Saturday, March 26, 2016

FOUR IMPORTANT INGREDIENTS


THE JOY OF STORY
John M. Daniel’s Blog
March 26, 2016



Greetings! Welcome to The Joy of Story, my weekly blog in which I chat about writing, publishing, and enjoying stories of all kinds. This week I’ve chosen to review four essential ingredients of truly great stories. And even if you don’t aspire to true greatness when you write stories (for that matter, why aren’t you aspiring to true greatness?) these ingredients will help you have more fun while you’re writing, more pride when you’ve written, and more pleasure for your readers.

Bear in mind these aren’t the only ingredients you’ll need to make your stories as good as they can be. But they are among the top ten, and they’re high on the list.

1. Stories need plot, and plot means change. Something has to happen to someone in the story. That character, or those characters, will be different in the end from how they started out because of what’s happened to them in the course of the plot. Quite often that change is the consequence of a choice, although sometimes the change is a matter of unavoidable circumstance. Either way, the change is what makes a story a story.

2. Stories need conflict. Without a conflict, the piece of writing is not a story, but a simple sketch. Conflict is especially important in stories about relationship. The story of a couple in love only works when the couple must resolve, or fail to resolve, conflict.

3. Stories need to be important. Write something that matters. Even when you’re writing a fluffy story for entertainment value only, make it about some crucial aspect of the human condition. Make it meaningful. Write about love and death. A tall order? Maybe, but I assure you you’re up to it. One of the reasons you’re a writer is to discover truth and then to impart that truth to readers.

4. Okay, I hear you. You’re saying, “John, get off that high horse.” Right. Lighten up. Got it. A story has to have some sort of entertainment value. It must make the reader or the listener weep or laugh. If the story’s preachy and dry your audience will put it aside with a shrug. So make your stories enjoyable, even if you’re writing about heavy stuff. Hint: entertainment has a lot to do with style. Style is a whole new topic for another time.

Meanwhile remember, practice, and use the four essential ingredients listed above, and your stories will be well on the road. If you want an example of a novel that full of plot, conflict, importance, and yes, entertainment—in spades—read Susan Altstatt’s brilliant novel Belshangles. That’s the book I’m promoting whole-heartedly this week. You’ll find more information about this debut novel below.


§§§


Calling all authors—
I feature a guest author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com. Please consider this a good promotion opportunity. 

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for April’s 99-word story submissions is April 1 (no foolin’). The stories will appear on my blog post for April 9 and will remain on the blog during the following week.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer, per month.
3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.
6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: “Spring can really hang you up the most.” In case you’re wondering, this prompt is taken from a torch song by the same name, written by Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf. The song title is in turn inspired by T. S. Eliot’s line from The Wasteland, “April is the cruelest month.” What did Eliot mean by that? You tell me. NO, you show me in a 99-word story!

§§§

And now, as promised:
Recently published by Daniel & Daniel, Publishers, Inc.



Belshanagles

a novel by

Susan Altstatt

978-1-56474-578-1

240 pages, trade paperback, $15.95



Order from your local independent bookstore 
or direct from the publisher: 800-662-8351.
Also available from Amazon and other on-line booksellers.
 A starstruck teenager kidnaps a rock star and holds him captive for a week. Fear and hatred turn to respect and recovery.

The day after his concert tour closes in San Francisco, Tommi Rhymer, frontman of the English band Belshangles, comes to in a wilderness cabin. He has no clue where he is, or how he got there.
In the loft above him lies fifteen-year-old Miranda “Andy” Falconer. Her perfect day at the Belshangles concert went horribly wrong when her idol passed out in the alley behind his San Francisco hotel, in a state of undress with two under-age girls. But she knows rescuing him to her parents’ Sierra cabin was the right thing to do. What she doesn’t know are the physical and emotional effects of cold turkey withdrawal.
Now Andy’s on her own in the deep woods, faced with a sick, furious, potentially violent man. She’ll need physical and spiritual resources she never knew she had to care for, outwit, and eventually outrun Tommi, before sanity and sense of humor return, and he recognizes the chance she’s offered him to put his life in order.
Belshangles is a bittersweet love story, a tale of imprisonment and conflict, redemption and growth.


Susan Altstatt has degrees in theater from Stanford and UCLA, where she attended as a Wilson Fellow and won a Goldwyn award for playwriting. She has since been acclaimed as a painter of the California wild lands. Belshangles is her first novel, and the first book of a trilogy. It was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards competition. She lives in Los Altos Hills, California.


§§§

That’s it for this week and this month of March. Thank you for tuning in. Next month, April, is National Poetry Month. It also brings us rain and taxes. Let’s make a point of writing and telling stories inspired by weather and finance, and even in our prose, let’s inject a little poetry.






Saturday, March 19, 2016

WHEN CHARACTERS TAKE CHARGE OF THE PLOT


THE JOY OF STORY
John M. Daniel’s Blog
March 19, 2016



Greetings story tellers, story writers, and anyone who enjoys hearing or reading or writing a good story! This week, I’m pleased to present mystery writer Elaine Faber. Elaine has an interesting relationship with her characters (some human, some feline). They seem to have minds of their own, and they often steal the plot and run with it. Elaine’s solution? Let the characters have their way. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?

Read Elaine’s essay “Highjacking Characters,” which appears below, for a good laugh and some wise words. But first a reminder:

For those who don’t know, I feature 99-word stories on this blog during the second week of every month. You’re invited to participate by sending me your stories.

The prompt for next month (April) is “Spring can really hang you up the most.” In case you’re wondering, this prompt is taken from a torch song by the same name, written by Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf. The song title is in turn inspired by T. S. Eliot’s line from The Wasteland, “April is the cruelest month.” What did Eliot mean by that? You tell me. NO, you show me in a 99-word story!

For further details, see the rules below, at the bottom of this post. Now please turn your attention to guest author Elaine Faber:

§§§

Highjacking Characters
by Elaine Faber

As an author, I often hear the question “Where do your ideas come from?” An idea for a novel may come from a newspaper article or a personal experience. Often some aspects of our characters are based on friends, relatives, or neighbors. Some authors develop a rough idea for a plot and characters, and let the characters tell their own story. That’s how I write.

I’ve found that my characters may highjack the story. I follow their lead until the scene plays out. When this happens, it may take surprising directions. It is most unnerving and I have to ask, “How do I get him out of this?” Of course, about then is when the mischievous character decides to take a vacation and leaves me trying to resolve the muddle they just created.

My parents used to tell me that as a toddler, I buried my toys in the sand and my dad had to dig them up. Aha! The proverbial light bulb flashed over my head! What if years ago, a toddler buried something and it became the clue to solving a murder?

With that concept, I started writing my first novel. I thought it was a story about a divorcee who wants to solve her father’s cold-case murder, but without my knowing why, Black Cat (Thumper) jumped into the tale, took over, and became the catalyst of the story. Black Cat’s Legacy was born. With his ancestors’ memories, he must help Kimberlee solve the murder. This led to Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer and Black Cat and the Accidental Angel. (available at Amazon in paperback and e-book)

I also often hear the question “What about writer’s block?” Again, authors have many answers. When this happens to me, I ask, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” I conjure up several alternatives, pick one and run with it.

Here’s an example: My character is frying bacon and the skillet catches fire. What’s the worst thing that can happen? (WTWTTCH?)

She pulls the fire extinguisher off the wall. It’s empty! WTWTTCH?

She grabs her cellphone to call the fire department. Dead battery! WTWTTCH?

She runs, screaming, to the front door. “Fire, fire! Help!” WTWTTCH?

A religious zealot on the doorstep, shouts, “You tell it, Sister. Repent! Avoid the fires of Hell!”

You get the idea. My skillet-fire illustration just got away from me. I had planned for the character to extinguish the fire. I hadn’t planned anyone at the door... But, my 30-second character took control and finished the scene better than I planned. With my characters, I’m never totally in control. I’m sort of just along for the ride.


My newest book is a humorous WWII novel, Mrs. Odboddy–Hometown Patriot. An elderly Agnes Odboddy, self-appointed scourge of the underworld, sees conspiracies and spies among neighbors and friends. Surprise! Her WWI lover returns to town with romance in mind. Then, a visit from Mrs. Roosevelt creates challenges that put Agnes to the test, and she must prove she is a true warrior on the home front.

A second and third Mrs. Odboddy mystery will follow next year. 


Elaine Faber is a member of Sisters in Crime, Inspire Christian Writers, and Cat Writers Association. Her Black Cat Series is a litter of cozy cat mysteries. With the aid of his ancestors’ memories, Thumper helps solves mysteries. Black Cat’s Legacy; Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, and Black Cat and the Accidental Angel are available at Amazon.

Elaine’s latest novel, Mrs. Odboddy-Hometown Patriot is a riotous romp through small town California during WWII, where conspiracies and spies run amuck…at least in Mrs. Odboddy’s opinion.

Elaine lives in Elk Grove, CA, with her husband of 53 years. (That’s a marriage of 53 years, not a husband of 53 years). They share their home with four house cats, the inspiration for her Black Cat Mysteries. The Agnes Odboddy character is a figment of Elaine’s vivid imagination.

For more about Elaine, visit her website: http://www.mindcandymysteries.com

Books Available at Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/lrvevgm    Black Cat’s Legacy
http://tinyurl.com/lg7yvgq    Lethal Lawyer
http://tinyurl.com/07zcsm2   Accidental Angel
http://tinyurl.com/hdbvzsv    Mrs. Odboddy – Hometown Patriot 

§§§

Calling all authors—
I feature a guest author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com. Please consider this good promotion opportunity. The May guest slot is available!

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for April’s 99-word story submissions is April 1. The stories will appear on my blog post for April 9 and will remain on the blog during the following week.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer, per month.
3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.
6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: “Spring can really hang you up the most.” In case you’re wondering, this prompt is taken from a torch song by the same name, written by Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf. The song title is in turn inspired by T. S. Eliot’s line from The Wasteland, “April is the cruelest month.” What did Eliot mean by that? You tell me. NO, you show me in a 99-word story!

§§§

So long, folks. As always, thank you for stopping by. And as always, may you continue to find pleasure in the Joy of Story.






Saturday, March 12, 2016

SURPRISE!




THE JOY OF STORY
John M. Daniel’s Blog
March 12, 2016

<photo: John teaching photo>

It should come as no surprise that one of the most useful elements of storytelling is surprise itself. I’m thinking mainly of fictional stories (for example, the unexpected turn of events, the revelation of secret information, the sudden change of a character’s nature…these are all staples for almost all mystery and suspense fiction), but surprise also enhances true accounts, and especially memoir pieces.

The main reason surprise is so important to a story, besides that entertaining gasp of the “aha!” moment, is that it almost invariably causes a change—to the plot, to the characters, to the relationship between characters. Change is essential for stories. Change provokes or contributes to the chain of consequences that drive the  plot.

This week I’m pleased to present nine 99-word stories written to the theme “It Hit Me Like a Tornado.” Not surprisingly, each of them contains at lest one surprise.

For those who don’t know, I feature 99-word stories on this blog during the second week of every month. You’re invited to participate by send me your stories. For details, see the rules below, as well as the prompt for April.

Speaking of surprises, please check out the promotion at the end of this post of Bradford Dillman’s new novel, Beneath the Third Waterfall. This startling novel is full of surprises!


§§§

It Hit Me Like a Tornado


GARBLED MESSAGE
by Jim Gallagher

As kids we played a game called telephone. It was fun seeing how a message could change, when passed from person to person.
During one such game, ten kids were seated side-by-side. The first kid whispered a message to the kid on his left, and each kid in succession did the same. The message wasn’t be revealed until it reached the tenth kid, who then said exactly what he had heard.
He stated, “I heard ‘The city likes a tomato.’”
We roared with laughter when the first kid revealed what he had said: “It hit me like a tornado.”

•••

AGES AGO
by Cathy Mayrides

Ages ago, I dedicated myself to becoming a high school dropout.
I knew what time to retrieve the “Notice of Absence” in our mailbox each afternoon. In the morning, I would walk to school but wind up at the bus stop with other reprobates. We would go to Greenwich Village and hang around the Washington Square fountain.
I was busted by the Dean of Girls. She shoved a paper toward me and said, “Sign out. You’re wasting our time here.”
It hit me like a tornado. “No, no,” I said. “I’m staying! I’m graduating!”
Reverse psychology at its best.

•••

SIDE EFFECTS
by Richard Loessing

According to the fine print, my new medication might cause nausea, insomnia, depression, impotence, voracious appetite, narcolepsy, mania, and monster libido. For starters.
Sounded like fun, so I swallowed a dozen tablets and waited to find out who the real me was, stripped of serenity and sanity.
The shitstorm hit me like a steam roller, a sledge hammer, a ton of bricks. I toured the howling, putrid afterlife, burning and freezing till I woke up strapped to this hospital bed.
Such a hangover!
I can’t wait to get discharged, go home, double the dose, and do it again.
Yeah.

•••

BLASPHEMOUS BETTY
by Carol Dray

“Carol Ann, come say hello to your Aunt Betty.”
I stepped away from my game of checkers, casting my brother the stink eye.
Aunt Betty embraced me, a familiar scent awakening something in me. “Ohhh, Carol Ann! I haven’t seen you since your mother took you back when you were six weeks old.”
I looked questioningly towards my mother, who nervously wiped her hands against her starched apron.
“Oh, well…yes. Aunt Betty took care of you for six weeks after you were born. Now run along.”
Later, inhaling my newborn, spellbound, I trembled.
Why did my mother abandon me?

•••

A NEW LIFE
by Jerry Giammatteo

 She sat nervously in the waiting room. He had become ill on the voyage across. Their fate was in the hands of anonymous doctors who were examining him now. She was hopeful, but frightened, a haunted look in her eyes. The children sensed her uneasiness and huddled close.
 At last the door opened and he emerged. He looked at her and as she held his gaze, he smiled. They were free to enter New York.
 The realization hit both like a tornado. They knew no one, and he needed to find work—quickly.
But they were in America to stay.

•••

WHO KILLED TAFFY HOVENSTADT?
by Christine Viscuso

“It hit me like a tornado, sir, me seeing this.” Policeman Weatherly spoke, as Detective Harry Cane walked around the room. “Saw the open door, no lights. Looked in and saw her, Taffy Hovenstadt. Has a bullet between the eyes. Geez, looks like a funeral, with all the flower pieces. All from men.”
 “I see.” Detective Cane pulled a card from a dozen red roses, artfully arranged.
“Some florists sure had a profitable Valentine’s Day.”
“What about the hubby?”
“He sent his. These red roses right here. Has an alibi. Died last evening, sir.”
“Then who killed Taffy Hovenstadt?”

•••

CHECK-OUT TIME
by Pat Shevlin

Brother Ben finally left; his surgery had kept him on Tricia’s couch for the past four nights. 
The phone rang at 8:40 p.m. Friend and fellow foodie Ann calling: “Oh good, you’re home! Can you drive me to the E.R.? I sliced my thumb. It won’t stop bleeding.” 
Two days later, the call was from her closest friend. “I have a huge favor to ask. Can you drive me tomorrow to have a spinal procedure done?” 
It hit Tricia like a Tornado; there was no cell connectivity at the beach.
Peace was a two-hour drive and cresting wave away. 

•••

SHELTER IN PLACE
by Diane S. Morelli

Marianna sat by the only window that overlooked the street. For once, her eyes were not affixed to the sidewalk. She gazed upward.
She was mesmerized by the moonless expanse, a murky celestial ceiling tormented by contorting clouds.
“The sky is like my marriage,” she thought. Her relationship with Luke was stormy when he drank and scary when he beat her with harsh words and hateful hands.
Then it hit her like a tornado.
There was nothing to fear tonight. Luke’s key wouldn’t fit in the tumbler Marianna installed today. He, and his rage, would remain outside the door.

•••

GOING FOR COFFEE
by Diane Hallett

Jane wanted coffee. Starbucks was 26 miles. I was a runner.
I avoided the elephant stampede by jumping off road; the ditch was quick sand. I grabbed a vine and swung myself out. The vine was a snake. I pulled my knife and slashed. The smell of blood attracted a cheetah. He couldn’t go the distance. I ran to the shop.
My wallet at home, I mopped the floor for trade.
Returning, I drank the coffee.
Jane eloped with Sinbad.
Exhausted, I leaped for my bed, missed, finding the jungle floor.
Sleep finally; it hit me like a tornado.

•••

§§§

Calling all authors—
I feature a guest author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for April’s 99-word story submissions is April 1. The stories will appear on my blog post for April 9 and the week following.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer, per month.
3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.
6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR APRIL’S 99-WORD STORY: “Spring can really hang you up the most.”


§§§

And now a word from our sponsor:
Recently published by Daniel & Daniel, Publishers, Inc.






Beneath the Third Waterfall
a novel by Bradford Dillman

$14.95 Trade Paperback
ISBN 978-1-56474-581-1
Order from your local bookstore.
Also available from Amazon
and other online bookstores
and direct from the publisher:
800-662-8351


HIGH SOCIETY, SECRETS, SURPRISE AND SCANDAL
San Franciscans gather for a weekend of competitive frolic

It’s the social event of the season, this summer weekend in 1938 at Waterfalls, the Santa Cruz summer estate of San Francisco millionaires Chester and Lily Moreland. The occasion is their daughter Abigail’s fortieth birthday. Family members and guests arrive, bringing along with them their sporting togs and formal wear, their desires and ambitions, and their fair share of shameful secrets. They play games: golf, cards, pool, horseshoes, and one-upmanship. They drink and they dance, they gossip and squabble, they indulge in sneaky love affairs. It’s all good fun among the upper set until long-hidden family secrets are revealed, and the dark past crashes the party.

Beneath the Third Waterfall is part bedroom farce, part novel of manners, part mystery, and all entertainment.

Bradford Dillman spent 40 years performing on stage, screen, and television. He won a Cannes Film Festival award for his role in “Compulsion,” and he appeared as a guest star in a record eight episodes of the television program “Murder, She Wrote.” According to the brief biography on IMDB, “Dark-haired, Ivy League-looking Bradford Dillman, whose white-collar career spanned nearly five decades, possessed charm and confident good looks… and [an] edgy countenance that often provoked suspicion.” In 1993 he retired from acting to devote himself to writing. Beneath the Third Waterfall is his sixth book. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

 §§§

Thank you for tuning in. Drop by often. And don't forget the Joy of Story!