It’s that time again. A chance to catch up a little about my efforts writing, my current work in progress, some upcoming events, an interview with another great author and of course, music. But there is something special about today’s news. After all, it’s March 19, or numerically, it’s 319. Which happens to be part of the title of one of my most popular books. When I began this newsletter, having it appear on the nineteenth each month was a way to set it apart from others. Time to get started! Writing Recently I was chatting with a couple of my students who are interested in writing. One brought up the topic of dialogue. Turns out this is something she struggles with. It reminded me of a conversation I once had with the late great Elmore Leonard. We met at a small bookstore in downtown Detroit, where he was autographing his latest release. There was a lull in customer traffic and Leonard was kind enough to chat with me for a while. When the topic turned to dialogue, he gave me a sly grin. Leonard explained that not everyone speaks in complete sentences, using proper English. This is absolutely the case, especially if you’re writing contemporary stories. He encouraged me to simply listen to how people talk and learn from that. I took his advice and have run with it ever since. Perhaps that helps all my characters be so relatable to readers. Speech patterns and dialogue make the difference. Dialogue is critical to a good tale. It helps to move the story forward. Too much narration and description can tend to bog down the action. And it can result in a reader losing interest. I related this to my students. Both seem surprised at the idea of characters not speaking in complete sentences. I encouraged them to give it a try with their own stories. Work In Progress Leo Agonasti is a patient man. Yes, he’s one of my characters, but that’s also one of his traits. I know this because despite my best intentions, work on his story has been put on hold. My writing time has been focused on finalizing the revisions on “Rules of Desperation” the novel I wrote a long time ago. The plan is to finish this draft and ship it off to my editor, Diana K. Penn at Pages Promotions. Diana will weave her magic and make it pretty. It will be self-published in time for the festival season. Meanwhile, I’ll get back to Leo’s story. He’s far more patient than I ever claimed to be. Here's a picture of what Leo might look like. Events Yes, it’s that time of year! I’ve been looking for new venues to display my books and talk to readers. This month I’ll be at the Portage District Library on Friday, the 22nd and the Delta Marriott on Saturday, the 30th. If you’re in the western Michigan area, be sure to stop by and say hello. I’ll have plenty of copies of the books available. Spotlight Each month it’s my pleasure to feature another author I’ve connected with. Kristoffer Gair and I met about a year ago. We were both part of a monthlong virtual book festival with Diana at Pages Promotions. Kristoffer has a quick wit and is a talented writer. Time to get to know him. Tell us about yourself and how you became an author. My mother was a huge reader, and she got me started reading at a very early age. I loved how stories could take you somewhere else, how they played to your imagination, could make you laugh (Judy Blume), or make you cry (Wilson Rawls). Mom had an affinity for The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, so I used to read those before graduating to an adult favorite of hers, Sydney Sheldon. Watching Salem's Lot on TV started me on Stephen King, and a friend later turned me on to Anne Rice. It didn't feel like a stretch for me back in the day to want to write a story of my own, mostly to see if I could elicit the kind of reactions I experienced from reading, or the reactions my classmates experienced. I loved movies and I loved reading, so why not combine the two passions and tell the kind of stories I wanted to watch? That's what started me on my way. Honestly, I'd have been happy being a B-movie horror director. Instead, I continue to write the kinds of stories I wish had been around when I was a teenager, or what I would have liked to have watched on a Friday or Saturday night with a giant tub of hot buttered popcorn. Do you ever imagine one of your novels being made into a movie or television series? I think the majority of my novels could easily translate to the screen. That's how I think when I'm writing anyway; cinematically. One of my degrees is in Film, and the other is in Creative Writing. Unfortunately, with the political climate the way it currently is with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, constant accusations of grooming and so many other toxic elements, I would never expect there to be any interest in my work becoming a film. Or, if there was interest, I fear they would either want to eliminate or downplay the orientations of the characters, or diverge from the stories entirely, all in order to appease the studio. That’s unfortunate. But if it were to happen, are there any favorite actors you’d cast in the lead roles? Nothing comes to mind for this one. Previous books? Sure. But this one? The characters have been unique for me to write because the story was never planned, yet two of them carried over from the previous book. So, however I thought they looked as minor characters in the last one has carried over into this one. That makes sense. What is your writing process? For instance, do you do an outline first? Do you write the chapters in sequence? My writing process is fairly haphazard due to my day job schedule. It almost feels like I piecemeal a story together based on when I am able to write, and what scene I'm inspired to tackle at that moment. In beginning a new book, however, I always write the prologue and first chapter, then the last chapter and epilogue. I don't know why. It's just the way it happens because I know how I want the story to begin and how I want it to end. I also have an idea of where the middle of the story to be, but how we get there, and then from there is what comes together during the writing itself. My preference is to write in order after the beginning and end are written. However, if I'm inspired by a scene or bit of dialogue, I will write ahead and sketch that scene out, then see how it fits in when I get to the part where it naturally belongs within the story. I'm not a fan of outlines and never have been. They feel restrictive and even though they can be changed, my first response to an outline is to completely go against it. I also create a playlist of music over the course of the book. I'll hear a song that fits a scene, or I'll have something in mind for it already, and I'll put the songs in order according to how they fit in the story. Then, whenever I need have something that helps me slip right back into writing that particular book, I can listen to its soundtrack. I like that approach. Outlines are too restrictive for me as well. I like the playlist idea. Tell us about the characters in your latest book. There were a couple of characters in my previous novel, Butterflies I Have Known, who readers started asking me if they would see more of. I never had any plans of doing anything else with them—I had no plans for a sequel—and I didn't feel they had their own stories. Well, I was wrong. A very, very secondary character in Butterflies, Cristian Orr, is front and center in Snow Angels in the Dust. The thirty-two-year-old former administrative assistant to a famous WWII photographer, Milton Glass, is known to be cool as steel in the face of adversity, is an amazing researcher, extremely articulate, and possesses admirable instincts. His past, however, remains unknown. Sending Cristian halfway around the world to a country where he is totally out of his element will bring his past to the surface in what amounts to a personal journey he never could have seen coming. Nhất is in his early 40s, and acts as a guide and translator for Cristian in Vietnam. He also has a past that is shrouded in mystery and is the reason he may be an alcoholic. Nhất is far more carefree in how he deals with people, especially Cristian, but doesn't mince words when it comes to getting the job done. He and Cristian don't trust each other, and what trust does come between them is earned the hard way. There is also a connection between Nhất and a previous novel, Falling Awake III: Requiem, that allows for his own personal journey in this story as well. That’s a great approach to utilize minor characters from earlier works. Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write? I generally know who my main players are going to be. In the case of Snow Angels in the Dust, I knew I wanted to explore Cristian's life, and that Milton Glass would also be a presence in the story despite his having passed in Butterflies. Beyond that, when I needed a character, the first thing that goes through my mind is "What is going to make this character interesting for me to write? What are their quirks? How am I not going to get bored with them?" Every character needs their quirks. Can you share an excerpt? I would love to. However, I'm officially in the editing stage where the entire story is being ripped apart and put back together again, and I don't want to share something that's not quite ready yet. What’s the next project you’ll be working on? Once Snow Angels in the Dust is ready to go (hopefully in time for a June release), I'll be back to finishing my first Young Adult novel. It'll be an experiment of sorts. My lead characters happen to be gay, only I won't be using that word in this one, and we'll see if it still gets banned in Florida. You can learn more about Kristoffer at the links below. https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JP0C8U Website: www.kristoffergair.com Music
I stumbled upon some tracks from an old favorite last week. Joe Walsh has been performing for more than fifty years, with bands such as The James Gang and The Eagles, in addition to a solo career. With the Eagles he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017. Here’s my top five favorites from Joe Walsh. Funk 49: https://youtu.be/AbyKhl4N6G4?si=oW2nbqz_xAhA9DaK Rocky Mountain Way: https://youtu.be/4Fz-mHGXgzs?si=3uwHEXZdlxMrPft3 Life’s Been Good: https://youtu.be/T204WpZSbLw?si=IMJoYLjKdP9AyV4Z In the City: https://youtu.be/xUDFMl-TsaA?si=rZ8ORDw3c2Q59Ycl All Night Long: https://youtu.be/C4OHClAv5IQ?si=k3PUT0yoxr-0h_h9
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