Linda Christiansen

It’s still dark outside my windows, but we’re expecting a fine day in the Pacific Northwest. My family is celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday so I’m relaxed–and I’ve already cooked a turkey dinner and gave most of it away. In fact, I’m a bit turkeyed out and might eat salmon for dinner.

I woke up recalling all the writers I’m grateful for–the ones who shone a light during my growing-up years like Louise Alcott who gave me the March sisters and the thousands of authors I’ve encountered through their stories. Like many of you, mine has been a lifetime deeply enriched by stories and explorations and shared learning. Almost daily I’m entranced by encountering new writers  who inspire and delight.

Humankind needs stories, the heart-to-heart meetings that happen over a shared meal, or during a walk or gathering. Those that happen on a page endure, and  in our sometimes-dark times,  the written word is only becoming more vital and life giving.

Yet another reason it’s never been a better time to be a writer.

But mostly I want to give thanks for all the writers I’ve met in real life since I joined the writing community. The hobbyists and professionals, the ones I broke bread with, the ones who attended my classes, workshops, and conferences.  The many writers I met teaching and mentoring at conferences sponsored by organizations. Thanks for the question-and-answer sessions, the feedback,  the hallway meetings, and shared laughter.

I’m especially grateful for working relationships with authors I’ve collaborated with for years–the careers that were launched, the stories I helped them improve and polish and were then read by hundreds of thousands.  It’s always a thrill when their books appear in print.

Sincere thanks to the dear hearts who supported my sometimes-ailing spirit, and the ones who forced me to learn.

Thanks too for the writers who have contacted me  to tell me what my books have meant to them and helped them become better writers. And thanks to the ones who struggled and who inspired my books.

Stories connect us. Stories hold us up. Stories help us see the real world and the world that ought to be.

I’m deeply grateful that I’m still learning at a great pace through reading and working with writers.

Don’t know about you, but I’ve been stockpiling of books for the winter–one stack is growing on my bedside table. But there are piles all over this place, with some including beloved characters I need to revisit. And then there are the books I’m tucking away to give at Christmas. Because I always give books as holiday and birthday gifts, as well as jut-because gifts,  don’t you?

Wishing you many, many reasons to be grateful.

Thanks for stopping by. Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart.

I was cobbling together dinner earlier as rain fell against my porch’s tin roof and the news jabbed at me from the living room. And I looked out my window at the Douglas firs which seemed to have grown taller this past year, and wondered how it can possbily be November. And how the gloom and mist and hard rain were the new normal. And that stabbed at me a bit. I had to shake myself, kind of like a wet dog, because the clocks are going back an hour and the gloom will become more pervasive. At least I don’t live in Alaska, I told myself because months of darkness sound hellish.

And then: it’s a good time to get some writing done. And make soup. 

But before I fixate on soup–I made an extraordinary batch of turkey vegetable a few days ago– let’s get down to business.

Congratulations  to the hardy souls who are heading into the bucolic and exhausting stint known as NaNoWriMo.

BECAUSE:

• Companionship, check.
• Accountability, check.
• Excitement, check, check.
• Fun, triple check.

And yes, I know multi-pubished and best-selling authors who started out on November 1 with a mission and a passion and a need to write.

You might ask yourself:

• What does my protagonist want desperately?
• Why does he or she have this desperate need?
• What hideous doom might befall him or her if he or she fails?
• What will break your main character?
• Who or what will stand in the way?
• Is this the most interesting and exciting segment of your character’s life?

When you’re not writing be thinking about your characters and the dilemmas and traps you’re setting. You might also write wee missives before sleep asking these questions. Imagining the face, the way your character faces the world.

See? Not so bad. And you’re off!

Best of luck. And thanks for stopping by.

In honor of Halloween or Samhain, here’s a link to the PBS site and “The scary thing about evil laughs.”  Because evil laughter needs to be chilling, terrifying, and as this piece points out, recall childhood traumas.

Just. Show. Up.

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

Mild weather here, thank goodness. Took yesterday off to go antiquing with a friend in Aurora, a small town nearby. Not all the stores were open because it was a Monday so I’m happy to report we’re returning.  Besides a pub lunch, buying old books, strolling around charming old neighborhoods, and a good, long catching-up chat, the day felt soft and bonny. Please indulge me; I’ve never used bonny in a sentence before, but it suits. A sense of change brewing in the trees and air. The leftover flavor off almost-chilly nights. Pumpkins in store fronts.

As for writing–always on my mind–I’ve been thinking about Nancy Drew, the young fictional sleuth who came into our midst in the 1930s. Anyone out there read all the Nancy Drew books? I read every Nancy book available in the school and town library, at least twenty. Without realizing it at the time, she was one of my heroes. A blue roadster? Sign me up. But looking back, her indefatigable nature was what I most admired. It was a trait common to the biography subjects I read and characters I hoped to emulate. And Nancy Drew demonstrated more bravura than was the norm during my growing-up years.

Here’s a beautiful article on Ms. Drew, her stories and adventures. And www.nancydrewsleuth.com is a fun site to explore.

While Nancy–with some help from her friends–was clever and practical, some of her detecting was, well amateurish. Schoolgirlish.  Now of course she WAS an 18-year-old amateur, but techniques like eavesdropping near an open door or behind lilac shrubs are written for the convenience of the author.  When writing adult fiction find another way to gather the information. Serendipity of any sort needs to be handled with utmost cleverness. And rarely. And how about using current spy technology instead? There are a lot of gadgets available.

If you’re writing historical fiction, improvise, misdirect, and use props from the era.

The rational behind your characters’ actions are more important than providing your readers clues. Sure, move the plot forward. But finesse matters because clues–along with dead bodies–are the most memorable parts of suspense stories. 

Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart