Tag Archives: authors

The Thing with Feathers (A Short Story)

by

by @AnnieDaylon

 

 I love to enter short story contests (see previous post: Why Enter Story Contests?) In my 2014 goals, I listed that I would enter a few. (One done in January, one in October. Yay!)
I enter to learn, not to win. I enter for the fun and for the feeling of accomplishment that the marathon of the novel does not provide.

Here is an entry that did manage to land second place this year:

The Thing With Feathers*
© Annie Daylon

shutterstock_121881667 woman birdsAirborne at last, after a lifetime of longing.

Bittersweet memories float past, memories of emerging from the womb, hoping to fly, flailing like a nestling, disillusioned by gravity. Childhood slips by in a blur of fairy stories and bluebirds and magic carpets and angels’ wings. Deeds of derring-do slide in: toppling from tree branches, leaping from monkey bars, jumping from a second-floor balcony. Echoes of painful cries ring out as I recall dropping like Icarus to broken bones and harsh reality.

Footfall (not free flight) was to be my transportation.

Grounded, literally, yet one day I fluttered with hope when I spotted a skein of Canada Geese scissoring the sky. Hope is the thing with feathers, Dickinson’s apposite metaphor, instantly flitted in. I stared at my bony arms which were peppered with freckles and wisps of hair, nary a feather in sight. Juxtaposed with tears of frustration was dissolution of hope. Knowing that I could never soar with birds, I shelved the dream and faced the future, determined to live my life to the fullest.

Love tapped on my door and I ushered it in.

Marriage followed and, with it, the free flowing joy of motherhood.

Never planned for divorce, but there it was and there I was.

On my own.

Plop!

Quickly, so as not to dissolve in a puddle of loneliness, I found a platonic partner with whom I happily shared more than two decades of living expenses, childrearing, and world travels.

Retirement years loomed, yet I, still committed to living large, never gave them, nor money, a thought.

“Save for your golden years,” warned my adult daughter, “else you’ll end up residing in my den.”

“The truth of the matter,” I replied, “is that life is short and I intend to experience all the joys of this earth, and that I will continue to travel until…”

“Until death do you part this mortal coil?” she grinned.

Vibrations shook me momentarily, a cold shiver passing through.

Was it really days later, after a minor surgical procedure, that doctors told me I had mere hours left? X-rays confirmed their diagnosis and soon I was gone, my body cremated, my ashes residing in an urn, in my daughter’s den, just as she had predicted.

Yes, my earthbound life was over and my loving daughter, knowing my deepest desire, chose a blustery day, this very day, to fling my ashes into the wind. Zillions of tiny particles, the remains of me, now sweep through the air like a murmuration of starlings, joyous, soaring, and I, after a lifetime of longing, am airborne at last.

*****

 

The above story was written in January for an Alphabet Acrostic contest. The opening, “Airborne at last,” was given. The criteria? “Complete your story in 26 sentences, each beginning with words in the sequence of the English alphabet.”

The learning? I have entered this contest before, each time loving the experience of  reading the dictionary to search for words.  (Yes, X is limiting, but there are ways around it.) The fun? Love it! (This particular contest is available annually through The Brucedale Press. The sixteenth annual Alphabet Acrostic contest will be announced sometime this month (October, 2014.) Check their website!

*The Thing with Feathers was first published by The Brucedale Press in The Leaf #34, Spring 2014.

My questions for you: Did you notice as you read the story that I was progressing through the alphabet? If not, did you go back to check? 🙂

 

(Please subscribe to my blog by including your email in the space provided on the upper right.)

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

Favorite Quotes about Writing

by

by @AnnieDaylon

I’m  drawn to quotes about writing. Here are ten of my favorites:

shutterstock_110397353 (2) writing1. “There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

2. “Be obscure clearly.” ~ E. B. White

3. “I do not like to write. I like to have written.”  ~ Gloria Steinem

4. “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” ~ Gene Fowler

5. “When you take stuff from one writer, it’s plagiarism but when you take it from many writers, it’s research.” ~ Wilson Mizner

6. “Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” ~ Jules Renard

 7. “Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.” ~ Author Unknown

 8. “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” ~ Winston Churchill

 9. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ~ Douglas Adams

10. “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” ~ Stephen King

 

Got any favorites you think I should add? Please let me know.

Please subscribe to my Author Newsletter by placing your first name and your email address in the space provided on the right.

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

Bonus quote:  “Strong nouns. Strong verbs. Kick descriptors to the curb.” ~ Me

 

 

12 Opening Lines: What’s the Book Title?

by

by @AnnieDaylon

 

shutterstock_165829418

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:
read a lot and write a lot. ~  Stephen King

I do both.

What follows are some of my favorite opening lines.

Can you name the titles of the books?

(See answers below!)

  1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

  2. “Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.”

  3. “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”

  4. “As a boy, I dreamed of fishing before I went, and went fishing before I caught anything, and knew fishermen before I became one.”

  5. “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.”

  6. “Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small plastic cup.”

  7. “Riding up the winding road of St. Agnes Cemetery in the back of the rattling old truck, Francis Phelan became aware that the dead, even more than the living, settled down in neighborhoods.”

  8. “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was 14 when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.”

  9. “Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them. This city I am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before.”

  10. “It happens that I am going through a period of great unhappiness and loss just now. All my life I’ve heard people speak of finding themselves in acute pain, bankrupt in spirit and body, but I’ve never understood what they meant.”

  11. “They’re all dead now.”

  12. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

 

shutterstock_37655881 two

 Answers:

  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
  2. Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler (2001)
  3. The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley (1953)
  4. Lines in the Water by David Adams Richards (1998)
  5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (2005)
  6. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)
  7. Ironweed by William Kennedy (1979)
  8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2002)
  9. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber (2002)
  10. Unless by Carol Shields (2002)
  11. Fall On Your Knees by Anne-Marie McDonald (1996)
  12. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)

If you have any favorite opening lines, please share. Would love to read them! Might even read the whole book!

A FREE SHORT STORY for you when you subscribe to my Author Newsletter! Simply put your first name and your email address in the space provided on the upper right.

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

Writing Historical Fiction? Best Tip Ever!

by

by @ AnnieDaylon

shutterstock_173057612 (3)

Looking for a great tip for writing historical fiction?

Try this:  “Once upon a time, it was now.”

I found this pearl of wisdom in The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by successful historical fiction author, James Alexander Thom. Thom sees this concept as most effective for storytelling and has adopted it as his credo. The author, Thom says, must write as if everything is happening now, with no thought about future. He further explains:

  • “Today is now.

  • Yesterday was now.

  • Tomorrow will be now.”

How do authors of historical fiction make any time now? By taking the reader there, into that exact time.

For me, this means  that authors must provide not only authentic historical details, but also authentic character reactions. Yes, the authors know the future. Yes, the readers know the future. But the characters know nothing of the future. Authors must make readers so enmeshed that they forget the future, that they are there, now, with the characters, looking forward, experiencing the same emotions, reactions, and  uncertainty the characters do.

I am in the editing  process of Book I of a trilogy which is set on the island of Newfoundland, one hundred years ago and the phrase “Once upon a time, it was now” is never far from my mind. I am determined that my ‘once upon a time’ will be a now.

Many thanks to James Alexander Thom! 🙂

Do you have a favorite tip for writing historical fiction (or any other genre?) If so, please send it along!

 

Please subscribe to my Author Newsletter by including your first name and email address in the space provided on the right. Many thanks!

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

For the Love of Reading

by

by @AnnieDaylon

Reading Rabbit 005

 

 

Are you a reader? I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I read for many reasons: escape, meditation, knowledge, meaning, and pure love of story.
What follows are some quotes about the love of reading, most of which came from two great sites: Search Quotes and Quote Garden.

 

 For the Love of Reading…

  • Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere. ~ Mary Schmich

  • To read a book for the first time is to make and acquaintance with a new friend; to read if for a second time is to meet an old one. ~ Chinese Saying

  • I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve. ~ Charles De Montesquieu

  • The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. ~ Rene Descartes

  • A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. ~ George R.R. Martin

  • A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint…. what I began by reading, I must finish by acting. ~ Henry David Thoreau

  • I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke in me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. ~ Malcolm X

  • To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry. ~ John Andrew Holmes

  • The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it give you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination. ~ Elizabeth Hardwick

  • If you read a good book, you’ve got a friend for life. ~ My nephew, Matthew, at age nine.

 

shutterstock_119202028

Are you a reader?
What is special about reading for you?
What books are you springing into right now?

 

 


Please subscribe to my author newsletter by placing your first name and email address in the space provided on the upper right.

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

 

 

P. S. If you can read this, thank a teacher. ~ Harry S. Truman

 

 

Book Club Request: Discussion Questions for “Castles in the Sand”

by

by @AnnieDaylon

shutterstock_128248502

Just a few days ago, a Book Club contacted me saying that they have chosen my novel Castles in the Sand as their April’s read.(Pause here for dance of joy!) The group requested discussion questions and I was delighted to comply. I had not prepared such questions before but knew that character, plot, viewpoint etc., should be incorporated. I chose to share the resulting questions here (minus the spoilers) on the chance that my efforts might be of use to other authors.

 

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION:  CASTLES IN THE SAND

1. Castles in the Sand is written in the first person from a single viewpoint, that of Justin, a homeless alcoholic. Why might the author have chosen to tell the story this way? Why is Justin’s voice so truncated?

2. The author tells the story by slipping between present and past. Why do you think the author chose to do this instead of telling the story chronologically?

3. Were you aware of the author’s subtle use of foreshadowing? (Example: At what point in Justin’s life did he learn of the existence of Steve?)

4.  In his review of Castles in the Sand, author Michael Hiebert states that “the plot hits the ground running and never lets up.” Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

5. Castles in the Sand is a cautionary tale, one of love and family, ruin and rise. The author incorporates symbols, such as the aquarium castle, to reinforce the main themes. What other symbols are prominent in the book and what do they represent?

6. Do the main characters, Justin and Steve, change by the end of the story? If so, is one arc more prominent than the other?

7. Steve is a shape shifter; both Justin and reader are kept in suspense about his motives. Eventually, Steve’s secrets are revealed. Should he have kept this secret for so long?

8. Justin feels betrayed and acts out violently. Have you dealt with someone who betrayed you? How did you respond?

9. Justin is stuck in a time warp and cannot progress until he deals with the past. There is a Buddhist proverb: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” What was the readiness factor for Justin?

10. Is the ending satisfying? If so, why? If not, how would you change it?

 

If writing discussion questions, you can find help  by: talking with other authors, scanning the back pages of current novels, many of which now include such questions, and by searching on line. (Try Lit Lovers for the basics; you may even use their questions verbatim, with attribution.) 

Another suggestion: If requested to write discussion questions, jump at the chance. This activity will give you an injection of  joy and enthusiasm. You’re a writer and readers are interested in discussing your work. Celebrate!

A FREE short story is yours when you subscribe to my newsletter! Simply place your first name and email address in the box provided on the right.  Many thanks!

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

 

 

Writing Resources: My Current Favorites

by

by @AnnieDaylon 

Looking for Writing Resources? Here, categorized by Story, Style, and Sell are my current favorites.

shutterstock_107880212Story:

  1. Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence  by Lisa Cron

  2. How to Write a Damn Good Thriller  by James N. Frey

  3. The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction  by James Alexander Thom

  4. The Writer’s Journey  by Christopher Vogler

Style:

  1.  Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction  by Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall

  2. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed  by Karen Elizabeth Gordon

  3. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation  by Lynne Truss

  4. The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression   by Angela Ackerman

Sell:

  1. The Frugal Book Promoter   by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

  2. Blog It! The Author’s Guide to Building a Successful Online Brand  by Molly Greene

 

There you have it, my current Top Ten writing resources. Am always looking to update; any suggestions as to resources I can add?

 

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

 

Enjoy this post? Please subscribe to my blog via email (see above.)

 

 

Which Point of View?

by

by @AnnieDaylon

shutterstock_119202028

Recently, after I had presented a workshop, a participant approached me with a question about Point of View. He was writing a memoir about himself and his father, and was struggling with the fairness of writing from only his own perspective. My suggestion? Something I learned from an online course: Pick a scene and write it twice, the first time from his POV, the second from his father’s.

Consider the example below, the same scene written from two points of view. In this scene, the main character of Castles in the Sand, Justin, returns to his former home, after his parents have died. He ends up visiting their long-time neighbor, Mr. Cormier.

 

 

 

Justin’s POV:

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Mr. Cormier, my former neighbor, standing on his porch, leaning on his cane. An unexpected warmth surges through me and I raise my arm in a wave. But he doesn’t notice.  “Mr. Cormier!”

He veers toward me, almost losing his balance. “Mon Dieu! Justin?”

 “Yeah!” Smiling, I race to his steps and bound up. “Sorry if I startled you. It’s really good to see you. Comment ca va?”

          “Bien, merci. I am fine,” Mr. Cormier says in a trembling voice. He shifts his cane to his left side, and extends his right hand. His eyes meet mine and then plummet to the doorstep. Puzzled, I look down at the doormat. Bien­venue, it says. Huh. I don’t feel welcome.

          Regardless, I reach out and grasp his hand firmly, like my dad taught me. He flinches. I slacken my grip. Damn. I know I surprised him, but he’s shaking like a scared puppy, and sweat is sluicing off his forehead. Is he going to pass out or something? “Are you okay, Mr. Cormier?”

… “Bien. I’m fine,” he says as he exhales. Abruptly, he tilts his head to one side and glances toward my old house. “It is the memories that bring you back, oui?”

Sidetracked, disarmed, I nod. Tears flood my eyes and heat rushes my face. I blink, turn my head, and gulp. Damn it all. A man of twenty can’t cry.

          “Such a sad thing. Difficile, non?”

          I nod again.

          “Oui, oui. Très difficile. I can see that.” We linger, silent.

          On the street behind me a car zooms by, horn blaring. Mr. Cormier jumps into action like a cartoon character, vehemently shaking a fist in the direction of the vehicle. “What are they thinking, these young drivers? Stu­pide!”

          “Yeah, I guess so,” I mutter, not caring at all, just grateful for the dis­traction.

Mr. Cormier turns back to me and heaves a lengthy sigh. “Two years al­ready.” He shakes his head. “You come into my house, Justin. We will have the coffee and we will talk. D’accord?”

 

*****

 

Mr. Cormier’s POV:

I lean on my cane and stare out my window. The days, they are long.  Mes enfants, they grow up and leave. Et ma femme… I sigh and make the sign of the cross.

Suddenly, I see the young man—again. On the sidewalk, staring at the house next door. I step back, and spy through lace curtains. He looks lost, like at the funeral two years ago. Such a sad thing, losing his parents. I watched him then, too, wondered how he would survive.

He starts to walk away now. I hobble to the door, open it and stick my head out. “Justin!”

He turns around and smiles. “Mr. Cormier! Comment ca va?”

I shuffle down the steps. Bien, merci, bien. Et toi?”  Shifting shift my cane to my left side, I reach out my right hand.

“Bien, aussi.” He grasps my hand firmly. Always the good manners. Always the charming smile. In these things, his parents, they teach him well.

Justin glances at his former home.

My heart is heavy for him. “You have the memories, yes?”

He nods, wipes his eyes with the back of his free hand, and I see that the young man is still a boy.

          “These things are difficile, no?”

          He nods again.

          “Yes, yes. Tres difficile.  I see that.” We stand, silent. Do I want to invite him in? Some things need to be told. Some things are better left alone.

A car zooms by, horn blaring.  I jump and shake a fist in the direction of the vehicle. “What are they thinking, these young drivers? Stu­pide!”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Justin mutters. So lost. So alone.

I let out a long sigh. “Two years al­ready. You come into my house, Justin. We will have the coffee and we will talk. D’accord?”

***

Writing the scene from both points of view enabled me to determine that my chosen POV for the entire novel (Justin’s) was the correct one. It also supplied me with surprising insight about Mr. Cormier; I instantly knew what his role would be in the story. (Note: Due to length and spoilers, I have not included the entire scene here.)

You may be hesitant to try this activity. I was. In fact, initially, when this idea was presented by Gloria Kempton in a great online workshop called Voice and Viewpoint, I balked at it.  I had spent so much time writing it one way; did I really want to waste time doing it again? But, by this point in my writing career, I had abandoned the ‘romantic’ concept of being a writer in favor of the practical; writing is about passion, yes, but it is also about discipline and routine and practice. Writing is re-writing. So I rewrote an entire chapter from a different POV. And I discovered that this activity was no time-waster; it was an amazing time-saver. My story had ceased meandering;  its path, and mine, were clear.

Struggling with POV? Give this a shot.  Would love to hear any other POV ideas/solutions you may have!

 

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

My Goodreads Giveaway Experience

by

by @ AnnieDaylon

 

CASTLES-IN-THE-SAND (2) brag medallion

 

 

Indie authors have a lot of work to do in terms of marketing. If you are considering a paperback giveaway (as I did for Castles in the Sand), consider doing it through Goodreads. Here’s my experience:

 

 

  • In July, I

    • Checked the details on Goodreads:
    • Contacted Goodreads with minor questions (got quick response)
    • Chose the dates (August 1-31).
    • Elected to give away 10 books.
    • Filled in, submitted the Form. Goodreads published the Giveaway almost immediately. (Super efficient!)

  • During August, I

    • promoted through Twitter, Linked In and Email List.
    • set aside a box labeled “Goodreads Giveaway. Into it, I put 10 books, each with a bookmark, 10 mailing envelopes, 10 handwritten notes which congratulated winners and asked if they would rate/review the book on Goodreads.
      • Note: I left space for individual name on each note.

  • On August 31st , I

    • checked Goodreads and discovered that there were 428 entries in the Giveaway.
    • checked my email. The list of winners was there, 5 in Canada, 5 in the USA. (Did I mention that Goodreads is efficient?)
    • made address labels for the winners
    • packaged the books
      • Note: If possible, keep size within post office limits. (In earlier attempts at mailing, I slipped books into corrugated covers. Mistake! Way too expensive! Use paper!)  Each of my books fit through the standard postal slots so regular mail fees applied. Fortunately, I live very close to the U.S. border, so I mailed books bound for the United States in the United States. Mailing costs? In Canada, $3.75/book. In the U.S., $2.53/book.

  • In September, I

    • Read a wonderful email from an excited winner.
    • Received (to date) three reviews on Goodreads, one of which also appears on that reviewer’s website Book Reads and Reviews. (Many thanks to all who took time to rate/review the book!)
    • Emailed Goodreads to thank them for their support and efficiency.
Goodreads: Author's Guide to Giveaways

Goodreads: Author’s Guide to Giveaways

For me the Goodreads Giveaway was an excellent marketing experience, one that I wish I had known about sooner. That’s the thing with going indie; so much to do! As I wrote to a helpful staff member at Goodreads, ‘I wish that I could assemble the minions! Alas, there is only me.’

But, then again, there is Goodreads!

My best to you,

Annie Signature Light Blue

 

 

Pick of the Twitter: August, 2013

by

Pick of the Twitter 005

 

 

 

Looking for writing tips? Here are my Top Ten Twitter picks for August:

1)  5 Ways Writing Short Stories Can Boost Your Career by Joanna Penn   @thecreativepenn via @EricStoffle

2)  Tackling the Short Story: Writing in Miniature by Juliet Marillier @WriterUnboxed  via @EricStoffle

3)  How to Build a Short Story Anthology @GalleyCat

4)  Writing Short Stories – Worth the Time?  @h_mccoubrey via @elizabethscraig

5)  50 Plain-Language Substitutions for Wordy Phrases  @writing_tips

6)  Handling the Passage of Time in Fiction by Harvey Chapman

7)  Why Watching TV Can Actually Be Good For a Writer @ZacharyPetit RT @elizabethscraig @WritersDigest

8)  23 Literary Agent Query Letters That Worked  RT @carlywatters

9)  Networking Tips for Shy Authors @chrisrobley @BookBaby bit.ly/1dnHLhh

10) Fifty-Three Books Later: 10 Things I’ve Learned as a Writer by @Bob_Mayer

Many thanks to Tweeters and Bloggers alike!  Castles in the Sand Thumbnail

Annie Signature Light Blue