tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214961722024-03-12T22:26:02.454-07:00Words in PlaceGay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.comBlogger453125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-59355551824365212542019-03-03T14:32:00.001-08:002019-03-03T14:32:51.538-08:00From the Archives: When you think you're done, are you?<div style="color: #29303b; font-family: georgia, verdana, arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
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<strong>When we are new at something, sometimes all we can think about is that first goal.</strong> Learning to skate doesn’t look <em>that</em> hard. If we can stay upright, feet on the sidewalk (or ice), body vertical, we’ll soon be doing figure eights and sailing backwards. The same goes for writing. When we sit down at the keyboard to write a story, we figure if we can get enough words on the screen, we’ll have a tale worth telling. </div>
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In some ways, we need this attitude to get started. If we knew we’d fall on our asses for the first twelve times we skated over a twig, a crack, our sister’s Barbie doll, we probably wouldn’t try. We need that initial belief in ourselves to put the skates on in the first place. The same is true for writing. We picture ourselves clacking away at the computer keys with lines of type building and building. It is the only way to deal with our initial fear.</div>
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However, how we handle the results of those first attempts can dictate success or failure. For many, a bruised butt and bloodied knees spell defeat. “I don’t want to do this! This is too hard” and they head inside to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Others wear their scabs like badges of honor and take a moment to reassess their goals. They realize they can’t jump from standing upright on skates to skimming down Devil Hill, carving eights in the liqour store parking lot, floating backward to the awe of the younger kids without blood and guts.</div>
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The same is true with writing. Although there are those who have a natural talent for the written word can sit down and write it without too much angst. But these are rare cases. Most of us may write a story that has many strong elements, but as a whole it doesn’t work. Not yet. And we need to reassess and learn the craft.</div>
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This is the make-or-break moment for most writers, the moment of looking at a piece of writing as it might be read by others, readers who do not live in the head of that writer. The ability to look at one’s own work with a critical eye does not come easily. It is a skill that is learned with practice, patience, and awareness of what works and what doesn’t. An expertise that evolves over time. </div>
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Just as a young roller skater learns the sidewalk is smoother than asphalt, a writer learns clarity is more important that an obscure turn of phrase, but to do this, both must be willing to see beyond their first goals. They must accept the reality that becoming good at something requires the understanding that learning is a process, that the large goal must be broken down into smaller goals because everything is more complex than we first perceive. </div>
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There is a difference in skating and writing. We teach different muscles to work harmoniously together. In skating we train our bodies and our brain too, but most it’s about legs and balance and reaction. In writing we train our brains–and our hearts. </div>
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How do we train our brains to write? We set up mini-goals, lots of them, beyond our first goal. Here are a few I believe in, though sometimes I find it hard to actually do them all!</div>
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<strong>Mini-Goals for Each Story</strong></div>
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<li>Create content by taking notes, brain-storming, writing a “shit” draft</li>
<li>Write a draft</li>
<li>Do research to understand the world you’ve created or the personalities</li>
<li>Think about story structure</li>
<li>Make certain everything in a story serves a purpose (especially in flash)</li>
<li>Be willing to delete that which doesn’t fit into the structure</li>
<li>Go through the story to improve the language</li>
<li>Make certain everything that needs to be clear is clear</li>
<li>Make certain that verbs are active, that nouns are specific</li>
<li>Proof-read carefully</li>
<li>Set it aside (this is one of the hardest mini-goals because usually at this stage we are sooooooo excited about what we’ve created, we can’t wait to send it out)</li>
<li>Reread and make changes after it’s been set aside</li>
<li>Ask a trusted reader to read it (trusted: gentle, supportive, yet honest, honest, honest)</li>
<li>Decide what notes you agree with and what you don’t and make edits</li>
<li>Set aside again, at least an hour or two so that when you proof-read for the final time, you have enough distance to find now what your eye skipped over before</li>
<li>Send out and cross fingers</li>
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<strong>Mini-Goals for Personal Growth</strong></div>
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<li>Read widely and deeply</li>
<li>Talk to others about writing</li>
<li>Be open-minded</li>
<li>Try new genres</li>
<li>Be a mentor</li>
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None of this is necessary if a writer is writing only for himself. Just as skating up and down the block might make one child happy, putting together a story for fun can work for the “Sunday author.” But if your goal is roller-derby, you’d better to be willing to work. And if you want to be published? Guess what…</div>
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<span style="color: #29303b; font-family: "georgia" , "verdana" , "arial" , serif;">Republished here from an article by Gay Degani at Flash Fiction Chronicles, publishe</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">d <span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;">Nov 22, 2009</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-87721267372774108602018-12-17T10:04:00.004-08:002018-12-17T10:10:49.428-08:002019 Pushcart Nominees from Blink-Ink<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">photo of Mojave Train</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">by </span></div>
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<a class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/10393601@N08" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("about:blank"); background-position: right center; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;">Rennett Stowe</a><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222222;"> </span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the announcement from Blink Ink.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Awards Season is upon us and here we go first up with the Pushcarts. Congratulation to one and all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our 2019 Nominees are:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Claire Polders - Tabula Rose<br />
Liam Pezzano - Dusty Angels<br />
Gay Degani - Mojave<br />
Steven Dunn - Shade<br />
Nancy Stohlman - The Harpist<br />
Francine Witte - Two years Later</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you Sally Reno and Doug Mathewson for this honor!</span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-34505142054363386112018-11-10T23:19:00.001-08:002018-11-10T23:57:42.602-08:00<h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: yrsa, sans-serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: 0.2s; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Tim Degani on Travel, Creativity, and Getting Out of Your Wheelhouse*</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by Nancy Stohlman</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy Stohlman: I know you have done ton a lot of traveling-what have been some of your favorite destinations? Have you been to Costa Rica before?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY09FryciX5oktI3SsQIo9vFOHT8feYFuq-SgFgZeZxp77J-saO5ABnB8sJuaH_rr9SmRNgh7rDmtNza_x36btW_r3WjKH0hPis-4TMIlKTASZ1qhBRsh-cMi3_mx7rKFsZ6wC/s1600/tim-intrview+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="456" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY09FryciX5oktI3SsQIo9vFOHT8feYFuq-SgFgZeZxp77J-saO5ABnB8sJuaH_rr9SmRNgh7rDmtNza_x36btW_r3WjKH0hPis-4TMIlKTASZ1qhBRsh-cMi3_mx7rKFsZ6wC/s200/tim-intrview+pic.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim Degani: </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Y</span>es, since I retired a few years ago Gay and I try to take at least one international trip a year. One of my favorite places to visit was Peru, the food was fabulous and the vistas were unlike anything we have ever seen. Machu Picchu is a place of stunning beauty and awe inspiring grandeur. We were fortunate enough to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge which is the only hotel that borders the park, a place I would highly recommend. There is a tremendous sense of tranquility and the orchids are just what one would expect in a tropical forest. The altitude can be a challenge so take the oxygen and coca infused tea when offered upon arriving in Cusco. The Inca craftsmanship and artistry cannot be ignored in their exquisite architecture and blanket weaving which can be found throughout the Sacred Valley.</div>
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We have not been to Costa Rica so I am looking forward to an amazing trip.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: Wow–I’m jealous! That sounds amazing. Creativity comes to people in different ways. How are you creative?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> I spent my career in the aerospace industry working in various finance positions, so I am not considered a creative person and certainly not one as defined by the arts. I am an engineer by education and my creativity, if it can be called that, is in solving problems and finding ways to accomplish projects that are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. I do enjoy all of the arts and am currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach California.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: I DO think solving problems is creative–I would also put the sciences into the creativity basket as well. Now you are coming to Costa Rica with your wife, Gay Degani, who is a writer. What’s it like being married to a writer? </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> As long as I give her plenty of room to do her own thing, we get along great after 44 years of marriage.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: Ha! Exactly. What are you most looking forward to about your time in Playa Negra? </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> I look forward to several days of relaxing in a tropical environment and partaking of some of the many outdoor activities offered. I am thinking maybe horseback riding, snorkeling, riverboat cruise, or visiting a rain forest.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: Sounds perfect. You know that Playa Negra has some of the best surfing as well, right? Now react to this quote by the (now) late Anthony Bourdin: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> I couldn’t agree more; in order to stay mentally agile you need to experience life and all it has to offer. I don’t think I could or would go to the extremes he went to (like traveling to Iran), nor eat the more exotic foods he devoured. I do enjoy going to and trying out new experiences that are outside of your wheel house. It helps to put your life into perspective.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: I agree. Tell us something we don’t know about you?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> Well just about everything I suppose. I am a native of Los Angeles, Ca, attended Hollywood high school and tried out unsuccessfully for the Dodgers.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: Wow! Anything else you want to add?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim:</span> By now, you probably have heard enough from me.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy: Thank you for your time, Tim! I’m looking forward to meeting you soon!</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Want to join in the fun and inspiration in Costa Rica? Kathy and Nancy have 1 little cabina available: <a href="https://flashfictionretreats.com/costa-rica-writing-retreat-january-2019/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #72594a; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Find out more!</a></span><br />
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*Tim is coming with me to Costa Rica and while I "retreat" with Kathy and Nancy and a terrific group of writers, he's going to take in the glories of beach and rainforest. </div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-47323495138464061352018-09-13T11:18:00.002-07:002018-09-13T11:26:22.444-07:00Need a Pep Talk? Grant Faulkner Has 52 of Them<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Find at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452161089/ref=rdr_ext_tmb">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">I recently drove from LA to San Francisco with a friend, and we listened to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452161089/ref=rdr_ext_tmb"><i>52</i> <i>Pep Talk for Writers</i></a> by <a href="https://www.grantfaulkner.com/">Grant Faulkner</a> from <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Pep-Talks-for-Writers-Audiobook/B07612VK7N?qid=1536862319&sr=sr_1_1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=S2M341J2XXHRR701K0BB&">Audible</a>. I am very glad we did. Many books have helped me stay the course in terms of writing, most of them in paperback and some in audio. These include all of Natalie Goldberg's work, Anne LaMott, Julia Cameron, Jerome Stern, Stephen King, William Zinnser, Gardner, Strunk and White, Ueland, Welty, as well books on movies such as Robert McKee, Syd Field, and Chris Vogler.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">I found myself thinking as I listened "Oh, yes, that's true," and "Wish I'd heard this years ago," and "I should post one of these chapters on my computer for each week!" Grant Faulkner's "Pep Talks" should be added to the above list of books for writers.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">What Faulkner brings to the bookshelf is a fresh way to inspire writers as well as offering good advice and encouragement, fifty-two flashes of wisdom. He covers each topic in concise, yet<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 Pep Talk Topics</td></tr>
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thorough detail: How important it is to take yourself seriously, how to get out of the habit of feeling like an imposter, how to use obstacles such as "not having enough time" to your advantage, how to stay on task using goals and deadlines. As a holder of an M.A. in creative writing, an oft-published writer, a veteran of Nanowrimo (he's now the executive director), and co-founder of the journal <i><a href="https://www.100wordstory.org/">100 Word Story</a></i>, Faulkner brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to this handbook for writers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><br /></span></span>Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-55051530886162080512018-09-04T10:10:00.002-07:002018-09-04T10:10:55.323-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: white;">I am thrilled to have a piece in the anthology, </span>NEW MICRO: <i>Exceptionally Short Fiction </i>(Norton, August 28, 2018) <span style="background-color: white;">edited by James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro and equally thrilled by the shout out in a review </span><span style="background-color: white;">at </span><i><a href="https://heavyfeatherreview.org/2018/08/29/micro/">Heavy Feather Review</a>, </i>written<i> </i><span style="background-color: white;">by Bryan Jansing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Punch for punch, these micro fists hit at you hard and with life’s betrayals and losses. Gay Degani gives a knockout blow in “Abbreviated Glossary” when the termination of a pregnancy is also the loss of dignity at the hands of an unsympathetic, career-focused husband."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'll be reading Thursday night in San Francisco, September 6, at 7:30 at </span><a href="https://www.booksmith.com/event/bindery-new-micro-exceptionally-short-fiction">The Bindery Bookstore</a><span style="background-color: white;"> along with </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stace Budzko</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kirstin Chen</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane Ciabattari</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Claffey</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grant Faulkner</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thaisa Frank</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Molly Giles</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cadence Low</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Melissa G. McCracken</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynn Mundell</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pamela Painter</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nancy Stohlman</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the press release:</span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exceptionally Short Fiction</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edited by James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Reading these wonderful tiny fictions is like stealing food from the refrigerator before, or after, dinner. A sublime luxury.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> —Frederick Barthelme, <i>New World Writing</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“These micro fictions violate the laws of geophysics by compressing whole lives / whole worlds / whole heartbreaks into something like diamonds: bright, riven, reflective, edged, wonderful, and hard enough to cut through glass.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> —Pam Houston, author of <i>Contents May Have Shifted</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Micro</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’s quick, bright stories are, like our lives, as brief as lightning in the blinding dark.They offer us essential truth without the inessential facts.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> —John Dufresne, author of <i>Flash! Writing the Very Short Story</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Each story in NEW MICRO: <i>Exceptionally Short Fiction </i>[W. W. Norton & Company; August 28, 2018; $15.95 paperback original] comes in at fewer than 300 words. And each, according to the foreword by Robert Shapard, editor of <i>Flash Fiction Forward</i>, “hangs in the air of the mind like an image made of smoke.” Quick, surprising, demanding, unsettling—these shorts represent a new trend in contemporary fiction. With them, our finest writers achieve the power and range of much longer works in ever-more-brief and compressed spaces. Elusive, mysterious, deep and sudden as a sinkhole, they are sure to delight fans of flash fiction and novels alike.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Editors James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro spent years assembling the best examples of the form, drawing extraordinary stories from contemporary books, journals and smaller anthologies. The result is a collection of work by distinguished writers like Amy Hempel, John Edgar Wideman, Kim Addonizio, Richard Brautigan, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Stuart Dybek, Joyce Carol Oates, and James Tate. Works by less familiar names are equally thrilling and demonstrate the authors’ gifts and their abilities to test the limits of the form.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The stories in this anthology are as varied as they are indelible: a girl finds a job playing lookout for an adulterous neighbor; an old woman is robbed on a train; a child dies in a shooting; a family holds a barbecue. They deal with familiar fictional subjects—love and marriage, death, strangers coming to town—and yet make these canonical topics feel fresh.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There are subjects less familiar, and stranger, too. In a seventy-five-word story by Lou Beach, a character is shot in the arm by a thieving monkey. In “Furnace” by Kevin Griffith, a furnace repairman becomes stuck in a family’s ducts: “On certain nights, the children gather around the vent and listen to him tell fanciful stories about wolves, elves, and armless people.”</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And others get yet more surreal. An unremarkable man finds a statue of himself in a park. A woman marries a breakfast cereal, then a cigarette, then a stone. An entire society of people decides to become hermits. An orgasm decides to take a selfie. Each story expands upon reading, hinting at worlds beyond the words. The stories “resonate in the silences,” write the editors, “like the last notes of a cello.'</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With 89 authors and 135 stories, the anthology invites exploration. Travel time is minimal, but the destinations are far-flung. These stories instruct, enlighten, entertain, and, like the very best fiction, formulate new questions that resonate beyond their scope and length.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ABOUT THE EDITORS</span></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">:</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">James Thomas has received a Stegner Fellowship, a Michener Fellowship, and two NEA grants. He lives in Xenia, Ohio.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Robert Scotellaro is the author of <i>Bad Motel </i>and <i>Measuring the Distance</i>. He lives in San Francisco.</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">TITLE:NEW MICRO</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">SUBTITLE: Exceptionally Short Fiction</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">EDITORS:James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2018</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ISBN:<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">978-0-393-35470-6</span></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">PRICE:$15.95 paperback original</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">PAGE COUNT:288</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Contact: Caroline Saine</span><b><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif; font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Publicity Assistant</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">212-790-4267</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-74450768106261467412018-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:002018-03-18T14:16:50.234-07:00Giving Context to Structure<div>
by Gay Degani</div>
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<strong>Content, structure, and language work together.</strong><br />
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No one element can make a story work. Many writers use a series of steps—brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revision, editing, and proofreading—to juggle content, structure, and language. The order of each step is a matter of choice and fluctuates with story ideas.<br />
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<li> To create content: brainstorm, free-write, draft a first draft</li>
<li> To apply structure: outline first draft, then draft second draft</li>
<li> To perfect language: revise, edit, and proofread</li>
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<strong>Content refers to the subject matter of a story.</strong><br />
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<li>The who, what, when, where, and how of a specific idea.</li>
<li>A character (the protagonist) finds himself in a difficult situation at a certain time and place and must deal with that situation. </li>
<li>How the protagonist deals with the situation depends on the protagonist’s wants, character, and the nature of the obstacles he must overcome.</li>
<li>Content provides the “story question or problem” that propels the protagonist through the plot and ultimately reveals a universal theme, a jolt, an epiphany, some small observance of life.</li>
<li>Content evolves from a premise, notes, a rough draft, research, observation, plus the attitudes and concerns of the writer.</li>
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<strong>Structure refers to the basic organization of a story. </strong><br />
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<li>Just as a play is divided into three acts, most stories have three main segments</li>
<li>The opening (Act 1) gives a story focus and meaning by providing the premise, setting, and tone of the story as well as hints at the nature of obstacles the protagonist will face.</li>
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<li>The main body of the story (Act 2) focuses on the protagonist’s actions to resolve the story problem.</li>
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<li>The conclusion (Act 3) reveals the results of the protagonist’s struggle and infuses that struggle with meaning.</li>
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<li>Each segment of a story has a similar structure: the overall story as well as each chapter, each scene within the chapter, each beat within the scene</li>
<li>Structure also involves other devices such as set-ups and pay-offs, sub-plots, and the shaping of structure specifically to content.</li>
<li>Structure evolves from outlines, note-taking, drafts or a combination of the three.</li>
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<li>Diction refers the specific words that are chosen</li>
<li>Style refers to how those words are combined, the order, the length of sentences and includes the use of literary devices such as metaphor, symbolism, and allusion.</li>
<li>Grammar keeps writing clear and understandable.</li>
<li>Language evolves from revision and rhythm.</li>
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<strong>Process is what brings these three basic components of composition together.</strong><br />
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<strong>Writing is a Process. Yeah, it is!</strong><br />
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<span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">The <span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">rough </span>draft is about content...<br /><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">making it up</span>.</span><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">The second </span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">draft is about structure...<br /><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">making sense</span>.</span><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">The third </span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">draft is about language...<br /><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">making it clear</span>.</span><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">The <span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">fourth </span>draft is about perfection...<br /><span data-mce-style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">making it publishable.</span></span><br />
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<span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Actually, the steps to the writing process bleed into each other like ink dropped from a leaky pen over one spot. The blotches don't land in exactly the same place, but they seep beyond each other's borders, and create a new kind of art.</span><br />
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-31353416477534423642017-10-26T21:35:00.001-07:002017-10-26T21:35:24.522-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Georgia Jeffries "Little Egypt"<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Excerpt from “Little Egypt” by </span></b><b style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Georgia Jeffries<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Gay Degani</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">A scream came from somewhere.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Did it belong to her?</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">When she was in the maternity ward panting through twenty-two hours of labor, she never heard her own voice.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">The other mothers were moaning, wailing, pleading for any painkiller the nurse could deliver.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Not her, not then.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">When her boy was born she closed her eyes and transported herself to another planet far, far away where there was not a weak-willed woman in sight.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Another scream wrenched the air.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Deeper this time.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Primal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Herbie looked over his shoulder just as the young black man attacked, pummeling his body like a speed bag at Gold’s Gym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ginger fell back, smashing into a wall of fine spirits and fashionable cosmopolitan glasses on the mirrored display.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time she found her balance, Dante lost his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her son lay on the floor, his limbs jerking like a mad marionette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The first time Ginger saw such a sight was in Vegas when a high roller on a winning streak suddenly jackknifed into overdrive after tipping her five hundred bucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He whirled around like a spinning top then collapsed on the poker table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chips sprayed across a surprised dentist from Des Moines who held a full house, but thanks to Lady Luck, was about to win big because the guy with the royal flush suffered a seizure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What were the odds?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The second time she saw that same strange dance her only child almost died because she was too stoned to know what was happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tonight, she knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kneeling next to Dante, she turned him over just like they taught her. Grabbed the bar towel to elevate his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pressed her ear to his heart to make sure he was breathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then she felt her hair being torn by its roots as Herbie dragged her from her son’s side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Georgia</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What was the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">My weirdest day in L.A. was my first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost nine years old and burning to see Disneyland, I arrived in the back seat of my parents’ Buick on our first family trip west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Sleeping Beauty’s castle had to wait. The premier place on my folks’ travel agenda?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forest Lawn Cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early in the morning we were at the head of a long line to view the rainbow colored stained glass depiction of The Last Supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards we were ushered along with a million other tourists into a vast hallway to see “the largest canvas painting in the world”, The Crucifixion of Christ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the afternoon we made it across town to ogle the famous footprints embalmed in concrete in front of the Chinese Theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t too impressed with the feet in the cement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do remember a beautiful wild-haired woman sauntering down Hollywood Boulevard like she was the queen of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wore tight belted short shorts, ankle-strapped wedgies and the skimpiest midriff top I had ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus at dawn, Jezebel at dusk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peoria couldn’t hold a candle to the City of Angels.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do you have a yet-to-be-realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">More than one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But dreams are like birthday wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you tell, they won’t come true.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why write short stories?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why write at all? What’s in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I love the short story form and those twisted cliffhanger endings that grace the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All those words are mirrors of our experience and hard-won survival techniques on planet earth.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I don’t write to theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write to character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Little Egypt”, my short story in LAst Resort, was finished several months before SinC/LA members were invited to submit our work to the anthology competition for consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Synchronicity in action.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are the characters in your story based on you or people you know/met? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">All the characters I write about are faceted reflections of people who have crossed my writer’s path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything is story material.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did the neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Little Egypt” is set in Hollywood – as much metaphor as it is geographical location – until the protagonist decides to escape to a safer place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “neighborhood” moves with our main characters.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are there scenes in your story based on real life – yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A little of each, leavened with a whole lot of imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus I’d been wanting to write about a mother and son, each wounded by injustice, saving each other.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What came first, the character or the plot?.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Character always.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See above.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">While you’re writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or…?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I like to listen to birdsongs in the trees outside my writing room window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, silence please.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Favorite writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mine: The writing life is a marathon, not a sprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pace yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">William Faulkner: “The past is not dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not even past.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Your writing ritual begins with…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tall cups of tea, Earl Grey with vanilla almond milk or cherry sencha straight.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">About Georgia Jeffries</span></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnbhnzcJt26-oFSvnQ-F1fTEt7fUIyYZgBasadteTODDYvkh9OKXrmnTm9mXWtWjWRaBGWoAS7z3K0yaaB-tt5tvuCD904841vyff6zI0cz3YwVnnOJNlLxzXwr1cXZwQxDIJ/s1600/GTJeffries+for+LAResort+PR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnbhnzcJt26-oFSvnQ-F1fTEt7fUIyYZgBasadteTODDYvkh9OKXrmnTm9mXWtWjWRaBGWoAS7z3K0yaaB-tt5tvuCD904841vyff6zI0cz3YwVnnOJNlLxzXwr1cXZwQxDIJ/s1600/GTJeffries+for+LAResort+PR.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">Photo by <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maia Rosenfeld</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Georgia Jeffries cracked TV’s glass ceiling as a writer-producer of multiple Emmy-Award winning series, the first individual woman writer honored with a WGA Television Award for Episodic Drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She created original pilots and movies for HBO, Showtime, ABC, CBS, NBC and is now adapting the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> NY Times </i>best-seller, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">72 Hour Hold</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to her short fiction, she is currently writing the novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malinche</i> for Adaptive Books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, she just completed a supernatural thriller based on the true events behind her aunt’s murder in the Illinois heartland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-56214610873973528432017-10-04T11:39:00.000-07:002017-10-08T11:04:41.934-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Laurie Stevens "The Ride of Your Life"<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpt
from “The Ride of Your Life” by Laurie Stevens</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIb1ubL2X21G-n-Wf1bTG4pmfP45NCKgNha11Xix_W95vChFQqXGX1jb5hMt0VJq-L5PvuKgVLk0FdvDpgEk0W4C1qP3HDafXrgm_5g-nh37N7XrNtzIzrUhmLMgYgfRu5qUeC/s1600/IMG_3613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIb1ubL2X21G-n-Wf1bTG4pmfP45NCKgNha11Xix_W95vChFQqXGX1jb5hMt0VJq-L5PvuKgVLk0FdvDpgEk0W4C1qP3HDafXrgm_5g-nh37N7XrNtzIzrUhmLMgYgfRu5qUeC/s320/IMG_3613.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo by </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Laurie Stevens</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“What about you?” He
swiveled his head toward her. “What's your name, anyhow?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Mary. Mary Fitzpatrick.”
She let her eyes roam the mountains bordering the canyon road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Well, Mary Fitzpatrick. It
looks like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have a husband?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">The car fishtailed as it hit
the bumps in the center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Please slow down!” Mary
cried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">He evened out and decreased
the speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“No, I don't have a
husband,” she said, eyeing the road ahead of them with worry. The turns were
tight, and they were still traveling too fast. The car tightly hugged the hills
to their right. On the opposite side, the road bordered a sheer, steep drop to
the canyon stream below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Mary could swear that the
last person they'd passed whipped out a cell phone and photographed the Buick
as it sped by them. Surely, someone would have called the police by now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“You have kids?” the man
asked her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“No.” Mary barely heard the
question. Her mind mulled over some possibilities. “I live alone.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Los Angeles can be a cold
and lonely place for a nice old lady.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">She cocked an eyebrow over
her spectacles at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She smiled
despite her predicament. With her gray hair, glasses, and dowdy clothing, Mary
knew most people considered her much older than her years. That was okay with
her. She wanted them to think that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h3>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">The
Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Laurie Stevens</span></span><i><span style="color: #3366ff; font-family: "arial";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></h3>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3366ff; font-family: "arial";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the weirdest thing
that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>What’s not been weird? I
guess the time I exited a gym and saw an elderly woman walking aimlessly
through traffic. I asked if she needed a ride and she told me “Quick! Take me
to the Pink Turtle!” She instructed me to drive her to the Beverly Wilshire
hotel and asked if I would wait with her for her friend. She bought me hot
chocolate and spaghetti. No friend appeared, so I took her to her apartment in
West LA. I helped count out her ration of medication/pills for the week and as
a thank you, she insisted I take home a folding chair. I kept that chair for a
long time.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Do you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>I have not yet hiked to the
Hollywood sign.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Why write short stories? Why write at all? What's in
it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>Do writers really have a
choice whether or not to write? We have to. Short stories give me a chance to
make a quick commentary or take a snapshot of life that isn’t big enough for a
novel, but delicious just the same.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>That you don’t stray from
the theme.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are the characters in your story based on you or
people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>Without creating a spoiler,
I’ll say that one of the characters is based on a nefarious and infamous person
who, I believe, is still serving time in prison</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different
neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did
the neighborhood influence your writing?<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>Well, if you read the story
you will see the two characters travel all over. They start in the city, go
through the valley, then end up in the canyons on the way to the beach. I
myself like quilts!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are there scenes in your story based on real
life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Available at Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>I’ve read about embezzlement
cases, so the man’s crime is not unusual, unfortunately. As far as the car
jacking is concerned, I wanted to put a twist on that, and I’ve never heard of
it happening before.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">What came first, the character or the plot? <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>The plot came first. The
twist came first… Then I added that character from the news story.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">While you're writing: music (what kind?), dead
silence, or…? <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>Silence while I write. Music
while I walk between writing to complete those hard-to-complete scenes. I keep
a playlist for each book or story I write</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Favorite writing quote—yours or from someone else…<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you want
to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a
lot.</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephen King<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Your writing ritual begins with… <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>A cup of coffee and a lit
candle. A quiet space and for God’s sake turn the phone off!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOhn3JlL4MXNvr6xq_6HDO6NRVWeYGLUNooh4j0fairqit5BATFxMwdBvjfRwSjdixkpS_y1z7Yy4-6JfghX0QtGC54JQWZXy3lxgYPSE5k5yRquJ8CztMItzkYwwMCn6aArt/s1600/Laurie+Stevens2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOhn3JlL4MXNvr6xq_6HDO6NRVWeYGLUNooh4j0fairqit5BATFxMwdBvjfRwSjdixkpS_y1z7Yy4-6JfghX0QtGC54JQWZXy3lxgYPSE5k5yRquJ8CztMItzkYwwMCn6aArt/s320/Laurie+Stevens2.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo by <span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Guy Viau</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Laurie Stevens is the author
of the Gabriel McRay psychological thrillers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark Before Dawn</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep
into Dusk</i>. The books have won twelve awards, among them Kirkus Reviews Best
of 2011, the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IPPY for Best
Mystery/Thriller, Library Journal's Self-E Award, the Amsterdam Book Festival,
and Random House Editor’s Book of the Month. Laurie is an active member of MWA,
ITW, and sits on the Board of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles. She’s proud to have
been included in two Sisters in Crime anthologies: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last Resort</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last Exit to
Murder.<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-52882261976771726202017-09-27T00:32:00.000-07:002017-09-27T00:39:59.443-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Georgia Jeffries "Little Egypt"<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Excerpt from “Little
Egypt” by </span></b><b style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Georgia Jeffries<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFNI_8Rjmt0ZSnPLdtHtyIEUXUaXxeB3Mkq9JDT94Q9xa6oZjhZkJALxYfIjCjt4wCEiGVIS9yo28S8xIS2nxOlWbm7K2q2lF63UAuWUp34pT800t6VlEhfsafsbvuVkDHIVG/s1600/IMG_5314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFNI_8Rjmt0ZSnPLdtHtyIEUXUaXxeB3Mkq9JDT94Q9xa6oZjhZkJALxYfIjCjt4wCEiGVIS9yo28S8xIS2nxOlWbm7K2q2lF63UAuWUp34pT800t6VlEhfsafsbvuVkDHIVG/s320/IMG_5314.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Gay Degani</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">A
scream came from somewhere.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Did it
belong to her?</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">When she was in the
maternity ward panting through twenty-two hours of labor, she never heard her
own voice.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">The other mothers were
moaning, wailing, pleading for any painkiller the nurse could deliver.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Not her, not then.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">When her boy was born she closed her eyes and
transported herself to another planet far, far away where there was not a
weak-willed woman in sight.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Another
scream wrenched the air.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Deeper this
time.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Primal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Herbie
looked over his shoulder just as the young black man attacked, pummeling his
body like a speed bag at Gold’s Gym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ginger fell back, smashing into a wall of fine spirits and fashionable
cosmopolitan glasses on the mirrored display.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By the time she found her balance, Dante lost his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her son lay on the floor, his limbs jerking
like a mad marionette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The
first time Ginger saw such a sight was in Vegas when a high roller on a winning
streak suddenly jackknifed into overdrive after tipping her five hundred
bucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He whirled around like a
spinning top then collapsed on the poker table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chips sprayed across a surprised dentist from Des Moines who held a full
house, but thanks to Lady Luck, was about to win big because the guy with the
royal flush suffered a seizure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
were the odds?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The
second time she saw that same strange dance her only child almost died because
she was too stoned to know what was happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tonight, she knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kneeling next
to Dante, she turned him over just like they taught her. Grabbed the bar towel
to elevate his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pressed her ear to
his heart to make sure he was breathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then she felt her hair being torn by its roots as Herbie dragged her
from her son’s side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Rochelle Staab
Questions asked of Georgia</span></b></h3>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What
was the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">My weirdest day in L.A.
was my first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost nine years old and
burning to see Disneyland, I arrived in the back seat of my parents’ Buick on
our first family trip west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Sleeping
Beauty’s castle had to wait. The premier place on my folks’ travel agenda?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forest Lawn Cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early in the morning we were at the head of a
long line to view the rainbow colored stained glass depiction of The Last
Supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards we were ushered along
with a million other tourists into a vast hallway to see “the largest canvas
painting in the world”, The Crucifixion of Christ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the afternoon we made it across town to
ogle the famous footprints embalmed in concrete in front of the Chinese Theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t too impressed with the feet in the
cement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do remember a beautiful wild-haired
woman sauntering down Hollywood Boulevard like she was the queen of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wore tight belted short shorts, ankle-strapped
wedgies and the skimpiest midriff top I had ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
at dawn, Jezebel at dusk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peoria
couldn’t hold a candle to the City of Angels.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do
you have a yet-to-be-realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">More than one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But dreams are like birthday wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you tell, they won’t come true.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why
write short stories?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why write at all?
What’s in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I love the short story
form and those twisted cliffhanger endings that grace the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All those words are
mirrors of our experience and hard-won survival techniques on planet earth.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What
is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I don’t write to
theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write to character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Little Egypt”, my short story in LAst
Resort, was finished several months before SinC/LA members were invited to
submit our work to the anthology competition for consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Synchronicity in action.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are
the characters in your story based on you or people you know/met? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">All the characters I write
about are faceted reflections of people who have crossed my writer’s path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything is story material.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Los
Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did you pick the area you used for your
story, and how did the neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Little Egypt” is set in
Hollywood – as much metaphor as it is geographical location – until the
protagonist decides to escape to a safer place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The “neighborhood” moves with our main characters.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are
there scenes in your story based on real life – yours, hearsay, or a news story
you read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A little of each, leavened
with a whole lot of imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus
I’d been wanting to write about a mother and son, each wounded by injustice,
saving each other.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What
came first, the character or the plot?.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Character always.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See above.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">While
you’re writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or…?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I like to listen to birdsongs
in the trees outside my writing room window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Otherwise, silence please.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Favorite
writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mine: The writing life is
a marathon, not a sprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pace yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">William Faulkner: “The
past is not dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not even
past.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Your
writing ritual begins with…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tall cups of tea, Earl
Grey with vanilla almond milk or cherry sencha straight.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">About Georgia Jeffries<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnbhnzcJt26-oFSvnQ-F1fTEt7fUIyYZgBasadteTODDYvkh9OKXrmnTm9mXWtWjWRaBGWoAS7z3K0yaaB-tt5tvuCD904841vyff6zI0cz3YwVnnOJNlLxzXwr1cXZwQxDIJ/s1600/GTJeffries+for+LAResort+PR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnbhnzcJt26-oFSvnQ-F1fTEt7fUIyYZgBasadteTODDYvkh9OKXrmnTm9mXWtWjWRaBGWoAS7z3K0yaaB-tt5tvuCD904841vyff6zI0cz3YwVnnOJNlLxzXwr1cXZwQxDIJ/s1600/GTJeffries+for+LAResort+PR.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maia Rosenfeld</span></td></tr></span>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Georgia
Jeffries cracked TV’s glass ceiling as a writer-producer of multiple Emmy-Award
winning series, the first individual woman writer honored with a WGA Television
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<br /></div>Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-38375984978370501862017-09-20T01:00:00.000-07:002017-09-22T11:10:03.503-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author G.B. Pool "Method Actor"<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITk3AUz55IKusBR4IWxkXNSxmik5bi3w8g_E809FYgveUlQ7YYLwBGF8yEJY_GkieRA7xaG8SQJxFOgWXpZmkwnr1F4TlEHlp_wnXdsymFbEqSmju96n1RXrdgzpIfg08qsPC/s1600/P1010137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITk3AUz55IKusBR4IWxkXNSxmik5bi3w8g_E809FYgveUlQ7YYLwBGF8yEJY_GkieRA7xaG8SQJxFOgWXpZmkwnr1F4TlEHlp_wnXdsymFbEqSmju96n1RXrdgzpIfg08qsPC/s320/P1010137.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpt from “Method
Actor” by G.B.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial";"> Poole</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">He said I had it in me, that
killer instinct. But he couldn’t have known about Gloria. That happened when I
was sixteen. Water under the bridge, like they say… and Gloria, too. The
producer said I was what he was looking for. Somebody who could kill his wife
with a smile on his face. He offered me a part in his latest movie if I could
come to California and didn’t lose that sharp edge. He told me that twice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The Rochelle Staab Questions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you
in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Not the
weirdest, but a totally <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Welcome To LA
story</i> – I was taking acting classes from Rudy Solari and Guy Stockwell when
I first came to California back in the 70s. I wanted to learn how to write
dialogue and acting class seemed like a great place to do that. My acting
partner and I were given a scene from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Odd Couple</i>. We were to play the leads. Instead of Felix and Oscar, we
became Felicia and Esther. We practiced until we knew it backwards then decided
to take the “act” on the road. We went to a local Hollywood bar where actors
hung out. We went in in character. Karen, playing the rather “out there” Esther
hit on all the guys. I, the shy and retiring Felicia, kept telling her to stop
embarrassing me. When asked what I wanted to drink, I said a Harvey Wallbanger,
but I asked what it cost. When the bartender told me the price, I acted shocked
and said I didn’t want to buy drinks for the entire bar. He said it was my
drink alone. I fumbled in my change purse and still kept telling Esther to stop
making a scene. When the bartender put the drink in front of me, I wiped down
the bar with a hankie. He stopped and said in a very loud voice, “Talk about
‘the odd couple.’” I broke out laughing and we told everybody what we were
doing. I didn’t have to pay for my drink that night or any time we ever went
back. We were a hit. Rudy liked the scene we did in class, too. Later, he
started The Solari Theater in Brentwood. He actually put on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Odd Couple</i> with women in the lead.
Sally Struthers ended up doing it on Broadway, but</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial";"> Karen and I did it first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Do you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">One of my
series, either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Johnny Casino Casebook</i>
series or the Chance McCoy stories from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second
Chance</i>, turned into a TV series.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Why write short stories? Why write at all? What's in
it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I teach a
class: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Anatomy of a Short Story</i>.
I tell my students that a short story has all the elements Aristotle said
should be in a story: Plot, Character, Dialogue, Setting, and a Theme. I like
being able to put all those elements into a 25-50 page story. If I have more to
say, I write a novel.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Trying to
guess what the editors of the anthology are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>
looking for.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are the characters in your story based on you or people
you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizugaYlo6E3SKvA0-yr63AQzoh-CPhSltaEEXf1iULvTKPYDean0A3Dh1lr-RsNS5nYNQicM98NQiQZD0HzJHn3Yy8Y1YY9e6Ek_qVGDmF1tmO9T02A6W1o2FqMZy-2-Ifiw6R/s1600/ElvisGayleMarilyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizugaYlo6E3SKvA0-yr63AQzoh-CPhSltaEEXf1iULvTKPYDean0A3Dh1lr-RsNS5nYNQicM98NQiQZD0HzJHn3Yy8Y1YY9e6Ek_qVGDmF1tmO9T02A6W1o2FqMZy-2-Ifiw6R/s320/ElvisGayleMarilyn.jpg" width="240" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">In “Method
Actor,” no. He’s totally from my imagination. In my detective series, all three
of them -<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Johnny Casino Casebook</i>
series, The Gin Caulfield P.I. series (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Media
Justice, Hedge Bet </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Damning
Evidence</i>), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second Chance</i>
featuring Chance McCoy-, since I used to be a private detective in real life, I
use some of what I learned on the job in those stories.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different
neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did the
neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I bring a
New York actor out to Los Angeles because he believes what he sees in the
movies. I let him experience the difference between The Big Apple and the
desert. Then I put him in a cheap hotel before he meets a big producer who
lives in another world. Soon those worlds collide.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are there scenes in your story based on real
life—yours, hearsay, or news story you read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">“Method
Actor,” a story about a New York actor who comes to Los Angeles because he
believes everything he sees in the movies is strictly out of my own
imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What came first, the character or the plot? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Available at Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Plot
usually comes first for me. Almost everything I have ever written starts with
some voice in my head telling me a story beginning with an opening line or
paragraph. I might rewrite that opening two dozen times, but that basic core of
the plot doesn’t change. Sometimes that voice becomes the main character, but
he or she is still telling me the plot. I figure out who the characters are as the
storyline progresses.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">While you're writing: music
(what kind?), dead silence, or…?</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I have a
fountain that plays bird tweets and forest sounds. It is so relaxing, that I
can get a lot of writing done. I’m on book 20, so it must work. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">Favorite writing quote—yours or
from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">“The first chapter sells the book. The last
chapter sells the next book.”</span></i></b></span><span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;"> from Mickey Spillane</span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">Your writing ritual begins
with…</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "arial";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Coffee… La Llave and French Market with chicory, 2-1.</span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">A former private detective
and once a reporter for a small weekly newspaper, Gayle Bartos-Pool (G.B. Pool)
writes the Johnny Casino Casebook Series and the Gin Caulfield P.I. Mysteries (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Media Justice, Hedge Bet, Damning Evidence</i>).
She wrote the SPYGAME Trilogy: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Odd
Man, Dry Bones</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Power. </i>Other
books: C<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">averns</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eddie Buick’s Last Case</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Santa Claus Singer, Bearnard’s Christmas,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Santa Claus Machine, </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Every Castle Needs a Dragon</i>. She teaches writing classes: “The Anatomy of a
Short Story” (which is in workbook form), “How to Write Convincing Dialogue”
and “How to Write a Killer Opening.” Website: www.gbpool.com.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-23384411319149165792017-09-20T00:30:00.000-07:002017-09-22T11:14:38.634-07:00Gayle Bartos-Pool Sums Up Sisters-in-Crime Anthology, "LAst Resort"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A31E5D93YUKC5U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdp?ie=UTF8"><span style="color: #0066c0; text-decoration: none;">Gayle
Bartos-Pool</span></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NOTE: The interview and excerpt from Gayle Bartos-Pool's short story "Method Actor" is now posted.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxIbni94P8pubMor4tf7C6egDk_y7egsxl7_ZUSTiV9AOXg9ojH6TdvETN_HXEEOKLYRgAZd05ovA6WiaEnHWyy69L5aNiaZeekeNqyF1L1Dbw_cg89F08XCeKciU6w_F_9mO/s1600/440px-MConnelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="440" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxIbni94P8pubMor4tf7C6egDk_y7egsxl7_ZUSTiV9AOXg9ojH6TdvETN_HXEEOKLYRgAZd05ovA6WiaEnHWyy69L5aNiaZeekeNqyF1L1Dbw_cg89F08XCeKciU6w_F_9mO/s200/440px-MConnelly.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles writer <br />Michael Connelly</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial";">If Michael Connelly introduces a book, you know it has to be
worth a look. This time he focuses on a journey through Los Angeles, its dark
alleys and places tourists never go. Who inhabits these locals? People who come
from out of town looking for fame, fortune, excitement, or maybe just a place
to bury a body. L.A. is like a drug. It can cure and it can kill. Read on.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="clear: left; color: #111111; display: inline; font-family: "arial"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">“Eggs Over Dead” by Wendall Thomas shows us that waitressing might be a dead
end job when you came to L.A. to be a writer, especially when your one break
turns sour, but sometimes when the meal’s finished, the just desserts can be
delicious.</span></span></div>
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<br />
“The Ride of Your Life” by Laurie Stevens begins with a carjacking. Los Angeles
put them on the map. But you never know who might be in that car.<br />
<br />
“Method Actor” by G.B. Pool tells the story of a New York actor who is offered
a part in a Hollywood movie by a producer with one condition: the actor has to
kill the producer’s wife with a smile on his face. Our young thespian practices
his craft across country and tops it off in L.A. before the cameras roll.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwivJzObF_AFOVTnphG7PG-n7HvAQl2Ra9lMslpHVxO9K4z6Fvq_657AGAtZlv5N9WRlsi7BLwCJBwExMAUcjZLuhYkmTTMRjXyErVo0q9Tt9JWD7Z0GaasbUzh6fapkV-0Me/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Presents-Resort/dp/1943402620/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Available at Amazon</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
“The Best LAid Plans” by Anne David lets you know you can take the girl out of
the country, but not the country out of the girl. This gal hasn’t lost her
green thumb because the tomatoes grown in her backyard are winners. Wonder what
kind of fertilizer she uses?<br />
<br />
L.H. Dillman weighs nature vs. nurture in “Lead Us Not Into Temptation.” When a
street punk from Chicago comes to Los Angeles to be nurtured by his very caring
aunt who works as a housekeeper for a wayward “parachute kid” in a mansion on
the expensive side of town, he learns a valuable lesson. But L.A. can play
havoc with your schooling.<br />
<br />
“Highland Park Hit” by Gay Degani lets us know family is family. But when you
come from Louisiana to help your cousin with his daughter and find a dead body
in the living room, you might need more than Gorilla Glue to fix the problem…
like maybe a good dose of Law & Order…Lennie Briscoe style.<br />
<br />
“Independence Day” by Avril Adams tells the story of Ava who’s just out of
prison on the 4th of July. This gal is looking for her own kind of fireworks
like finding the guy who killed the wrong people and got away with it. Let the
fireworks begin.<br />
<br />
Lynn Bronstein’s “Mimo” is a poignant tale of a tiny woman heading for a dead end…
her way.<br />
<br />
“Today’s the Day” by Mae Woods features a spurious psychic who had a pretty
good operation going in prison, but when she tries to ply her craft on the
outside she finds out con artists sometimes can’t read the handwriting on the
wall.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIo4EdJM-4XRi8p4GOej3r5nI5CcjQ-0MRGIzHb4_8rM3Zhh35hLzrVtlc1SbPDwl4GGm93lFtkX_cp5KqaIYqHwUqJau7nuyUlN_PE9lCgjZbu2DxLB2Z1a9X9754JAA-f_j/s1600/IMG_7896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIo4EdJM-4XRi8p4GOej3r5nI5CcjQ-0MRGIzHb4_8rM3Zhh35hLzrVtlc1SbPDwl4GGm93lFtkX_cp5KqaIYqHwUqJau7nuyUlN_PE9lCgjZbu2DxLB2Z1a9X9754JAA-f_j/s320/IMG_7896.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figueroa Street in Highland Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
“Little Egypt” by Georgia Jeffries lets you know it’s hard to bury your past
especially when there’s always somebody around who will dig it up for you. But
some memories can be buried for good… or maybe for bad.<br />
<br />
“Thump Bump and Dump” by Wrona Gall is a study. When you think your lifestyle
needs a makeover, why not move to L.A. and fix somebody else’s problem. It just
might make a new man of you…<br />
<br />
“Hired Lives” by Cyndra Gernet takes a trip back to a quieter time in Los
Angeles where you meet an older couple who only want a few simple things out of
life, so they put an ad in the paper for a couple who can provide just what
they want. Ask for references…<br />
<br />
Sarah M. Chen’s “Nut Job” introduces us to Hector, a guy with friends who have
a great idea to make big money. With that money he would make his girlfriend
happy. She wouldn’t dump him. What could go wrong?<br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
“Crime Drama/Do Not Cross” by Melinda Loomis features Alexandra Jones. She goes
by Zan. She’s currently working as a private detective. But when your favorite
TV show, the one where you know all the episodes by heart, is ending its run,
and you really want to be an actress, not a P.I., but you can’t get a job,
sometimes reality and fantasy collide.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
“On Call for Murder” by Paula Bernstein is the story of a dead surrogate
mother, a question of paternity, an arrogant doctor, and another doctor who has
questions and gets answers that just might get her killed.<br />
<br />
Stephen Buehler’s “Seth’s Big Move” shows us that you can have bad days… and
then you can have the Titanic. Seth is a wannabe actor from Indiana who can’t
catch a break in Hollywood. Then he meets Emily and he’s going to move into a
new apartment and share his life with her. And he has a small inheritance.
Things are looking up, but than he looks at his bank account… Can things get
any worse?<br />
<br />
<i>
Last Resort</i> is the latest anthology from Sisters-in-Crime/Los Angeles, edited
by Matt Coyle, Mary Marks, and Patricia Smiley.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-10693641470040258502017-09-06T00:30:00.000-07:002017-09-06T00:30:05.890-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Anne David "The Best LAid Plans"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VsSKzAFgKDMYLa7gWjGf2UvJCB__vD0xWl9X4Q8J8ONPMDEzLW_hP129VDaPMrYorjg-9QJPAG6rXUErCA7b_9CAJrPtn1_BxaWRlZ9haS-q_wGhd7a0MW1FfyV8c4NYDJQm/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="273" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VsSKzAFgKDMYLa7gWjGf2UvJCB__vD0xWl9X4Q8J8ONPMDEzLW_hP129VDaPMrYorjg-9QJPAG6rXUErCA7b_9CAJrPtn1_BxaWRlZ9haS-q_wGhd7a0MW1FfyV8c4NYDJQm/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpt from “The Best LAid
Plans”</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> by Anne David</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Irene had arrived in Los
Angeles at the Greyhound bus station shortly after her twenty-first birthday.
She shed the name Elvira Klotzman in favor of Irene Ross on the long road trip
from the farm in Minnesota. A substantial stash of movie magazines in her
travel bag, the source of her information on how to break into the movies,
reported on the many stars that had changed their names. No shame in doing
that. Better John than Marion, or Marilyn than Norma Jean. Irene seemed
glamorous, but dignified, and there didn’t seem to be any Irenes on the movie
scene right now. Irene Dunne was the last one she knew of, so there wouldn’t be
any confusion with someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The seedy people wandering
around the outside of the bus station and the general dinginess of the street
dismayed Irene, and she realized that she had no idea where to go. She had some
money saved from her waitressing job at the Prairie Café from the last few
years to get her started, and her mother had pressed a twenty-dollar bill into
her hand as she boarded the bus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Be careful.” Her mother was
a woman of few words. “You can come home anytime.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Her father just stood with
his hands in his overall pockets, chewing on a toothpick. “Take it easy, girl.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">None of them was
demonstrative, so no hugs or kisses. She did have a slight lump in her throat
though, because as far as she was concerned she wasn’t coming home again. She
would never return to the backbreaking work of a farm, with the endless chores
and the smell of the place on your clothes and in your hair, and the dirt
always under your fingernails. The long hours aged a person beyond their time.
Look at her mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">“I’ll write.” And then she
was on her way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.199999809265137px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">The Rochelle Staub Questions</span></b></h4>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB_8oN3YlWOU_APJO6z2NtsHL2h-ODMG2xDrSuiluUAlo8sGUuPlym3mGdwrgkZTsMGLYazoNxgOsm2FDjuc-_RDACvi3a2zDYv60tcfVCZMmmYoZfWYrQoiQ_6-EjrGCobgV/s1600/David%252C+Anne+%25281036%2529R+-+Client+Copy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB_8oN3YlWOU_APJO6z2NtsHL2h-ODMG2xDrSuiluUAlo8sGUuPlym3mGdwrgkZTsMGLYazoNxgOsm2FDjuc-_RDACvi3a2zDYv60tcfVCZMmmYoZfWYrQoiQ_6-EjrGCobgV/s320/David%252C+Anne+%25281036%2529R+-+Client+Copy.jpeg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Photo by Charles Ng - Time On Film</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the weirdest thing
that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">My daughter’s dog was
running off leash in the Hollywood Hills and came bounding back from the brush
dragging a plastic bag that contained a severed head. Needless to say, he made
the papers <i>and</i> late night TV. The mayor even issued him a commendation
from the City of Los Angeles. That might actually be the weirdest part.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Do you have a yet-to-be
realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">I’m looking forward to
the day when the L. A. highways, byways, and freeways are trash free. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Why write short stories? Why
write at all? What’s in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">"What’s in it for you?"
and "why write at all?" are two sides of the same question for me. It’s like an
out of body experience in which I can relive an episode from my past, or
project myself into another life altogether. It’s a chance to expand the finite
experiences of a single lifetime into an ever-changing universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as "why write short stories?"… not
every idea merits a book, but most ideas merit the telling.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What is the biggest
challenge to writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">I wasn’t so much
challenged by the theme as by the word count. That makes you hone the language
and boil the story down to its essence - no sidebars, flights of fancy, or
unrelated facts allowed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are the characters in your
story based on you or people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">I don’t think so, but
then you store a lot in your sub-conscience and it probably comes out in your
characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Los Angeles is a patchwork
quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your
story, and how did the area influence your story?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGjuk6LWot66wbDw4fvSlV9FQfslwjHrOWYgETRuyomFZmWcNhyphenhyphenavYo4poF6n4M4cdruuKyxMJNMSiQALNeZy42c8owTGUK3_hQSnwqQTPY1unBXsHVc1H6YdVPVmKr-U7gQD/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGjuk6LWot66wbDw4fvSlV9FQfslwjHrOWYgETRuyomFZmWcNhyphenhyphenavYo4poF6n4M4cdruuKyxMJNMSiQALNeZy42c8owTGUK3_hQSnwqQTPY1unBXsHVc1H6YdVPVmKr-U7gQD/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Available at Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">I got to know Silver Lake
when my daughter and her family moved there several years ago. The side streets
can be narrow and winding and very confusing, and I used WASE to find my way
around. It never seemed to take me on the same route twice, always looking for
the least traffic, so I developed a real appreciation for the quirky
neighborhoods and a healthy respect for the treacherous hill streets. It can take
your breath away to crest the summit of the neighborhood roller coaster ride,
have the sun in your eyes, and meet a garbage truck coming at you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also spend a lot of time driving the
stretch of Sunset Boulevard that runs through Silver Lake, not the posh
stretch, and there is a never-ending stream of pedestrians, mostly young, and
you wonder where they come from and how they live.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Are there scenes in your
story based on real life – yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">The singles bar scene was
a pretty standard one in the 70’s, and characters like Roy were usually lurking
there, waiting for an Irene to come along.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What came first, the
character or the plot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">They came together, but
not as they finally played out in the story. Irene followed me around for days
declaring that she was rich and famous, but had to back down from that position
when her humble farm girl origins began to emerge. But as Irene evolved, so did
the plot.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">While you’re writing: music
(what kind?), dead silence, or… ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">I have to write first
thing in the morning. I’m up at six, make a cup of coffee and retreat to my
quiet corner, away from the household traffic and the distractions of email,
TV, or phone calls, which can tempt me back into the real world. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Favorite writing quote –
yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">“Writing is easy. All you
have to do is cross out the wrong words.” Mark Twain<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Your writing ritual begins
with…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">Reading aloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to hear how the words written
yesterday sound today.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Anne David retired from a
lifetime spent in elementary education and now lives in Pasadena with her
husband, John. She had intentions of beginning a new career writing children’s
books, but somehow she deviated from that plan and turned to murder and mayhem
with a novel, <i>The Accidental Benefactor,</i> followed with another murder in
her short story “The Best LAid Plans.” She has a BA in English, a MA in Reading
Instruction, and a PhD in Literacy and Language Arts. Her children’s book, <i>The
Three Basketeers, </i>is the first in a series developed for the emerging
reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-4530306429131560662017-08-30T01:00:00.000-07:002017-08-30T01:00:05.519-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Melinda Loomis "Crime Drama/Do Not Cross"<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDAvtzAg2mWDvrzZq1AbimeO8RDiXbsZ76IPU-W_Uj88ibGaYg9AW0MV44NCWdFnVilzAt3ywfZWk8f1f_vNvmFD799A4Emc5c2qyDBO8ITItTtvliPcF9lv37pTGff7ig_qB/s1600/PalmtreesHwd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDAvtzAg2mWDvrzZq1AbimeO8RDiXbsZ76IPU-W_Uj88ibGaYg9AW0MV44NCWdFnVilzAt3ywfZWk8f1f_vNvmFD799A4Emc5c2qyDBO8ITItTtvliPcF9lv37pTGff7ig_qB/s320/PalmtreesHwd.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Excerpt from “Crime Drama/Do Not Cross” by Melinda Loomis</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">So
I became Zan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">A
crapload of paperwork (part of which, the prior experience requirement, I
fudged), background check and one state exam later, and I had my PI license. No
one questioned that I was changing my name at the same time. I concocted the
story that I was an actress trying to remake myself to try and jumpstart my
comatose career, and that was the end of that conversation. Apparently I wasn’t
the only one who thought Alexandra “Zan” Jones was a lot catchier and more
dramatic than Susan Cooper. I bought my first fedora and started wearing it
24/7, and gave myself a catchphrase for good measure. I figured it would all
come in handy when I finally got on the show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Because,
you see, it was also a calculated career move. I hoped that in addition to
getting to be Zan, that eventually I could solve a high enough profile case to
make the news. My plan was that the novelty of casting an actress who was a
real-life PI on a show about PI’s would prove irresistible to the <i>PI: Private Investigators</i> producers and
network, and I would be in.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">The Rochelle Staub Questions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to
you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">It was actually something that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i>
happened. I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard and there was a huge crash
behind me. A palm frond had fallen and hit the sidewalk. A guy walking toward
me held his hands about twelve inches apart and said, “It missed you by this
much,” and I thought, what a stupid way to die. I had visions of LAPD notifying
my family just like they do on T.V. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Do you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Writing for television. I’m currently in the UCLA Extension TV
Writing Program and would love to be able to make my living doing that. I’ve
worked so many jobs I loathed that it would be wonderful to have a dream job. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Why write short stories? Why write at all?
What's in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve only recently discovered the markets for short stories. I’ve
always had trouble trying to write novels or feature scripts; it gets to a
certain size and I just can’t wrangle it. But short stories and TV scripts are
manageable for me. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m not a brilliant conversationalist, but I feel like I’m able to
express myself well in writing. And I like crime writing in particular because
I like seeing people get what they deserve, good, bad, or otherwise. That doesn’t
always happen in real life so it’s nice to see justice served, even if it’s
fictional.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">What is the biggest challenge in writing to
theme?<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Hoping that the judges will feel you’ve met that particular
requirement.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Are the characters in your story based on you or
people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">No, more like types of people. So many people come here to break
into the entertainment industry, but most won’t make it. I’ll watch the credits
of old movies and TV shows and wonder what happened to the actors who didn’t
make it big. You know their Hollywood dream wasn’t to have their biggest credit
be “Girl at party” or “Guy at bar”. I wonder about those people and what
happens to them when the dream eludes them.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Plus, thanks to the internet, people who are overly obsessed with
TV shows have an outlet to share that with the world and some of it is kind of
disturbing, so that contributed to the idea of someone who was such a fan that
she tried to live as if she was a character on the show. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different
neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did
the neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">When I read the theme for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">LAst
Resort</i>, my mind went straight to an actress whose career hadn’t happened.
Of course she’s still in Hollywood—leaving would be admitting defeat. I lived
in Hollywood during the same period as Zan, so I know my way around the
neighborhood and its recent history. I didn’t need to research it.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Are there scenes in your story based on real
life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">The catalyst for Zan becoming a private investigator, the checks
being stolen by a neighbor, actually happened to me. She cleaned out my
checking account. The difference is my neighbor didn’t answer the door when I
tried to confront her. But I still had this amazing feeling of euphoria from
solving the crime, plus I was able to tie it to the TV show Zan is obsessed
with.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">What came first, the character or the
plot? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">The plot, based on the theme. I know I said earlier Zan came to
mind immediately, but it was more her situation and her obsession than her
personally, and that’s what drove the story.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">While you're writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or…?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">I find listening to songs while I’m writing to be distracting. I
usually have creativity music from YouTube going because it stays in the
background. There’s a website called Coffitivity.com that plays coffee shop
background noise, and I use that sometimes because it’s also background enough
that it doesn’t distract me. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">Favorite writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">Anne Lamott: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your
stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have
behaved better.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">There was major family drama after my father died in 2011 that was
extremely traumatic and unnecessary, all the responsibility fell on me, and it
made me depressed and angry. It went on for several years and at one point I
thought, when this is over, I never want to think about it again, EVER. Earlier
this year I used the experience as the basis for a script for my UCLA Extension
class and got raves for it. Enough time had passed and I was able to use the
experience to my advantage. It was wonderfully cathartic and Anne’s quote was
an inspiration.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">Your writing ritual begins with…</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv8213037662msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately I procrastinate like crazy, so my “ritual” usually involves
me suddenly being interested in housework. When the deadline is looming and I
don’t have any choice is when the muse finally shows up. I submit right at
deadline a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Melinda
Loomis was born and raised in Southern California. She has at times been an
office drone, culinary student and unemployed bum. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>LAst Resort </i>is her first
time being published. She got the news that she was accepted as a contributor
on her birthday.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">Melinda
lives in the Los Angeles area with her extremely photogenic cat Sophie. Visit
her online at </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://www.melindaloomis.com/">www.melindaloomis.com</a></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-50667729744407384722017-08-23T00:30:00.000-07:002017-08-29T14:45:00.678-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Avril Adams "Independence Day"<div style="color: #222222;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo by <a href="mailto:letsdoshots@gmail.com">Maya Rosenfeld</a></span></td></tr>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Excerpt from "Independence Day" by Avril Adams</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"So what
brings you here?" she said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"Business or pleasure?" The corners
of her lips turned slightly upward when she said "pleasure". <i>Easy
does it, Ava. Take your foot off the gas.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"Neither."
He glanced, discreetly, she thought, for a wedding ring. She folded her left
hand, hiding the crooked middle finger broken during the escape. Frank had sent
his own man from the mortuary to push her into a false-bottom coffin for the
getaway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"Art, you
might say. I'm a writer. Freelance."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"What are
you freelancing?" <i>As if she didn't know</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"I'm
covering the Coburn murder trial for <i>People's Gazette Magazine</i>."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"The
Coburn murder trial? That gangland murder up in the hills a few years
ago?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"That's
the one," he said with emphasis, circling a thick finger around the crest
of his glass. Ava shivered, her well-shaped breasts contributing their part to
the performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">She set her
drink on the bar and poked at the ice cubes with a swizzle stick while she
thought of something to say that would imply she had some sympathy for the
victims. "So they finally got the killers," she said. "I
remember seeing the coverage and thinking what they did was so
cold-blooded." She held her fingers like a pistol. "Each one of them,
two to the head, pop, pop, execution style. Weren't there four people in that
house? Four college students?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">"I
believe so," he said, thoughtfully, after a pause. "Yes, four. You
have a good memory, Danni."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial";">One of them
was Frank’s niece, you Dumbo. You could have just taken the cocaine, but you’re
a killer at heart. So you’re gonna be number five, Conrad Oliver.</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></i></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div>
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Rochelle Staab Questions Asked of Avril </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Adams</span></b></h4>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the weirdest thing that's happened to you in Los Angeles?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiTmm3cWO5lcroNhIN2iAfOTdjEuHvaaRBlRdVQDRy7b2kFDYPhZfACuIy6-fU8Q5uT41M-QVmILNppXW-KUz1k9sIy36-l3VyfiQfGTgH1wWqMvLG4WBfsL85POgW4jIw8Bk/s1600/AAdams2562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiTmm3cWO5lcroNhIN2iAfOTdjEuHvaaRBlRdVQDRy7b2kFDYPhZfACuIy6-fU8Q5uT41M-QVmILNppXW-KUz1k9sIy36-l3VyfiQfGTgH1wWqMvLG4WBfsL85POgW4jIw8Bk/s320/AAdams2562.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>One night someone knocked on my door. I lived on a hillside at the time and it was a hard climb without a car. I opened the door and there was a woman standing there. She had red hair and wore glasses. She said her car had broken down and asked to use my phone. Right out of a horror movie, right? Well this was in the days before cell phones so it was more reasonable than now. Since she appeared to be alone I agreed to let her use the phone . I pointed it out on the kitchen wall. I was busy for a moment as she picked up the receiver but unknown to her I was watching. I realized she hadn't actually dialed a number but was just pretending to talk to someone. Then I was really scared but I didn't let on. After a minute of very strange conversation she asked if she could stay the night. Whew! I was scared. I finally got her to go outside and locked the door behind her.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do you have a yet-to-be-realized L.A. dream?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My dreams don't center around this town. This city has a thousand masks and you can try on a few but sometimes the masks can overtake you and you can become part of the craziness. I'm okay with being in it but not of it.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why write short stories? Why write at all? What's in it for you?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A<b> lot of life is about karma and the law of unintended consequences. Shot stories allow me to play god with these ideas, pack a punch and get out quick. Sometimes short stories leave an indelible mark because they are brief, ephemeral, pivotal moments in time.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the biggest challenge to writing to theme?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Writing to theme can be a curse if you feel you have to be totally linear with it. It can also be a blessing in that it winnows a universe of possibilities down to a manageable few.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story and how did the neighborhood influence your writing?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>This city is full of neighborhoods but most people drive through or around them without ever stopping to meet the people that live in them or to experience other cultures. You could have a story with a certain set of facts but it will be completely different when filtered through different neighborhoods and ethnic group experience.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are there scenes in your story based on real life-yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Most of my stories are based on something real, in the news, an idea in a book, something that happened to me. I rearrange the facts and try to figure out why this event is important and what is the theme that I want to dress it in.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What came first, the character or the plot?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>For me, always the character.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Presents-Resort/dp/1943402620/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503449365&sr=8-1&keywords=sisters+in+crime+last+resort">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While you are writing: music (what kind) dead silence, or...?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I can sometimes write when there is music or the T.V. going on in the room, usually classical or something without words. I can work while half-listening to the T.V. Noise isn't so much a distraction but a mood changer. Sometimes that's also good to change the mood.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What's your favorite writing quote?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I don't really have a favorite but if I did it would remind me that one writes for its own sake and not for a reward or if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What's my writing ritual?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Don't have one but I often warm up by reading something great by another author.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avril Adams lives in the Inland Empire. She writes crime fiction, often in the noir genre. Her story, "The Lowriders" was included in<i> Last Exit to Murder. </i>She has had several other short stories published. In addition to crime fiction, Avril writs science fiction with a humanist twist as well as children's stories. She is working on a novel starring an African-Amercican female PI. Her animals are an inspiration for her fiction.</span>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-89305133612951881632017-08-16T00:10:00.000-07:002017-08-16T00:10:00.183-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author Gay Degani "Highland Park Hit"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Excerpt from "Highland
Park Hit" by Gay Degani</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6_eRz_RbKB4v2BW__7mVy2wEstPlAYxljWnKtzbvz0QaUirkihA3G1lO0xyZ4ZI5PFY1cgy6iMYrN_wvH6iPqxi6HlSiAaNe94JfRg3jYABfBb7FNzv2I8Ovafke_84UIXsK/s1600/IMG_7896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6_eRz_RbKB4v2BW__7mVy2wEstPlAYxljWnKtzbvz0QaUirkihA3G1lO0xyZ4ZI5PFY1cgy6iMYrN_wvH6iPqxi6HlSiAaNe94JfRg3jYABfBb7FNzv2I8Ovafke_84UIXsK/s320/IMG_7896.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Corner on Figueroa in Highland Park<br />Photo by Gay Degani</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Late afternoon sun streams
through my cousin’s renovated house, so bright<span style="color: red;"> </span>I’m
temporarily blinded, but find myself quickly wrapped in Clovis’s bony arms. I think he’s crying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I smooth back his
hair. “Talk to me, <i>cher</i>? Wha’s wrong?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He points toward the
kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I twist around taking
in the open concept of living room, dining, and kitchen, the back yard through
sliders, all on view in a single glance. Then I swallow hard at what I spy
next. At the foot of the quartz island on the dark laminate floor sprawls a
man’s body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Stay here,” I say,
and offering up a pray to that Detective Lenny Brisco from <i>Law & Order</i>, I creep into the kitchen and stoop to take this
poor man’s pulse but there’s a hole in his neck a bullet hole—I know <i>this</i> from TV. His flat dead eyes seem to
ask me <i>why</i>? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t know. I throw
up. <i>Twice</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Gay Degani:</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">What
is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuHndZeIWmvLbz6spjIhkHZdPbBEkqNkAao8VvYJq2-fCZOvJHopBhI1rI4IGJTiKQKZXY9V1Ho-keITmhgZFr3_1yRSa30caHuk4H3_Qu6NYKMTnWhM82oArwb7QO56gZFx8/s1600/ef6502_f4f1eadd6cf2449f940c5eecfa4c1bfe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1512" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuHndZeIWmvLbz6spjIhkHZdPbBEkqNkAao8VvYJq2-fCZOvJHopBhI1rI4IGJTiKQKZXY9V1Ho-keITmhgZFr3_1yRSa30caHuk4H3_Qu6NYKMTnWhM82oArwb7QO56gZFx8/s320/ef6502_f4f1eadd6cf2449f940c5eecfa4c1bfe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo by Rachael Warecki</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve lived here a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I know the difference between
something weird and an “only in LA” moment.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">Do
you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I do. I want to write a good suspense novel/film in
the vein of “Rebecca,” “Suspicion,” & “Shadow of a Doubt.” These are all
domestic suspense stories, and that’s what I think I do best, dealing with
regular people in scary situations. It’s what my novel, “What Came Before” is.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">Why
write short stories? Why write at all? What's in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Short stories allow a writer to hone his or her
craft. 6,000 words are much easier to tackle than 66,000 words. You can rethink
the plot, edit, revise, polish, even start over in a relatively short time. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">What
is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t think theme is a challenge. It’s really a
tool to help shape a story, decide what should be in and what should be out. It
helps keep the characters and plot on track and deepens a reader’s enjoyment.
It gives the endeavor meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">Are
the characters in your story based on you or people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s too difficult to pull stuff out of thin air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could you make a vase without clay?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trick is changing to character to fit the
needs of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Los
Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the
area you used for your story, and how did the neighborhood influence your
writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m interested in gentrification, how it affects
the residents, though in this story it’s part of the milieu. I chose Highland
Park which is an up and coming community in East LA because its close to me is
an authentic community. Also I’m interested in other facets of restoring homes
and how obsessed people are with watching renovation shows on TV.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are there
scenes in your story based on real life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you
read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
story came about because of the premise of the anthology. I needed to pick an LA
area, which dictated what the setting would be. Then all I had to do was kill
someone.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What came
first, the character or the plot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Character—also dictated by the anthology’s theme:
thinking LA is the promised land. I chose a Louisiana cousin as the inspiration
for Fanchon Landry, or “Fig” as her family calls her.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
you're writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or…?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Preservation Hall, Cajun music, the blues.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Favorite
writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">“The only kind of writing is rewriting.” Ernest Hemingway which
leads to my own quote. “Never fear the shit draft.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">Your
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">About Gay Degani</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4Ld1ziacSGs9PnnKoIjfJv9HgBspX1LnRI_Km777IjeGB4i6xPZL65ZC3U_K1h0KtCYzOefFBGc3KPbedzNOVFn_wL_CPaCDWXoFYY2Ut9h6f_mx79EjspMQBQ2Gj3Uursbt/s1600/what+came+before+thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4Ld1ziacSGs9PnnKoIjfJv9HgBspX1LnRI_Km777IjeGB4i6xPZL65ZC3U_K1h0KtCYzOefFBGc3KPbedzNOVFn_wL_CPaCDWXoFYY2Ut9h6f_mx79EjspMQBQ2Gj3Uursbt/s320/what+came+before+thumbnail.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-Came-Before-Gay-Degani-ebook/dp/B01KU3KY5M/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">Gay Degani is the author of a full-length collection of short stories, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rattle-Want-Gay-Degani/dp/1925101673/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452713831&sr=1-1&keywords=Rattle+of+Want" style="font-size: 14.699999809265137px;"><span class="s6" style="color: blue; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">Rattle of Want</span></a><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"> </span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">(Pure Slush Press, 2015) and a suspense novel, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Came-Before-Gay-Degani/dp/1928193005" style="font-size: 14.699999809265137px;"><span class="s6" style="color: blue; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">What Came Before</span></a><span class="s7" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"> </span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">(</span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">Truth Serum Press, 2016).</span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"> She’s had four flash pieces nominated for Pushcart consideration</span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"> and won the 11</span><span class="s8" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 7px; line-height: 8.399999618530273px; vertical-align: super;">th</span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"> Glass Woman Prize. </span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;"></span><span class="s5" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">She blogs at </span><a href="http://wordsinplace.blogspot.com/" style="font-size: 14.699999809265137px;"><span class="s6" style="color: blue; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.639999389648438px;">Words in Place</span></a><span class="s6" style="color: blue; font-size: 14.699999809265137px; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.639999389648438px; text-decoration: underline;">.</span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-38558452837618396802017-08-09T00:20:00.000-07:002017-08-09T00:20:06.055-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author: Wrona Gall "Thump Bump and Dump"<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Excerpt from: "Thump Bump and Dump" by Wrona Gall</span></h3>
<h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5w5QF5whWw4zP6oXR3mfyUQ6aqGNXPWy3yn1TqLecfygNq-dLgOpT9qx5g7Tzhq4wB5GiwZywWlN0f1QOBXqV4bufVN87-fdH8j6QOjvse7TUDIi_MRJH9Vuqym8gs7QwHHa/s1600/2093629A59064B02BEE02B3D36246DC5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="342" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5w5QF5whWw4zP6oXR3mfyUQ6aqGNXPWy3yn1TqLecfygNq-dLgOpT9qx5g7Tzhq4wB5GiwZywWlN0f1QOBXqV4bufVN87-fdH8j6QOjvse7TUDIi_MRJH9Vuqym8gs7QwHHa/s320/2093629A59064B02BEE02B3D36246DC5.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo found in the Public Domain</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></h3>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LA embodied a
trend-setting dynamic that challenged people to do more, be more, experience
everything. This vibe inspired him to reinvent himself, to overcome his
melancholy by rescuing an actual victim. Not some wimp like Francine who threw
a bottle of pills down her throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Local
scavengers would have boosted his rental van by now. The thieves were probably
barreling down the 101, oblivious to the bloody cargo area. An abandoned house
loomed in front of him. The rotted porch, a strong wind away from collapse,
creaked under his footsteps. He ducked under the sagging doorframe. Testing the
floor with each step kept him from crashing through the wood. After scrubbing
every inch of exposed skin with antiseptic, he tossed his wig, moustache and
costume onto a pile of garbage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He smoothed
the wrinkles out of his second layer of clothes, a Lakers T-shirt, cargo shorts
and flip flops and dug a candle out of his pocket. He lit the wick and wedged
it into his trashed belongings. In a few minutes, Howard Green would be
incinerated. He’d again be Stuart Evans, LA cool guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Walking
toward a glow of neon lights, he texted an <span lang="DE">Uber</span> to take him to The Grove. This atonement stuff
really made him hungry. He craved a juicy cheeseburger oozing bloody grease. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Wrona</span></b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ_2bHCtvUsMDnVrKmBYxKoWuBgFOTQ3pBYcULNof6pmjWHD1_z7BhyzOPlNlYMDAK2nYExR79KlSEW4qq67S7IyOkHPKAWAP61iGHMUdwmwY73R0BJDjdn5MgWLEsZ2LRgUG/s1600/Wrona+Gall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="472" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ_2bHCtvUsMDnVrKmBYxKoWuBgFOTQ3pBYcULNof6pmjWHD1_z7BhyzOPlNlYMDAK2nYExR79KlSEW4qq67S7IyOkHPKAWAP61iGHMUdwmwY73R0BJDjdn5MgWLEsZ2LRgUG/s320/Wrona+Gall.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo by </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">James R. Gall </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you
in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We moved from Chicago to Ojai a year ago, so I
haven’t experienced weird yet. So far, my impressions are great weather and
wonderful people.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seeing my
daughter Vanessa on the red carpet.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why write short stories? Why write at all? What's in
it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I write to create the endings I want
to be on the news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?</span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Staying on track. I tend to wander.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are the characters in your story based on you or
people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My characters are collages of people
I know.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different
neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did
the neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found an LA neighborhood that
resembled our inner city Chicago neighborhood of twenty years where street
people, artists, and rich collectors mingled and enjoyed each other while
gentrification changed the buildings, but not the rich diversity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What came first, the character or the plot? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Character, always.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">While you're writing: music
(what kind?), dead silence, or…?</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I play old black and white mysteries
that function as white noise.</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Favorite writing quote—yours or
from someone else…</span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enjoy what you write.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Your writing ritual begins
with…</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Diet Pepsi and a chocolate chip
cookie<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About Wrona Gall</span></o:p></h3>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wrona Gall
moved from Chicago to Ojai with husband, Jim, daughter, Vanessa and rescue
Westie, Zoe, in 2016. “Thump, Bump, and Dump” is her second published short
story. She is currently writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Resolve</i>,
her second novella about Deckle Ahern who is diagnosed low-spectrum autistic
and transforms his life from visual artist to Samurai Avenger when his mentor
is murdered. Wrona divides her time between writing and sculpture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-13371969845696263242017-08-02T00:10:00.000-07:002017-08-02T09:42:53.840-07:00Meet LAst Resort Writer Lynne Bronstein "Mimo"<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpt from “Mimo" by Lynne Bronstein</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jR-cczsZA-AQRoViDFEGcll_y8vy9FGSQY9Lvs5FGqMW9wpkzYnwrfUWHgGGOFepFMaSlswoG13wYw2paqeec9BxPyDnD4d7VXGx9fvyTMWZYzahdfGlZxuq0WurRsm5To-S/s1600/Beach_bikepath_in_the_Venice_Beach_park%252C_California.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jR-cczsZA-AQRoViDFEGcll_y8vy9FGSQY9Lvs5FGqMW9wpkzYnwrfUWHgGGOFepFMaSlswoG13wYw2paqeec9BxPyDnD4d7VXGx9fvyTMWZYzahdfGlZxuq0WurRsm5To-S/s320/Beach_bikepath_in_the_Venice_Beach_park%252C_California.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo by Sameer Kahn</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Back in the ‘70s, if you were walking in Venice at
night, you might have seen her standing in a doorway, singing softly to
herself. You would have had to look straight ahead or even down because she was
tiny, not more than five foot one and she herself joked that her bones were
like noodles. You would have known her by her hair. It was always some color
not found in nature, blue-green or vivid red or purple with silver streaks. She
didn’t have it done in a salon, she never could have afforded that,so she got
the dyes from somewhere and did it herself in public restrooms or friends’
homes. She spiked it and put some sort of grease on it and it stuck up from her
head like alien plant life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">She came wrapped in old kimonos, worn camouflage
jackets, denim vests and jeans, velvet robes, falling-apart lace gowns. Her
nose was a bit beaky and there was a scraped area on one side of her face.
She’d survived a motorcycle crash years before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">She called herself Mimo. People thought she was
mispronouncing Memo. She pronounced it with a short “i.” Was her name Mimosa?
Miriam?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Few people knew her real name. Welfare knew what it
was. Mimo used friends’ addresses and at one time or another had a post office
box. She lived nowhere and everywhere. She slept on peoples’ couches, in
shelters, or on the street. Sometimes people told her she ought to get a
permanent place to live and she shook her head and said “I don’t want to live
anywhere.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why, Mimo? they would ask her. And she always
answered:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’m free
this way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Rochelle Staab Questions for Lynne Bronstein</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXMVBSZckiiiqfHqKtc-OAQWILaTKMR6mod8xKULF4qn1BJSkbblQS3bMW7gR3MUfoIIm1NQ2E9Oog3XXfCKX7GysZWmh5zuXAsio6WR8XhxCh_-I9vqCrSpUwqJ-1m0FgWMA/s1600/_DSC6305+photo+by+Alexis+Fancher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1183" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXMVBSZckiiiqfHqKtc-OAQWILaTKMR6mod8xKULF4qn1BJSkbblQS3bMW7gR3MUfoIIm1NQ2E9Oog3XXfCKX7GysZWmh5zuXAsio6WR8XhxCh_-I9vqCrSpUwqJ-1m0FgWMA/s320/_DSC6305+photo+by+Alexis+Fancher.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo by </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-align: start;">Alexis Rhone Fancher</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What is the
weirdest thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I’ve lived here a long time so there could be many incidents
that I could cite. Maybe it was the time when I just accidentally ran into Jim
Morrison on Santa Monica Boulevard (it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i>
near the studio where The Doors were recording <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">LA Woman</i> at the time). He told me he was busy and I should meet him
at the same place the following week. He never showed up.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do you have a
yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I always wanted a house that I own. The cost of a house now
is too much. I used to design the house I wanted to live in, even drawing floor
plans. I might instead build a doll house using found objects.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why write
short stories? Why write at all? What's in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I’ve always written things. I can’t stop myself-it’s
compulsive. I “wrote” my first poem before I could even write-my father had to
write down what I dictated. I like to tell stories. A short story is easier
than a full-length novel but it’s also a challenge in another way-you have to
hit the beginning, middle, and end quickly and develop your characters quickly
in fewer words. <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What is the
biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I often interpret a theme according to my imagination and my
ideas, which may not be what an editor has in mind. When I submitted my story
“Mimo” to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">LAst Resort,</i> I was afraid
it would not be accepted because it was not a whodunit or procedural but that
was more a matter of story type than of theme. It turned out that I had
fulfilled the requirements by creating a character that came from somewhere
else and encountered bad luck in LA.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are the
characters in your story based on you or people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As I describe below, “Mimo” is based on a real murder case
and the character Mimo is based on a real woman-but I did not know her so I
created her from bits and pieces of the behavior of real homeless people that I
have observed. I also put some of myself in her. But then again, my character
Roger the journalist, is also me to some extent. Most of my characters tend to
contain parts of me. We know ourselves best (or we think we do). <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Los Angeles is
a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>area you used for your story, and how did the
neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Venice was the neighborhood in which the real-life incident
that I based my story on took place. But I also know Venice like the back of my
hand. For many years I lived nearby in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica.
I worked in Venice, volunteered for a local newspaper published in Venice, and
hung out with friends in Venice. I found myself referencing real Venice places
in my story, such as the Lafayette Café where I used to breakfast on weekends.
I wanted to capture the ambience of Venice as I knew it in the 1970s before the
onslaught of development and faux-hipness that has taken it over now. It was a
place where everyone was valued, even homeless people. I’d like to think that
nothing can completely kill that spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are there
scenes in your story based on real life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you
read?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The real-life incident took place in 1977. The model for
Mimo was Benita Bingham, known in Venice as “Bingo,” who was murdered by her
ex-husband after he was released from prison. I never knew Bingo; I merely
heard stories about her from people who did know her. My theory is that she
resisted living in an apartment because it would be more difficult for her ex
to find her if she were homeless. That’s the basis for what happens in my
story.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What came first,
the character or the plot?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">They came simultaneously, due to the real-life incidents
that inspired them. But I had to work on the development of Mimo as a
believable character. I thought about how she would look and dress and talk. I
wanted another character for her to interact with, a character that would also
“ground” the story in reality for the reader and for that purpose I created
Roger the journalist. I originally wrote the story in the third person but I
switched to first person and it made an incredible difference in tone and
credibility.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a><span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">While you're writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or….<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxspmiddle" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">I prefer to write without
music, with as much silence as possible. Music, especially if it has a vocal,
distracts me and the lyrics get in the way. Instrumental music is sometimes
okay to write poetry to.</span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">Favorite writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">I can’t think off hand of a
quote. I can paraphrase something from Harlan Ellison’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dangerous Visions</i> anthology: he said that above all, what writers
give is their courage. Add to that Anais Nin’s advice to writers that they
write every day and you have my guidelines for the life of a writer.</span></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
<span class="gmail-quote1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-quote1"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">Your writing ritual begins with…</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span><br />
<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail-msolistparagraphcxsplast" style="background: white; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I wish I could
begin the day with writing before anything else but even my journal has to wait
a bit. When I wake up each day, the first thing I have to do is feed the four
cats. Then comes breakfast, showering, dressing, writing my journal, yoga,
chores around the house. When I do get down to writing, I like it to be quiet,
comfortable temperature-wise, and I usually have to have access to liquid
refreshment. I often have to get up and pace around. If I am “on a roll” I just
sit tight and type away. When I begin to write, I just begin to write. It has
always begun that way.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">More about Lynne Bronstein</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Lynne Bronstein is the
author of four poetry collections, <i>Astray
from Normalcy</i>, <i>Roughage, Thirsty in
the Ocean,</i> and <i>Border Crossings.</i>
Her poetry and short fiction have been published in magazines, newspapers,
anthologies, and on web sites.<i> </i>She
has been a journalist for five decades, writing for the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> and other Los Angeles area newspapers. She also
writes a blog, “No Rainy Days.” Recently she adapted Shakespeare’s <i>As You Like It</i> as a contemporary
Valley-speak spoof which was performed at the Studio City and Hollywood public
libraries. She has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes for poetry and for
two Best of the Net Awards for short fiction. She won a prize for her short
story “Why Me” and two prizes from Channel 37 public access for news writing.
She has taught poetry and journalism workshops for children at 826LA and for
the Arcadia Library and was cited by the city and county of Los Angeles for her
mentoring work with Jewish Vocational Service. Her latest publication is a
short story in the crime fiction anthology <i>LAst
Resort</i> from Sisters in Crime. A native New Yorker and LA transplant, she
lives in the San Fernando Valley and has four cats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-74277845410475619742017-07-26T00:10:00.000-07:002017-07-28T10:46:27.150-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author: Paula Bernstein "On Call for Murder”<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Excerpt from: <span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: justify;">“On Call for Murder” by Paula Bernstein<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Sheri Fried</span></td></tr>
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</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I woke to the alarm at six o’clock,
still exhausted. I pried open my eyes and splashed my face with ice cold water,
dreading my return to the hospital. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When I got to the ICU, it was clear
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unresponsive to all but the most painful stimuli. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Pardon me, are you Dr. Kline?” I
turned to see a stocky young man with Slavic features and thinning sandy hair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“I’m Alexander Markovic, Nina’s
boyfriend. Can you tell me how she’s doing?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Not well, I’m afraid, Mr. Markovic.
We’re doing all we can.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“That bastard,” he hissed under his
breath. “May I see her?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“She’s in room five,” I told him. When
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Where’s Avery?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Dr. Avery hasn’t come in yet this
morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Give him a message. Tell him that
if she dies, I’ll kill him.” His voice quivered, and his eyes were moist. He
walked out before I could see him cry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I stared after him, shaken,
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I began reviewing the chart again,
not that I expected to learn anything new. There had been something on my mind
all morning, just out of reach, and as I skimmed through yesterdays’ labs, I
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnfaTbROF78WbPwqVmxx5bkwF7NziXrjMlB065FD4oYWX9BtsYUphXKc-Ojl2bhDdeKBQknMupvVcfKmn0t7106nDnEbm47i9FVQ060zgna0z1f-BDwRjFac6WxK1EOLkmBo-/s1600/Paula.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1534" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnfaTbROF78WbPwqVmxx5bkwF7NziXrjMlB065FD4oYWX9BtsYUphXKc-Ojl2bhDdeKBQknMupvVcfKmn0t7106nDnEbm47i9FVQ060zgna0z1f-BDwRjFac6WxK1EOLkmBo-/s320/Paula.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo by <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Uri Bernstein</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3 style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Paula Bernstein</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the weirdest
thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m not sure I’d use the word “weird” but the scariest thing
that happened to me in Los Angeles occurred the day after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
I was in the operating room performing a caesarian section. I’d just delivered
the baby and was about to sew up the bleeding uterine incision when there was a
huge aftershock and all the lights went out. I stood there in the pitch dark,
trying to figure out how to get the bleeding under control and wondering how
long it would take the hospital generator to kick in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Do you have a
yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
dream that someone will invent a Star Trek transporter device that will make it
possible to get from Brentwood to Pasadena in five minutes instead of in an
hour of stop and go traffic.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why write short
stories? Why write at all? What's in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I write both short stories and novels. Writing is the way I
exercise my right brain and explore my creative side. I write for fun and for
pleasure. It’s been my avocation during all my professional years as a left
brained physician, and since my retirement, it has surprisingly become my third
career.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is the biggest
challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For me it is making sure I do my homework and get all the facts
correct. The medical part comes naturally but for anything out of my field I
consult experts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are the characters in
your story based on you or people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The answer to that is yes and no. My main character Hannah Kline
is an obstetrician practicing in Los Angeles, just like me. Hannah shares my
opinions and has my sense of humor but her life is totally different. She is a
young widow with a four year old daughter, and over the course of the books she
develops a romantic relationship with a hunky LAPD detective. I’ve been happily
married for almost 50 years to a lovely man who would probably disapprove of my
having a romantic attachment to a good looking cop. Hannah’s love interest is
completely fictional and many of the minor characters are as well. Occasionally
I am inspired to create a character by someone I know or see for whom I can
make up a totally fictional life story. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles is a
patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used
for your story, and how did the neighborhood influence your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is easiest to write authentically about what you know. My
characters live and work on the west side of town, everyplace from West Hollywood
to Santa Monica. That’s my ‘hood and I can describe it well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are there scenes in
your story based on real life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you read?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All of the medicine in my story comes from my years of
experience. I often fictionalize patient medical cases that were particularly
interesting or dramatic.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Anthology/dp/1943402620">Amazon.com</a><span id="goog_1554765620"></span><span id="goog_1554765621"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What came first, the
character or the plot? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my first novel, <i>Murder in the Family</i>, the plot came first. I
wanted to tell a fictionalized version of a close friend’s real murder that had
affected me deeply. I invented the characters who eventually became Hannah and
Daniel in order to tell that story. Writing the novel was my therapy and my way
of coping with grief. However, after the first book, the characters took
priority. Before deciding who got murdered, and in what world I wanted to set
my next novel, I always asked myself what needed to happen to Hannah and
Daniel’s relationship in that book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #222222; padding: 0in;">While you're writing: music
(what kind?), dead silence, or…?</span><span style="color: #222222;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dead silence or I can’t concentrate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #222222; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Favorite writing quote—yours or
from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #222222; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My favorite quote comes from a cartoon sent to me by a fellow
author. There is a dog, seated at a computer terminal. The caption is Sit,
Stay.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #222222; padding: 0in;">Your writing ritual begins
with…</span><span style="color: #222222;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two lattes and the LA Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<h3>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About Dr. Paula Bernstein</span></o:p></h3>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qCvCiUv528r8ivoZRH7w6E2GWc0IluC6xlcv5yQPuL09yHbYA4133d-oKHsQXXx2pwUBvWi95M3JwQFFgkKEtlPbwycOAkTMUhhAX5KFWCVDz6AFCtKPfoe3CbBVqMNDDADd/s1600/In_Vitro_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qCvCiUv528r8ivoZRH7w6E2GWc0IluC6xlcv5yQPuL09yHbYA4133d-oKHsQXXx2pwUBvWi95M3JwQFFgkKEtlPbwycOAkTMUhhAX5KFWCVDz6AFCtKPfoe3CbBVqMNDDADd/s320/In_Vitro_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dr
Paula Bernstein is enjoying her third career as a mystery writer. She began as
an inorganic chemist with a Caltech PhD, switched gears, went to medical
school, and spent the next thirty years as an actively practicing obstetrician
and gynecologist in Los Angeles. She is the author <i>of Murder in the Family, Lethal Injection, Private School, The
Goldilocks Planet,</i> and <i>Potpourri</i>.
Her short story, “On Call for Murder,” a prequel to the Hannah Kline series,
was recently published in the Sisters in Crime/LA’s 2017 Anthology <i>LAst Resort</i>. Her newest Hannah Kline
novel, <i>In Vitro</i>, was published in July 2017. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-41399217404012452742017-07-19T00:10:00.000-07:002017-07-20T12:26:39.300-07:00Meet LAst Resort Author: Wendall Thomas "Eggs Over Dead"<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">E</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">xcerpt from “Eggs Over Dead” </span></b><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">by Wendall Thomas</b></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo by Wendall Thomas</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I cover the weekday breakfast shift at Summer/Winter/Fall.
The "of the moment" restaurant is not where I thought I would wind up
when I drove cross country ten years ago, but waitressing pays better than a
development job, and I'm in a bills situation. I should be working the more
lucrative weekend brunch—the mecca for all fedora-wearers—but I'm afraid I'll
eventually lose it, stab the fifth lead in a streaming sitcom, and wind up on
TMZ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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ringing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's a customer frantic to know if we have his gold teeth.
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crescent of gold Chiclets swept under the bar, entwined in a tuft of
"emotional support dog" hair. I shake them off and put them in a
take-out bag for pick-up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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click click on the glass door. Outside, a lanky forty year old, still dressed
in his mid-life clubbing clothes, waves and points to his mouth. I let him in
and hand him the bag. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Thought I was gonna have to call my jeweler in Jersey.
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Literally one, I guess. He hands me a dollar bill. He takes
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twenty, I might have told him he should rinse it first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I check the clock. It's seven minutes to eight and a few
regulars are already hovering outside. I take my last chance to sneak out into
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bang. Bang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Wendall Thomas:</span></b></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";">Photo of Wendall Thomas </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";">by </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";">Stella Mulroney</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What is
the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in Los Angeles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The weirdest (and maybe the best)
thing that ever happened to me here was seeing Stevie Wonder in the Radio Shack
at Highland and Wilshire. I think that kind of thing only happens in LA.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you
have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To live in a quiet 20’s duplex.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why write
short stories? Why write at all? What's in it for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some ideas aren’t big enough to be
novels, but they are still interesting enough to be told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like the challenge, because there’s nowhere
to hide in a short story.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What is
the biggest challenge in writing to theme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I think there’s always the chance that
you’ll be heavy-handed or force the characters to do something they wouldn’t
actually do.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are the
characters in your story based on you or people you know/met?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The “Thursday Guy” is an amalgam of
a few producers I’ve encountered over the years and the restaurant patrons have
elements that I’ve observed over twenty-five years of writing in restaurants.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Los
Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different neighborhoods. Why did you pick the
area you used for your story, and how did the neighborhood influence your
writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s actually my neighborhood, which
has become increasingly “hipsterized” and entitled in the last five years. This
makes long term residents like myself feel old, irrelevant, and irritated. That
seemed the right setting for the tone of the story.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are there
scenes in your story based on real life—yours, hearsay, or a news story you
read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As noted above. A producer actually
did point a remote at me and say “Okay, go” in a meeting once.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What came
first, the character or the plot? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrLg6SMV7HyQBTdVUk-JlUe7e8Bg06QV_lYX0dsdU-eNCN8GohIZSu6uOE50_1_XcDzC4TtMApIUvqw9mp-SVtGRd8VC7h8FpAG8jd4hQQq_2mRRbHjKoIvEufQq50OXDsZkT/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Presents-Resort/dp/1943402620/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1490126735&sr=8-1">Amazon.com</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In this case, the plot. I like the idea
that someone didn’t show up for a breakfast meeting because they’d been
murdered.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
you're writing: music (what kind?), dead silence, or…? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Usually music. The music depends on
what I’m writing. For this story, Warren Zevon/Tom Waits.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Favorite
writing quote—yours or from someone else…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From Flannery O’Connor: “Don’t be
subtle until the fourth page.”</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
writing ritual begins with… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Coffee.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>About Wendall Thomas:</b></span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Bright";">Wendall Thomas teaches in the Graduate Film School at UCLA,
lectures internationally on screenwriting, and has worked as an entertainment
reporter, script consultant, and film and television writer. Her short fiction
has appeared in the crime anthologies <i>Ladies
Night</i> (2015) and <i>Last Resort</i>
(2017) and her first novel, <i>Lost Luggage</i>,
will be published in October by Poisoned Pen Press.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-78181244589858788592017-07-11T19:36:00.000-07:002017-07-13T11:27:47.036-07:0016 Authors Answer Siren Call in Sisters-in-Crime/LA's LAst Resort<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPQAPdnIU4pM_tJ6CCMYiF7tfL9rTc1l_YJ08AeFzgLOg91y5XKeRwoHoxfCSnCA0GuE-0VCJDFnen8CCsF-KjNpFbdfai-6bAxzGqLPgGmtfspmO3ZWv6KjVxwjRDF_Z1JRb/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPQAPdnIU4pM_tJ6CCMYiF7tfL9rTc1l_YJ08AeFzgLOg91y5XKeRwoHoxfCSnCA0GuE-0VCJDFnen8CCsF-KjNpFbdfai-6bAxzGqLPgGmtfspmO3ZWv6KjVxwjRDF_Z1JRb/s320/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">vailable through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Crime-Angeles-Presents-Resort/dp/1943402620/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499827197&sr=8-1&keywords=sisters+in+crime+los+angeles+last+resort" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and the<br /><a href="http://sistersincrimela.com/anthologies/" target="_blank">Sisters-in-Crime/LA website</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPQAPdnIU4pM_tJ6CCMYiF7tfL9rTc1l_YJ08AeFzgLOg91y5XKeRwoHoxfCSnCA0GuE-0VCJDFnen8CCsF-KjNpFbdfai-6bAxzGqLPgGmtfspmO3ZWv6KjVxwjRDF_Z1JRb/s1600/LAst-Resort-519rKlBx8GL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by Gay Degani</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It has become a tradition for Sisters-in-Crime/LA chapter to produce a crime/mystery anthology every couple of years asking writers to incorporate LA as a "character" in each story.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently released, <i><b>LAst Resort</b> </i>follows suit with tales set in Hollywood, Leimert Park, </span></span>Highland Park<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Silver Lake</span>, Venice and points north, south, east, and west of the sprawling city.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As stated on the back cover of this collection, "LA is the sun-kissed city of high hopes and second chances, where everyone seems to be from somewhere else. A siren's call to dreamers, misfits, mystics and freaks, lost souls and purveyors of sin. They roll in on their last tank of gas, their suitcases bulging with secrets of pasts better forgotten. T</span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hey stay for a few days, a month, a year, a lifetime. The determined and the desperate, careening and colliding toward trouble…and their last resort."</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMbFwA0bTfpAIAJeM1AEw_uTmfXzp1qaW4i0l9ZjRjvgGXbCtwDLWKMLYJw9QZ7XT9svBtXtzaRkmnnjvvOFUPYwppr0wy2h_3nU2uwCBDgkIa3QTSBr8-UXfZtyVaYnHGeq9/s1600/440px-MConnelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMbFwA0bTfpAIAJeM1AEw_uTmfXzp1qaW4i0l9ZjRjvgGXbCtwDLWKMLYJw9QZ7XT9svBtXtzaRkmnnjvvOFUPYwppr0wy2h_3nU2uwCBDgkIa3QTSBr8-UXfZtyVaYnHGeq9/s320/440px-MConnelly.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Author Michael Connelly</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A long-time resident of the</span> City of Angels and award-winning author of <span style="background-color: transparent;">detective and crime </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">fiction</span>, best known for his <span style="background-color: transparent;">LAPD</span> Detective <span style="background-color: transparent;">Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch</span> and criminal defense attorney <span style="background-color: transparent;">Mickey Haller</span>, <a href="http://www.michaelconnelly.com/" target="_blank">Michael Connelly</a> was a perfect choice to introduce the Sisters-in-Crime/LA chapter's 2017 anthology, <i>LAst Resort</i>. Generously agreeing to do so, here is a snippet from that introduction: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Here is a collection of stories that sit on the unsteady ground of the last resort. In the zone where anything can happen."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Edited by renowned authors Matt Coyle, Mary Marks, and Patricia Smiley, </span><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">LAst Resort</strong></em><span style="background-color: transparent;"> is comprised of sixteen mysteries about the misdeeds and downfalls of characters drawn to the cultural panoply that is Los Angeles.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who's in <b><i>LA Resort?</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avril Adams, "Independence Day"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paula Bernstein, "On Call for Murder"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lynne Bronstein, "Mimo"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stephen Buehler, "Seth's big Move"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah M. Chen, "Nut Job"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anne David, "The LAid Plans"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gay Degani, "Highland Park Hit"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L.H. Dillman, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wrona Gall, "Thump, Bump, and Dump"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cyndra Gernet, "Hired Lives"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Georgia Jeffries, "Little Egypt"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Melinda Loomis, "Crime Drama/Do Not Cross"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">GB Pool, "Method Actor"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Laurie Stevens, "The Ride of Your Life"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wendall Thomas, "Eggs Over Dead"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mae Woods, "Today's the Day"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Come back for more. During the next few months, I will bring you a taste of each story as well as a Question and Answer segment with each author. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is the link to <b>all</b> the Sisters-in-Crime/LA anthologies. You can purchase them directly from the site: </span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://sistersincrimela.com/anthologies/">http://sistersincrimela.com/anthologies/</a></span><br />
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-65203873497933809072017-06-22T17:02:00.000-07:002017-06-22T17:02:52.387-07:00HOW MOVIES TEACH STRUCTURE: For Writers of Movies, Novels, Short Stories, even Flash!<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by Gay Degani</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkmQhms9szPUM0a0fabcCH4r68rizW5bfmiaLbERii58qBC5OECqKGUMpfjE9iip-gQJ2pENHuGUPXD6uWkOmLBqPmxNefBS-EPVfW2yTB2D7hBdmtbFqx-MN8sGd2djMneSK/s1600/DieHard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkmQhms9szPUM0a0fabcCH4r68rizW5bfmiaLbERii58qBC5OECqKGUMpfjE9iip-gQJ2pENHuGUPXD6uWkOmLBqPmxNefBS-EPVfW2yTB2D7hBdmtbFqx-MN8sGd2djMneSK/s320/DieHard.jpg" width="203" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">Do you receive rejections remarking, “Some strong writing here, but this
isn't a story; there's no arc” or “I like your character, but where's the
conflict?”</span><span style="color: #262626;"> And have you
thought, “This editor is nuts! A guy's chasing my narrator. She has a gun. She
shoots him. Isn't that enough conflict?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No,
actually, it isn't. It's “action,” but action is not the same thing as
conflict. Have you ever sat through a movie that goes from one car chase to
another, followed by an explosion, followed by a gun battle, then another
chase, this time through the subways of New York?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you are a kinetic energy junky, you're
probably sneaking peeks at your cell phone or dozing. This kind of action is
brought into a story for its own sake.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Conflict, on
the other hand, is <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">choice</span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">followed</i> by movement. What? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As writer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brief Guide to Flash Fiction</i>) and
writing coach Randall Brown points out in his book :<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something
happens (precipitating incident) to create a desire, and that desire creates a
need for action that is thwarted by this and that and this and that until,
finally, there’s resolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While some
stories are "linear movement" designed to ramp up adrenaline, good
stories are more complex. They are built around a specific structure that
offers character depth and motivation, actions springing from that motivation,
and emotions created through empathy. How do you create mindful structure for a
story?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Good movies teach
structure because they take the viewer on a journey of choices: setbacks and success,
indecision and rash action, humor and pathos, determination and self-doubt,
with endings that reveal something about the human condition. How did the
movies find this out? For a quick understanding of what I’m outlining there’s
always Syd Field’s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplay_(book)" title="Screenplay (book)">Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting</a>.</i>
For deeper understanding there’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html">Aristotle's Poetics</a></i>
and the 3-act play structure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* How did I
figure this out? Robert McKee’s classic text, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Story-Structure-Substance-Principles-Screenwriting-ebook/dp/B0042FZVOY">Story</a></i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">One of my
favorite movies to illustrate structure in that old reliable action flick (I
know, I didn't say "structure flick"), </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/"><b><i><span style="color: #103cc0;">Die Hard</span></i></b></a><b><i><span style="color: #262626;">,</span></i></b><span style="color: #262626;"> made back in 1988 when Bruce Willis was moving
from <i>Moonlighting</i> on TV to the Big Screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Get
the <i>Die Hard</i> DVD and watch it with a pen and paper and the
timer on your DVD player. You want to be able to stop it when you get behind. Number
the lines on your paper from 1 to maybe 120 or so because that’s about how
many minutes the average movies contains. Maybe skip lines to make sure you can
write big if you get excited. Get ready to start the timer on your phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now record
what happens every minute or so all the way through. This may seem like a
tedious exercise, but it's amazing to see just how carefully the story is constructed.
For the hot-shot movie critics out there who love those ponderous three-hour
think pieces, <i>Die Hard</i> is too "on the nose," but for
learning about structure and character development (and for the simple joy of
watching), it is one of the best.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here’s how
it goes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Act 1
starts with a character living his regular life, something happens to turn
his life on its head, and by the beginning of Act 2 (approximately 30
minutes in), the character's life changes 180 degrees from what it once was and
the character sets out to either change his or her life back or to figure out
how to make the best of things. He doesn’t try all that hard in the beginning because
frankly, he can't really believe things could go this wrong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know that saying? Man <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">plans and God laughs?</span> When you’re the
writer, you are the one to make sure something goes wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About a
quarter way through Act 2 (around 45 pages in), the character has some kind of
epiphany that he's going to have to work a helluva lot harder than he thought.
His simple solution isn't working. He needs a better plan. (Did you hear that
chuckle?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About
half way through (60 minutes), he realizes who the enemy is (himself, his
best friend, the woman with the man hands) and at the same time,
there is a coming together between the character and his/her main
relationship often including the washing of wounds or standing up sex or both).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the
second half of Act 2 some new effort is launched, but it doesn't work
(he-he-he) and leads to a dark moment around 75 minutes into the movie.
The character gives up the game as hopeless.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But by
90 minutes, the beginning of Act 3, the character has come up with new energy,
a new plan, a new assault on his problem and works through his conflict until
he either wins or loses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Notice
as you are jotting down what is happening on your lined paper, about when these
things happen in Die Hard. The timing won't be perfect, but you'll be
shocked to see how close it is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look for: Set-ups and pay-offs: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the plane
McClane talks with the other passenger about being afraid of flying. The
passenger offers a suggestion: After he lands, he should take off his shoes and
grip the carpet with his toes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Watch for
this to pay-off when he is in the bathroom of the Nakatomi building, and
then later when he's in the elevator and because he’s barefoot, he considers
taking the shoes of the guy he’s just killed, and later when he's being chased
by Hans. This suggestion from the opening sequence, pays off several times in
this movie. THAT's good structure.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JDK9aKu0O9A" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look for how
exposition is handled: On the plane, in the taxi, between McClane's wife and
her boss, when McClane gets to the Nakatomi building and looks his wife up on
the list of employees. Then consider set-ups and pay-offs again. How is
information given to the viewer in these scenes? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look for character development: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
characters in this piece are well defined and consistent in their traits. We
get to know them quickly with a building of clues, and their motivation and
subsequent behavior help to hold the structure together when the twists are
thrown in. There is suspense without confusion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look for how setting is used: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think about
the airplane, the limo, and the high rise Century City building. Then think
about how this movement evolves and what happens in the building and how each
of these places has its own twists and turns.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look at the pacing:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is an
action film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It unfolds remarkably fast,
but with the right amount of time spent on relationships, on personal reflection,
on what the characters WANT so the movie has meaning. And it does. It's about
loyalty, determination, married love, brotherhood, evil....<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay enough.
Now if you decide to do this experiment—this jotting-down-of-what's-happening
thing—here’s some of what you should discover. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the first
three or so minutes you know who McClane is, what his problem is, and how he
thinks he's going to solve it. Notice he HAS a problem and a goal: to find out
what the hell is going on between he and his wife. That isn't the PLOT of the
movie, it's a subplot, but it shows this is going to be more than one action
scene after another. There is an human element, an emotional element, and these
are the elements that makes this movie relatable and gives some universal
meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About thirty
minutes in you notice that everything has changed 180 degrees from what it was
at beginning of the movie (this is about where ACT 1 ends). The building is
taken over and the story problem isn't just about McClane and his wife, but
it's about surviving the "terrorist" attack. The conflict between
these two characters is now accompanied by another larger conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Act 2 comes
next from running from around 30 minutes to about 90 minutes into the film. In
that time, the major action is McClane fighting the bad guys. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first
part of Act 2 is all about everyone reacting to the take over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Characters on both side of the “battle” are
introduced by their reactions to the circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see the gentle and wise reaction of the
boss, the arrogance of a co-worker, and McClane’s wife’s smarts, as well seeing
the hero trying to first get the police's attention because he assumes, of
course, that is the most logical thing to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s their job to solve the problem. He has to
just survive and create enough chaos to keep the bad guys busy until the cops
save the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But in the
middle of the movie—around 60 minutes in—we see that McClane isn't going to get
any help. As a matter of fact, he's now perceived as one of the bad guys. The
stakes are ramped up. There is no help coming. He's got to do it himself. However,
if I'm remembering correctly, this is about the time John McClane's wife begins
to feel more kindly toward her estranged husband. She knows his capacity to
fight and survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, we see
both the enemy for who they are and a kind of realization of love and
admiration McClane and his wife have for each other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then, at
about 90 minutes when Act 3 begins, John McClane makes his final assault to
save his wife and everyone else who has survived. And he manages to do that in
true action hero form.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwFVf3Rz_Nd9RU7v82gKf5HCzsBTQITCbka6kQOxTGifeOFUFL3aQA16W0bWHqScJSIjy8kF8UhzBcn0bhVnIVOkaTtLZ_J4xrPVREGH3XAOJQLRa0UG2D9D-6fTSg7FHbavi/s1600/DieHard_189Pyxurz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwFVf3Rz_Nd9RU7v82gKf5HCzsBTQITCbka6kQOxTGifeOFUFL3aQA16W0bWHqScJSIjy8kF8UhzBcn0bhVnIVOkaTtLZ_J4xrPVREGH3XAOJQLRa0UG2D9D-6fTSg7FHbavi/s320/DieHard_189Pyxurz.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The end? The
enemy is defeated and he regains his wife.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay.
Formula. Over the top. Right? Yeah, but it's a learning tool too. Knowing why
this movie works has helped me to have answers to story problems whenever I get
stuck. What does the formula say at this point? Do I want to do that? If yes, make
it a unique action with unique details. Lift it from stereotype. If I want to
break the formula, I try to make sure that what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> happen, has the same kind of emotional effect or performs a
similar purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't
make this up. I don’t know that I would have thought of it, but understanding
why good movies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> good movies helps
me to figure out what my next scene should be, what purpose I should fulfill.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If this idea
has appeal, consider reading one of the books I mentioned earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can't
remember all the movies I did this with, but it is amazing to see how close movies
THAT WORK stick to these structural elements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Movies I
logged:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overboard<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Witness<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terminator<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;">Suspicion </span></i><span style="color: #262626;">(wrong ending really but I still love
it)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Outrageous Fortune<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trading Places<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charade<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy movie
watching!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">* There are
many good books out there (Robert McKee's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268364470&sr=8-1"><b><i><span style="color: #103cc0;">Story</span></i></b></a><span style="color: #262626;"> which
is based on Aristotle’s classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poetics</i>
and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Dramatic-Writing-Creative-Interpretation/dp/0671213326/ref=cm_lmf_tit_22"><i><span style="color: #103cc0;">The <b>Art Of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the
Creative Interpretation of Human Motives</b></span></i></a><span style="color: #262626;"> by Lajos Egri and for a quick understanding,
there's always Syd Field's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Screenplay-Foundations-Screenwriting-Syd-Field/dp/0385339038/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268364586&sr=8-1"><b><i><span style="color: #103cc0;">Sreenplay</span></i></b></a><span style="color: #262626;">)
to help writers learn the ins and outs of structure as well as the
disagreements about rules, formulae, and art.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><b><span style="color: orange;">______________________________</span></b></span></span></div>
</div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-20891301359435950932017-05-30T03:08:00.000-07:002017-05-30T10:28:37.750-07:00Six Ways Writing Flash Fiction Will Improve Your Craft<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by Gay Degani</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My first online story was published in 2007 at <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Every Day Fiction</span></i>. It was new to me, writing stories to
be read on a computer rather than in a magazine, but the possibility of
publication was higher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Flash Fiction” is partly defined by length, stories limited to
1500 words or fewer, and I soon discovered that writing shorter stories made me
more critical of my work, more careful in word placement, more conscious of
finding an emotional center, and becoming clearer about my own intention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’d like to share how and why writers can juice up their craft by
writing and publishing flash fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What flash does for those who write fiction:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: .1in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 16.8pt; mso-outline-level: 3; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1) Flash forces clarity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flash fiction depends on immediate reader
engagement. There aren’t enough words available to waste on lengthy set-ups.
The reader should “see” the place and situation at the same speed as someone
first sees a picture in a museum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A shape, a feel, a sense of breadth, a color, the reader needs something to
hang on to, something that allows him or her to become immersed. This cannot be
achieved without a commitment to clear imagery, finding specific words and
details to pull the reader into the story. I call this giving the reader a
visual anchor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: .1in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 16.8pt; mso-outline-level: 3; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2) Flash insists on carefully chosen language<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To continue to engage the reader, a writer must employ taut,
muscular language that features <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">specific</span></i> details and must choose each word deliberately with an awareness of double meanings
and inference. There must be no unnecessary words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: .1in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 16.8pt; mso-outline-level: 3; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3) Flash requires a writer to think about structure<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What concerns the structure of a piece of
writing? Characters, tense, POV, order of events, theme, setting, all these elements need to
be considered. Stories require a shape that will fit the concept and enhance
the experience. A writer may have a vague outline in mind, but he or she cannot always work from a planned framework.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes the words come first and the structure follows,
but the order in which a writer proceeds doesn’t matter. What matters is
consciously studying the elements of a story so they will have the most impact.
When a writer deals with 1000 words, it becomes easier to look at structure and
discover what the story needs. A writer can experiment and become expert at
matching content to structure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: .1in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 16.8pt; mso-outline-level: 3; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4) Flash demands meaning, large or small<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flash fiction counts on meaning to make an impact. That
meaning can be a life-changing event or a small revelation, but something <i>must</i>
happen. Too often writers forget that language is the <span style="border: 1pt none; padding: 0in;">tool</span> used to move readers. While readers love and
appreciate beautiful words, they are stirred by words that give meaning to the
human experience. There must be a emotional shift in readers
perceptions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5) Flash requires characters who resonate<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More than anything else, the characters in a piece of flash
must show their individuality, their desires, their fears, their humanity. The writer must
be clear about why he or she has chosen these characters to write about. If not, who
cares? They can be humble or rich, kind or violent, but they have to be living individuals, and this must be achieved by using the slightest phrase, the sparest language, in dialog and/or in telling gesture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6) Flash bestows confidence<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writing flash allows a writer to work
with focus on a short piece in a more present way than possible on a longer
story, especially if he or she is struggling with craft. It forces the writer
to study every word, every nuance of a piece, to weigh the contribution each
word and each phrase makes to the whole. It also challenges the writer to make
sure most ( or <i>all</i>) the elements do some kind of double duty in terms of enhancing the
theme.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flash builds self-confidence because with so many journals online
hungering for strong, well-written flash, a writer receives feedback in a
relatively short period of time. Even if the response is a resounding NO, the writer usually knows quickly. This offers the opportunity to look at the story again. If that writer is you, you may see something different. You make
it better. And eventually, your skills at understanding how to craft a story
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p>(This piece was originally published at Bang2 Write on March 13, 2016) </o:p></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-16993722846541969772017-05-17T00:30:00.000-07:002017-05-17T00:30:00.170-07:00Journey to Planet Write: Happy Endings <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVXu5NgiaOFWMFiQ6eTHdC7994UOm8tzzuPOxcx1G90MXsF5uYHej63vNzjtJsAE1dtGNC7Bcb-0FJCCEkqvBRx9INeTYOrxzK_5-4yzCmO9-PPhHs05gOYtkVbyytJHY54sz/s1600/Nancy+santa+fe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVXu5NgiaOFWMFiQ6eTHdC7994UOm8tzzuPOxcx1G90MXsF5uYHej63vNzjtJsAE1dtGNC7Bcb-0FJCCEkqvBRx9INeTYOrxzK_5-4yzCmO9-PPhHs05gOYtkVbyytJHY54sz/s320/Nancy+santa+fe.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">by Nancy Stohlman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I asked Gay Degani if I could
have the final slot in Journey to Planet Write series for two reasons—one,
because I want to properly thank her on behalf of everyone who has appeared in
and enjoyed this series. Gay has done an incredible service to our community and
created a space where we can all shine. We are grateful to you, Gay!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But there is a second reason.
Exactly one year ago I was scheduled to appear in this column when a drunk
driver going 90 mph crossed the median on the highway and made other plans for
me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead of my Journey to
Planet Write, you got my “<a href="http://wordsinplace.blogspot.jp/2016/06/derailed-nancy-stohlmans-interrupted.html#.WRPicuXyvIU">Interrupted
Journey</a>,” a beautiful tribute that Gay and others put together. It meant a
lot to me to feel so loved during that process of shock and recovery and now,
one year later, it seemed important to not only bring it all full circle and
give you that column that never was, but also to end this Planet Write journey
on a note of celebration, healing, and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I was 9 years old, living on
a military base in Zaragoza, Spain, when I told my mom I wanted to be an author.
I wrote my first creation, “Superman: The Musical”, on my mother’s electric
typewriter, loving the clack of the keys and the feeling that I was doing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something important</i>. Though I attempted
to cast it from my class of fellow fifth graders and rehearse in the carport,
the musical (including numbers like Lex Luthor’s “I’ll Rule the World”) never
made it to the stage, but my confidence in myself as a creative was born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmIHDAPw4_Ul3aXedUJUHops1BM-D-OlbGLnC68OrHvG2aXsJpdeaSj6p4azd8VMaC4mG_7DOYFhP66eEMEU1uiXdPUh7tmuKmFJ6m3awVSK_d81-3QZY7xz5mlDiYXljeHs5/s1600/wonder+woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmIHDAPw4_Ul3aXedUJUHops1BM-D-OlbGLnC68OrHvG2aXsJpdeaSj6p4azd8VMaC4mG_7DOYFhP66eEMEU1uiXdPUh7tmuKmFJ6m3awVSK_d81-3QZY7xz5mlDiYXljeHs5/s320/wonder+woman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That same year I discovered
the library, and on Saturdays I would volunteer at the check-out desk, stamping
people’s due dates. Being a military family we moved a lot, so books became my friends.
Nancy Drew was always waiting for me in every library from Spain to Germany to
Omaha. Books were a constant in a world that was constantly changing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Later, when life got harder,
books became a way to disassociate; I could leave my body in the midst of
everyday reality, escape family meltdowns and divorces and worlds I didn’t want
to be in. In college, I read in the dressing rooms of go-go clubs, getting
through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">East of Eden</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Trial</i> while other girls were giving lap
dances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">After I dropped out of
college, I started traveling the country with the Renaissance Fair, living in a
van, putting on a bodice and an English accent to sell turkey legs and pewter
goblets. I discovered lyrical songwriters like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits and I
started journaling regularly with the idea that these were adventures I would
want to remember and maybe someday write a book. Sadly most of those journals
are gone. But when I eventually got off the road and moved to Denver to finish
college, I did so as a writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Vsp-J8sfQZFHEPE6ATSV8Nqdai46qa7T225gm5d_1kijHuz7fI_cnUlrQB3Ek9YdTJCBbGwfu2pWdwqoiDN481BEaS81Ao6JRTAdSbvRCeoGvbDE6pR3MlP3ZXnZx5EWjpzF/s1600/Nancy+24+%25281+of+1%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Vsp-J8sfQZFHEPE6ATSV8Nqdai46qa7T225gm5d_1kijHuz7fI_cnUlrQB3Ek9YdTJCBbGwfu2pWdwqoiDN481BEaS81Ao6JRTAdSbvRCeoGvbDE6pR3MlP3ZXnZx5EWjpzF/s320/Nancy+24+%25281+of+1%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo by Lynn Hough</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My upbringing taught me two
very different things: My military father taught me self-discipline. My artist
mother taught me that making art is worthwhile. This combination has enabled to
become a rare breed: a disciplined creative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This story is true. But it’s
not the whole story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While 9-year-old Writer Nancy
was stamping books at the library, 9-year-old Performer Nancy was learning the
guitar and soloing in the church folk band. At 12 I was competing in pageants,
at 15 I enrolled in the Nancy Bounds Modeling Agency, and at 18 I was runner-up
for Miss Nebraska. I began college as a theater major, in love with the
vulnerability of the stage, that instant gratification of connecting with an
audience in the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This story is also true. So
how do these two Nancys, these twin passions, connect?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They connect in my art.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In acting school there is a
thing called a triple threat: a person who can sing, dance, and act. Much of my
own creative process has been finding the intersection of myself as a writer,
performer and innovator. The sweet spot where my creative exhibitionist meets
my inner world of silence and flow. My writing reflects this intersection and
love of innovation—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWxln66wxeg">The Monster Opera</a></i> is
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">avant</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">garde</i> mixture of performance and writing, a place where the novel
metaphorically battles the opera on page and stage. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Searching for Suzi: a flash novel</i> was the first flash novel (called
as such) and a term I coined in 2009. And perhaps that’s why in 2007 I fell in
love and began writing flash fiction: there is an instant gratification akin to
the stage that comes from these short, self-contained bursts of story. Here’s a
link to a reading of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtU8DEDk8Sc">The Fox</a>.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As word-crafters we lay it
bare on the page. As performers we reveal ourselves on the stage. They are
flipsides of the same coin, the inner and the outer worlds of creation: the
private incubation and the public genuflection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the end I see no reason
why writers can’t also be rock stars. One of these days I will stage dive after
a reading. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And that’s probably how this
essay would have ended if you had read it last year. But on May 20 of last
year, everything changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Naked<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The scissors slide easily through the thick denim of my favorite
blue jeans, from ankle to waist, ankle to waist, as one leg then the other
falls away. He slices up the middle of my thin cotton shirt like tissue paper,
unwraps me, my pink Victoria’s Secret bra a final ribbon snipped and spilling
to the ground, leaving me naked. Exposed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are you having trouble breathing? He asks with kind brown eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A little, on one side, I whisper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ll be there soon, he says, gently placing an oxygen mask as the
ambulance sirens rattle the warm evening air.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">People ask me about my
accident a lot. It’s so hard to respond, so mostly I avoid the conversation.
But I will tell you here that something happened to me in those moments as they
were ripping the car open with the Jaws of Life. Somewhere between the
ambulance and the emergency room I had the most important realization of my
life: I’m still here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By the time they were inflating
my lung I knew I’d been given a gift—as they were pulling chunks of glass out
of my arm I had a choice: become a victim or become a bigger version of myself.
Could I learn to be grateful in the midst of such an injustice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes. I had to. I had no other
choice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So this story and my Journey
to Planet Write have Happy Endings. I’m here to write another day. But aren’t
we all? We’ve all been given this same gift of today. No matter how
disappointing or unpredictable or infuriating the world may be, no matter how
tragic or even euphoric our lives become, we are here one more day, to write.
Our books, our words, our ideas are the friends that accompany us on the
journey. And spaces like Journey to Planet Write remind us that we are not
alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">_____________________________________</span></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzvyiFGQuKaAyaODIU6tCe3zjMpBgyKRRq1iwJ30inAfuhNLummVmahqKG-RG7akJES6YhtpwJlGzIDYClc_ZEW3-3h0G7K5dIn2w5BPcfL0lcbg2zNn8Pzv1cZyP2-K0kZxR/s1600/vixen+cover+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzvyiFGQuKaAyaODIU6tCe3zjMpBgyKRRq1iwJ30inAfuhNLummVmahqKG-RG7akJES6YhtpwJlGzIDYClc_ZEW3-3h0G7K5dIn2w5BPcfL0lcbg2zNn8Pzv1cZyP2-K0kZxR/s200/vixen+cover+final.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nancy Stohlman’s books
include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vixen Scream and Other
Bible Stories</i>(2014), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Monster
Opera</i> (2013), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Searching for Suzi:</i>
a flash novel (2009), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Live From Palestine</i>
(2003), and three anthologies of flash fiction including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fast Forward: The Mix Tape </i>(2010), a finalist for a 2011 Colorado
Book Award. She is the creator and curator of <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="https://fbombdenver.com/" target="_blank">The F-Bomb Flash Fiction ReadingSeries</a></span> in Denver, a founding member of Fast Forward Press, and her
work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRl0ccYN3cRlfFivM2bsPz8UbtI948sd8qJMrx0jADxnp6pJ3opt_iLM8NZPf6fpegHWKsDIg7rSJQowQxvhyphenhyphen4i_Gsg_JiFJ1yDcHlqOy_9WoWP7bNCNz9JhwNLVwu5rdlDIM7/s1600/mink+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRl0ccYN3cRlfFivM2bsPz8UbtI948sd8qJMrx0jADxnp6pJ3opt_iLM8NZPf6fpegHWKsDIg7rSJQowQxvhyphenhyphen4i_Gsg_JiFJ1yDcHlqOy_9WoWP7bNCNz9JhwNLVwu5rdlDIM7/s320/mink+2.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo by Lynn Hough</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By night Nancy straps on
stilettos and becomes the lead singer of the lounge metal band<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> <a href="https://kinkymink.com/" target="_blank">Kinky Mink</a>.</span> She dreams of one day
becoming a pirate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the last episode in the series of Journeys that began in January of 2016. Other Journeys may appear sporadically in the future. If you are a writer and want to share your Journey, please submit to gaydegani@gmail.com.</span></span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-42031987921793557222017-05-10T00:30:00.000-07:002017-05-10T00:30:12.468-07:00JOURNEY TO PLANET WRITE: In Praise of “What If?”<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">by Tara Campbell</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9VwDNqRwO2QePAW7ybkFL3HUHZENQp6LpHeY6FQQ9ux4JnwK1DmDjxZnaTaHD19TFOmyf3u7a8ePF0rweFctP-jfdmIaRPdBbYBwlUjzf2z8ZTno7kV5UkF0iVRYDW5AVKxJ/s1600/TreeVolution_FrontCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9VwDNqRwO2QePAW7ybkFL3HUHZENQp6LpHeY6FQQ9ux4JnwK1DmDjxZnaTaHD19TFOmyf3u7a8ePF0rweFctP-jfdmIaRPdBbYBwlUjzf2z8ZTno7kV5UkF0iVRYDW5AVKxJ/s320/TreeVolution_FrontCover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">“Did you know the average
writer only makes $6,000 per year?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">These simple words from a
fellow student marked the first time my desire to write smashed into the wall
of the real world. It was 1988 in Anchorage, Alaska, and we were all about to
graduate from high school. Most of us were heading to college, either in state
or somewhere on the West Coast, the typical migratory path of the sprung
Alaskan. But then my classmate John started asking what we wanted to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Huh. We had to decide that
now? I simply liked school, and I liked writing, so… I don’t even remember
saying the words, “I want to be a writer,” but his response etched itself into
my brain. It was the first of many times I wondered if it would ever really
happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">My literary drug of choice
had always been science fiction. From Asimov to Bradbury to Clarke and on down
the alphabet, I was hooked on the question “what if?” Madeline L’Engle’s time-
and space-bending <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Swiftly Tilting
Planet</i> was a revelation to me. I was the nerd who put on a bathrobe and performed
a book report on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hitchhiker’s Guide
to the Galaxy</i> in the form of a monologue by Arthur Dent, timed to pre-taped
responses from Zaphod Beeblebrox. For another book report I wrote and
illustrated a complete issue of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paszex
Paper</i>, in honor of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nor Crystal Tears</i>
(my green colored pencils were pretty worn down by the time I finished that
edition). By the end of high school I had written the first few chapters of
what would have been a truly cringe-worthy novel. That draft moved with me for
decades, across the U.S., the Atlantic, and back, until I felt compelled to
shred it a couple of years ago. I couldn’t stand the thought of that document ever
possibly resurfacing after my death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfsl6Gmd0_RKglD3BvBaDiH3-WNpBPDNnJh9005Cf6X6fAVAinyaNCnWdvagRFMa0FlCtXfOJYiCmKEJr0VQyHaYiW1icn5USPowmjs46dKW3xusjCFXN5cqxJ_ag6XGX3Ad7/s1600/IMG_20170415_134219254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfsl6Gmd0_RKglD3BvBaDiH3-WNpBPDNnJh9005Cf6X6fAVAinyaNCnWdvagRFMa0FlCtXfOJYiCmKEJr0VQyHaYiW1icn5USPowmjs46dKW3xusjCFXN5cqxJ_ag6XGX3Ad7/s320/IMG_20170415_134219254.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">But back to high school:
graduate we did, and off to college we went. John went on to become a doctor, and
I wound up in a traditional trajectory for a liberal arts graduate: as a grad
student getting another humanities degree. Subsequently, armed with an MA in
German, I embarked on a career in international education and admissions. I was
far from driving a Lexus, but at least I was making<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> more<b> </b></span>than $6,000 a year. I turned to music and painting as
creative outlets on the side, never even thinking about giving writing another
go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Then several years ago my
partner (now my husband) and I were looking for something new to do together.
We took an intro to fiction class at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda. For him
it was an experiment with something new. For me, it was a return to joy, like
picking right back up with a best friend you haven’t seen in years, and
wondering how life came in between the two of you in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">When that class ended, we
kept working on our stories. We joined a couple of writer’s groups, and I began
staying up until the wee hours to “just finish one scene,” or getting up
early to write before work. I also started submitting stories. While many
people write for themselves, I’m not ashamed to admit that seeing my work out
in the world is a huge motivator for me. And when my first story got published—when
I realized there was at least one other person out there who wanted to read the
diary entries of a fat cell whose community was about to be rocked by
liposuction—I was gratified to know there was still a place for weirdness in
the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">I’ve approached Washington DC
as my workshop since then, taking more classes at the Writer’s Center and
Politics and Prose, hitting up a million Meetup writing groups to continue
improving my craft, participating in readings with lowercase and Inner Loop,
writing reviews for the Washington Independent Review of Books, volunteering
with children’s literacy organization 826DC, sampling the business end as a
Politics and Prose bookseller, and experiencing the editorial side as an
assistant editor with Barrelhouse. With my husband’s boundless support, I
stepped away from my full time job to devote myself to writing. And this spring
it all came full circle when I stepped up to the microphone at the Writer’s
Center, where my writing career began, to read from my first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TreeVolution</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">But as every author will
tell you, getting a book published doesn’t magically change your life </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKltgFg-ge38x2vGJSULtpW46VlnnMC-Zy-5fEb7Sv2XkzunmOZKobHSQdFBrZlLj-8Q7bOWQ_5a7NlKfqD3oPYsHTBMQjosgkaqjYUOSurLeCPCNO6DuT80-4qfb2vsVq1eWk/s1600/IMG_20170415_134300602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKltgFg-ge38x2vGJSULtpW46VlnnMC-Zy-5fEb7Sv2XkzunmOZKobHSQdFBrZlLj-8Q7bOWQ_5a7NlKfqD3oPYsHTBMQjosgkaqjYUOSurLeCPCNO6DuT80-4qfb2vsVq1eWk/s320/IMG_20170415_134300602.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
(J.K.
Rowling excepted). Our job as writers is to keep working and growing. As
important as “what if?” is, “what now?” is even more vital. I’m stretching myself
now, working on a completely different project in historical fiction, and completing
my first year of the MFA program at American University. I came into the
program ready to buckle down and cast sci-fi aside to become a more “serious”
writer. But this year I’ve learned a delightful lesson: there is more than one
way to create, and there are places where commitment to craft and a little
weirdness can meet. Being “serious” doesn’t have to mean forgetting the wonder.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Being a writer means being
part of an expansive community. It’s all right to bring in the strange. It’s
okay to write about <a href="http://freesciencefiction.com/tale/the-real-stuff/">talking
flowers</a>, or a <a href="http://www.punchnels.com/2016/02/04/welcome-to-your-future-with-chlorolyft/">chlorophyll-based
diet franchise</a>, or an <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Up-Do-Flash-Fiction-Writers/dp/0991417607">interstellar
nursery</a>, or <a href="https://chicagoliterati.com/2016/11/08/we-are-twenty-six-by-tara-campbell/">frustrated
teeth</a> who abandon their human, or an <a href="http://mastersreview.com/new-voices/wasted-wishes-by-tara-campbell/">urban
genie</a> in a failing relationship, or even <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/tarapcampbell/home/treevolution">genetically
modified trees</a> that learn to speak up and fight back—as long as you can create
worlds readers want to inhabit and stories they want to hear. Straying from the
realist path can be tricky, sure. And you certainly won’t make doctor’s wages.
But as long as you can hold on to the “what ifs,” what more do you need?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpt: from “We Are Twenty-Six” in Chicago Literati<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Marko’s teeth swayed. They
twisted and rocked and eased themselves out of his gums while he, heavy with
that evening’s vodka, grunted and snored in his bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">On nights when Marko gagged
and wheezed in the grips of drink, his teeth longed for their mothers, the baby
teeth that had come before them, the first ones to work their way into and out
of young Marko’s mouth. The little mothers lived together in the small, plastic
box in which the tooth fairy had collected them, and which Marko’s parents gave
to him long after he had stopped believing in the legend of the tooth fairy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">And so that night, as a much
older Marko slept, his teeth tumbled out of his mouth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Click <a href="https://chicagoliterati.com/2016/11/08/we-are-twenty-six-by-tara-campbell/">here</a>
to continue reading <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>__________________________________</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2H0fk2cUjFlUR2qYWs0JIfOBEOwefvB5tRzU-tHhTbqo69G6skclYrSPKST9hGkwFqrajYsz4CNxglm7mc2cjTAithnh9VK31k3-9WIvc-tuqLScCuXvWRmi78IaFFSueBjZ/s1600/_DSC8520-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2H0fk2cUjFlUR2qYWs0JIfOBEOwefvB5tRzU-tHhTbqo69G6skclYrSPKST9hGkwFqrajYsz4CNxglm7mc2cjTAithnh9VK31k3-9WIvc-tuqLScCuXvWRmi78IaFFSueBjZ/s320/_DSC8520-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">With a BA in English and an MA in German, <a href="http://www.taracampbell.com/">Tara Campbell</a> has a demonstrated aversion to money and power. She was the grateful recipient of two awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2016: the Larry Neal Writers' Award in Fiction, and the Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding New Artist. Her first novel, <i>TreeVolution</i>, was released by Lillicat Publishers in 2016. Her second book, <i>Circe’s Bicycle</i>, will be published by LitFest Press in fall 2017.</span></div>
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Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21496172.post-65336214195076669822017-05-03T00:00:00.000-07:002017-05-03T00:00:06.775-07:00JOURNEY TO PLANET WRITE: And Then I Ran<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">by Lori Sambol Brody</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When I was preparing to write this, I searched for some old
stories I wrote as a teenager. Not long after we moved into our house,
fourteen years ago, I threaded stories into an old UCLA binder. I recall
punching holes through the yellow graph paper my father took from work, sliding
into the prongs, college-ruled paper scrawled on with erasable pen; tucking a
story into the binder’s pocket, a booklet of flower fairy stories I wrote with
a friend in elementary school, its cover a drawing of the fumitory fairy from
the Cecily M. Barker flower fairy books. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I couldn’t find the
notebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
thought I’d be sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Women</i> – we all felt Jo’s loss
when Amy burned her papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I actually
feel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relieved</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let them go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
remember some of those stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
time, I wrote mysteries and science fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My first novella was about Chaia Tavruc, the lavender-haired,
violet-eyed space ship captain/smuggler (I wrote the first draft after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars </i>came out; I had a crush on Han
Solo), framed for a crime she didn’t commit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
could probably reconstruct that story, should I want to, I rewrote it so many
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
not going to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OSCu3Ut72chBu1kHJVy-F0Hx7hRe3x-TgximUu0QjreiMsrjJX5DZMiVTzcRyYIXVWahUQ2CFqSI1MpsF8N7WyMmG7ejYmBeTP_hssyO2Kb1T54SQMRcj9hGktydkAkGiEnm/s1600/Photo+1+--+Third+Grade+booklets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OSCu3Ut72chBu1kHJVy-F0Hx7hRe3x-TgximUu0QjreiMsrjJX5DZMiVTzcRyYIXVWahUQ2CFqSI1MpsF8N7WyMmG7ejYmBeTP_hssyO2Kb1T54SQMRcj9hGktydkAkGiEnm/s320/Photo+1+--+Third+Grade+booklets.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
my sister and I cleaned out my mother’s house after she died, we found a box on
the top shelf of the closet in her spare bedroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside, my stories from elementary
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In third grade, we turned in a
story a week as booklets with elaborate covers: a bejeweled cover (for a story
about a gem robbery), chapbooks of “scary” stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My youngest daughter laughed because all of the
scary stories contain the words, “And then I ran” when the narrator confronts
the ghost, the haunted house, the witch, the talking pumpkins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
avoided the main conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And then I
ran.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My
grandfather told me stories about talking flowers on walks around the
neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandmother told me about
the “olden days,” her young brother dying of appendicitis in the back seat of
the taxi speeding to the hospital, her grandmother keeping a carp in the
bathtub to make gefilte fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local
library:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I swear I read every book in
the kids’ section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother’s shelves
full of books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My shelves filling with
books from the used bookstore:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nancy Drew,
the Hardy Boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROUXoY0xvnIkCwsVTk3n0Viam0GlUb0-5SUT0-OkyNm8iIdzuqGbJ1wmhcr4h2laNlQbm2_yYArgzzrsDH33NaLPrV4L_IAb_4DHwPhA0Tv_-vfBhmXKHqa630DCWa2sFI88S/s1600/Photo+2+--+Charade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROUXoY0xvnIkCwsVTk3n0Viam0GlUb0-5SUT0-OkyNm8iIdzuqGbJ1wmhcr4h2laNlQbm2_yYArgzzrsDH33NaLPrV4L_IAb_4DHwPhA0Tv_-vfBhmXKHqa630DCWa2sFI88S/s320/Photo+2+--+Charade.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
read Stephen King and noticed how he shortened scenes and cut from character to
character close to the climax when he wanted to create tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized Madeleine L’Engle’s books were linked
through recurring characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read André
Norton and Ursula LeGuin who created amazing worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandmother hooked me on old movies:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched Hitchcock, hardboiled detective,
any mystery movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charade </i>I learned that everything had
meaning, the passed-over object could unlock the mystery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one read these stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I showed my mother one story, about a computer program slowly deleting
letters from human consciousness – of course those letters were not used in the
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I waited for her reaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She looked up at me, uncomprehending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One
story I still have:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dead Men Don’t Eat
Sundaes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(At this time, I was reading
Raymond Chandler, watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinatown </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Sleep</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The name is an obvious rip-off of the Steve
Martin film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid</i>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can see from the picture, some famous
writers agreed to give me blurbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll
also see, in the synopsis, that I’m stealing a major plot point from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charade</i>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOA3gPdd1BpjzzeHfv2rrO7NsVVOOZEAzWaxipG1Xq8R16Tzf1Bnwi_68a5hou1HsTTTbhlhtahOQvfI01h5kzz0qXke1PDAG9feW4frT41o7N8Rg3jeCIxPgLUaGoCo4JTKc/s1600/Photo+3+--+Dead+Men+Don%2527t+Eat+Sundaes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOA3gPdd1BpjzzeHfv2rrO7NsVVOOZEAzWaxipG1Xq8R16Tzf1Bnwi_68a5hou1HsTTTbhlhtahOQvfI01h5kzz0qXke1PDAG9feW4frT41o7N8Rg3jeCIxPgLUaGoCo4JTKc/s320/Photo+3+--+Dead+Men+Don%2527t+Eat+Sundaes.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
scared:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said I wanted to be a
writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always said that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I had no talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took the easy way out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to law school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
then I ran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
I graduated from law school, I took workshops, both through UCLA Extension and private
workshops lead by a teacher from UCLA Extension, Tom Filer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s the little voice in my head inhibiting
me and correcting my sentences as I write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wrote self-indulgent stories about lonely young women, because I was a
lonely young woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I published two of those
stories in the late 90s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were in
print, and I am happy they can’t be read now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I gave
my mother my contributor’s copies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
I packed up her house, the journals were in the basket beside the loveseat in
the den.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The spines are uncracked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I had
two daughters, I took a break from writing, but didn’t really take a break,
because I was still writing, still meeting with my writing group, still taking
workshops, with another teacher from UCLA Extension, Rachel Resnick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just not submitting. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I attended workshops even when I was supposed
to be on bed rest, missing only the last class because I gave birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a writing retreat six years ago, Rachel
said, looking up from my story about a teenage girl on a tour through
Uzbekistan who has the hots for her tour guide:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone has a voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should work on the teenage voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have a knack for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Rachel
is the tough-love voice in my head, telling me when things don’t work, but
inspiring me to make it better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8F2hqtwvm7nUEU9znOtfP2CgxIucIEqXkFPe3G8pGHwx9Yii1aOPxYYngTKhk6Obr-veLyRzyghiZkk_uLYJM4OeT_3FHepGSiKNXqmC7GUYE_4hTCPTsbeNdrJSFxKLMWqvH/s1600/Photo+4+--+Me+Khiva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8F2hqtwvm7nUEU9znOtfP2CgxIucIEqXkFPe3G8pGHwx9Yii1aOPxYYngTKhk6Obr-veLyRzyghiZkk_uLYJM4OeT_3FHepGSiKNXqmC7GUYE_4hTCPTsbeNdrJSFxKLMWqvH/s320/Photo+4+--+Me+Khiva.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For a
long time, I wrote about the trips I’d taken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Moroccan deserts, a Turkish fish farm, Baja whale watching, Russian
train trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still write about travelling,
but now I also write closer to home, about mother-daughter relationships, being
a teen, the canyon I live in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
I’m avoiding, what I’m writing around:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
only start submitting again after my mother died, August 1, 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All my publications – but for three – are in
the last five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know there’s a reason,
because I hadn’t stopped writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it
because her death was freeing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That she wouldn’t
see herself in every mother I write about, me in every teenager?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is it that she wouldn’t co-opt the story,
take my success as her own?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And then
I ran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Normal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Baby in the Slingbacks</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When unpacking her suitcase
from their trip to the other continent, the woman finds the toy baby slipped
into her new crocodile skin slingbacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a pointed toe, pale pink glows against the gold leather insole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She peers closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small plastic toy baby, as small as her
thumb, like the ones frozen in ice cubes for baby shower games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she pulls the shoe from her bag, the toy
gleams brighter until she spills it radiant into her hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she closes her eyes, she sees an
afterimage, luminous and red.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The brightness fades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The toy’s mouth opens, as naked and raw as
the mouth of a kitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She almost drops
it in her surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The baby lies warm
and trembling in her palm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has no
navel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its penis is an exotic tiny
mushroom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She moves through the
house, looking for the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her breasts
are heavy, sensitive against the gauze of her shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man reads the newspaper in the yard,
sitting in the garden chair he always prefers<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>He’s finished watering the
plants and the ground is wet around the beds of overblown peonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While they were out of the country, the
tomato plants grew wild, tendrils escaping from the wire cages, branches heavy
with dark red fruit and plump horned worms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She’ll have to can the tomatoes before they rot on the vines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The woman balances on the
edge of the other chair, the baby cupped in her palm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The baby has grown: he’s now the length of
her hand and as heavy as the thick gold coins used as currency on the other
continent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The legs and arms stir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She holds out the
baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s this?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">He folds the newspaper and
prods the baby with a damp finger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
baby turns his head to the man, eyes still shut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Looks like a very small baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What kind of joke is this?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She has to hold the baby
now with both hands, he grows so fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His mouth is bright red, his cheeks rouged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Did you put this in my
bag?” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Why would I do that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“You didn’t want me to stop
treatment.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The woman cradles the baby
against her shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is careful to
support his neck, as her friends instructed her when she held their newborns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Maybe all we had to do was
to go on vacation to get a baby,” he says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“What everyone told us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The woman looks away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The garden walls are thick with vines, the
morning glories tight cylinders like the hand-rolled cigars sold in the country
they visited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beyond the walls of their
garden, the hills are undeveloped; in the summer heat, the wild grasses have
browned, the plants already flowered, and the birds fledged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The baby has grown to the
length of her arm and bobs at her shoulder like a bird pecking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His fingernails are flexible and almost
translucent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She traces the arch of his
foot; his skin peels between the toes and in the folds of his legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When I found him, he was plastic,” she says.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Are you sure?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man strokes the baby’s hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His fingers graze her arm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Of course I’m sure.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She holds the baby tighter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He mews in protest against her blouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What if he changes back to plastic?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Let’s worry about that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if</i> it happens,” he says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“With kids, there’s enough worry.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At her feet, nasturtiums
bloom the color of a Buddhist monk’s robe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The flowers will taste bitter in their salad tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She thinks: in birth, there is always the
promise of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She closes her eyes
and feels herself floating, as if interlocked arms carefully bear her up the
slope of the hill to the wildness outside the walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when she opens her eyes, she has not
moved, and the baby has stopped growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He roots into her neck, her chest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She unbuttons her shirt,
moves the cup of her bra aside, and puts the baby to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes her nipple in his mouth and a sting
as vigorous as an electric shock singes her breast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the entire world focuses on that pain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(Originally
published on <i>Tin House</i> Open Bar)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">_________________________________ </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy51lDNGjvS9viz1wtZDfv0Gwd0iykY2MOxZPW1Z5H_MY1YUNq0Jr6mJpVNDQfsgDl3VUSwWwJczd9rZwuxVXBWpFGtg3VpEMxDR8TtKr9k1xwcSZ6fDK75WupME5p2iD_3Swy/s1600/R2hcVImf_400x400.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy51lDNGjvS9viz1wtZDfv0Gwd0iykY2MOxZPW1Z5H_MY1YUNq0Jr6mJpVNDQfsgDl3VUSwWwJczd9rZwuxVXBWpFGtg3VpEMxDR8TtKr9k1xwcSZ6fDK75WupME5p2iD_3Swy/s200/R2hcVImf_400x400.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Lori
Sambol Brody lives in the mountains of Southern California with her
family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her short fiction has been
published in or is forthcoming from </span><a href="http://www.synaesthesiamagazine.com/home/2017/3/20/undark"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Synaesthesia Magazine</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span></i><a href="http://necessaryfiction.com/stories/LoriSambolBrodyRiverofRunningLava"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Necessary Fiction</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.littlefiction.com/beta/LoriSambolBrody_ETicket.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Little Fiction</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span><a href="https://www.thirdpointpress.com/2016/11/butterfly/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Third Point
Press</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sundog Lit</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>among others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her stories
have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her twitter handle is @lorisambolbrody and
her website is </span><a href="https://lorisambolbrody.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">lorisambolbrody.wordpress.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Gay Deganihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609404497703663916noreply@blogger.com1