A Death in the Family by James Agee

A unique, serious novel about death, and the way the living survivors deal with the death of a family member. It is so finely crafted it is inspiring for a writer to read, if only to admire the skill of the author. It is surprising that it is not better known, except that the subject matter is so depressing. Of course, I have experienced the death of both parents and all my grandparents, so maybe I can read it with understanding and a little detachment. Still, I was choked up at times.

I highly recommend it, but only if you think you can handle the subject matter...

NaNoWriMo 50K goal

Well, I hit 50k on the 26th of the month. As usual, Thanksgiving got in the way, and I spent four days without writing anything. Of course, my mind kept working away on it. When I sat down today to pick it up I had a little trouble getting started, but once under way a couple of good scenes poured out that put me over the 50k mark.

It is nowhere near finished though. Maybe halfway, maybe a little further than that. This is actually a good sign, the first time I have had this many words in my story at this point. Perhaps I did learn something from reading all those pulitzers, at least about the overall feel of a good novel.

I'm not saying my efforts are good, just that I am a little bit encouraged. This is still only a first draft, and a hastily written one at that.

I also have one more character than I planned for, and another complication that I didn't plan for, but it seems to be fitting in OK. The antagonist has had a rough start, but in the last scene has started to hit the right tone of nastiness toward the protagonist. Of course, the actual antagonist is something much larger - prejudice, racism, and bigotry. It is only personified by the physical antagonist.

As usual, finishing 50k is not the finish. I will continue on until I get to an end for this novel, even if it takes me until Christmas or beyond.

The Town by Conrad Richter

An excellent book, the last in a trilogy (I only read this one), and another pulitzer prize winner. It's a treatment of the pioneer spirit, and how hardships and hard work affect character.

I have to admit it was a little disappointing. There was one character that I wanted punished for his actions, and that didn't really happen, except that he had to live the rest of his life with the results of his action. He is one of that characters that you love to hate - which is a compliment to the author, of course, but I wanted him punished!

A lot of the novel is also written in a voice that is slightly annoying, using dialect when the narrator is speaking, even though it is written in third person. I just finished reading "The Way West", and it had a much better treatment of that particular technique. The characters, also in third person, spoke in dialect, but the rest of the novel is written in correct grammar.

But it's a good read, especially if you are interested in a historical novel dealing with that time period.

GWA contest - tie for fourth

My story "Flash Mob" tied for fourth in last month's Georgia Writers Association contest. Not a great finish, but who's keeping track? Actually I am in good shape for the end-of-the-year awards, which means I have to go to the Christmas Party. Oh no! I have to bribe Laurie to go with me - no way I could go alone.

Only one more monthly contest this year, and only two more weeks to start and finish it. I haven't given it much thought - theme "Ambrosia".

The Way West by A. B. Guthrie Jr.

I read along through the Pulitzer Prize winners, disappointed by the lean years of substandard books, and then a real winner like "The Way West" comes along. This is an outstanding book, and I have to rate it as high as my other favorite Pulitzer winners. It has everything - story, plot, interesting characters, setting, and a journey to pull you along. I can't say enough good things about it.

NaNoWriMo interrupted

OK, I have a good excuse. My brother is in the hospital with colon cancer, and I made a trip to visit him. So at least two days went by without a single word being written. I was ahead of the silly little word count anyway, so I'm not too concerned. In the past I have missed days in a row with no problem. November always seems to be the month when the family has health problems. The last two NaNoWriMos I had to move my mother-in-law when her Alzheimers acted up. Now this year my brother has colon cancer. What is it about November that causes this?

On the good side, I was able to visit the old Stoke's homeplace while I was home for the visit. It's in ruins, of course, about ready to fall in on itself. All the barns have collapsed. The home place has a prominent position in my novel, of course.

A Fable by William Faulkner

I have to wonder what Faulkner was thinking when he wrote this, and why the prize committee thought this was worthy of a Pulitzer. Faulkner goes back to his characteristic wordy style, of page long sentences and three page long paragraphs. It requires a great deal of mental effort to read this novel and keep it straight. Is it worth it? Not for me. I much prefer "As I Lay Dying".

The characters are confusing and I have no empathy for them. The "story" has some merit, but is is so well hidden as to be almost invisible. Things move in jerks and fits, and the whole thing seems to be a fog. like the fog of war.

So what can I say? I love some Faulkner, but not this one.

NaNoWriMo one week update

Things are actually going well. I am ahead on the word count, for one thing. The novel itself is more satisfying then the previous ones I have written. It has to be because of all the reading I have done in the last year. And, of course, the writing.

There is substance to this novel, something that I think my other attempts were lacking. It is not a genre novel, like the mystery "Please Release Me". It's not a techno-thriller, like "The Fuzzy Mirror". It's not a muddle of family secrets and like the gothic "Midnight Blue". Instead it's literary fiction, and the main character has depth as well as problems to overcome.

Anyway, I hope it continues to go well. I've just gotten the problems stated and the character in the middle of his problems. My original plan may change, of course, it all depends on how things go, but so far things are sticking to my plan.

NaNoWriMo on track

After not writing a single word on Saturday, I am now back on track with about 6000 words in the last two days. Things are taking shape. with my poor main character faced with terrible problems. Mysteries are everywhere, which I hope will keep my imaginary audience reading.

It's just a first draft, of course, and a poor first draft at that. But it's a lot of fun to spool it out, telling a story I have been thinking about for a while. And maybe, just maybe, this will be the time that I produce something good (after a lot of editing, of course.)

Short Story in the GWA news magazine

The GWA editors decided to publish one of my short stories, Merle Littel, in the November/December news magazine. This is the story otherwise known as Earl Small, and the title change is another story.

There I was, driving on the down town connector, when my cellphone rang. It was the editor of the GWA newsmag. They wanted to put my story in the next issue, but there was a problem.

"Do you mind changing the title?" he said.

"No problem," I said, without even thinking about it.

I guess I am not one of those authors who can't tolerate changes by editors. What's in a title anyway?

NaNoWriMo has begun

Authors! Start your typewriters (or laptops, or neos, or pdas, or pen and paper).

Managed to put somewhere around 1900 words on disk yesterday. Then I decided it was junk, deleted about two-thirds of it, and started over. Got back up to 1900 again. Wasn't that fun.

That's against the spirit of NaNoWriMo, which is to turn off the internal editor and just write. But, what the heck, I am a NaNo veteran (this is my third one), and I think I can handle it. It's more important to me to get off on the right foot from the very beginning.

Stay tuned...