Christmas Past

Am I busy getting ready for Christmas?

Well sure, I am.  And this year I’ve had the added hectic but long-awaited tasks of promoting Black Ribbon Affair.  However, several years ago, I took a bit of wisdom from my sister-in-law who’s spent most Decembers being over-committed and time-challenged.

What was her secret?

Celebrate the season, not the day and follow the idea of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Very smart woman, my sister-in-law.

Cards not sent out and at their destination by December 24th?  No worry, if they arrive on January 2nd, the receiver will have more time to enjoy the card and its message.

Not all the baking or cooking done?  So what!  Eating a fresh batch of cookies on December 29th beats stale ones every time.  And as for cooking?  Who says we must have several meals?  And what’s wrong with leftovers of the Christmas ham?  Fortunately, our family loves hearty pea soup with fresh bread on January 1st.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Santa's Getting Ready for the kiddies

Oh, it’s gift shopping and wrapping you’re most stressed about?  Well, even here, if you wait until a few days after Christmas you may fight fewer crowds.  Or if your shopping is done but you’re not seeing the giftees until after the 24th or 25th, wrap away a few hours before you see them.

The kids may need  you to meet a deadline if you are helping Santa, but if you have arrived at the wise stage of life, you enjoy quality time spent with loved ones, time to reflect on holidays past, spent with those no longer walking the earth, and the less stressful tempo of knowing all you want to do and enjoy can be spread out over twelve days.

So folks, start celebrating on December 24th, but don’t have it end on the 25th.  Follow through.  Spread the celebration until January 6th.

This year one of our local police departments did a video about this philosophy, sort of.  It’s humorous but will never win any awards, except for spreading good will.

And I leave you with that thought.  When next I post, the big holiday will be finished, kaput, out-of-sight, except maybe for the shredded ribbons and wrapping.

But not at our house.  We’ll still have a few presents under the tree.

What do you think of my ‘borrowed’ philosophy?

Panda mates in winter

My hubby and I received a Christmas note inside a card this past week.  The card came from a woman who became a widow this past summer.  Her husband was the CEO of the corporation my husband worked for and we often played bridge with them. 

We were pleased to see this card and her note.  Both my husband and I know first hand the difficulties that surround the first major holiday after the loss of a beloved person.  My heart lifted at the woman’s note to us.  She plainly acknowledged her loss of her life companion with this sentence which tugged at my soul.  “How lucky we were to share 24 years after retirement as loving playmates.” 

I think that those simple words as such a magnificent tribute to the man he was, the woman she is, the love they shared for more than 60 years, and the fun they had in retirement. 

Too often we hear of couples who enter retirement and retire from life.  Not these two.  Or we hear of couples married for many years, but they have never seen themselves as playmates.  Only spouses. 

If any of you wonder where I come up with character traits, I tell you this with all honesty.  I  sometimes look around me and find stellar examples.  Traits or experiences people have that can be spun into a story. 

Somehow, I don’t know yet exactly in what way, that widow’s sentence and all it incorporates will find its way into a future book.  Have you encountered people in your lives who in some way fill your soul with a word or phrase that sums up the entirety of their lives?

Coastline near Santa Barbara

I tried something very new for me yesterday.  That’s not easy to accomplish at my age, but with this new venture of being a published author, I’ve encountered several lately.  Almost makes me feel like a twenty-something woman but with a wealth of experience.  

So what was the new experience? 

Well, not quite this elegant

I set up a table at a holiday/craft/market affair in an old art deco theater lobby in this area.  I didn’t bring my camera and I should have since the chandeliers in the lobby above my table were magnificent.  And the marble staircase right behind me?  Awesome. 

As shoppers and lookers filed into the theater lobby on a frosty but sunny Saturday morning, I found my little table with some artfully placed books, a informational sign about Black Ribbon Affair and a laminated copy of the recent news article about me and Black Ribbon competing with Santa and his merry elves, marvelous aromas of rich hot coffee and flavored popped corn.  

Right next to me the vendor, a friend since high school was doing a booming business with her handmade children’s books, scarves and jewelry.  On the other side a friendly woman Patti did brisk business selling her hand-made soaps and lotions. A bit further down a man offered some beautifully crafted wood pieces.  And so much more enticed from homemade bread, cheese and sausage to apples, jams, jellies and did I mention Santa? 

Writer at work?

However, could I and my book compete?  Maybe I should have dressed as Santa and brought my laptop along?

Well, my table was different and my wares were also.  They made the crowd curious.  People stopped to ask about the life of a writer, how I worked and where.  They asked about the book, sometimes bought one for themselves or as a Christmas gift for a reader on their lists.  I reconnected with people I haven’t seen in years or someone who knew my mother, or a sibling, or a child. 

I did sell books.  Maybe not as many as I might have liked, but I met people, made connections to other people and venues I might consider doing a signing or a meet the author event, places I didn’t know about.  I exchanged information with people who might be helpful in the future and this published author journey continues. 

That glittery cloth enhances the books

What did I learn yesterday?  That the joy in a person’s face and eyes you see reflected when they ask about your passion and show interest in what you do can be as important as another immediate sale.  They may go to Amazon.com or their nearest bookstore and order a copy.  They will read my website and my blog and perhaps stay in touch.

If I only gain two solid fans from yesterday, that’s two more than I had on Friday. 

And found a topic for today’s blog posting.   

Am I wearing rose-colored glasses about this?  Should I be grumpy that I didn’t sell out?

Thanksgiving Bounty

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and found things to be thankful for despite our dreary world. 

Often when our world appears most dreary and we see more trials than gifts in our lives, we wonder what we can be thankful for.  If we look around us with a new perspective we find our gifts and should give thanks for them.  

Maybe those gifts aren’t as big and showy as in years past. Maybe they come disguised as trouble.  But if we dig around in our lives and fight to get through to a better day and fewer personal trials, we become stronger, more resilient, more wise. 

And aren’t those qualities far greater and more lasting?  Able to help us continue to grow as a person? 

I believe this and I see it as a theme in all I write.  In all I live. 

As those I love gathered round my Thanksgiving table this week, we gave thanks and gave one reason why.  It wasn’t easy, three are now unemployed—thank you to our economic issues, one is severely disabled and each day is a struggle for survival, two others have health issues and one might be facing a surgery that could alter his life’s activities. 

But each had at least one solid reason to give thanks.  We are blessed. 

Make a Wish for next year

What am I thankful for?  My family, my husband, my friends, my creativity, my book published and selling.  I could name many more. 

What are you thankful for?

A Fall Bouquet

My posts the past few weeks have been about new experiences since Black Ribbon Affair has been released.

Sorry, okay–not really , you’re getting another post on new experiences for a debut author.

On Monday morning I had my first phone interview with a reporter from our local newspaper.  She does several continuing columns and I have long admired her deft hand with words and topics. Those of you who are writers and interact with other writers are familiar with the pitfalls and/or skepticism of some interviewers.  No matter the genre of romance writers or the excellent writing quality, we often have to endure less than flattering portrayals of our work.

I’m very happy to report my reporter was interested, friendly and positive.

The result was an interview I’ll always treasure and probably have to reread often when I encounter less positive reports.

Another result of the interview was  many phone calls, emails, and cards from friends, relatives and acquaintances who had read the interview and wanted to send me congratulations.

Needless to say, that pushed me through the rest of the week.  One that had more than normal crises and problems in my daily life.  Good thing I learned long ago that establishing priorities and handling stress when it mounts higher than Mount Rainier was a survival skill I had to depend upon.

My week closed on Saturday.  First up, not a new experience but one I appreciated.

My writing group hosted  an excellent and thought-stimulating presentation by Leanna Renee Hieber.  She described her cross genre book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, published by Leisure Books as a Victorian Gothic romance, a cross between Jane Austen and Ghostbusters.  This talented young woman not only writes, but is also involved in the theater and uses acting and directing techniques in developing her writing scenes.

Toward the end of her presentation, she asked us to use one of her methods and apply it in our minds to a scene we are currently writing or going to write. Now I had been working one a scene all week but I wasn’t quite sure about its place in the progression of my heroine’s growth.  Nor was I happy with it.  Using Leanna’s exercise brought me to better understand the importance of this scene and how to pull it together. I feel much more confident about next week’s writing and what I must accomplish from here on out in this project.

Wow!  But I often have light-bulb moments when I’m fortunate enough to attend a writers  meeting.

My week still offered me one more new experience.  My first booksigning in a PUBLIC setting.  This time a Waldenbooks in one of the larger shopping malls in our corner of the state.  Saturday was a lovely day.  The mall was very busy and crowded.

That was a good sign.  After all people were out and in a shopping mood. Maybe my worst fears wouldn’t happen.  I wouldn’t be left sitting in the bookstore surrounded by all my books.  But no one was interested in buying them.

Leanna Renee Hieber and I at booksigning

Leanna was also signing her book.  Having a colleague made the experience not quite so daunting.  We could talk about writing topics if no one showed up to talk to us about our books.  Or to buy them if they were interested.

Yes, Leanna and I learned a bit more about each other during the infrequent lulls at the signing.  She’s a delightful, interesting woman.  We had steady streams of people stop, chat and buy books during the hours of the signing.  The whole event proved very successful.  The bookstore manager and employees were very pleased with the result.

Needless to say, so was I.  I’m sure Leanna was, too.

Two Happy Authors

One perfect piece of my favorite chocolate truffle capped the afternoon for me.  I hope Leanna enjoyed the treat also.  How did that delectable treat arrive?  Through the magic that embodies Edie.  She always seems to provide the perfect ending.  Thank you, Edie.

I am truly blessed.  This past week held major firsts for me.  I’ll live on those memories for a very long time and use them to keep me focused on working toward other new goals.  My memories will also serve as consolation when life doesn’t go smoothly.  Those memories will prod me into not giving up hope or quit on my journey.  Real life is all about peaks and valleys, sometimes, fathomless dark pits.  Just like what I do with my characters in books.  But I can control the outcomes.

My niece Beth--One of my greatest fans & supporters

Too bad, I can’t do that with my life.

What do you do to help you get out of the pits and treasure the peaks?

Black Ribbon Affair is introduced

I survived my first book-signing on Friday, the 13^th.  Scary?  Frightful? 

Not a chance.  Everything behind the scenes ran smoothly.  I managed my pre-signing jitters.  I’m too mature and seasoned to worry about a zit or suffer a bad hair day.  I’ve come to terms with my body image. 

Using my booksigning pen

With my virgin book-signing pen, which my dear female friends since school days gave me, I was ready.  For my maiden voyage.  Hard to believe it’s only taken me a few decades to see this event happen.  But it did. 

Desserts & appetizers--yum yum

Thanks to my dear sister who decorated the room and those great forever friends who provided fantastic desserts and appetizers, a great punch drink, we were ready. 

Even our local newspaper sent a photographer who was personable, chatty, asked great questions and looked great enough to be a very interesting hero in a novel. 

But would people come and be interested in Black Ribbon Affair, my book or just to enjoy the desserts, punch, coffee and tea?  After all, it was Friday, the 13^th. 

I should worry about world peace or the economy or healthcare… 

I have the answers

We had steady groups of people arrive, over a 100.  Many already had their books and had read them.  They had wonderful questions, great remarks, and all asked, “When’s the next book with Caitlin and Mike?  We want more about them.”  All who wanted their books signed and were already telling their reader friends about what a great read Black Ribbon Affair is. Others bought a book or two for friends who couldn’t make the signing. 

Those who came who didn’t have the book bought one, sometimes more than one and wanted them signed.  All agreed to spread the word about my book.  

I know all book-signings won’t be as productive but I have to say my virgin experience was one to remember always.  My readers are unanimous: Black Ribbon Affair is a page turner. 

I got flowers from a grateful reader

This week I have two more scheduled, a private one for a book club which has read the book and another one at Southridge Mall in Milwaukee at the Waldenbooks.  2- 4 PM., Saturday, November 21^st.  If you can make it, I’d love to see you there. 

Ivan left a few "gifts"

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few comments.  Perhaps they will whet your reading appetite.  “That fireplace scene – wow, really hot.”  “Where did you find Ivan?  Did you really know someone like him?”   “What happens to Rachel?”  “What a fantastic ending.  How did you think of that?”

Lips 1

Lips.

We all have them.  Some of us love the ones we have, some never think about lips, and some spend many dollars to enhance the ones they were born with—almost to the point of them looking unnatural.

We can’t all have Angelina Jolie lips.  Nor should we wish to.  I know I’d look horrid with a set of lips like that—too out of proportion.

However, lips are a very visible part of our anatomy.  Often first impressions of sometime or a quick read of emotions might be done by viewing a person’s lips.

Lips 2

When I am developing a character’s description, I sometimes have a clear idea of how their lips are shaped.  Sometimes not.  But as I write character’s lips come into play with action.  How can someone sneer or snarl without a bit of lip action.

Describing the sensations of a kiss.  Or a kiss itself.  Lips are integral to the action and the response.

So I thought about having a bit of an interactive exercise today.  Look at the lips below.

Lips A

Lips B

Lips C

What do you think the owners are feeling or doing or have done?  Might you be able to get a sense of age? Income?  Profession?

Could I develop a character starting only with a pair of disembodied lips?

Or do we need the whole face to create a character and his or her actions?

Let me know what you think?

“There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.”  G.K. Chesterton

Baby Blue Eyes

I’ve been thinking a lot about characters this week.  And real people who are characters.

I’ve been thinking also about what makes me take a second look at a person and think: I want to get to know more about you.

My mind kept circling back to two items.  Eyes and heart.

For eyes it’s not so much the color or the shape, but it’s what those eyes reflect.  Such characteristics as joy, sadness, intelligence, illness, age, youth, goodness,guile, evil.  You get the picture.

What about these?

As for the heart?  Well, some of the least healthy hearts are really those that have the greatest amount of love and joy in them.  They are heart healthy in personhood if not in cardiac terms.  In know several.

On the other hand, some of the healthiest hearts I’ve known appear the most selfish.  They might have perfect hearts, but not perfect personhood.

I play around with these ideas as I flesh out my characters.  Just as an excellent cardiac surgeon and cardiologist might be able to repair and make healthy a sick heart, as a writer, I can do the same to a character whose got some personhood that can sparkle if I do my job well.

Ah, but what about those eyes?  Well, modern medicine can make tired, old eyes look better, and I guess a writer can do the same.  But somehow I think the essence of who and what a character is emerges from his or her will and intellect.  So as a writer, I can’t do much to change the essence in my characters’ eyes and what they express.  Only my characters can lead the way in that process.  Their eyes are direct links to their souls.

Dark Eyes

I guess that’s true in real life also.  We can change our eye color with contacts, get rid of puffiness, bags and dark circles with a variety of methods from Preparation H to cosmetic surgery.  But that light from within is ours alone.  Only we can change it.  Or keep it aglow.

I must remember that as I work with my characters and as I react to those around me whom I love.

What’s your view on hearts and eyes?

Characters.

Trick or treat moose

As writers we deal with them in our books.  As TV and movie watchers we bond with some on the screen, detest others, and remain neutral about others.  As members of a family we see characters within our family circles.  As friends, we see them emerge within our friendship circle.

No matter what our perspective, we all deal with characters.

As a writer, I am often asked how I find my characters.  I’ve taken classes which explain how to build characters and how you must know them well before you begin writing.  Sometimes that process works for me.  But not often.

Sure, when I start a new project I have ideas and jot down some basics, but really each character builds on his or her own energy.  Sure, I know some very important elements about my characters, their demons, their flaws, their strengths.  Or I think I know.

But often in the course of working with them for hours each day, I discover layers and issues I had no clue about before I began.   Usually, I worry about this.  Could these new discoveries, these new twists of character ruin my story, kill my character uniqueness in the view of my readers?  Will what I find so intriguing and special about my characters turn off others or worse, leave them totally neutral?

But those characters keep bugging me if I don’t be true to them.  So I listen to them as the world on the pages I write is their world, not mine.

I think I’ve been true to this concept in my just released book, Black Ribbon Affair.  Two people who’ve read it and have known ME for years, have remarked that the voices they heard, the world they read about in Black Ribbon wasn’t me or the world they know I inhabit.  They entered the worlds of Caitlin, Mike, Rachel and others.

I believe this is high praise.  Not for me, but for my characters.  All I did was listen to them.

In the project I’m working on now, I have a character I really thought I’d be killing off in some way.  Just because he’s so selfish and self-destructive.  Instead, I find he’s insisting on staying alive and putting himself into greater trouble.  All that ripples out to his family.  Maybe at some point, he’ll allow me to sideline him—somehow.  But for now, he’s still in my chapters.  Always hurting himself far more than others.

Tricker Moose

I guess I won’t know him completely until I get to the end of the story.

What about you?  Do characters in your lives, your stories, or family or friends rule you?  Do you continue to find new layers to them as you continue your interactions?

So what was it?

An afternoon tea in the White House, “the people’s house,” as Mary Todd Lincoln referred to it.  She was the tea’s hostess.  Her feature guest, Mrs. Cordelia Perrine Harvey was the widow of the Governor Louis Powell Harvey, Wisconsin’s recently deceased governor.

Okay, no dream here. Or time travel.  Just a very informative and entertaining afternoon at Kenosha WI’s new Civil War Museum.

Mary Todd Lincoln hold a tea

Mrs. Lincoln was most gracious.  She even granted me permission to snap a few photos of her after she had finished her presentation.  She looked charming in a light blue flower patterned frock with a short jacket of a solid blue.  She marveled at the camera which didn’t require long minutes of posing absolutely frozen until the shot was taken.  She showed more amazement at the immediacy of seeing the results and approved my photos.

Mrs. Lincoln talked a bit about her mission to redo the White House which in her words was nothing more than a “stinking pig sty” when her family arrived.  She so enjoyed that task though it has brought her no amount of distressing newspaper coverage and a marital discussion about finances with “Mr. Lincoln.”

She mentioned her enjoyment of the only house in Springfield, IL that she and Mr. Lincoln owned.  How Mr. Lincoln complimented her on her purchase of “gee-gaws and doo-dads” for the Springfield home as well as the Executive Mansion.  She informed Mr. Lincoln and us she never purchased “gee-gaws or doo-dads.”

A very personable and at times very humorous in a very ladylike manner provided tiny details of her life with such a man as her husband.  His worry about her weight, his love letters when he was away, how they handled the death of their son.  She left us for a time as her two surviving sons were ill with a slight fever and she wished to check on them.  While Mrs. Lincoln was gone, the staff served us our tea, sandwiches, salads, and a most delightful assortment of desserts.

When the First Lady returned, she indicated the boys were doing better.  She provided a bit more background about Mrs. Harvey to introduce the widow’s subject of discussion.

A study in contrast to Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harvey wore stiff black heavy silk and a small black hat.  Her only touches of color were a white lace handkerchief attached to her belt, a bit of white blouse, and a tiny white feather in her hat.  Even more petite than Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harvey bustled efficiently and spoke clearly but more quicker.  A study of northern woman vs a daughter of the south.

Mrs. Cordelia Harvey, Wisconsin's Angel

Known as the “Wisconsin Angel” for her service to wounded and ill Union soldiers, Mrs. Harvey was in Washington to plead with Mr. Lincoln, Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton.  After Mrs. Harvey’s death the new Wisconsin governor appointed her to the mission of seeing to the needs of Wisconsin soldiers serving in the western zones.  Her husband had died an accidental death while visiting infirmaries housing Wisconsin soldiers.  His last letter to her mentioned the despair of the men who were receiving neither care, food, or the concern of loved ones while they lay on dirty cots and died of disease.

Armed with her husband’s last words and a need to serve, Mrs. Harvey entered the camps with more authority than just being a worker.  She had a title and the Wisconsin governor’s backing.  What she found appalled her.  She quickly realized while the injuries and deaths from bloody battles along the Mississippi River states (and she went as far south as Vicksburg) were high, higher still were preventable deaths due to disease, unsanitary conditions, fevers, and diarrhea.  No one talked to these men who longed for home.

She believed moving these people out of the hospitals and sending them north to “clean, disease-free northern air” would hasten their recovery.  So would better supplies of food and clean supplies which were almost non-existent in the camps.

That’s why she beseeched President Lincoln, over the period of several days.  Her story showed her determination in meeting with him and his conflict with justice, politics, and dwindling resources.  Her meetings were much the same with the Secretary of War, but her determination impressed President Lincoln.  She won her request and recovering soldiers were moved north to hospitals near families and supplies.

Two strong and determined women, but different in their approaches.  A genteel setting.  A most interesting afternoon.  You can learn more about either woman with the links I provided.