Interview with Mrs. Lottie Steers

Hi everyone.  A few days ago, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Mrs. Lottie Steers, time-traveler extraordinaire.

CSM:  Lottie, it's great to have you here on the blog.
LS:  Thanks, Mars.  It's my pleasure.
CSM:  So, I have to ask, how was traveling with Sam?
LS:  It was great fun.   We saw many of the best London sights.  Sam had never been to London, which made it even more exciting.
CSM:  Great.   So I understand that you and your husband traveled a lot.
LS:  We traveled everywhere.  Not only in time, but in our lives.   Albert loved to travel.  We took a tour of Europe one year.  We went to Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Venice.  We like to stay in villages as well, soak up some of the local culture.
CSM:  You two must have had a great time.
LS:  We did until Albert bought the book, then we had a fantastic time.   It was so much fun.   Some of my favorite adventures include the building of the Great Wall in China, the Pyramids, watching Napoleon get defeated at Waterloo.  There were some rough times. We visited Dachau.  That was horrible.  Absolutely horrible.
CSM:  I couldn't imagine.
LS:  We saw the concentration camp at its worst.   We went just a few days before the Americans rolled in.  I'm not even going to mention what was going on.   Let's talk about something else.
CSM:  I agree.   So, I understand you are part of a larger group of time-travelers. 
LS:  Oh yes.  We have conventions.   Last time, we meet in Oslo.   There were about 68 chapters from all over the world.   I got to see a lot of old friends and meet the newest inductees.  About 23 new travelers.
CSM:   I don't want to give away the plot of the book, but I understand there are some fight scenes.
LS:  Oh yes.  Some wild orb throwing.
CSM:  Good to hear.   Well, let's stop there.  I want our readers to have a good time while reading and not give away too much.
LS: I agree with that point as well.
CSM:  A special thanks to Mrs. Lottie Steers.  She's one of my characters in my first book.  Hopefully available by the end of the summer or early fall.  Thanks for joining us.  Until next time, keep reading and travel as a far as you can.

Starting Book Two...

After three years of learning how to write, reading about writing, and writing, I am drawing my first book to a close.  The end of August is the deadline.   No more editing, no more changes, no more additions...  Fini.  Special thanks to the gallant six who read it -- ppc, ll, db, mjte, jc, and jh -- the first time.  Some of their advice was taken to heart and I have to admit that I am thrilled with the new version. 

With the close of book one, I now have to turn to book two.  I have gave it the title Cleo and Edgar.   Over the past few weeks, Sam, Mrs. Steers, and myself have conferred on where to go.  Of course, I didn't tell them about my meeting with their arch enemies.  What a meeting that was!

Check back in a few days, I did an interview with Mrs. Steers.   She answered a few questions about my book.

Talking like an 11-year old

One of the biggest challenges for me has been writing dialogue that sounds like an 11-year old.  I still think Sam talks too much like an adult, even though he hangs out a lot with his Mom and Mrs. Steers.

I found this site -- Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies.  I had no idea the Dummies series had a website.  I learn something new everyday.   They have some good tips.  Since I am no longer a kid, but still one at heart, it's not easy to think like one.

As I read over their advice, I found this one interesting -- "Choose simple words. Young people don't generally break out the 50-cent words in normal dialogue unless they're fascinated by words or maybe want to show off how smart they are."   Guess what?  Sam is pretty smart for his age.  Maybe we'll be fine with a few bigger words.

Setting the Mood

Stephen King wrote in his book, On Writing, that you should have a quiet room and a door to shut out the world while you write.  OK, I have that, but it's not always quiet when I write.
In order to help me set the mood of the scenes I am writing, I play music.   Only instrumental, never vocal. 
On the stack next to my desk, I have a CD entitled The Hollywood Sound (John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra), the soundtracks from both Sherlock Holmes films, Danny Elfman's Serenada Schizophrana, Beethoven for Your Beloved, the soundtrack to Hereafter, Birth, The DaVinci Code, and Downton Abbey.

They help me create the mood of a scene.  I wonder what a seasoned writer would say.

Thanks, Zadie Smith

"Tell the truth through whichever veil -- but tell it.  Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied."  -- Zadie Smith.

About twice a week, I flog myself.  Bitterly.  I cry, then drift off to sleep.  No leather whip or cat-o'-nine-tales involved.   Only words in my mind.  Berating myself.  Calling myself a BFN (big fat nobody) because I keep rewriting, reediting, adding, subtracting, retelling...

I found the above quote a few weeks ago.   And yes, I have resigned myself to never being satisfied with my writing.

But no matter what, I keep rolling along...

I admit I have never read any of your books, and maybe never will since our interests are drastically differnt, but your two simple sentences made me feel better.  Thanks, Zadie Smith. 

Good Catch in Editing!

While I editing a chapter in the second half, I realized I need more description of Buckingham Palace.  Before proceeding with what I know as the current gates around it, I decided it would be best to check my facts.  And it's good I did.  

Francis Frith (maker)

I was able to find this 1850 to 1870 photograph of the Palace from the front.  And voila!  
The gates are nothing like the ones surrounding it today.  In fact, the current gates were installed in 1911.

The photograph is from the Victoria and Albert online collection which has some great research materials. 

I have to bookmark this site for future research and general surfing.  The Victoria and Albert Museum has such a great website.  

Interview with Sam Henry

I recently sat down with 11-year-old Sam Henry to ask him about my book, "The Fingerprint of Jack."

CSM:   Sam, welcome to my blog.
SH:  Thanks, Mars, it's great to offer some insight into your book.  I do have to ask -- Will it ever be out there for people to read?
CSM:  Soon.  I promise. It's in the last edit.  My next step is to have it proofread by someone else for spelling, correct verb tenses, stuff like that.  After, that it's going out into the big world.
SH: Cool.
CSM:  Sam, tell us about your adventures.   You actually went back in time?
SH:   Yes, we did.  I mean Mrs. Steers and me.    At first, I totally thought she was nuts.  Totally insane.   But then she got serious.
CSM:   Really.   Mrs. Steers took you back in time.
SH: Yep.
CSM:  How was that first experience?   What was it like?
SH:   It's hard to explain.   At first, it's weird.   You're kind of like on a roller coaster, moving slow then fast then slow...  And you feel like you're flying...
CSM:  Interesting.   Had you felt like that before?
SH:  No.   I'm not sure what I could compare it to.  I was scary at first then awesome.
CSM:  That's sounds interesting.  So where did you go?
SH:  I chose London.  I had a school report to do about a topic in English history for school.  So, London in the 1880s was where we went.
CSM:   Did you see a lot of cool stuff?
SH:   I did.  I had no idea what life was really like back then. Part of it was gross.   There was horse manure everywhere and no one was really cleaning it up, especially where we were.
CSM:  Did you see any famous people?
SH:   Yes.  A couple, but I think I will let people find out when they read the book.
CSM:   So no secrets from you, eh?
SH:  Yeah.   No secrets from me.
CSM:   I agree.   I think we should leave a lot for the reader to discover.  So, with that...  This is C. S. Marshall wrapping up my interview with Sam Henry, the main character of "The Fingerprint of Jack."

Connecting with Your Disconnect

One of my biggest fears in writing is grammar and style.  One website I like is Guide to Grammar and Writing.   Check it out when you get a chance.
The second fear is accuracy in history.  Being a history major in college was helpful to a point.  It's knowing how to research that makes creating a great historical scene important.   (Loving history helps as well).   I wish I have one magic database, but I don't.   Historical research requires patience and perseverance.   Spending hours reading newspapers, books written during the time you are creating, and using images (in particular photographs if it is post-1840s) are the best, in my opinion.  
Did they have streetlamps in 1880s London?   I had to find out.  If they did, were they gas, electric, both?   I had to dig for that.   Ah, the fun stuff!