I reached high school, I many times used the excuse of "a big report due tomorrow" to stay up and finish a book. I even recall a few times when I'd glance at my clock and realize in horror that I'd read the whole night away and I had to be up for school in a few short hours.

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite authors?
My favorite genre was discovered while working on the critical care unit at a hospital. I worked the evening shift and it often got really boring. One night on break I went down to the hospital gift shop and found the newly released Silent Treatment by Michael Palmer. The book enthralled me and I was amused at the irony of finding such a terrifying medical thriller in the hospital gift shop. I would happily pick up anything by David Baldacci. Recently I've also discovered I enjoy the works of Tom Clancy. I tried to read them before and couldn't get into them. I guess I just needed to be in a different place in life to enjoy them.

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?
Fiction lets you be anyone, imagine anything. It's a wonderful escape from reality. I love how I can picture the world as it unfolds in the book. I also like how if something is scary or offensive I can just skip a paragraph or two.

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really annoys you?
I hate it when characters don't grow. In my opinion, you can only get away with that on The Simpsons, not with books. If ten books later, your character is still the same ditsy girl she was in book one, I'm going to lose interest. I also get frustrated with inconsistency. If I remember that back in book two Janie Jones was Irish, she certainly shouldn't show up as an African-American in book seven.

Do you write fiction yourself?
I would say I dabble. I love to write and you can find some shorts I've written on my blog. I have a novel in progress. Someday I may become more serious about it, but for now it's an enjoyable hobby that's bringing me in contact with some really wonderful people.

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both, in my opinion. I love my Kindle. I love the instant gratification. Finish a book and find yourself anxious for the next part in the series? Have it delivered in moments to your e-reader, cell phone, laptop, etc. It's great.  Before I had one, I used to make middle of the night runs to Barnes and Noble to feed my cravings! I also love that e-books make it so much easier for otherwise unknown authors to throw their stuff out there. I also travel frequently and love the convenience and lighter bags.

On the other side, I love real books. I enjoy looking on my shelf, seeing a series I enjoy and walking over to pull it off the shelf, maybe thumb through to my favorite scene and reread it. I buy my kids "real" books all the time so that they have books to collect, read, share and love.

My biggest argument for real books was the ease with which they could be loaned. I suppose this is a disadvantage financially to an author. However, if a friend loaned me a book that I enjoyed, it would usually inspire me to go find more books by that author, where I may have NEVER picked up that author's work otherwise. The new advantage e-readers have with Amazon's new lending program is I don't have to worry about whether or not I'll be getting my book back!

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?
I've read three Mike Wells books: Lust, Money & Murder, Wild Child and Wild Child 2. While I absolutely adored both the Wild Child books, I think I have to say Lust, Money & Murder is my favorite book so far. It was intriguing and kept me guessing. The characters were authentic with believable thoughts and feelings.

Thanks very much for your interview, KK!
Thank you very much, Mike, for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

I can be reached via twitter at @k_karie or e-writer@kksierra.com. I ponder, get introspective, rant and write at http://kksierra.blogspot.com

Monday, November 21, 2011

This Week's Reader Interview with Dawn Torrens

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?   
I was born Dec 14th, in Beverly, Yorkshire, England.  I have been writing  since I was 9 years old I started out writing poems as a means to escape from my not so great reality at that time. I worked as a model at weekends for M&S for a few years to pay for my first house as well as working full time in accounts and studying in the evenings. Then very recently I self published my first book, "Amelia's story" by D.G Torrens. A true powerful story (my story) This book was written for my daughter who is my life my heart my everything! I  wanted my princess to understand the hard road I had to travel before I got to  where I am today. My daughter is currently almost 3 yrs old, so she will not be  reading it for many years to come yet. I almost did not make it through my  childhood, but I am very thankful I did, and have not wasted a moment of my  life since making it to adulthood. So now I treasure every moment, I love  jogging, and have completed 5 belts so far in kickboxing! I love good wine,  eating out, traveling reading/writing are passions of mine, I cannot read or  write fast enough!. My motto is: "The child first and foremost."  

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?  
I discovered my love of fiction at a very young age, reading the likes of Enid  Blyton, again reading like writing poems was a means of escape for me, I  realized I could transport myself into the story I was reading at the time,  this for me was both magical and life saving, sounds dramatic but believe me  its true! I would read anything I could get my hands on, I was like a sponge  and soaked it all up. I have a love of reading, and my too read list is so very  long. I currently own a Kindle with so many books lined up to read at some  point, I am working my way through them all.  

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite  authors?  
This is very easy, I have read every single book James Patterson and Patricia  Cornwell have written, I love there work I love Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte,  Jane Austen, to name but a few, my favorite books have to be, "Pride &  Prejudice" This book is so beautifully written, set in a time when ladies were  ladies and gentlemen really were gentlemen! The romance of it, the language is  just so captivating. Another favorite book is, "Wuthering Heights" the power of  this book the love torn couple, the angst, its mesmerizing, and sad. I have  read hundreds of books over the years, and will read hundreds more in the  future! The books I love to read and continue to remember are those that draw  me in emotionally one way or another, the ones that make you feel strongly for  the characters. I read a book recently which caught my attention in this way  and that was, "The leaf catcher" by Dax M Tucker this book was beautifully  written and reminded of the greats like Dante. This book had such a profound  affect on me, and will be one I remember too.  

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?  
What I love about reading fiction, is that you can be transported instantly to  a place, reading fiction expands your imagination and allows you to explore the  impossible! Sometimes we all need a form of escapism and for me a really good  work of fiction is my escape.

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really  annoys you?
Yes a pet peeve is when an author has taken the time to write a brilliant book  and then goes and ruins it with a really bad ending, or should I say not very  imaginative ending! I have come across this so much over the years, and I  really don't understand. If your going to take the time to write a brilliant  book don't rush the ending...Another thing that annoys  is "Prologues" this is  exactly what it should be, but some are far too long and they do not need to  be.  

Do you write fiction yourself?  
Yes, I have an Unfinished thriller based novel, which I am taking my time to  write, hopefully it will be out next summer 2012. I am currently half way  through now. I love writing fiction and have great imagination, I hope to write  many novels in the future.  

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?  
There is a place for both I believe, I own a kindle and find it so handy when  traveling rather than carrying a heavy book! However I am also a book lover and  have collected hundreds over the years, I love the feel of the actual book. I  could not be with out my kindle now, but I also could never give up my books  either. I am a lover of both ebooks and paper backs.  

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?
Ahh now this easy, it has to be "Lust, Money and Murder" I really could not put  this book down! I could identify with the Elaine the main character on some  level my self. Elaine had lost everything, she wanted to avenge her fathers  death, so proceeded on an amazing journey to do just that, she came up with  genius idea of joining the secret service, so she could seek out the very man  responsible for her fathers death, however this took her in a direction she was  not expecting. Finding herself in Bulgaria working for another secret service  agent she unexpectedly fell in love him, I think a lot of women can relate to  this! Things were going great for a while until a bad secret service agent  secretly got in touch with her and managed to convince Elaine that her boss was  under investigation for illegal money laundering. Elaine left Bulgaria with out  a word to her lover and went to work for another government agent, but all was  not as it seems and she gets drawn into Russian mafia dealings through no fault  of her own, she finds herself fighting for her life. I could go on and on about  this story I loved it so much! I want more of this Mike please...I loved your  writing style,each page was full of excitement, I found this very hard to put  down. I'm kind of envious I wished I had written this book my self!  

Thank you so much, Dawn, for taking the time to give an interview for my blog.  
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for inviting me here today,  I visit your web site often as it is very insightful and full of valuable  information. I have recently down loaded your book "Wild child" on to my kindle, so I am looking forward to getting lost into this book too. Please may  I just mention that my book, "Amelia's story" by D.G Torrens - a percentage of  all my sales goes to the NSPCC & Barnardos.

Thank you once again Mike.

email: dawn.tp@tiscali.co.uk
Twitter: @Torrenstp
Blog: http://dawnsdaily.com

Monday, November 14, 2011

This Week's Reader Interview with Ginger Justus

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My life (all 35 years of it, so far) can be summed up in two statements - Sometimes I make people laugh, and sometimes I make people cry. I am a spiritual consultant and provide my clients with Spirit Guide messages and communication from those who have left the physical plane. For some, it is a light-hearted experience filled with smiles; for others, it is highly emotional and full of tears. And sometimes, it's both.

Most of my time (when not talking to the dead) is dedicated to preserving history. Cemeteries, buildings, documentation, and stories. I enjoy learning about the people long ago buried in a forgotten cemetery and, in researching each life it becomes personal to me and they are once again among the living. It helps to be a genealogy addict and I spend several hours a day sorting through information to piece together each life. I promote the importance of protecting and preserving historic buildings and artifacts as well as honoring our dead. One of the methods used to do this is by writing it down. I currently have a yet published book of stories I've written based on the history of the county in which I reside.

So, as you can imagine, I adore my downtime! While away from work, I am with my husband of nearly six years, our three beautiful girls, four motley mutts, three cats, and one rat. We are the unofficial wayward home for misplaced or unloved fourleggers.

Somehow, with all of this going on, I find time to pick up a book or my beloved Kindle.

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?
I grew up in a rural community - population 3500. For a shy little girl, there wasn't much to do except visit the library. I devoured everything I could get my hands on at a young age. Even then, my focus was on history and I lost count of how many times I borrowed the Little House on the Prairie series. One of my early favorites was the journal of Lucy Wortham James - the daughter of my hometown's founder. It was in the Reference section so I could only read it during my library visits. Another early favorite, and also a precursor to my current interests, was the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. The illustrations gave me nightmares and the stories were easy to read but still well written enough to make me question what lurks under the bed. A copy of More Scary Stories... is currently displayed on my bookshelf - right next to my Shel Silverstein collection, of course.

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite authors?
As a self-proclaimed book nerd, I have a dedicated "favorites" shelf. Right now it holds Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, House of Sand and Fog, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Rosewood Casket, A Painted House, and the Ya-Ya series. The shelf below it holds nothing but Stephen King and Patricia Cornwell. I also have a shelf full of books written by and about people with unusual disorders and addictions.

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?
Fiction is like a vacation for me. Sometimes those trips are short, soft, and relaxing (what I call palate cleansers), others are 600+ pages of madness in the Gulf of Mexico. Regardless of how the trip goes, it's always bittersweet to turn the final page and return home.

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really annoys you?
I appreciate the creative process involved with writing a fictional story and try not to criticize an author's writing style but if I'm painfully forcing my way through the first page, the author better make it up to me with the second one. I had a book that was written by one of my favorite authors and recently donated it after trying multiple times to read the first two pages. Reading should be enjoyable, every single page.

Do you write fiction yourself?

I'm going to say no, although some of the factual history stories I write also include paranormal experiences associated with the person or location. I suppose to those who do not believe in such things, it would be taken as fictional.

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?
There's absolutely nothing like the smell of an old book, or reading inscriptions on a well-worn cover, written centuries ago to a friend or loved one. I am a traditionalist and some of my most prized possessions are my books. But, I love lying in bed on a cold night and browsing an online bookstore and its also nice to be able to see my nightstand and not a toppling pile of books. Each form has it's purpose and I do not believe the world will ever be without paper books.

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?

The first and still my favorite Mike Wells book I've read is Baby Talk. It is high paced but easy to follow and the story line held my attention from the first paragraph. I don't know how you made me so personally connected to each character as quickly as you did but it definitely works. After reading so many books in this genre it's difficult to find a story that still gets my heart racing and causes me to pull my knees under my chin but Baby Talk was a pleasantly spooky surprise. You definitely have a place among my Stephen King and Joe Hill favorites.

Thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed on my blog, Ginger!

Thank you, Mike, for being my social media friend, for keeping my Kindle busy with your books, and for the interview invitation. I look forward to your future works and hope to see a follow up on that naughty baby, Natasha!

I can be reached at gdjustus@gmail.com, on Twitter @GingerJustus, or through my website - www.psychicpartyplanners.com.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Does Bruce Willis Have a Dog? Less is More



I’ll never forget the first time my wife read one of my novels.  As she was finishing the last few pages, I sat at my computer, pretending to work,  butterflies in my stomach.  Would she love it or hate it?

When she was done reading, she set the manuscript aside and gazed over at the TV set.  She seemed lost in thought.

“Well?” I said uneasily.

“Mike, does Bruce Willis have a dog?”

I was taken aback.  “Excuse me?”

She went over to the VCR and picked up the videocassette case for Die Hard, the movie we’d watched the night before. 

“In Die Hard, does the character that Bruce Willis plays have a dog?”

“Well...hell if I know!  I don’t remember any dog in the movie.”

“Exactly.  We don’t know whether he has a dog or not because it doesn’t have anything to do with the story.”

I looked over at my manuscript.  “What are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is that you could have a really great book if you did a lot of cutting.  The way it stands, the story is bogged down with too many irrelevant details.”

Irrelevant details?  What an insult!  A long, heated discussion ensued, and I viciously defended each and every word in the book.  It ended with me shouting “What the hell do you know?” and storming out of the house, vowing to never let the moron I married read another word of my writing.

But after a little time passed and I calmed down, I opened up the manuscript and started reading it myself, trying my best to be objective.  I decided there were maybe one or two places where I went overboard, explaining too much about the hero’s background and other details.  Finally I went back to my wife, apologized, and gave her the manuscript and a yellow highlighter.  “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love for you to go through entire book and mark each and every word that you think isn’t necessary.”

“My pleasure.”

When she was done, there was so much yellow on the paper it looked like Bruce Willis’ nonexistent dog had taken a leak on it.

As a writer, this was one of the most eye-opening processes I’ve ever experienced.  What I learned from it is that if you’re writing plot-driven stories, like I usually write, each and every bit of information you include should have something to do with the story.  If it doesn’t, the words needs to be mercilessly cut.

In the famous words of William Faulkner:  “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”

Die Hard is a very good example of how important this principle is.  In the movie, do we know if the hero (John McClaine, played by Bruce Willis) has a dog?  No, we don’t.  What about his home—does he live in a house or an apartment?  Again, we don’t know, because there are no scenes set in his home.  What about his family?  Does he have any aunts or uncles?  Again, we don’t know, because that has nothing to do with the story.

Now, in contrast, consider The Wizard of Oz. 

Do we know if Dorothy has a dog?  Of course we know this—the dog’s name is Toto.  We know it because Toto plays a key role in the story.  Among other things, it's Toto that pulls back the curtain to reveal the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz is nothing a harmless old man hiding behind a bunch of fancy equipment.  

Does Dorothy live in a house, or an apartment?  We know that, too—she lives in a house, which is sucked up into the tornado—this is inciting incident for the entire story!  Furthermore, the house lands smack on top of the Wicked Witch of the East and kills her, which is what gets Dorothy in so much trouble in Oz.

Finally, does Dorothy have an aunt?  We know that, too. Good old Aunty Em.  Dorothy misses her terribly when she believes she’ll be stuck in Oz forever and can’t get back to Kansas.  The aunt plays a key role in the story.

So, back to the original question:

Does Bruce Willis have a dog?

This Week's Reader Interview with Dorothy Beecher

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
For 28 years I worked in a small satellite office for a large cable company. On June 16th of this year our small office closed.

Instead of settling for a different job with the company that I knew I would hate, I decided now would be a great time to retire.

My husband gave me all of his support and my old company gave me a retirement party and a kindle, which started me on my ebook journey. I live in upstate New York with my wonderful husband. He is a local musician who plays keyboard in one local band and guitar in another. He also works for a local newspaper. We have 2 wonderful grown sons, who both live close by . We love to get together for pizza parties. Having a musician in the family I also spend alot of time listening to music, a few of my favorites being Medieval Baebes, Loreena McKinnett, Jethro Tull and Eric Clapton. Recently I have discovered Apocalytica, 3 classical cellist and a drummer from Finland who play metal music. Since I have retired I have been able to spend more time creating earrings and bracelets using beads.  I am lucky enough to live next door to a remodeled old church where I can go to practice yoga and we get together to record chanting music. For a little over 5 years now I have been practicing Reiki and recently became a Reiki Master Teacher.

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?
As far back as I can remember I have loved reading fiction. In grade school my teacher would give us free time to read and I would get so caught up in the book I would not hear her tell the class to put their books down. My teacher would come over and tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. I tried to apologize for not hearing her but she told me never to apologize for loving to read.

When I first read this question I tried to see if I could remember the first book that I fell in love with. The first book I could remember that I loved when i read it was Heidi. Next I fell in love with the mystery of Mary Stewart books. At 13 I was introduced to 'The Hobbit' and The Lord of the Rings. After that I was hooked on science fiction and fantasy. In high school I would spend most of my free time working in the school library.

Everyone in my family are avid readers. My husband's passion is historical non-fiction especially books about the World Wars. Before my oldest was even in school, I introduced them to J.R.R. Tolkien, reading them a couple of chapters of 'The Hobbit' and then The Trilogy every night. Once we finished the last book we would start with 'The Hobbit' and go through them all again.  In turn my sons turned me onto Anne Rice and Caleb Carr.

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite authors?
I love all the books in the Outlander Series by Diane Gabaldon, 'The Hobbit' and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne Rice's Vampires and even James Patterson's books with Alex Cross. I loved reading Herman Hesse and did my senior term paper on him. Also I am a huge fan of books about witches and I have to say I loved reading 'A Discovery of Witches' by Deborah Harkness. Although I can find only 2 books written by him, I recommend 'The Alienist' by Caleb Carr. I also love books about witches and Suza Kates series now are on my list of favorites

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?
Fiction gives me a chance to explore places and worlds created in other people's imagination that I would never get a chance to see. I can travel to different times both past and future where I surely cannot go. I can become "involved" with characters lives and go on thier journeys and adventures with them. I love being able to become so involved in a book that I can picture exactly what Rivendell, the Elven Village in The Lord of the Rings looks like or I can actually feel afraid when reading Bilbo Baggin's adventure in Shelob's den in 'The Hobbit' or cry when Black Jack Randall tortured Jamie Fraser in 'The Outlander'. You can "safely" fall in love with the hero or heroine of your favorite books.

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really annoys you?
I admire all authors and have a great respect for them and their ability to share their thoughts and visions and put them into a story.  My pet peeve is with the movie company that takes a really great book and makes changes to the authors story. We have read great books and fallen in love with them and then gone to see the movie and wondered why parts were changed. When someone takes these stories and changes them just to "sell" more tickets, in my opinion, really does a disservice to the author who wrote the book and also to the fans of the book.

Do you write fiction yourself?
I really wish I did. Right now I have a fantastic story in my head, as I think a ot of people do. At this time unfortunately,my story just does not seem to want to be translate to the written word.

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?
Personally I love them both. I have always loved paper books. I, myself, cannot throw a book away.  I will give it away but I cannot put on in the trash can to get rid of it. I use to love finding $.25 treasures at garage sales. Authors I may never have normally bought but found I loved. I am now finding these treasures for my kindle. I read my kindle every night before I go to sleep. That being said I hope ebooks never replace children's books. Some of the most treasured times with my sons when they were young was spent with one son sitting on each side of me and I am reading them a book and we are looking at the pictures.

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?
'Wild Child' was the very first free book I got for my kindle (thank you Mike) and I really enjoyed reading it. My favorite, however, is 'Lust, Money and Murder' Book 1. I found Elaine to be an extremely strong woman who had gone through a lot at a very young age. She was determined to make things right for herself and her father the right way. She worked extremely hard for what she wanted and I found myself cheering her on every step of the way. It was very refreshing for me to see a young woman not take the easy way out to get revenge. I love reading mysteries and books with intrigue and a little romance thrown in for good measure.

Thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed on my blog, Dorothy!
I want to thank you for asking me to do this readers interview. I saw your post for the free download of Wild Child and this was my first free ebook. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased 'Lust, Money & Murder' Books 1-3 and now I can't wait to find out what happens with Elaine and Nick, so please get writing Mike. I have to know what happens.

I can be emailed at dbeecher@nycap.rr.com.