Louisiana's State Bird in Danger Again

The brown pelican is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty act of 1918.

In the early 1970’s, pesticides like DDT had put the brown pelican on the endangered species list. Research showed that the pesticide DDT caused the pelican eggshells to be too thin and incapable of supporting the embryo to maturity.

The US government imposed a ban on the use of DDT in 1972. Since then, the population of Brown Pelican has increased. Current estimates place the population at 650,000 individuals.

Since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010, millions of barrels of crude oil dumping into the Gulf of Mexico has become a new threat to Louisiana’s state bird.

Ode to the Book Cover by Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent

Okay, I know, I am lazy about writing blog posts, but I've been doing a lot of revisions.  Honestly.  I found this post by Rachelle Gardner that I thought was very blog worthy, so I am reposting it.  See her very interesting and informative blog at http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

Monday, July 19, 2010


Ode to the Book Cover
Last week I had a little epiphany that made me just the teensiest bit less enthusiastic about e-books as the primary delivery method for books in the future.
I'd been reading The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin on my Kindle. Then Joyce did a guest post for me and in the course of putting up her post, I perused her website and blog, and looked up her books on Amazon.

When I saw her book covers, I realized that although I'd already been reading the book, I'd never actually seen the cover. Don't know why, I just hadn't.

And as I looked at her book cover, I realized that if I'd seen it before I ever started reading the book, I'd have had a better feel for the book right from the beginning. I would have understood something about the tone and the feel of the book. I’d have known what kind of book I was reading. I'd have context.

That book cover—that picture—may not have been worth about a thousand words, but close.

And it hit me once again in a whole new way that when we go to strictly digital books, we're losing something. I won't talk about all the things we're losing and gaining (because I know it’s a trade off and I do love ebooks), but this one thing is enough to give me pause. Book covers are a whole art form unto themselves. There are people who are incredibly talented at this exact art form—creating a visual design that sets a tone and prepares a reader for the words within the cover. How sad to think that we may be moving to an era where far less effort will be expended on actual "cover design."

It's not just that we "judge a book by it's cover"—it's more than that. The cover design tells us at a glance information that it would take several minutes (or more) to get in words. It can do this on a subconscious level, too, helping us to instantly recognize books that are "for us" and reject the ones that aren't.

I can only hope that with the iPad and other technologies that have the capacity to show a beautiful image with clarity and definition, that book covers won't become a thing of the past but will simply be viewed in a new way. And I hope publishers continue to put a priority on quality cover design, because no matter whether it’s viewed on paper or digitally, I believe the cover of a book is an integral and important part of the whole reading experience.

Critiques of our work: Balancing Praise and Constructive Criticism

As a writer, if you are part of a critique group, you know the scenario. You get some comments that praise your opening line, your use of descriptive phrases, and your voice for a character. Then you get the comment that indicates you need to re-write your entire first chapter. The results are that you stop writing for a short while, going though the emotions of 1) Am I a writer at all? 2) I'll stick to the positive critique or 3) I'll start from scratch and re-write the whole thing. You have to strike a balance if you are serious about writing.

Jody Hedlund, author of The Preacher's Bride, coming out this fall, covers this topic well as a guest blogger on Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent's, site during her "mixed message" series. It couldn't have been posted at a more appropriate time for me. I had just read through four such feedbacks from my critique group and recognized the emotional roller coaster.

I go though these emotions every time I get feedback for a submission. But it only lasts a day. In the meantime, my brain is processing both sides of the feedback and weighing it with my vision for the story, along with, of course, how many of them said the same thing. We learn from this feedback, both positive and negative. And that is why critique groups are so important to writers who want to grow in their craft.

Louisiana Bayou Tour

A tour through a South Louisiana bayou with Cajun  music background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKH9JEdZREc

Yagnohoula Women's Burial Grounds

My fellow writer and friend, Connie Hebert, has a new book coming out. Yagnahoula: Story of an Ancient Women's Burial Ground.  “Yagnahoula” is the story of a 3,000 year old ancient women’s burial grounds at Dauphin Island, AL.

From her website: http://www.yagnahoula.com/
According to oral tradition, a tall, light-skinned tribe, called “Nahoula” or ‘people,’ came “from the sea.” They flourished along the coasts of what is now known as Mississippi and Alabama.

The bodies of the holy women among them, literally shone, because they carried a luminescence within their beings, much like the Transfiguration of Christ during biblical times.

Connie is from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Guide to Literary Agents New Middle Grade/Young Adult Novel Contest

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/default,month,2010-03.aspx

TMW Awards

Last night at the banquet of the Tennessee Mountain Writers' Annual Conference, I was presented with two awards.  The first place in the category of Writing for Young People for my novel, The Zone of Fear, and second place in the same category for my Nikki Landry and the Legend of Ghost Dog Island (an excerpt is in a previous post). Needless to say, I am still in shock.  Nikki would be jumping for joy!!! Now to get them published!

The conference was a wonderful three day event. I met some very talented writers, both published and pre-published, and made some new friends.  The speakers were awesome.  I got some valuable advice from Candie Moonshower in her presentation on plotting.  Sam Venable was a hilarious speaker at the banquet.  Overall, I was very impressed with TMW!

http://www.tmwi.org/

Excerpt from my Middle Grade Children's Novel: The Legend of Ghost Dog Island

Spikes led the way through the thick swamp.

“Slow down Buzzard.” A string of moss reached down and brushed my cheek, as I hurried to keep up with him.

“We need to get there before those clouds cover the moon, and we won’t be able to find our way.” He patted his back pocket where he had stuffed his flashlight. “I don’t wanna use old Red unless I have to. Batteries aren’t cheap, ya know.” He turned around and glared at me. “And for the last time, don’t call me that.”

The loud croaking of the frogs and buzzing cicadas rang in my ears. A male alligator grunted in the distance.

A chill went through my body, while the mud pulled at my boots. “We are going to die here.” I looked behind me to see how far we had come from the water’s edge.

He plowed ahead. “I have to get the spell, and she is the only one that can give it to me.”

The moon created shadows from the willows and cypress trees that lined a path into the swamp where it was rumored the voodoo witch lived.

No grown-up in the area admitted to actually believing the legend--even though they liked telling it. But the kids living along Bayou Platte seemed to know differently, and Spikes had a reason to want to find out the truth. And, as scared as I was, I wanted to see for myself what was on Ghost Dog Island.

My favorite Louisiana writer

James Lee Burke describes Southwest Louisiana like no other.  His Dave Robicheaux novels are riveting.  If you are from Louisiana and like crime mysteries, you will be totally hooked.  If you survived Hurricane Audrey and listened to Jole' Blanc as a child, you will relive those memories more vividly than you can imagine.   Read more about JLB and his books at: http://www.jamesleeburke.com/

You Gotta Have a Hook

Erin Dealey creates a catchy rap tune for writers.  Check out her rhyme on U-Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYqMA2mPG7I

50,000 words in a month???

Well, I'm here to report that I did not win the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, although some of my writing buddies did.  Congratulations Jody Casella and SR Cardell, and Connie Hebert.  Your fingers must be throbbing!

I did manage to knock out 26,000 or so, which was enough to get a few first draft chapters of a book that was rattling around in my head for awhile.  I encourage all writers to join this great challenge.  It pushes you to write without worrying about fixing things.

Did I say without worrying?  That's not totally true.  The hardest thing for me to do was to plow through the words, watching my errors and poor dialog fall behind me...waving at me, and calling for me to fix them.

The challenge is to keep writing no matter what, and go back and fix the problems after the first draft is done. Typos? Ignore them.  It's the amount of words that count, not the quality of the work.  The premise is that you should be able to pry a decent novel out of the mess at some point.

In the end, I know I have a lot of stuff that will have to be thrown out, but did write some stuff that made me say...Hey, that's not bad!

Dew on the Kudzu Story

Dew on the Kudzu, an online magazine for Southern Writers, published my short story "Alligator in my Back Yard" on 11-20-09.  Check it out. http://dewonthekudzu.com/

Character Driven Stories

 

I lay awake last night wondering what a character in a story I am working on was going to do next. How is it possible for characters to create their own story? Sit back and let them. They may surprise you.

I suppose some writers start off with outlines of what their stories are going to be. I start off with a certain character in mind. But, even if I have an idea of who they are, I don’t really know how they are going to react to certain situations. It’s like getting to know someone you have recently met and discovering all their quirks and behaviors. When new characters are introduced to the main character, they also take off on their own. Sometimes I have to rein them in if they get so unruly they are taking the plot in a direction I don’t want it to go, and sometimes I just let them do their thing. It keeps the story alive.

For instance, in one story, my protagonist meets a character and they start right off the bat fighting—well, more like arguing. It was not my intent--it just happened, so I let them go at it to see where their relationship was going. Well, they bickered throughout the book, but it worked to bring out the snarky side of my main character.

But how do you know when to build suspense and to wrap the story up? For some reason, the characters tell me when they are ready. Somehow, they create their own conflicts, drive the story to climax, and wind down to a conclusion.

Once they are done with their story, I go back and revise a few times, shaping it into something resembling enjoyable reading material. They make me laugh, cry, and continue to amaze me at their ability to tell their own story.