Last month, I attended the Next Step writer’s conference, which was hosted by Redwood Writers, our local branch of The California Writing Club. The day was filled with excellent presentations, plenty of schmoozing, and learning about the business side of writing. I left the day feeling invigorated and ready to take some important next steps in my own life.
One step was volunteering as editor for The Redwood Writer. While the prior editor did an excellent job on the newsletter, I envisioned a new look with a table of contents, columns, submission guidelines, and an editor’s section. After much work with a wonderful team, we finished our first edition for June 2012 and published it on May 25, 2012. So far, I have gotten many emails of kudos and encouragement.
Another step was to start revising my novel to give my characters more color and life, as well as to rid the plot of too many coincidences. I have been working on the revision for the last couple of weeks now, and I find this process more difficult because I have to make sure the “new breath” is woven throughout the book and is consistent to the end. Once I am finished, I will start the query process again.
I am looking forward to more taking many more small steps with regards to my writing. Once I complete my family research, I would like to put the information together into a booklet for my family. Part of the research will involve writing biographies of key characters in our history, and perhaps some fictional tales derived from known facts and what life might have been like for some of my ancestors.
As for now, I continue to put words onto paper. I am engrossed in How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction, an audio book by my friend Persia Woolley. This book is not just for historical fiction writers, but for anybody who writes fiction. I am about a quarter of the way through already, and I highly recommend this book to anyone.
What is your next step when it comes to your writing? Whatever it is, just remember to take as many steps as you need to reach your goals.
Happy writing all!
Category: Uncategorized
It’s Research!
In researching my family tree, I have come up with some new and amazing information on my grandfather’s mother, Johanna. When Grandpa was three, his mother died. Grandpa and his three siblings were placed into foster care. Grandpa had the memory of his mother, but not much information. In fact, family members had incorrect information on her maiden name, date and place of birth, and her death date. When an aunt gave me the correct surname information, I searched census, birth, and death records, as well as old newspaper articles. I could find nothing. It was almost like Johanna had faded into a forgotten past.
Just when I thought I had hit a dead end, I found a website via Rootsweb to a state-by-state death index. I clicked on Minnesota, put in Johanna’s maiden name, and clicked the search button. Surprise! The first hit was for Johanna, naming the newspaper holding her death notice, along with the newspaper date, page, and column. Her death notice gave enough information for me to learn who her parents were, as well as a little about her life.
Her story is this. Johanna and Charles lived with her father for awhile after her mother’s death in 1918, then they moved on to St. Paul. While they were living in St. Paul, Charles went to a wilderness area near Deer River and got a home ready for his family. Soon after, Johanna and the children joined Charles at their new home. She was there less than two weeks when she got diphtheria and died.
I know from Grandpa’s stories that the years following his mother’s death were difficult. Our family history has been well documented with Grandpa’s accounts of losing his mother, growing up with a cruel foster father, and lessons learned from life circumstances that had had no control over. My grandfather often said the adversity he experienced while growing up taught him how not to treat people.
Researching my past has helped me to find a new connection with my family, especially with those who are long gone. My goal is to write some short stories on family members as I uncover details of their lives. Often times the best characters are based on real people and real situations.
I am preparing to send out some more query letters and also working on my second novel.
Happy writing to all.
History and Family Records-Part 2
My obsession started in December 2011 while I was on vacation. I decided to compile my grandmother’s writings. The more I read the stories of my grandmother’s past, the deeper my passion grew to learn more about my ancestry. After all, Grandma had already started the research on the Bauman and Williams family lines, compiling notes, copies of census records, and vital documents. In her research binders were newspaper articles on her parents’ marriage and her father’s illness and death. She even went as far to hunt down her parents’ marriage certificate, as well as an agreement of adoption for her father when he was a boy. I could not help but be inspired by how my mother’s ancestors survived the trials and tribulations of their time.
After learning more about my mother’s side of the family, I started on a quest to discover details about my father’s side of the family. I browsed genealogy sites, conducted general web searches for family trees, and came across some amazing people who helped me find out more. I found a very distant cousin, who put me in touch with Kenneth Haughton, a family descendant who has written an entire book on our family ancestry. In my genealogy library, I now have a 1200 page book on CD on my family ancestry. Since, I have corresponded with two distant relatives who have sent me family information.
I am still researching and coming up with information on my family tree five generations back. This evening I found the marriage certificate at ancestry.com of my great-great grandparents. I mean, what could be better than that?
While there are many triumphs in my family research, there are also false leads. For example, my mother’s great-great grandfather descended from Germany. In fact my grandfather’s father came from there in about 1885 or thereabouts. I thought I had found the immigration passenger list with him and his young wife. After tracking down a family history my grandmother (my mother’s mother) had tucked away, I realized I had been tricked by the names being the same. Later on, I found more information on his arrival to the United States.
My adventures in family research have led me to wonder what their lives were like back then. Most people didn’t have luxuries, and if they did they were not the same kinds of things we have today. Two hundred years ago you might have found wealthy people with a fancy house, fancy clothes, and maybe nice outhouses and a shower house.
As I continue my research, I look forward to writing some stories about my ancestor’s lives..The nice thing about fiction is that you can write about real people, put them in circumstances of their day, and build some great stories. There is no reason to know the exact details of a person’s life, facts and imagination are enough to come up with a good story.
Meanwhile, I have my query letter out to agents and have heard back on a few. Most are standard rejections, but a few agents have provided compliments on my writing. I will keep querying, writing, and researching family history.
Happy writing!
History and Family Records
A few years after my grandmother passed away and my grandfather decided to move in with my aunt and uncle, I was given a large box containing Grandma’s belongings. In the box were several binders and papers in loose folders containing her writing. Grandma loved to write.
Grandma was a woman strong in what she believed, grounded in her Christian faith, and never afraid to speak up when she thought someone was doing something to hurt themselves. One of the things I loved most about her was her love of life and her ability to make delicious lemonade out of the rotten lemons that life sometimes delivered.
This week while on vacation, I have had the opportunity to archive Grandma’s writings, all 500 or so pages. One volume contains her typewritten memoirs about growing up in the twenties and thirties. Her biological father died when she was eleven months old, leaving her mother to try and raise Grandma and her siblings on her own. In Memories of Past Times, my Grandmother wrote:
My father built the house we lived in, which sat near the river in Georgetown, Illinois. He was a carpenter and also worked on the railroad repairing tracks. He made all the furniture in the home. Each piece was done with tender loving care and finished just right, as it was a gift to his family. He also made the cradles we slept in as babies.
When my father passed away, my mother lost the house my father had built because of back taxes, and had to go to work in a second hand store to provide food, clothing and shelter for her family.
In addition to pages of her memories, my grandmother left behind two wonderful treasures. The first is an undated handwritten letter titled To all our Grandchildren. Even though I had perused these same writings when I was first given her writings, this was the first time I actually saw this soul-revealing letter. She talked about the difficulty of her own life and her spiritual journey and then provided her own advice to living a good life. I transcribed this letter and today sent it to all my cousins.
The second treasure has to do with a story my grandmother told her children while they were growing up. From what I understand, it was a serial story that she spread over several nights, maybe even months. My aunts all loved to listen to Grandma’s adventure and were disappointed that she never wrote it down. Well, just yesterday I found a faded handwritten copy of Leilani in the Jungle. It is difficult to read but I think I can transcribe it for future generations.
When I was asked to be the family historian, I was not sure how to organize our family history. Now, I have created a small library containing stories, poetry, and Grandma’s genealogical research, as well as other things that were special to her. I hope that my family will find as much joy from reading her memoirs as I do.
Fall and Writing
Today was beautiful with dark skies and intermittent rain. Wind sent the wind chimes hanging from my eaves into a musical dance. My therapy today was sweeping the yellowed maple leaves from my deck and carport. As soon as I had the driveway cleared, a gust of wind came along and sprinkled more leaves on the concrete. Such is life with so many things out of my control.
I have been working with diligence on my query letter for my novel The Man and the Mandolin, but I have been having great trouble getting it down to the bread on top, the bread on the bottom, and then all the story-meat in the middle. I have posted numerous versions of my query letter at the Absolute Write forums. Their feedback has been helpful and informative.
Right now, I am fine-tooth reviewing my manuscript to make sure it is as error free as I can get it. One fellow member of Absolute Write suggested I write out lists of (1) ten places where the reader might not be able to put my book down, (2) ten places where my protagonist’s mind is messed with (because I have deemed my novel’s genre as psychological thriller), (3) ten problems my protagonist has to overcome, (4) ten problems and why they are obstacles, and (5) what the protagonist must do to solve the problems. Once I have these lists, I choose the strongest ones and build my query. I will also have all the main points in which to construct my synopsis.
I have also been working on my other work in progress, which is a paranormal mystery. I have written about 20,000 words, which means it is about one-quarter completed. My goal is to write this as an 80,000 word novel.
My fiftieth birthday was yesterday, which I celebrated with the man I love. It’s amazing that I have reached a half-century of life. I as if I have acquired some kind of wisdom from being on this earth so long, yet I feel as young as I have always felt. I am not willing to put up with stuff that I tolerate when I was younger. Maybe these are all lessons about growing up.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This will be one of the first Thanksgivings I have not spent with my aunts and uncle and at least once grandparent since the passing of my grandfather in April. I miss him every single day. I also understand the need of my family to do something different on Thanksgiving. Change is inevitable.
My goals for this fall are to write as much as I can and to get that query letter out the door to more agents. I want to complete my synopsis. I want to be completely prepared in case for when agents request my synopsis and full manuscript.
In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will try and not go so long between blog entries.
Stroking the Pen 