The LadyKillers

A Day in Dialogue by Sharan Newman

Admin note: This arrived, direct from Paris, from LadyKiller-on-vacation.

"Est-ce le matin? Ou suis-je?"

"You're in Paris, dummy.  And don't pretend you speak French. You always miss the punchlines of the jokes."

"Oh, yeah.  OK, what are we doing today."

"I want to go to Rouen and see where Joan of Arc was burnt alive.  There's a memorial where the pyre was."

"Um...I don't know.  Are they likely to do that again?"

"Good grief!  You are a wuss.  Well you can also see the 300 year old town clock.  That safe enough for you?"

"I suppose.  That's pretty old.  Pieces might fall off and land on us."

"Oh, come on!  Now you're just silly."

"Well, really, I think I'd just rather spend the day sitting at a cafe watching the people go by."

Deep sigh. "I can't believe I keep traveling with you.  You could just stay home and watch American in Paris again."

Now, if the reader has heard two voice here, then I've managed to create dialogue that give a sense of the characters.  If not, I suppose I'd better do some exercises to improve it.  After I go to the cafe. 

  —Sharan

Dialogue? Mais oui!

Update from LadyKillers Admin... Sharan Newman's day-to-day dialogues are probably in French these days as she is on a lovely vacation in France!

Here is a photo of the Cathedral in Rouen, taken by Sharan just a couple of days ago. Voyages heureux, Sharan!

NEWS!! and Dialogue

NEWS FLASHES!!

• Sharan Newman reports that all of her mysteries are now available in all e-book formats. For instance, here are links to her digital books for a few of the many venues where eBooks are sold: Books-A-Million, Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook), and eBooks.com.
• Camille Minichino and Ann Parker will join pal and fellow author Kelli Stanley next Sunday, May 20, at an AAUW "Murder, Mystery, Mayhem & Munchies" event from 2 to 4 p.m. in San Jose, California, at the History Park Fire House.

AND NOW... all that yackety-yak

This coming week, The LadyKillers turn their eyes to dialogue. Join us with your favorite cuppa each morning to discover what we have to say, and to add some digital dialogue of your own!

“Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.” ~Alfred Hitchcock

"I see people in terms of dialogue and I believe that people are their talk."
~Roddy Doyle (Novelist)

I was kind of excited about going to jail the first time and I learnt some great dialogue."
~Quentin Tarantino

NEWS and Coming to Writing

NEWS FLASHES!!!

• LadyKillers were in force at Malice Domestic! From left to right: Ann, Camille, and Penny, with Sharan in front.

• Ann Parker will be speaking to the UC Section Club Book Group, Friday, May 4, noon, in Berkeley, California.
• On Wednesday, May 2, honored guest Kathleen Kaska will be sharing her enthusiasm for the Queen of Crime: Agatha Christie. Join us to see what Kathleen has to say!

Next week... WRITING!

It's never too early to turn to writing.

Next week's topic is "coming to writing," with all the wherefores, whys, whens, and hows. Bring your cuppa to our daily LadyKillers' table and join us!

 

News and "Why write crime fiction?"

NEWS FLASHES!!

• Michael A. Black will be appearing at the Once Upon a Crime Bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 28th, from 1 to 3 p.m.
• Camille Minichino, Sharan Newman, Ann Parker, and Penny Warner will all be at the Malice Domestic convention, April 27–29, in Bethesda, Maryland.

WHY WRITE...

... Crime Fiction?

After all, if one wants to write, there are many possibilities. Poetry. Science Fiction. Cookbooks. So, why spend creative time and energy writing about murder and mayhem?

Join the LadyKillers this coming week as they delve into the dark (and light) corners of crime fiction...

 

Once upon a time, at least forty years ago, I actually worked in a juvenile detention center.  Before you have me doddering with my walker, I was still in college then (OK, maybe I am that old), untrained and totally unsuited to the job.  I lasted about three months. 

It was supposed to be a model facility- one house for girls, the other for boys.  On the outside, it looked good, sort of like a boarding school with very high fences.  But I soon learned that there was a big secret to the place.  It was completely anti-female.  This reflected the justice system at the time, which I wish I could say has changed.

The boys at the place were in for burglary, vandalism, auto theft, trying to knife someone.  The girls?  Their crimes were "incorrigability", "running away", and one shoplifting.  All but one of the twelve had been raped.  One doughy, plain child had been given by her family to an uncle in the hope he would pay their bills.  Every one of them was a victim rather than an offender.

Even worse was the attitude of the men who ran the place.  They acted as if the girls were willing prostitutes whom they had to save.  They made comments that today would, I hope, put them behind bars.

Building on Ann's comments, I understand now that there were two prisons there, one of the body and the other of the mind.  And, as a very young and naive woman, I was in danger of landing in the latter.   I wish I could go back and do the job better, stand up for those battered children.  I don't know what happened to them and shall always wonder.

I've never written about this and rarely spoken of it.  Not knowing how to help is one of the great regrets of my life.  I remember the feeling I had when I drove away for the last time, as if an enormous rock had rolled from my shoulders.   Then I was relieved to go -- but now I would have tried to find away to take the girls with me.

News and PRISONS

News Flashes!!

• Camille Minichino starts a new set of 4 classes at JFK in Pleasant Hill, Mondays 10 to Noon, from April 16. To register: 925 -1230 x 2689.
• Ann Parker's Mercury's Rise is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, in the Genre Fiction category. Click here for the complete list of finalists for the CBA. Winners for all categories will be announced June 22, at the CBA Celebration held in conjunction with Aspen Summer Words.
• We don't usually deal overtly with politics here at The LadyKillers (figuring the politicians can take care of themselves), but our own Sharan Newman is running for office! Actually, she's letting off steam and has found a fun way to take a less serious look at this topic. Sharan has started a blog advertising herself as a candidate for Senator at Large.  She only want one term.  No agenda, she just wants the perks. Feel free to drop by, comment, and share, as you wish: http://sharanforsenate.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/a-candidate-with-only-one-agendum/
• Honored guest author Vinnie Hansen will be featured this coming Tuesday. Drop on by the LadyKillers to see what Vinnie has to say about our topic of the week, which is...

PRISONS!!

Yes, this week's topic takes us behind bars--figuratively and/or literally--as the LadyKillers stage a breakout on PRISONS! So, grab your favorite cuppa, bar the door, and drop in throughout the week for a visit (visiting hours do not apply, it's a 24/7 kinda thing)...

"Within yourself deliverance must be searched for, because each man makes his own prison." ~Edwin Arnold

"I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator."~Mary Harris Jones (aka Mother Jones)

 

 

Is it the book or the writer that's bogged?

There have been some great suggestions here for propping up a sagging book. I can't top them, so I'm taking the opposite tack. What if it isn't the book that's bogged down? What if it's a natural transition that authors are in denial about?

Once, when my daughter was at college, I was telling her that the new book just wouldn't come together. I had the first hundred pages and just couldn't get it together to move ahead. I moaned about being washed up and unable to ever write again. She gave me no sympathy.

"You do this every time, Mom," she told me. "You've just finished the exposition and don't want to get into the narrative."

"What?" I said. "Where did you learn words like that?"

"English Lit."

I immediately revised my opinion on the value of higher education. If my kid was picking up literary terms, there was little hope for her.

But, darn it, she was right. This happens in every book. I say don't rewrite, plow through. Transitions are hard. The other members of this blog have come up with some good mind tricks for bridging the gaps. Look at your characters closely. What is their purpose? Is your protagonist along for the ride or does she have a goal that she's working toward, even if it's not the one she'll end up with? If all else fails let the car (or carriage) break down and see what happens. Just keep writing. In my experience that's the only way to get out of the bog.

News and First Inklings

NEWS FLASHES!!!

• Camille Minichino is teaching a set of 4 writing classes beginning Monday, Feb. 27, 10 a.m. to noon at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California. To register: (925) 685-1230 X2689.
• Sharan Newman reports that one of her books (THE CHESSBOARD QUEEN) was an answer on Jeopardy.  "After 35 years," she notes, "I finally made the big time."
• On Friday, March 2, mystery author Jonnie Jacobs will be our honored guest. Jonnie is author of 13 books of mystery and suspense, including the Kali O'Brien and Kate Austen mystery series. Her latest book, released just this month, is a standalone, PARADISE FALLS. Please plan on dropping in with your favorite cuppa and read what Jonnie has to say about our topic of the week...

NEXT TOPIC: INKLINGS, BUT NOT JUST ANY INKLING

Okay, just what is an inkling, anyway? Merriam Webster to the rescue: A slight indication or suggestion: hint, clue. A good definition for mystery writers, no?

The origin of the word (again, according to M-W): Middle English yngkiling whisper, mention, probably from inclen to hint at; akin to Old English inca suspicion.

Verrrry interesting.

Of course, maybe first inklings = first writings. First time of setting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). We shall see!

Fear of the Unknown

After such witty and informative posts I was paralyzed with the fear that I couldn't compete. Then I realized that this blog isn't a contest; it's a collaboration. So I am taking another tack and talking about the fear that keeps writers from becoming authors. You know who you are. There are books and stories in the desk and closet but you've never sent them to a publisher or agent. They aren't quite right. No one will want them. You just need to make a few more tweaks, maybe after the kids are grown and you retire.

Does that sound familiar? It's something all of us do in one aspect or other of our lives. We are afraid of failure, of change, even afraid of success, afraid of the unknown.

Many years ago I was in a writers group. Two of the members, both good writers, have had very different experiences. One was writing a gripping thriller, but he listened to all the comments and continually rewrote the beginning. He had no confidence in his own work and, as far as I know, never sent it out. The other member tried all the regular channels and then, when e-publishing started, took the plunge and put the work out. She has also been tireless at promoting. She writes romantic suspense and the books are fun, set all over the world. She is doing well. Here is a link to the good reads page on her: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2993012.R_Ann_Siracusa

Ann faced her fear of the unknown and now she knows that there are people out there who like her stories.

Every day the unknown future looms. It's easy to stay on familiar paths or even hide under the bed to avoid it. It's easy to make excuses not to try. Or you can take a chance. Face the unknown and leap into it. No matter the result, you'll have conquered the fear and be ready to try again.

Sharan, speaking from experience