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Writing conferences help writers

12 Jun
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

This country’s crazy in terms of fame and what people think it means. They expect a writer to be something between a Hollywood starlet and the village idiot.

– Kent Haruf

Last weekend I attended the Bloody Words mystery writing conference at a hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was Bloody Words’ 13th conference since 1999, but it is also their last. Bloody you-know-what. As an author I’ve found Bloody Words to be very helpful, the other authors just as weird (we are crime writers, after all) as me. And friendly and helpful. Two years ago at Bloody Words, I received a lot of encouragement and help for my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point. And at that time it was accepted for publication by Blue Denim Press but I hadn’t yet signed the contract, although I had a copy and was reading through it. I was also rewriting some of the short stories for the publisher. From this conference, among other things, I found a book reviewer for an Ontario city newspaper, for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. and my police consultant, also a mystery novelist (police procedures from the constable’s viewpoint), Brent Pilkey. Brent helped me sort out some police procedure and crime scene difficulties in two of those not-yet-finished short stories.

Fast forward to this year’s conference. My first novel, Beyond Blood, the prequel mystery to four linked stories in Beyond the Tripping Point, is being published this fall by Blue Denim Press. This time the contract is signed and the manuscript final is with the publisher. I also moderated a panel on short stories, Are short stories the new black? which went over well – lots of positive feedback, not only from the panellists but from the audience – there was good rapport among us all during the panel discussion. And I kept us on time – my big bugaboo with running panels. But it helped that for once I didn’t have a panellist who talked too much at a time. Ditto the audience with questions and comments. Great way to share info.

But one of the big pros with this conference is another way to help a writer – in a closer way. One of my editing clients also has his first mystery novel (first published work even) being published by Blue Denim Press in the fall. The editor at Blue Denim Press is calling it Blue Murder and my client, who is also a writing colleague and friend for 18 years,  and I will be doing some publicity under the Blue Murder from Blue Denim Press “banner.” So, I introduced my colleague to many other published authors and we asked questions about PR in different areas of Canada. I introduced him to one of the Crime Writer of Canada executive and she made it her business to get him signed up for CWC – because doing readings with CWC authors at various outlets is good for exposure and we might even sell a few books. I also introduced him to the book critic at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine who sat at the table next to us during the Saturday evening banquet. He was there with the Hammett (as in the late great mystery author Dashell Hammett – remember The Maltese Falcon?) awards also presented in conjunction with BW. He stated when he needs the books for reviews and in what format. So, he may do book reviews of our books. Also learned a few places to go in Montreal for readings, and I finally joined the Toronto branch of Sisters in Crime who are really good about promoting their author-members’ books and readings.

So all this networking and the panels (I did attend others) were also learning experiences. Among other things I learned that my short stories help other writers with the techniques in their short stories, how other authors create their characters, and had a lot of fun.

More information on Bloody Words is at http://2014.bloodywords.com/

Remember the two mystery novels coming out this October 2014 from Blue Denim Press:

Dead Wrong, a medical mystery set in Boston and Toronto by my friend and colleague Klaus Jakelski who is also a doctor in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and Beyond Blood, a mystery with the two fraternal twin PIs Dana Bowman and Bast Overture by Sharon A. Crawford. More anon on these as we get closer to the publication date.

And as a follow-up to last week’s posts on writing contests I will be posting a link each week to another writing contest. Here is this week’s, which also has a writers’ and readers’ celebration in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada

Word Northumberland
Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The writing contest is just below the celebration deets.
http://spiritofthehills.org/word-northumberland/

Meantime, you can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Short Story Collection, Story beginnings

 

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Writing Contests a way to get fiction published

05 Jun
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

The real contest is always between what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else.

– Geoffrey Gaberino

Short Story Writing Contests are a good way for fiction writers to break into getting published. Some of you may think it is a catch-22 situation but hear me out.

There are many short story writing contests – online or in print. They are run by writing organizations, magazines (particularly literary magazines), newspapers (the Toronto Star annual short story contest is well known), libraries, corporate organizations (such as airlines), etc. Most are open to any writer, although some are age specific (not discriminating, but more as an outlet for youth or younger and/or budding writers).

Which brings me to submission rules. Ah, here is the catch. You can’t just submit any old story of any old length in any old form. Some entries will accept electronic and even have an online form to insert your story. Some, including the Toronto Star, want hard copies. For the latter the entry date is the mailing date. And for some (I have done this for Toronto Star entries) you can roar down to their address at the last minute to hand it in. The Toronto Star has a convenient closed bin with a slot for this purpose. Keep the contest deadline in mind.

Most contests have maximum lengths for their stories. That doesn’t usually include your name and address. But for print it is usually double-spaced and what you put at the top for your running head can vary. If the stories are being blind-judged (judges don’t know the writers’ names with the stories) you better not have your name anywhere in the story itself – including the running head – or it will be disqualified. Don’t worry. They’ll keep track of you as you do a title page with your name and story title. And you do put the story title with your story entry and in the running head. Don’t forget to number your pages and double-space them or whatever the entry requirements are.

One more big rule. Many contest rules state this but even if they don’t – NEVER enter the same story in the more than one contest at the same time. I know of one case where one writer did – one to the Toronto Star and the Canadian Authors Toronto Branch contest. She won (not necessarily first place) for both, but the organizations involved did not take kindly to it. I don’t think she was disqualified, but that could happen. At the very least it could blacklist the writer, at least with the two contest organizers. The rule here is – once you get word from the contest organizer that you didn’t win, place or show, then you can enter your story elsewhere. Often the notification isn’t a blunt “sorry, but you didn’t win,” but a list of those who did win.

Some writing contests have an entry fee; some don’t. Many writers go by the rule of not entering unless they can do for free. My take is maybe pay a fee of up to $30 if the contest organizer is a literary magazine. Most literary magazines give any entrants (winners or not) a “free” one-year subscription to their magazine. The yearly cost is usually around the contest-entry fee. Outside of that you might want to give yourself a limit in what you will pay – especially if you are a prolific story writer and want to enter several contests.

Just visit Mr. Google for short story contests worldwide. For those in Canada writing instructor and editor Brian Henry offers for sale a calendar of all the writing contests (not just short story) in Canada. Go to Brian’s blog at http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/ You can email him to subscribe to a monthly e-newsletter and to purchase the calendar at Brian Henry brianhenry@sympatico.ca.

I’m attending the dinner at one writing conference (MagNet) and also the big she-bang at Bloody Words Mystery Writing conference, both in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At the latter, I will be moderating a panel on short stories at Bloody Words. Fodder for another post.

Meantime, you can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.

More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html
Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.
Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on June 5, 2014 in Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with series characters – Part 5 – Point of View

29 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

Moving series characters between novels and short stories gives the characters a chance to speak. With short stories you are limited to one character’s point of view to tell the story. Novels give more leeway but you still don’t want too many characters jumping in. The reader will be confused and possibly annoyed and you, the author may lose the plot thread. Or more realistically have too many plot threads that end up in a tangle.

You can take a major character or a minor character in your novel and write a short story with this character as your point of view character. So, let’s say your novel has three major characters – Angela, the person being stalked; Detective Walkins the police officer working on her case, and Jude her boyfriend as the three point of view characters in the novel. However, there are several minor characters: Janet, the nosey old neighbour across the street, Ben, Angela’s co-worker, Angela’s daughter, etc. etc. All of these characters have their stories, their life, their idiosyncrasies, their voice. In you novel they appear only as they are seen by one or more of the three main characters.

Give one, or all of these characters, their own short story. It can have little or nothing to do with the novel. Perhaps the story has to do with something else in their life. The nosey neighbour, for instance – just how did she become nosey and butting into everyone else’s business. Maybe she is a former investigative reporter who messed up and had to move on to another profession. But she misses digging up the dirt, so she puts herself into her neighbours’ business. Or Detective Watkins – he may have other cases, that one-by-one could generate several short stories – maybe even a novel.

You see where all this can get you?

You can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html
Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.
Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Plot and Characters, Point of View in Fiction

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Series Characters – Part 3

15 May
Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

I have so many different projects, I hear voices in my head – the characters talking all at once – and I have to write to make them stop.
– Eli Roth
–
When transitioning series characters between novels and short stories, you need to keep the timeline and events straight. We touched on this issue two blog posts back. Remember that your mind will carry all the information to date about your characters, including their actions, including relationships. Your readers’ minds don’t.

Especially if your reader is not reading your short stories and novels in chronological order. As readers we (and I count myself in here) don’t always read series books in order. So, in the first novel in the series you read Alice is having a baby with Jack. Later you get to the first novel where Alice meets Jack. I’m doing this with the Deborah Crombie mystery series. I still haven’t read the book where the main character and her boss change their relationship from just business to personal but I’ve read books where they are living together and ironing out the kinks with a blended family, plus dealing with their respective outlaws, I mean in-laws, although sometimes they may act like the former.

Take this a step further with your series characters hopping in and out of short stories and novels. Which came first? And if you write a novel, then some short stories, then another novel, etc. with the same series characters, be careful. A character in a short story set in 2000 would not know what will happen in the following years, unless you want him or her to be psychic.

A character in a story set in an earlier time would not be as fully developed as in a later story. This can get a little confusing if you are back and forth in time with your story. Sometimes taking your character’s traits outline (remember that suggestion from last week’s post?) a little deeper by listing how they were then and later can help. Also listing the trigger (another character’s actions, something they experienced, etc.) that changed them after the first story, can help.

Again, you may not use all of this in your stories, but after writing out all the information, it is embedded in your mind – somewhere. The trick is to pull out the right characteristic for the right story.

This brings up another question. How much do you reveal about your main characters (and plot for that matter) in novels and short stories that has occurred in a previous novel or short story? You don’t want to give away character and plot from the previous. Yet you don’t want your reader kept wondering if your characters seem to appear out of the blue. Or family and friends and situations are mentioned briefly and in a way that leaves your readers scratching their heads and muttering, “Huh?”

With two of the linked stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012) I am right upfront about what happened to David, Dana’s son in the prequel novel Beyond Blood (to be published by Blue Denim Press in the fall of 2014). I have to be, because in those short stories David is psychologically mute. Otherwise the reader will wonder why and if he has always been like that. So I state it but blend it into the main plot of the short story. Here’s an example from the beginning of “Gone Missing.”
The police can’t find her, Ms Bowman,” Robin Morgrave says.
Rosemary Morgrave has gone missing and I’m putting on a brave smile for her twin brother. Robin sits on the other side of the desk in The Attic Agency’s third floor office. Only my twin brother, Bast, nodding, stops me from losing it. Ever since David, my seven-year-old son, was abducted last August, I’ve been living in Panicville. Sure, we got David back, but how much of him returned? He follows Bast around like an investigator-in-training. His brown eyes stare right through my soul. I wish he’d just say how he feels. But since his return, David hasn’t opened his mouth except to swallow liquids and food. He doesn’t even cry. (Excerpted from Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, 2012, copyright Sharon A. Crawford).

Next week we will talk more about plot consistency and how much to reveal without giving it all away.

Meantime, read any of the mystery series novels by Peter Robinson and see how he handles continuity and consistency in character and plot.
Also, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.
Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on May 15, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Series Characters novels and short stories

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Series Characters – Part 2

08 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.

– Larry Niven

 

After all my time-line tips last week I goofed. I put the wrong year for the four linked short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point. Ditto for the related series novel. It should be 1999 for the short stories and 1998 for the novel. At least I had it correct which came first. The years are now corrected on last week’s blog post.

Mea culpa, mea culpa.

This post will deal with length of short stories versus novels and start the discussion about series characters for both. The latter is complicated and we won’t cover everything today.

First length.

Short story length can be anywhere from the flash story of 50 words to longer stories of 8,000, even 10,000 words. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine stories tend to run in the upper word count limit. However, some authors take the short story up to 18,000 words. In this case, many are self-publishing – either e-copy or online or in print or all of those. To me, this is a variation of the traditional poetry chap book publications. This is all good. The only caveats I offer here are: if submitting to publications or short story contests, follow the submission guidelines; and watch you don’t make the stories too long or you will be writing a novella.
Novel lengths vary from 65,000 words to 120,000 words (think Elizabeth George for the longer novels). Most novels are somewhere in between and it depends on the publisher or the author if self-publishing. My publisher, Blue Denim Pressm tends to go for the lower page count. Personally I like any length as long as the story flows and doesn’t read as if it is padded with plot lines, character development and points of view that are way too much and detract from the story. Shorter novel requirements sure make the author learns how not to be overly wordy, as I’m finding out. But as a former journalist, I always wrote long and then rewrote to fit the editorial requirements. Writing too short here would create the dilemma of insufficient information and it is harder to add than to subtract – believe it or not.

Characters in novels versus short stories

This is a loaded one. Novels and short stories written in the literary vein are more about the characters than the plot. However, the trend today in commercial fiction (including genres such as mystery and romance, particularly in novels, is to develop characters more). While I like Agatha Christie mystery novels – they were what I grew up on, what got me interested in mysteries (along with the old Perry Mason TV series), her characters, although intriguing and original, were not fully developed. The exceptions are her two main series characters – Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple.

So, how many characters do you put in a novel and in a short story? Obviously because of length, you wouldn’t cram many characters into a short story. War and Peace crunched down to a short story it is not. Take two or three main characters and a few minor characters and go from there, i.e., you will develop the three main characters fully but not the few minor ones. By “develop fully” I mean it wouldn’t hurt to do an extensive character sketch of your main characters before you start writing – with the caveat that they are not sealed in cement, granite or avalanche. When writing stories, characters sometimes take over and you as a writer have to respect that. Key question to ask here: is what this character is doing characteristic of him or her? That’s when you may have to return to your character sketch.

And you won’t use everything in your character sketch in your short story – or even in your novel, but you will use more in your novels. With a short story, every character element and development has to tie in with your basic story plot. With a novel you can add in the extras, although they have to tie in with the plot, but you have more leeway.

For example, in my prequel novel Beyond Blood, Dana Bowman has more space to show how she feels about a certain situation with her son as well as the conflict she has with being a mother of a six year old and a private investigator, especially when the two collide. If I didn’t do this, Dana would come across as shallow, one-dimensional and unbelievable. In the four linked stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (remember these are the year after the novel occurs), Dana is still reacting over what happened to David, but in the interest of space and plot, the whole story can’t be about her reaction. So I weave it in with the case she is investigating. In “Saving Grace,” while she is following a lead on a country road outside Goderich, Ontario, she stops the car and has a mini-break-down. But it doesn’t last long; she has to pull herself together and get on with it.

In the novel Beyond Blood, after the actual event that triggers all this has happened, Dana has many instances of having difficulty dealing with the situation. In one scene (without giving it away), she wakes up and is somewhat disoriented and depressed so she acts a bit strangely. She also has nightmares that act as a sort of premonition of what will happen. The time she spends with her son and her feelings about him there, as well as developing a possible relationship with Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding, all tie in with the plot. Without this character development, some of the future plot lines would have the reader saying, “This doesn’t make sense. How would she know how to do that? This action is not credible.”

These pointers are more for commercial fiction than literary fiction.

Next week we will delve more into the makings of series characters appearing in novels and short stories.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Series Characters novels and short stories, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Same Characters

01 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

You can’t write a novel all at once, any more than you can swallow a whale in one gulp. You do have to break it up into smaller chunks. But those smaller chunks aren’t good old familiar short stories. Novels aren’t built out of short stories. They are built out of scenes.

—Orson Scott Card, September 1980

Transitioning series characters from short story to novel or vice-versa presents challenges for fiction writers. It requires the combination of imagination and keeping facts straight.

Unless you are time-travelling with your stories or are deliberating putting them at an earlier or later age, time-lines can be tricky. Where in your characters’ story timeline do you want the short stories to appear? Or if the short stories came first, then your novel needs to be kept in the time-line. That can affect your characters development. For example, you don’t want one character to be divorced in the short story and newly married to the same person in a novel obviously set at a later date. You need to be consistent and realistic. If you mess up, your readers will find it.

My story situation has the timeline and consistency problem in spades (and I don’t mean the spade that digs the graves for bodies dead from murder). My short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point was published first. In it are four linked stories featuring fraternal twin PIs Dana Bowman and Bast Overture, Dana’s son David and a few other series’ characters. It is David I have to be concerned with because these four stories happened after the novel Beyond Blood, which I call the pre-quel novel. The four stories occurred in 1999 and the novel in the summer of 1998.

David is psychologically mute in Beyond the Tripping Point. In Beyond Blood, the reader finds out why. So, obviously he is talking at least for the first part of Beyond Blood.

Then there are the other characters, such as the ones I kill off in Beyond Blood. Obviously they didn’t appear in Beyond the Tripping Point.

Characters are supposed to grow and develop, so in a prequel novel, the characters have to be a few steps behind in that area. For example, in Beyond Blood, Dana could not be at the point where she is dealing with a mute David – that comes in BTTP. Things happen to characters and that’s what changes them one way or the other. But the event must happen before the change – something to keep in mind when transitioning from novel to short story or vice-versa.

To make the situation more complicated with me, I had actually written an earlier version of the pre-quel novel before those four linked short stories. So, when writing the stories, I had to keep the novel’s content in mind. When I returned to rewriting the novel for the publisher (after BTTP was published) I then had to make sure I was consistent – even though I was expanding the plot, making it more complicated. One of my base lines was why David became psychologically mute and when he is mute.

There is also the obvious difference in short stories and novels – length. The short story has to be more succinct because you do not have novel-length. You can’t have multiple plots in a short story or multiple points of view. How much about characters do you include?

Next week’s blog post will deal with some of those issues.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on May 1, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Writing

 

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Fiction Characters Interviewing Fiction Characters – Part 45

24 Apr
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

All fiction is about people, unless it’s about rabbits pretending to be people. It’s all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through time and changes taking place, and that’s what we call “the plot.”

– Margaret Atwood
–

The missing Bast has suddenly appeared at the dining room table with Robbie Stuart and the ghosts of Roger Stuart and Susan Stuart. Bast looks pale.

Dana, staring at the dining room table: Bast, are you okay? How did you get here?

Swan: Yeah, how? Did Robbie make you materialize somehow?

Fielding: Shut up Swan. You’re in no position to ask questions. Bast, answer your sister’s questions.

Dana, slightly agitated: Wait a minute. I need to ask Mr. Swan a question first. Who is sitting at the table with Bast?

Swan: Why Robbie Stuart of course.

Dana: Nobody else?

Swan: Who else would there be? The rest of us are over here. That’s why I want to know…

Fielding: I said shut up, Swan. Now, Mr. Overture, please answer your sister’s questions.

Bast: I’m fine, a little tired and weak. I had help getting here from Susan and Roger.
Swan: Wait a minute. You’re telling us that a couple of dead people helped you?

Bast: Yes. Susan and Roger are sitting right with me here. I gather you can’t see their spirits.

Susan’s Spirit: Bast, you’re right. Both Dad and I working together managed to keep you out of harm’s way temporarily and bring you back safely here. Sorry, Dana and you three cops, but we couldn’t say anything until you had Swan under control for Bast’s safety.

Dana: But you are really back, Bast?

Bast: Yes.

Fielding: Now, Mr. Overture, you have some explaining to do.

Bast: What Susan, Roger and Robbie said is true. Robbie has a memoir accepted for publication and I was to do another newspaper article on it with a sort of update. What you don’t know is Robbie also wanted me to write the Forward to the book. Both these, particularly the newspaper article, would give details of Swan’s shenanigans in the past and current. And he didn’t want that happening, so he took measures. Susan and Roger helped me. (He turns to them). Thank you. But you know me, Dana, the old crime reporter, I have to find out what is going on, so sorry, I had to disappear from Susan’s protection to find out and I couldn’t tell you for safety’s sake. Swan caught up with me and tried to use David’s and Aunt Doris’ safety as a lever. You know the rest.

Dana: So, you will be writing the story?

Bast: Oh yes, but maybe it will be delayed for a bit until Hutchinson or Fielding take Swan into custody.

Hutchinson (standing up): Get up Swan. I am arresting you for kidnapping, pointing a firearm, blackmail, uttering threats. And there will be more added later. You have the right to a lawyer…”

After Hutchinson finishes his spiel, Dana stands up and walks over to the table: Thank you Susan and Roger and Robbie, too.

Susan and Roger: You are welcome.

Susan: Now that we see justice is being done, we will leave you. But I will be keeping an eye on you Dana and Bast and your family. If you need me, just touch the painting in the library boardroom and I will appear.

Roger: Yes, it feels good to finally come clean with the full story. Now, as Susan said we must leave.

Susan’s and Roger’s spirits disappear. Dana sits down beside Bast.

Swan: What just happened? Are you all nuts? I see just Bast, Dana and Robbie at the table.

Hutchinson: Shut up, Mr. Swan.

Robbie looks up finally and glares at Swan: My sister and Dad didn’t keep you in the spirit loop because you are bad. And I’m glad I wrote the memoir to set the record straight.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

Dana, Bast and the others will take a rest for a bit. But they will be back with more original stories based on the stories and characters in Beyond the Tripping Point.

Next week’s blog will talk about fiction writing – short story versus novel, particularly when both use the same series characters. So, in a way, Dana and Bast will be back to illustrate some ideas here. Watch for upcoming posts with guest bloggers. Stay tuned. Meantime…

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on April 24, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Freefall Writing, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters – Part 44

17 Apr
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

Make everybody fall out of the plane first, and then explain who they were and why they were in the plane to begin with.

– Nancy Ann Dibble

All the main characters, except the missing Bast Overture, are assembled in the dining room of the Stuart house in Toronto, Ontario. Will Bast show up? And if so, how? In physical person? Or in spirit. And what about PC Joseph Oliver? What is he going to do?

Swan (waving the gun he just fired): Next time I’ll hit one of you.

Fielding: Put that gun down, Swan.

Hutchinson: You heard him. Put that gun down.

Dana, still shaking from the gun’s noise: Better listen to them, Swan.

Swan: Or you’ll do what. I’m the one with the gun here. I…oh…

Roger’s and Susan’s spirits are creating havoc around Swan but they can’t seem to get the gun out of his hand.

Oliver (rushing forward to Swan and reaching up): I’ll take that.

Oliver knocks the gun from Swan’s hand, sending the gun flying. Hutchinson picks it up and points it at Swan.

Hutchinson: Cuff him, Oliver.

He does and Susan’s and Roger’s spirits return to the table where Robbie hasn’t budged. Robbie appears as if in a trance, as if he is talking to someone that no one else can see.

Dana, looking at Swan: We got you now. It might be in your best interest to tell me where my brother is. NOW.

Swan smirks: Of course. Look over there.

Dana follows his eyes. Sitting at the dining room table with Robbie, and the two spirits, is Bast. He appears to be talking to Robbie. The other two don’t seem to notice.

And Bast’s face looks very very pale.

Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Uncategorized, Writing Critique Groups

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters Part 43

10 Apr
Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers. Your job isn’t to find these ideas, but to recognize them when they show up.
— Stephen King, On Writing

In the last post, suspect Cory Swan suddenly appeared pointing a gun at the interviewing/séance session with Dana Bowman, Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding, Detective Larry Hutchinson, Robbie Stuart and the spirits of Roger Stuart and Susan Stuart. PC Oliver is still present but has remained silent, as if in a stupor, from seeing the spirits.

Hutchinson: Put that gun down, Swan before someone gets hurt.

Swan: Why? So you can arrest me? No. I have something to say and I’m going to say it.

Dana: You’re going to tell us all.

Swan: That’s right.

Dana: You’re going to tell Detective Hutchinson, Detective Sergeant Fielding, PC Oliver, Robbie Stuart, and me.

Swan: Of course. You’re all here, all five of you.

Dana (looking at Susan’s spirit. They nod at each other as if in cahoots): Very well. Speak.

Fielding, clearing his throat: Okay, please sit down over there and put that gun down.

Swan: No, no, no, no. I remain standing and keep the gun. You three cops though, take out your guns slowly and put them on the side table over there. Or I start shooting you one by one and Robbie Stuart is first.

The three police officers comply.

Swan: Good choice. Okay, I heard you discuss my story – so far, but not all of it. And I want immunity before I go any further.

Hutchinson: We can’t promise you that.

Swan: Then I don’t talk.

Fielding: We can probably reduce the blackmail charges to a plea bargain.

Swan: A good start, but I expect more.

Dana: And I expect my brother back safe and sound and alive.

Swan: All in due time, Ms Private Eye. Okay. What you guys were talking about is somewhat correct as far as it goes. Sure I blackmailed Roger Stuart and made a pretty penny until he had the audacity to croak. (He looks at Dana). That’s your brother’s fault for interviewing him and getting a lot more details from him.

Dana: And were you there hovering and hiding for that interview.

Swan moves closer to Dana and waves the gun a few inches from her face: Shut up. This is my story.
Dana, her voice shaking: Very well. Continue.

Swan: Thank you. Yes, I was around when your brother interviewed Roger but not hiding. Bast and I arrived together as he wanted me to take pictures of Roger. But that’s not all I did. I took photos of her, too.

Dana: Her?

Swan: Yeah, the second bogus Mrs. Roger Stuart. She walked in right near the end of the interview. She was furious, ranting and raging about Roger blabbing family secrets. She threatened him and Bast if the story got printed and me if the photos got printed. Then the bitch grabbed my camera and pulled out the film. Too bad we didn’t have digital then but I guess she would have just smashed the camera. Then she went after Roger. She picked up a lamp and charged towards him. Bast and I managed to grab the lamp and stop her. We were going to call the police but Roger said, “No, please don’t do that. I can calm her down.”

Roger’s spirit is nodding “yes” at this.

Swan: Bast and I left when she appeared to be sitting calmly at the table. But… we should have stayed because Roger Stuart died later that evening of a heart attack.

Hutchinson: Are you saying that the second Mrs. Stuart scared her husband into a heart attack?

Swan shrugs his shoulders.

Roger Stuart is nodding again: She attacked me again that evening. She knew I had a heart condition. She hated my first wife and my kids. I couldn’t take it and so I died.

Hutchinson: So, you wanted all this to be suppressed in Robbie Stuart’s memoir? And so that’s why you kidnapped Bast Overture?

Swan: No, you got that all wrong. I wanted the memoir to be published. But Mrs. Stuart No. 2 got wind of it and…

Dana: She’s in prison.

Fielding: Ms Bowman, you should know that doesn’t stop anyone.

Swan: You got that right Detective.

Fielding: So, where does Bast Overture fit into all this?

Dana: Yes, why did you kidnap my brother after he returned from his first disappearance?

Swan: I didn’t kidnap your brother. He suddenly appeared in my office demanding answers. He didn’t want to co-operate with me…
Dana: So you tied him up and kept him prisoner?

Swan: What choice did I have? He was going to have me arrested? And that didn’t fit in with my plan.

Dana: But he got away.

Swan: Yes, damn him.

Fielding: But that’s when you started threatening Doris Bowman and David Bowman?

Swan (smiling): Of course. Nothing like a little family pressure to get someone to come round.

Dana (standing up): You scum.

Swan: Sit down Ms Bowman or you’ll meet the same fate as your brother.

Dana: What’s that? What have you done to Bast?

Swan: Not telling right now. First, I need police co-operation – no charges against me and you put me in witness protection – or whatever you call it here in Canada.

Hutchinson: No, you’re wrong. First you tell us where Bast Overture is now because it is obvious you have him somewhere.

Swan: Not yet. I still need him.

Dana: What for?

Swan: Why he is going to come out of retirement and write another newspaper story about the Stuart saga, sort of a preliminary to Robbie’s memoir and also with some updates about what really happened during that other interview.

Susan’s spirit, looking at Dana: Time for Dad and me to step in.

Roger’s spirit, Robbie and Dana nod. Detective Sergeant Fielding and Detective Hutchinson both stand up. Swan raises the gun and fires into the air.

PC Joseph Oliver suddenly becomes alert to what is happening.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on April 10, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters – Part 42

03 Apr
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

But first an announcement from Sharon A. Crawford.

My prequel novel, Beyond Blood, is being published By Blue Denim Press this fall (2014). That means readers will find out what really happened to David Bowman before he became psychologically mute. Dana Bowman, Bast Overture, Great Aunt Doris Bowman, Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding, PC Joseph Oliver will be “back” as well as a few other characters including the mysterious “Him.” Stay tuned. Meantime check out my other blog for the post about getting another book published http://onlychildwrites.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/only-childs-novel-to-be-published-fall-2014/
Now back to our current story (and I promise it will be resolved by Easter – this year).

In the previous posting, Detective Hutchinson, Detective Sergeant Fielding and Dana Bowman were interviewing a couple of spirits (Roger Stuart, Susan Stuart) and a live one (Robbie Stuart) to get information on where Bast is and why he was kidnapped. Susan Stuart has just announced that her brother Robbie has written a tell-all family memoir being published this year.

Fielding: This payback isn’t just against Bast, is it Susan?

Susan: That’s for you to figure out.

Hutchinson: Quit playing games.

Susan: Or you’ll what? Do I have to keep reminding you I’m already dead and so is Dad?

Dana: Again, let me talk to them. My guess is you are also after Cory Swan, but I have a question. How did he find out?

Robbie: I told him about the memoir – I needed permission for some of his photos from the newspaper story.

Dana: And I suppose you contacted my brother for a similar reason – permission to use his story?

Robbie: Well, I called him, but after I talked to Swan. Bast had disappeared before I had a chance to talk to him.

Susan: Like I told you Dana, I really was trying to protect your brother from Cory Swan so brought him over to our side. But he got away and came back. And I really don’t know where he is now.

Fielding: Do you Roger?

Roger: No.

Fielding: Robbie?

Robbie: No.

Voice from behind: But I do. And I’m not telling where until you do as I say.

Dana, Fielding and Hutchinson turn around. Cory Swan stands inside the dining-room door. He is holding a gun.

Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

And stay tuned for more goodies on Beyond Blood.

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Uncategorized, Writing

 

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