
Read the rest of my column remembering Sue Grafton by clicking here.
NOTE: This originally ran as my Literary Life column for the Dayton Daily News on January 7, 2018.)
Remembering Sue Grafton’s generous writing life and local literary ties Literary Life Column:1/7/2018 ![]() "Those comments were pure gold. By giving me a critique that both affirmed what I was doing well and provided specific areas to improve, Sue not only helped me with my manuscript, but taught me how to teach. I went home and studied everything I could about dialogue..." Read the rest of my column remembering Sue Grafton by clicking here. NOTE: This originally ran as my Literary Life column for the Dayton Daily News on January 7, 2018.)
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![]() My novels typically begin with a character tapping me on the shoulder, a character whose insistent whisper urges to me to get the story down, and to get it right. But for my most recent novel, You Were Meant for Me, inspiration came to me in a very different way: an actual news event in which a man found a newborn infant on a subway platform and eventually ended up adopting him. The story stayed with leave me, and I found myself returning to it again and again in my mind. What had driven that baby’s mother to leave him not in a hospital, police or fire station—safe havens, all—but on a subway platform? And what random stroke of luck or divine intervention averted all the horrific ends to this tale—and there could have been so many—and instead turned it into one of salvation and grace? As I mulled over these questions, it occurred to me that there was an even bigger theme here, one that was both mythic and archetypal. The foundling, the infant abandoned and rescued, is motif that occurs over and over in literature and can trace its roots as far back as the Bible. Wasn’t Moses himself a foundling, set in the ark and concealed in the bulrushes by his mother, whose fear for his life was so great that she was willing to give him up to save him? And wasn’t Moses rescued by the most unlikely of saviors, an Egyptian princess who found and then raised him as her own? It was the connection to the Moses theme that sealed the deal for me; this story was too good, and had too much in it, to leave alone: I had to write it. But because I am a novelist and not a journalist, I made several important changes along the way. I turned the man of the real story into Miranda Berenzweig, a single woman who has not thought of having a child but whose biological clock is nonetheless ticking loudly. I changed the baby boy to a girl. And unlike the real story, in which no one came forth to claim the child, I introduced the birth father, an up-and-coming black real estate broker who did not know he had a daughter. Once his paternity is proven, he steps up to claim her. This plot turn raised issues about what makes a good or fit parent and once again, I found I was once again grappling with a Biblical theme—this time, it had to do with King Solomon who must adjudicate between two women who come to him with an infant each swears is her own. Both of my characters have a claim to the abandoned baby as well but which claim is the one that should prevail? Novels can come from surprising sources and lead to equally surprising destinations; sometimes their themes are not out there front and center, but are buried in the story and must be coaxed out gently. I did not know that my reconfiguring a contemporary news event would take me back to ancient stories and universal themes, themes that stirred my heart and mind—and galvanized me to write. ![]() Yona Zeldis McDonough (www.yonazeldismcdonough.com) is the author of several novels, most recently Two of a Kind, which will be available September 3, 2013, as well as of A Wedding in Great Neck, Breaking the Bank, In Dahlia's Wake, and The Four Temperaments, as well as nineteen books for children. She is also the editor of two essay collections and is the Fiction Editor at Lilith magazine. Her award-winning short fiction, articles, and essays have been published in anthologies and in numerous national magazines and newspapers. There are two ways I “cross train” as a writer. ![]() Today's cross-training for writers guest post is by author Kristina McBride, author of One Moment and Tension of Opposites. Learn more about Kristina and her books at www.kristinamcbride.com Q. Have you (or do you) engage in another art or a sport that helps you as a writer--whether that's to give you a break, re-energize you, provide inspiration. A. Hanging out with my two children (ages 5 and 7) often feels like a sport. And an art... ![]() Today's author guest post on 'Cross-Training for Writers' is by Marci Nault, whose debut novel, The Lake House (Gallery/ Simon & Schuster) was a Chicago Tribune, Cape May Herald, CBS, and Amazon Premier summer read pick. Originally from Massachusetts, today she can be found figure skating, salsa dancing, hiking and wine tasting around her home in California. Marci is the founder of 101 Dreams Come True, a motivational website that encourages visitors to follow their improbable dreams. Her story about attempting to complete 101 of her biggest dreams has been featured in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and she regularly speaks on the subject on radio stations in both the United States and Canada. She’s also the owner of www.Elegantbridaldesigns.com, a couture lingerie, dress, and jewelry store. To learn more go to www.marcinault.com or www.101dreamscometrue.com. "I have so much work, ideas are storming in my brain, so today I’m going to get up, walk to my desk, and begin work early. There’ll be no skating this morning because it takes up too much time and I don’t have the space for it." These are the words I say when a deadline is looming, but more often than not, four hours later I’m staring at my computer, nothing has come out, and I’m realizing that I would’ve returned from figure skating already. ![]() Today's "Cross-Training for Writers" is from mystery and nonfiction author Jeffrey Marks. (He also happens to be a good friend of mine!) His website: www.jeffreymarks.com Following, his thoughts on cross-training for writers: Better late than never I suppose! As a way to offset the hours that I sit behind a computer writing, I decided that I needed some physical activity. Being someone who likes to multi-task, I decided to take up martial arts, thinking that perhaps in a future book I could have a character who knew the art of self-defense or perhaps like Sherlock Holmes take up the martial art of Bartitsu. ![]() Carolyn Hart, much-beloved, award-winning author of 50 novels; the 50th, DEAD, WHITE AND BLUE (in her Death on Demand series) just came out in May. Her mysteries have won many awards, including the Agatha, and her standalone, LETTER FROM HOME, was a New York Times notable book. Learn more about this terrific novelist on herwebsite. Have you (or do you) engage in another art or a sport that helps you as a writer--whether that's to give you a break, re-energize you, provide inspiration? Carolyn: "I used to jog and work out plot snarls, now I walk. Usually a leisurely walk will help me find the answer. At the moment, I am as stuck as a tethered camel in the middle of the desert. Today's walk didn't help. Maybe writing about it will be good karma." |
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Sharon Short...
...is a novelist, columnist, workshop director, instructor, and a pie enthusiast. As such, she blogs about the literary life, life in general, and pie. Definitely, pie. Archives
January 2018
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