A New Old Book!

Twenty-five years ago, a new writer named Kelley Wilde brought out his first novel, a gritty urban fantasy called The Suiting. In its own memorable way, it proved that clothes make the man....

Now Reb MacRath, who wrote back then as Kelley Wilde, is bringing out a 25th anniversary edition of The Suiting. It will be available at Amazon.com beginning this coming Monday.

It's a great read, and as a special added attraction, MacRath is offering discounts on his other books, too. Check 'em out here.

And treat yourself. The language is crisp and imaginative, the people memorable, and the experience a rush. It's a somewhat refurbished new and improved edition, and it's a memorable read.

"Just one more question...."

...as Columbo used to say. Someone emailed me and asked, "Is it okay if I come up with more than twenty questions to get a handle on my characters?

Sure it is. You can come up with hundreds if you want. It's your book.

Only caution: Don't get so wrapped up in backstory that you forget your main goal - to write a book.

As for other questions, deal with things that lead into problems: What does the character do for a living? What does the character hate about that means of earning money?

If the character were truly desperate, what moral absolute held dear by the character might be bent or broken? How would the character feel afterward?

Stress. It's all down to stress. Jane Yolen, a lovely writer, once said "There is only one plot: Joe gets his ass caught in a bear trap and has to get out."

When you know your character thoroughly, all the background, habits, ways of thinking, philosophy, beliefs, you can really put that person through the wringer. Don't make it easy. Make it hard. And then make it harder.

And you know what? You're going to wind up with a story worth reading. So, yeah, come up with more questions. Knock yourself out. But when you get to the agonizing decision your character might face -

Stop. And start writing the book.

The Boss Is Back

If you like your tough guys really hardboiled, check out Reb MacRath's latest: The Alcatraz Correction.

Look for it in the Kindle store at Amazon.com!
http://tinyrul.com/pgajjhu 

Twenty Questions for a Mysterious Character

When I first began to write, I soon became aware that my characters were, well, shallow. The plot pushed them around; their attitudes and outlooks changed from moment to moment. From somewhere - I don't remember where - I picked up on the concept of Twenty Questions.

Basically, you create a sketch outline for your character. You begin by asking yourself twenty questions about the person and answering them. They begin with the character's physical appearance, and they progress to the crucial issues in the character's life. By the time you finish thinking of, and writing down, the answers, you know your character much better.

Examples (your mileage may vary because you come up with your own questions)

APPEARANCE:

1. What is the character's gender?
2. What is the character's age?
3. What are the character's eye color, hair color, and complexion?
4. What are the character's weight and height?
5. What feature of the character is memorable to those meeting the character for the first time?
6. What one feature of the character would the character change, and why?

HISTORY:

1. Where was the character born, and under what circumstances?
2. Who were the character's parents?
3. What was the character's childhood like?
4. How did the character do in school?
5. What kinds of partners is the character attracted to?

CIRCUMSTANCES:

1. Where does the character live?
2. What work does the character do, if any? If none, why?
3. What activities make the character happiest?
4. What activities or circumstances upset or distress the character?
5. What is the character's voice like when the character is tense, happy, frightened, or angry?

CONFLICTS:

1. What is the character's greatest secret fear?
2. What is the character's favorite possession, and why is it a favorite?
3. What does the character want more than anything but cannot have?
4. What action or thought is utterly beyond the character's ability?

Having come this far, you may want to elaborate. That's fine. You should. Ask more questions. Find out what the character's great need (recognized or unrecognized) is; discover what the character's trigger points are for rage, for fear, for love.

Then write a biography of the character. Make it at least a thousand words long, longer if you really want to know the character. Zero in on the character's needs, desires, fears, and goals.

You're standing on the brink of a story.

Being There

I've written about research. I'm a research nut, diving into libraries or browsing the net, trolling for unusual facts, sidelights on places, stories on crime.

However, a wonderful way to research is to go there. Just go.

I've been to the areas of Florida I write about. Walked down the streets of towns I've never been in, notebook out, taking notes: the birds I see, the street names, the architecture, the cars, just everything. Noted the temperature of the ocean at various seasons. Simmered at the traffic (a motif that shows up more than once!) and so on and on.

Nothing quite substitutes for being there. You pick up on so many things that way. Once I walked into a tiny little used-book store in a small Florida town. The owner, alone behind the counter, wailed, "You missed him! You just missed him!"

Jimmy Buffet had walked out of the store a minute before I walked in. I said too bad, I liked his music, would have liked to have seen him.

The store owner said, "No, you don't understand. I wanted somebody else here because now nobody's gonna believe me!"

Saving that moment for a book I'll write one day.

If you document your research, you can count a portion of your expenses off against income tax, by the way.

My friend the late Tom Deitz would do that. He wrote fantasies involving Ireland and went to Ireland several times. Still, I told him once, "You can't recoup the whole cost of a two-week trip to Ireland from a tax write-off."

He thought about that and shrugged. "That's true," he said. "But on the other hand, nobody can repossess a trip."

Read 'til Your Eyes Bleed....

....and you still won't catch all of the typos. It's a melancholy fact.

With an ebook, of course, you are free to edit indefinitely, so when you receive an email that says on page 25 Judy's eyes are green and the next time she appears on page 195 they are blue, you can go in and fix it up.

Writers tend to be blind to their own mistakes. They know what they meant to say, and mentally they supply the correct version as they proofread. A guy who habitually mistypes teh for the is likely to glide right over the misspelled word. A woman who keeps forgetting that periods at the end of dialogue go inside the quotation mark will probably not notice the thirty times in her manuscript that she does it the other way: She smiled at him. "I love you so much".

This is why it's great to get another set of eyes on your work - and if possible, more than one set. Reader A will catch things that Reader B misses, and vice-versa. You need readers who are sensitive to issues of grammar, spelling, and so on, but who also appreciate the kind of story you've written.

And you know what? You're still likely to get emails pointing out things everybody missed.

Once an editor at a New York house was talking to me about cover letters. She could take them or leave them, she said. Cover letters didn't influence her decision to buy or not buy a book.

Then she got thoughtful and added, "Except for this one time."

The aspiring writer had a brief cover letter, properly respectful and properly formatted.

Unfortunately, the writer had also boasted, "I've been through the manuscript at least six times, and I can assure you that you will find no type O's in it."

Scenic Cady's Island

Where is Cady's Island?

The home of Jim Dallas and Sam Lyons is firmly established in the state of my imagination. It's fictional. If it existed, it would be a few miles south of Jacksonville, roughly east of Davis Park.

It's not quite six miles long and not quite a mile and a half wide and is shaped rather like a paramecium. Driftwood Beach, at the northern tip, is cluttered with wood and other stuff cast up by the sea. South of the island's center is the old Cady's Island Lighthouse, decommissioned in the 1950s. From the lighthouse it's a bit more than a mile down to the extreme southern tip of the island.

There are only a few score year-round residents. In season--which basically means in the summer and then again in the winter--most of the houses are rented out to vacationers. The beach isn't the best, being coarse sand and shell fragments, but the water is clean.

To get to the island, you drive south from Jacksonville on 1A through Ponte Vedra and then Sawgrass. A very short spur turns off to the left and ends in the parking area for the ferry, operated by Liz Fretty ever since her husband died. There's a wharf and parking area for island residents that includes an inadequate roofed garage and lots of gravel-crushed-shell open space. Liz lives in the little house off to the right of that, down near the bay. Her flat-bottomed ferry can accommodate about a dozen people at once, but no cars. Cars aren't allowed on the island. Passage each way is two dollars, a dollar and a half for seniors, kids under twelve free.

When you get off at the island wharf, you'll see a boardwalk leading off across the dunes. Follow it. There's a break in it for Island Lane. Watch out for people on bikes. Then it takes up again and leads down to Beach Lane. The boardwalk comes out between a brick cottage and a fairly big aqua-painted beach house with a tin roof. The aqua place is Delight House, usually empty except in rental seasons. Farther down past the brick cottage is the lighthouse, and past that is the gray beach house that belongs to Sam Lyons.

The brick house belongs to Jim Dallas.

He's not receptive to visitors, so don't go up and knock.

Unless you're in trouble, that is.....