CLIFFHANGERS: LOVE 'EM OR HATE 'EM

Writers talk a lot about beginnings. The beginning of a story. The beginning of a scene. Yes, the beginning is very important. A good beginning draws the reader in, makes the reader want to know more about the characters and their problems. The reader wants to feel like they’re right there with the character(s) feeling their emotions and trying to figure out what to do about their troubles.

Then comes the ending, of a story, a scene, or a chapter. The ending is what I love, especially a cliffhanger ending. According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, a cliffhanger is: “… a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma. The two main ways for cliffhangers to keep readers coming back is to either involve characters in a suspenseful, possibly life-threatening situation, or to feature a sudden shocking revelation.”

I love to read a book with cliffhanger endings for the chapters. When I’m dying to see what happens next, I’ll read one more chapter, even though it’s way past midnight and I can barely keep my eyes open. This is the way I hope readers will feel about my stories. They just want to read one more chapter, then the next, and the next. Here are some of my favorite cliffhanger chapter endings from my novels.


From SECRETS I HAVE KEPT, ya mystery:


“In here,” Casey whispered, and nudged Jen into the coat closet. He squeezed in beside her. The dog scampered between her legs.

Casey hauled the closet door shut at the exact instant she heard the outer door open.

From JUST BREEZE, tween contemporary:


I crossed my heart. I’d never squeal on my sister. The car would speak for itself, however. Noah was good, but it would take a lot of hammering to hide those dents.

From CAVES, CANNONS, AND CRINOLINES, ya historical


The iron gate at the end of the sidewalk squeaked as Nat pushed through it. My greeting never passed my lips, for he laid his head on my lap. He said only one word: “Lizzie.”

Do you have favorite cliffhangers? If so, tell us about them.

Happy Reading. And remember, keep the reader guessing what happens next.

 

Horses and Dogs and Cats and Other Critters

Are you an animal person? Do you use animal characters in your stories? Have you ever had a weird or unusual critter that you just had to include in one of your works? If you have then you can relate to what I’m saying. If you haven’t, why not?

When I look back at my work, both published and unpublished, I see that animals turn up in about half of my novels or picture books. In my first published young adult novel, Secrets I Have Kept, a little Australian Blue Heeler named Chopin plays an important role in the story. Why did I use a blue heeler? At the time, our pet was … you guessed it … a blue heeler. He was a little stray that either wandered away from home or was thrown away by his owners. Whichever, he was then our dog. We get a lot of discarded animals in the country. Chopin adds a touch of humor as well as protection for his girl in the story.

Another ya novel, Rebel in Blue Jeans, is stuffed full of animals. Rebel lives on a ranch, so she has horses, dogs, and a cat, pretty much like I had once upon a time. Rebel’s mare and foal are loosely based on my little foal that the vet did not expect to live. Well, he did and is a part of my novel, though I make him healthy in the story because I hate thinking of how we almost lost him. Rebel also collects stray dogs and cats, much like I do. In the story she has two dogs and a Siamese cat, along with a wounded red-tailed hawk, along with her mare and foal.

My newest release, Life on Hold, has a black cat. Yep. Among the many stray cats I’ve fed through the years, one of them was a sweet little girl with lovely black fur. She hung around for a long time. She even had a litter of babies, just as black as she was. Sadly, they disappeared, probably caught by coyotes or dogs. The black cat in my story is in remembrance of little no name and her family.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog published my story “Traveler” about another blue heeler that showed up at our house one day. He’s pretty much a free spirit, but still hangs around for a handout. He sleeps at our son’s house then roams the neighborhood, making friends with everyone.

My first picture book, Frankie’s Perfect Home, is about a young armadillo. Now I don’t have an armadillo for a pet, but armadillos do live in our pasture. I’ve seen them and even snapped a picture or two. So, of course, I had to write about an armadillo. They are such fascinating creatures. We won’t mention the picture books about animals that are in various stages of writing or have not been published.

Yes, I’m a lover of animals, so it’s natural for me to include them in my stories. Some of my favorite books with animal characters are: all of the horse books by Marguerite Henry, Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Kathi Appelt’s The Underneath, and I could go on and on. What are your favorite stories with animal characters?



　

Ghosts Among Us

“Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Ghosts are some of my favorite characters. There’s just something about them that’s appealing. Friendly ghosts, evil ghosts, ghosts with an attitude, and ghosts that simply want to rest in peace make for great reading. What is their unfinished business on earth? Why can’t they go to the land beyond?

I became interested in ghosts one summer when we visited our son and daughter-in-law in Charleston, SC, where history and spirits ooze out of almost every house and building in the city. We, of course, took in the sights, plantation houses, the old dungeon, the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen, and Fort Sumter. Our son and daughter also took us on a twilight ghost tour of the historic district. As we and the other tourists in the group strolled down the streets lined with Victorian mansions, some dating back to the 1700s, our guide told stories of ghosts that resided in many of the old houses. I was fascinated and wondered what it would be like to discover you had a resident ghost living in your attic or even in your bedroom. Something to think about.

One story in particular intrigued me. (OK. I admit I’m a hopeless romantic.) Anyway, this one house had a sad story to tell. On the wedding day of the daughter of the family that lived there the bride was descending the stairs, her groom waiting below, when an arrow sailed through the open window, striking her. She died in the arms of the man she was to marry. A jealous suitor had stood outside the window and, rather than let her marry another, he had killed her. It was a sad yet beautiful story, and you know what writers do when they run across something that really touches them.

Inspired, I bought a bunch of books about ghosts and Charleston, and when we got home I did a lot of Internet research, as well as taking notes about places we went to while we were there, so my scenes would be authentic to the city. Then my characters came to life, and I started writing my ghost story. In 2003, Listen to the Ghost was published as a YA novel, first as an eBook and then in 2005 in trade paperback, by Twilight Times Books.

Although Phoebe is my ghost, she isn’t the main character. She informed me in a hurry what she wanted, however, and also that she liked to make mischief. And she does, plenty of it to keep the main character, Jade, and the other teens busy.

I had so much fun with Phoebe I’ve recently finished a MG ghost story that I hope to find a publisher for soon. Three ghosts, oops, make that four though one doesn’t appear until near the end, make for a lively story, also set in Charleston then moving along the coast to North Carolina. I’ve added my love of lighthouses in this one. Haunted lighthouses and phantom ships. And even a ghost cat.

A couple of years ago I attended a convention about paranormal activity. They showed pictures of what appeared to be apparitions or ghosts and we listened to recordings of the ghosts contacting people. The attendees were serious about their ghosts, no make believe for them.

So tell us about your favorite ghost stories. Here are a few if mine:

Crossed Out by our own Kim Baccellia

Linda Joy Singleton’s Don’t Die Dragonfly series

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

Save the Last Dance for Me, by Dyan Sheldon

Saundra Mitchell’s Shadowed Summer

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone

And others I can’t think of at the moment.

Character vs Writer's Plot Clash!

Years ago a friend lent me a book and told me I just had to read it. What was funny at the time was how he also told me the first three books were great, but the ones after weren't worth it. Didn't sound like something I wanted to get into, but since he went to the trouble to bring me one of them, I figured I’d give it a shot.
Within the first few pages I hit something that just about made me think there was no point in reading the rest of it, regardless of the good prose and likeable characters. It was a bad case of where Character Motivation/Smarts and the Author's Plot COLLIDED. (This is not just a book issue. It’s a lot more prevalent on TV.)

In this particular book, a man who lives in a non-magical land and is very well versed about nature, comes across a plant he’s never seen before. He cuts the plant, and it hits him with a thorn in retaliation. When the hero tries to remove the thorn, the latter embeds itself deeper into his hand. The hero has no knife, so does what he can, but the darn thorn acts in unnatural ways and evades his attempts to remove it by totally disappearing into his flesh. He mucks with it for another moment but can’t get rid of it, and then for all intents and purposes, shrugs his shoulder and goes on his way as if this thing that’s invaded his body is of no consequence.

Now, hold the phone!

Anyone who had a thorn in their hand and saw it dig itself deeper like some stubborn animal would be screaming bloody murder and trying to get themselves to the nearest doctor to get the sucker out. (I know I would!) Yet this man forgets all about the invader, except for noticing occasionally how the hand turns red and hurts (like that wouldn't be sending panic signals to anyone else), and goes on his way getting into the meat of the adventure and so on. In my opinion, there was a definite clash in what the writer wanted to set up as a later problem, and what the character would have really done about the problem when it happened. Personally, I would have fallen for the state of things as written if the guy had a least panicked a little, did try to go home to get help, even if on the way he got distracted for a short while by other events going on around him. So this clash between the author and his character could have been averted or minimized for the reader and made that much more believable.
As a writer, you’ll often try to stick to a mental road map of where the story needs to go. And that’s not a bad idea. But it’s also important to absolutely stay true to the motivations and characteristics of the characters you’re portraying or you will be doing the whole novel/story and your readers a huge disservice.

Listen to what the characters tell you, even if it's not part of the map! Would they really go into that dark room alone especially when they hear the growling noises coming from inside? Probably not. Yet there are ways to have it happen where despite their common sense, they’d still go in there.

If you just have to have something happen in the story, but it clashes with your character's motivation/personality find a way to shift the situation so they will do what you want anyway. If you can’t find a way, it wasn’t mean to be – so ditch it. Don't force it! Here's an example: An old saying is that Tonto (The Lone Ranger's Sidekick) never goes into town. "Tonto no go to town." For him, going to town is a stupid thing to do because he knows that due to his race and the prejudices of some of the people there, he will not be welcomed and bad things are likely to happen. But in order for your plot to progress in the story you’re writing, you absolutely must have him in town because it’s the only way he’ll meet the beauty from Boston and fall in love.

So what do you do? You can't just suddenly have Tonto say he wants to go to town. That's totally against his usual motivation/personality. But if he absolutely needs to be in town, be smart, burn some brain cells and then arrange matters in a believable way that while still being true to his personality and choices, Tonto still goes into town.

Making this happen for Tonto is easy.

If the Lone Ranger went to town and hadn’t been heard from in too long and Tonto knew his friend was going into a possibly dangerous situation to begin with, Tonto would eventually go to town to look for his friend and make sure he was alright.

If Tonto received a message that the Lone Ranger was in trouble and needed him, this would also drive him to go to town--his need to be there for his friend would overrule his hesitation about going to a place where there could be unpleasantness or even danger for him.

Both options above keep Tonto true to his character yet it still gets him to where you need him to be to progress the story you want to tell. Know your characters’ personalities and motivations and remain faithful to them. Don't let the planned plot put you in a Character vs. Writer's Plot Clash. The more believable and reasonable you can make the choices your characters make due to the factors you've thrown at them, the more fun and believable the story will be.

Let’s make our work a No Clash Zone~!

Gloria Oliver
Unveiling the Fantastic
www.gloriaoliver.com

Is There Music In Your Writing?

One day I was working on my current young adult story when one of the major characters surprised me by saying he had learned to play the guitar. Now this was not in my original plans, but I went with him¾who am I to question my characters? In one scene, so far, he and a friend play their guitars. We will see where this new thought leads.

I started thinking about my other stories and whether they contained musical elements. To my surprise, music is part of four out of five of my books. In Listen to the Ghost Matt, one of the major characters plays the saxophone and piano. Jennifer, the pov character in Secrets I Have Kept, plays classical music on the piano, and Casey, the other pov character writes country ballads and strums the guitar. Then Rebel’s mother runs away with the drummer in a rock band in the novel Rebel in Blue Jeans, and Lizzie, from Caves, Cannons, and Crinolines plays the guitar. Though the music isn’t the main point of each story, it’s there, adding to the details of the characters’ lives, telling us a little more about their likes and dislikes.

So music does play a part in most of my work. And I believe it goes back to my early years when I took piano lessons. Twice a week I spent 30 minutes in Mrs. Patton’s home, sitting at her piano. At the time, of course, I’d rather have been outside playing with my friends. My parents wanted me to play the piano, and I did my best. Today, I’m so glad I did. When I’m tense and my world is going in ten different directions at the same time, I can sit at the piano, play some of my favorite tunes from the 50’s or my favorite hymns from today, and I relax and soon I’m ready to face the day with an improved attitude and sometimes ideas for new scenes or lines that popped into my head from the songs.

In addition to the piano, I once played the clarinet in the junior high and high school bands. At the time I enjoyed the music but never considered how it might affect my future life. From my experiences, however, I believe that writing is much like playing a musical instrument. I started from the beginning, learning the basics. With music, on the piano for instance, it’s treble clef, base clef, whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, rests, sharps, flats, and all the parts that go together to make a song. Then I advanced in my knowledge of music and put the parts together with words and lyrics and melodies. Soon my music was telling a story. Yes, someone else wrote the words, but when I was on the stage, playing for my recitals, I still relayed the message to my listeners.

With writing, I began with words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, commas, periods, and question marks. As my skills grew and developed, I put the parts together, introduced the characters, and added a plot and theme. Soon I was telling a story to my readers.

Sometimes, what we do as adults reflects back to things we enjoyed in our childhood. Is there music in your writing?

 
 
 
 

Me, An Author?

Hello, Everyone,

I'm in the middle of my Virtual Book Tour for my latest young adult historical novel and having a blast. Who would have thought it? If anyone had told me I'd be a writer one day, I'd have thought they were crazy. When I was younger, I didn't even like to read. Even though my eighth-grade teacher sent my poem "Stars" to a high anthology and it was published in Young America Sings,  I hated to write.

In spite of my rocky relationship with books, I graduated from high school and even gasp attended the university. Guess what I became? Yes, of all things, a teacher. Kids grow up and change. Even I did. An even greater miracle occurred. Reading great stories to my students and to my sons made me realize what I'd been missing. Reading was fun.

Now I read everything I can get my hands on. I also write. And I love every minute I'm lost in another world, time, and place. For the first time in ... um ... many years, I'm revealing the poem that started my writing career, although I had no idea it would when I wrote it, way back in junior high.

STARS

By Beverly Jean Stowe

Zundelowitz Jr. High

I often lie awake at night,

Watching stars that are so bright.

They sparkle and twinkle in the cool night air,

And look like ladies with lovely golden hair.

You see the little dipper and the big dipper too,

Away up in the deep dark blue.

But then come the morning rays of light

And all the stars are gone until tonight.

I'm enjoying reading and writing, and have been fortunate in having five books for children and teens published, with more under contract. I love this group and hearing about everyone else's work. And readers, leave your comments. Tell us about your reading or writing, hopes or dreams.