Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
New Guest Blog Is Up…
Folks, the inestimable Stephanie Osborn has once again featured a guest blog from yours truly, this time in her ELEMENTS OF STORYTELLING: CHARACTERIZATION series.
Now, why did I write this particular blog? Simple. Characters are everything to a story — and without them, you don’t have much at all.
Here’s a bit from my newest guest blog:
Without characters, you don’t have a story.
I mean, think about it: Who’d remember the Harry Potter series if Harry Potter wasn’t there? Or his buddy Ron Weasley? Or his other buddy, Hermione Granger? And that’s just the good characters.
What about the enigmatic Severus Snape, the villainous Voldemort, or Harry’s own uncle and aunt? Without them factoring into the equation, how would the seven books about Harry Potter interest anyone?
No, books are built on characters. It can’t be any other way.
In this blog, I also talk about several stories in the Bible, Ernest Hemingway’s OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and (just for kicks) Geoffrey Chaucer’s CANTERBURY TALES. So do check it out, along with all the other blogs in Stephanie’s ELEMENTS OF STORYTELLING series.
Guest Blog up at Penny’s Tales about “An Elfy on the Loose”
Folks, I’m pleased to report that my latest guest blog about my novel, AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, is up over at Penny Estelle’s website, Penny’s Tales.
Note that this particular blog was originally published over at Stephanie Osborn’s Comet Tales back in April. I am very pleased to have the ability to spread my message far and wide.
Here’s a bit from this particular blog, which is called “On the Writing of AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE,” discussing just what I found so interesting about my main character, Bruno the Elfy, and why I found his journey so compelling:
…why should anyone care about Bruno just because he’s an Elfy and from a magical society? You’d think that someone who has magic, and a lot of it, would be too hard to root for, right?
Not in Bruno’s case. He’s an orphan, a ward of the state, and because of a past traumatic brain injury, he doesn’t remember everything he should. Further, most of what he’s been told about himself is wrong. Worse yet, the Elfy High Council is so afraid of Bruno’s potential magical power that they’ve intentionally mistrained him before sending him off to the Human Realm (our Earth), intending to maroon him there forever.
Despite all this, Bruno never completely loses his sense of humor, which appealed to me. He refuses to give up – it’s just not in him – and that, too, appealed to me. So I kept writing…and my husband (Michael) kept editing.
As I wrote, I learned that Bruno had landed in a house that was haunted. And where he mostly couldn’t do magic. And where he only had one friend: the strange Human girl Sarah, with whom he had to make common cause due to her loathsome parents (as one of my friends put it, “Sarah’s parents are straight out of reality TV”). They’re in a bad situation, but it quickly gets worse when Bruno’s mentor Roberto tries to rescue them, but instead ends up getting captured himself by Sarah’s terrible parents. Who are themselves in thrall to a Dark Elf, who’s up to no good…and then, of course, they fall in love, and everything gets better in a weird way because that’s what love does, despite everything else going to the Hells in a handbasket.
With all of that going on, Bruno and Sarah realize they have to gather allies. But how can they? Bruno’s new to the whole Human Realm (our Earth), while Sarah’s been told her whole life that she’s unimportant and way too young to be bothered with. And they need both Elfy and Human allies, which isn’t going to be easy…
There’s much more to the blog, as it discusses just what my late husband Michael did to help me write AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, and just why his input was so very, very important. So I do hope you’ll check it out.
And as always, if you want to read the first five chapters of AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, please go here to the Twilight Times Books site and check it out. (Or, if you’d rather go straight to Barnes and Noble.com to get a copy, go here.)
“Youngstown Boys” a Story of Hope, Redemption, and College Athletics
Folks, over the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with first something akin to strep throat, then a nasty sinus bug. While I’ve continued to edit and write as much as I can, I haven’t been able to be online much and I certainly haven’t been able to blog. It’s not a fun state to be in, to put it mildly.
What I do when I’m feeling like this is watch a lot of television. But in addition to watching the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball, which I do whether sick or well, I’ve been catching up with ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentaries. And one, in particular, I felt was quite memorable: Youngstown Boys.
Why? Well, this is a documentary of troubled running back Maurice Clarett, once of Ohio State University, and his college coach, Jim Tressel. Both were from Youngstown, Ohio (hence the name); both started at OSU at the same time. And while Tressel stayed involved in Clarett’s life, good things happened for both of them, culminating in a 14-0 season and a double-overtime win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl during the 2002 season.
Then Clarett ran into trouble. He’d gotten some help with getting a car and a cell phone. He admits to this in the film. The NCAA, in their infinite whatever, started an investigation — but before the NCAA could suspend Clarett, OSU suspended him instead . . . for the entire 2003 season.
And Tressel, the guy who had said he’d help Clarett when Tressel had recruited him, stood aside. (Possibly Tressel was in fear of losing his own job, or maybe Tressel just didn’t have the strength of character to intercede right then and there. But Tressel redeemed himself later on . . . more on that later.)
At this point, I was livid. I am a big proponent of players being paid, and think the way the NCAA forces athletes to live is utterly wrong. And the whole idea that a young man like Clarett, whose only goal in life was to play professional football, could get derailed like this was quite frustrating.
But it got worse. Clarett’s lawyers sued the NFL and tried to get him “draft-eligible,” as this was Clarett’s best shot at making a living. Clarett won his first-round court case, too . . . but lost later on.
So what’s a guy to do when he doesn’t have his scholarship, is poor, has tremendous athletic gifts, but has no direction? Clarett tried for a few years to ready himself for the NFL on his own, with indifferent success. And while Clarett was drafted by the Denver Broncos down the line, he never took so much as one snap in a preseason game before being let go by the Broncos.
After that, things just went into a downward spiral for Clarett. He ended up in prison, which could’ve broken him.
Instead, prison actually saved him — saved his life — as he started using his intelligence for good things. He started to read voraciously. He stayed in good contact with his girlfriend, calling her every day, and even started a blog (he’d read what he’d written to her, and she’d post it online). And he vowed to both redeem himself and to reform.
At this point, Tressel ran into trouble himself due to a recruiting scandal at OSU. Maybe because of this — the movie wasn’t clear — Tressel decided to involve himself again in Clarett’s life. And the two of them have become fast friends, working on behalf of improving other people’s lives. Reminding people that so long as you live, you can hope for better, dream of better — and you should do those very things no matter how badly the deck is stacked against you.
Mind, both of these men’s lives have not gone according to plan. Clarett, who had all the talent in the world to become a star running back in professional football, is now a motivational speaker and runs football camps. And Tressel, oddly enough, is now the President of Youngstown State University — a place where he won multiple national football championships at the I-AA level (now called the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS) — and has retired from coaching college football.
But I venture to say that the detours both men’s lives have taken have made them better and stronger people. Clarett speaks to many, including former and current inmates, and his words have the ring of authority. He’s done some very strong and positive things since getting out of prison, and it’s possible that none of that would’ve happened if he hadn’t gotten into bad trouble — then clawed his way out of it. And Tressel is active in many charities and has stayed in contact with many of his former players, including a number of troubled ones, and his life has been deepened and broadened thereby also.
Youngstown Boys, in short, was a powerful film that affected me deeply. It showed that no matter how long it takes, goals and dreams matter. Even if you don’t achieve one goal today, you can still achieve it tomorrow; even if you can’t do it tomorrow, you can do it the next day if you refuse to give up, you refuse to give in, and you refuse to take “no” for an answer.
I think many people — not just writers, editors, and musicians — can learn from these men. Because it shows that redemption is truly possible, and that you can, indeed, become a better and stronger person through adversity.
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Quick note: I’ll be working on a couple of stories the rest of this week, so blog posts may be scarce. But I hope to finally get a review up of VICTORIES at Shiny Book Review later this week, so do stay tuned for that (computer connectivity problems kept me from it last week).
New Guest Blog about Bruno the Elfy and Characterization in AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE is Up at Stephanie Osborn’s “Comet Tales”
Folks, my newest guest blog — which is about my favorite Elfy, Bruno, hero of my novel AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE — is up and available over at Stephanie Osborn’s blog Comet Tales right now.
Now, why did I write this particular blog? Two reasons. First, I’ve participated from the start in Stephanie’s “Elements of Modern Storytelling” blog series, and Stephanie’s enjoyed what I’ve had to say thus far. And second, because she’s transitioning from romance as an element of storytelling to characterization, she figured me talking about my favorite character Bruno from my novel, AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, would be a good bridge under the circumstances.
If you’ve followed along with my blog or my writing for any length of time, you’re probably aware that AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE is relentlessly cross-genre. It’s a young adult comic urban fantasy/mystery/romance that also has paranormal elements and Shakespearean allusions. (Say that five times fast.) And as such, without a strong central character, the book just wouldn’t work.
Fortunately for me, Bruno the Elfy is as strong of a central character as anyone could wish for. As I said in the guest blog:
But none of (the plot) – not one blessed thing – would work without Bruno. He is a fully realized, multidimensional character with likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, and seems like someone you might just know…that is, if he weren’t so short. And it’s because of this that you can buy into his adventures, you can buy into his romance, and you can buy into the fact that this young Elfy just might be able to save everyone if he just can figure it out in time.
In other words, this particular guest blog discusses what AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE is all about after the fact. And it all starts and ends with Bruno. He’s a guy from another dimension; his ways are strange to us, and ours to him. And crazy things happen to him that he must get past . . . or he has no chance whatsoever to save his mentor, much less make his nascent romance with Sarah work.
Mind, I didn’t know that Stephanie saw some parallels between my character Bruno the Elfy and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Frodo Baggins before I read her endnotes to this guest blog — that’s some high praise right there. (And I have to admit that I don’t see it. But I’m glad she does.)
Anyway, please do check out today’s guest blog. Then, if you haven’t taken a gander at AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE yet, what’s stopping you? (Here’s a link to the five sample chapters to whet your interest.)
Fourth Blog Anniversary Today
Folks, it’s been four years today since I started this blog. And because it’s a special day of a certain type, I figured I’d get on here and ask you for something special, too.
(No, it’s not publishing related.)
Please consider becoming an organ donor.
Why do I care about this? Well, when Michael died, as per his wishes I donated his organs. This was not easy to do — they asked a number of questions that were both difficult to answer and invasive, because by law they must ask these terrible questions (such as: did he have AIDS? Did he have any diseases you know about? If so, what?).
Fortunately, I knew this was what Michael wanted. So I persevered with these awful questions, and donated his organs. Several people were helped thereby.
At the time, we lived in Iowa, so I continue to receive newsletters from the Iowa Donor Network thanking me (and my husband) for donating his organs. If you live in Iowa, that’s where you need to go if you’re thinking about organ donation for yourself or any family members.
However, if you live in Wisconsin, if you want to donate your organs after your death, you need to go to the Wisconsin Donor Registry and sign up.
Other states, of course, have different donor registries.
Aside from that, the only other thing I’d like my readers to do today is to make sure their after-death wishes are known. It can be difficult to discuss this, especially if you are young and in the prime of life. I get that, but if Michael and I hadn’t had this conversation, I’d not have known what to do when the time came.
No one wants to think about losing a loved one at a young age. No one wants to think about themselves dying early, either.
But it happens, sometimes. And if that terrible thing does occur, it’s best for your loved ones to know exactly what they must do.
Two Stories Written, and Away…
Folks, it wasn’t easy, but I managed to complete a brand-new story in the course of a week (it fought me hard, too, let me tell you), and I sent it off to one market earlier this evening.
I also revised an existing story, pulling out two thousand words, then somehow adding in two thousand different words to bring the story to exactly where it was in the beginning, word-count wise (though not, perhaps, in content). And sent it off to a different market.
Both are places where I cannot guarantee a sale, as they’re both for contests. As such, I can’t tell you much about either story, except that one is fantasy, and the other is military science fiction. (If I tell you anything more, I risk immediate disqualification. After working so hard on these stories, that won’t do.)
Other than that, I’ve watched baseball (Sunday’s game was a stinker between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Colorado Rockies, but the rest of the week was all right), I’ve edited up a storm, and I’ve desultorily read a Edwardian romance that I may talk about over at Shiny Book Review one of these years.
As for plans for this week? Well, after I catch up on my sleep, I’ll go back to the editing (you have to expect that, knowing me), I’ll try to figure out if one of the two stories I just finished has anything more to say (it feels like a novel, truly) and maybe work a tad on that, I’ll keep an eye on the Brewers (they’re playing the Blue Jays in a short, two-day day baseball series — and they’re going to celebrate independence today, as it’s Canada Day!) and I sincerely hope to be able to review Aaron Lazar’s mystery SPIRIT ME AWAY later this week. (Possibly his LADY BLUES as well. But don’t quote me.)
Oh, I also have a rehearsal for the Racine Concert Band, will be playing the Fourth of July Parade as per usual, and a concert on Sunday as we start our summer series out at the Racine Zoo. (Please come; it’s free.) Show starts at 7:30 p.m., if you’re interested.
I also will be partaking in another blog hop, this time at the behest of Dina von Lowenkraft (author of DRAGON FIRE), on Thursday. It’s called the “meet my character” blog hop (look here to see what she made of it; it’s about her main character, Rakan), so my take on this will obviously be all about Bruno the Elfy, star of AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE.
So watch this space…
A Friday Free-For-All
Folks, it’s Friday. So I figured I’d write a quick blog and let you all know what I’m doing, plus give you some quick updates regarding recent blog subjects.
First, the main reason I’ve been so quiet this week is that I’m in the process of working on two stories (for submission on June 30) and also finishing up a major editing project. When I’m close to a deadline for either my editing or writing, I tend not to say much until the project is completed or the story/stories are written.
But there are a number of very odd things going on at the moment, so I figured I’d do my best to catch up.
Ready?
- What is going on with MH 370? No one has any idea where this plane is, what happened to it, where the crew are, and whether or not any of them will ever be found. It is the strangest story in aviation history because in this day and age, we do have air traffic controllers in nearly every developed country (and most undeveloped countries, too), we have pilots galore and flight simulators and computers and all different sorts of technological advances to help us out . . . yet no one has any idea where this plane is.
- The young twelve-year-old girl who was nearly killed by the two other girls in the “Slenderman” case has recovered. She recently posted a “thank you” message (with her face carefully not being shown), which was widely covered . . . I’m glad she’s been able to recover, but I still don’t know what’ll happen to the two girls who tried to kill her. Their mental state must be evaluated; if they are mentally ill, they must get treatment. (And if they are sociopathic, my goodness — will treatment help? But I’d still try to treat them, even so, just to see if redemption is possible.)
- The Milwaukee Brewers, 2014 edition, continue to look like a playoff team. (That is all.)
- The ending to the TV show DROP DEAD DIVA underwhelmed, I’m sorry to say. The idea that Jane’s Guardian Angel, Paul, would just take over for Grayson (now in Ian’s body) did not work for me. That Grayson/Ian would be content to be a “paralegal” or legal assistant for Jane also didn’t work, though at least it kept him nearby. And while I fully agree that the substance of love matters far more than any outward form (that is, the soul itself matters far more than the body) — it was one of the main themes of DROP DEAD DIVA from the beginning — I would’ve rather seen Grayson and Jane be together as high-powered lawyers. (I still don’t understand why Grayson was killed off and brought back in a different actor’s body as Ian. Though I approved of the second actor’s approach, mind you — he at least made it plausible this unlikely scenario could happen.)
- Sticking with DROP DEAD DIVA, I still don’t buy that Fred the Angel would somehow lose his status for helping Grayson and Jane. Fred didn’t lose any status when the old Jane (now Brittany) came back, after all . . . that smacked to me of very sloppy writing.
- And finally, again on the subject of DROP DEAD DIVA, why did Stacey have to give birth and miss her own wedding to Owen? Why not let the poor girl get married, then have her twins?
Anyway, that’s most of what has been going through my mind this week, but because I haven’t had enough time to turn around, I wasn’t able to get to blogging until now. (And to do this, I’m taking time out of my sleep-cycle.)
Figure I’ll try to review a book or two on Saturday over at Shiny Book Review — author Aaron Paul Lazar’s mysteries are next up in the queue — but with everything going on, it may not happen.
And I do owe you all a better Milwaukee Brewers post, plus my thoughts on the Milwaukee Bucks’ draft choices (I was expecting them to trade Ersan Ilyasova, but what do I know?), and goodness knows what else . . . but it’ll have to wait until the stories are done and in on Monday.
Welcome to the Elfyverse…
Thank you for stopping by my blog, which is called either “Barb Caffrey’s Blog,” or “the Elfyverse.”
Why two names? Well, I figured it would be easier for people to find me if they used my name. But I’ve been writing about Elfys, Elfs, Dwarves, and more for over ten years — thus “the Elfyverse.”
As for what I do here, it’s simple: I talk about anything I like.
I’ve been blogging now for over five years. (Here’s a link to my first blog post, if you don’t believe me.) Over that time, I’ve talked writing, publishing, music, sports, current events, politics . . . anything that I feel like talking about.
So while you’re here, expect the unexpected . . . because you never quite know what I’m about to say.
Please feel free to stop by any time you like. And tell your friends about all my work, including AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE (Barnes and Noble link is here) and the first two stories of my late husband Michael’s, “A Dark and Stormy Night” and “On Westmount Station,” all available at Amazon.
And remember . . . support a real writer.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 