A New Blog Hop: The Liebster Award OR Ten Questions on my Work in Progress (WIP)

Lisa Arnseth of Writer by Day.Writer by Night. That’s Right. I Write (You should read her blog by the way) tagged me in a ten question blog hop called the Liebster award. This was done waaaaaaaay back in November. I apologize for the slow response time, but I’ve finally got it posted on my blog. 

What’s your WIP all about?

I’m currently calling this WIP the Lying Dog series (but that may change because I’m not in love with it). This series follows a young man by the name of Francis (Frankie), who suffers from Schizoaffective disorder, but Frankie has come to believe that the hallucinations he suffers are actually the thoughts of other people. When he sees bad things happening to people, especially children, he feels compelled to help.

Tell us something you love about your WIP’s main character.

Frankie is a complicated character. He is good at heart, deeply--some would say obsessively--loyal to his loved ones. He is a protector. The compulsion to help others is altruistic, but he is at least partly guided by his previous shortcomings and also by the choices he has made in the past (not helping when he could have). At times failing to help results in bouts of depression but just as often helping someone triggers a bout. You would think he is conflicted when he has to help, but he often finds himself stepping in before his brain has time to catch up. Frankie has a voice in his head, Adam, who offers advice (much of it unsolicited) to Frankie.  Adam is both the angel on Adam’s shoulder and the devil. Frankie is also aware of a spying presence in his head, a specter-voyeur who he occasionally speaks to directly. That phantom would be the reader.

Where do you usually write, and what has been the strangest location where you’ve managed to get some writing done?
I like to write in coffee shops or sandwich shops (read: Starbucks and Panera). I plug in my earbuds (and never, never, never connect to the Wi-Fi) and try to block out distraction. Liking crowds and avoiding distractions sounds like a contradiction, but I like having people around me while I write. I guess it partly serves as white noise, and I like the energy of people around me. Maybe I feed off that energy. Maybe I’m too easily distracted at home with TV and chores and my pug Bella . . . As far as strangest location? Hmm, I’d have to say that I used to scribble out ideas or story parts on cocktail napkins and old menus at a restaurant that I used to work in years ago. I’d scribble stories down in the downtime between tables. I still have those notes and once in a while refer back to them.

What song(s) inspire your WIP?

I listen to a lot of different things when I write. I find that I enjoy soundtracks because sometimes I will stop writing to listen to the lyrics. But lyrics also inspire me when I hit a wall in my writing. I like repetition and sometimes loop the same song. This is especially true for when I am trying to create a feeling in a scene that is the same emotion I feel in a particular song. For my published novel Only Human I used the Gattaca soundtrack as well as Scars by Papa Roach, Far Away by Nickelback, and I Can’t stop Lovin’ You by Van Halen. For Lying Dogs, in addition to Superman (both Five for Fighting and John Williams’ versions), Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones and We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel seem to be cropping up on my playlist as I write. Oh and The Teddy Bear Picnic inspired one of the series’ villains. Man, is that song creepy!

What was the first book you ever wrote and what was it about?

My first story was entitled “Dennis the Dinosaur.” I was seven, in Mrs. Martin’s first grade class. The story is surprisingly similar to Only Human. Instead of a dragon, it was a dinosaur (obviously named Dennis) that didn’t really fit in because he was so big (and a dinosaur). He befriends a boy, makes himself invisible, and goes to live in a museum. He lives happily, ever after.

If you saw your main character at a party, how would you react?

Is it just me or is it getting a little meta in here? If I saw Frankie, I would probably try to buy him a drink and let him know that what he does to help people is appreciated and not in vain.  I definitely would NOT let him know that all of the terrible things that has ever happened to him were the result of me writing him into existence.

Do you have experience with online contests, like Pitchwars, etc? Please tell us about it if you have.

At this point, I have not.

Who are two writers you would love to meet in real life?

I don’t know if I can just pick two. David Mitchell, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Agatha Christie, Neil Gaiman are the first names that come to mind.

What’s your biggest challenge with your WIP? Generally when I write I have a beginning or an end and I start with that. By the time that gets going, my subconscious or my muse or wherever it is where all stories are born and live and wait until us writers get around to writing them has delivered the other end of the story to me and I write that while the middle is packaged up and delivered to my fingertips to translate. Well, that connection seems to be taking an long time to get here. I’ve tried brainstorming and outlining and am about to send out a search party, but so far…no signs. That’s not entirely true. I think the solution lies in a happy middle ground between writing as I go and planning ahead. That, and also giving myself permission to make mistakes as I go. Having read how this story is structured, you can see I may have to eliminate elements or alter them into a viable story-telling manner…Time will tell.

Please share a favorite line from your WIP!

I’ll give you two, both of which could be contenders for opening lines. Both set the tone I think, but both are very different. Which do you prefer?

***

Do you like the smell of gasoline?

I’ve found that there are two people in this world. People who love the smell of gasoline, and those who hate it. Up until today, I’ve been rooted firmly in the camp of the former.

If I live long enough, past today specifically, I may reevaluate this stance.

Because love it or hate it, its pungent, synthetic odor will sure wake your ass up in one hell of a hurry. Let me tell you that.

Especially when you come to as buckets of the stuff are raining down on you.

***

High above the congregation, thin sheets of rain spiral down like failing stars through the heavy morning fog, bursting open upon the collars, scarves and umbrellas of the mourners, miniature bouquets of blooming flowers mirroring those arranged peacefully on the heavy bronze coffin. . . .Suddenly, a gust of wind rips the pastor’s peacoat open, tearing his prayer book from his grasp.  It sails for a moment like a wraith before crashing to the wet earth.  As he bends to retrieve it, a gentle roar of far away thunder adds its rumble to the tolling of the bells.  The rain comes down with stinging force now, hammering liquid nails into skin.

The woman sits straight up and holds her wrinkled paws in front of her face for a moment.  It is as if she is seeing them for the first time.
It is as if the rain had awoken her from a wonderful dream.

Now it’s my turn to write ten questions and tag some writers to play along.

I choose Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, K. Ceres Wright, and John Edward Lawson.

1. Where did the idea for your current Work-in-Progress (WIP) come from?
2. Quote a favorite line from one of your favorite books.
3. Now quote your favorite line from your current WIP
4. What unique challenges has your current WIP had that your previous ones did not?
5. If you saw your main character at a party, how would you react?
6. Who would play your main protagonist/antagonist if your current WIP were made into a movie?
7.  What are your biggest inspirations for writing?
8. Summarize your WIP as a haiku.
9. What role does music play in your writing?
10. What’s one thing you’ve learned about the craft that you wish you had learned earlier?

Kicking Off National LGBT Month with a Story, a Pledge, and a Dragon (And Why I Need Your Help)

Hello Trickyverse,

Thank you for Coming out to a special edition of Writing is Tricky.  Today, October 1, marks the start of the 20^th anniversary of LGBT History Month. Its intent (summed up nicely from Wikipedia) is “to encourage honesty and openness about being LGBT.” 

There are quite a few milestones in LGBT history, but the day that I most enjoy is October 11: National Coming Out Day

This reason this day resonates for me is because it is a day of both recognition and of action. It is a day, where those of us struggling with our sexual orientation/identity are not only reminded that others came before us but also that we are not alone. We are not outcasts. We are not ugly things, grisly things, disgusting things, undeserving of decency, respect, or a basic right to love who we want to love, or even to love ourselves. It’s a day where our community, including our closest friends and allies, step forward to say: You are you, you are human, and you are beautiful but most importantly, you are never alone.

Coming out is not an easy thing. We hear gay jokes, religious-misinformed rhetoric, and some equally shocking things from the mouths of those we feel closest to when they think no one will hear. For me, I sometimes feel like I had it easy. Most of my family supported me, even if most of them didn’t always understand what it meant having a gay cousin, brother, uncle--back when it was new. Just having that support, knowing that I always had a place to go, seeing their courage, gave me (and still gives me) strength.

 

Not everyone has had a family or the support that I have had, but luckily, there are now programs out there that didn’t exist years ago, or at least they didn’t exist in the tiny neck of the woods where this little magician grew up.

I know I just said coming out was not easy.  Scary is a closer word to the feeling. Terrified is closer still. Back then, I worried about my life, my morality, my soul (not to mention fearing retribution with a tire iron for finally being honest about who I was).

Knowing where I grew up and knowing that I would not be here today without the love and support I had (seriously, I despised myself back then) . . .

. . .I will be donating all of my royalties from my novel Only Human, purchased from Amazon (Kindle version or paperback) for the month of October to the Boston Allianceof Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Youth (BAGLY). 

“BAGLY works with LGBTQ youth across Massachusetts—and beyond!  Through leadership development, health promotion & services, social support, events, and the statewide GLBT Youth Group Network, BAGLY is at work in our communities to support LGBTQ youth.”

It is my sincerest hope that this turns into a monetary gift that far surpasses anything I could have given on my own.

Please help and spread the word!

Share this with your friends, family, coworkers . . . anyone who you think might be able to help. Heck buy them a copy!

Tell me about it @mikemehalek so I can share as well. And next month, I hope I have a big number to report.

Thanks and Love,

-Mike

         

                                           

Kindle Edition

         
                                                                                               
                                                                                                Paperback Edition

Writing Like a Magician Series Part II: Misdirection

Back in June I started what would hopefully transform into a mini-series on how a writer can employ the techniques of a magician when they are working on a piece of fiction.

The premise for this approach is this: by thinking of crafting a story like a magician thinks about crafting a trick/magic show, then by default, many other essential literary elements flow naturally into the story rather than by deliberate planning.

In my experience when these other elements happen organically rather than by being contrived, the story elements themselves makes more sense in the context of the tale, “feeling” more like a book. 

Admittedly all stories are contrivances--I guess what I’m getting at is that for me my conscious mind and unconscious one communicate better when I employ these techniques.

It could be because any bit of magical chicanery is in reality a story.

Today, I’d like to start a discussion that focuses on Misdirection.

Misdirection has been defined in many ways by numerous people for almost as long as magic has existed.  The way I think about Misdirection goes like this.  It is the way in which a magician is able to shift the attention of the audience from where the audience naturally wants to focus to someplace the magician prefers that attention to be.

In its most basic form--QUICK LOOK BEHIND YOU!--to its most diabolical stratagems, the success (or failure) of any illusion lies in the magician’s ability to mis-direct its audience.  The word “misdirection” itself is a deception as it implies that a magician tries to divert focus away from one area to another with Misdirection, when in fact the true Misdirection may be the magician forcing attention towards whatever area it is that the illusion will take place. (See how sneaky we are).

A simple silk handkerchief serves as a perfect example. This handkerchief is opaque.  It contains no trapdoors, no holes, no mirrors--the threads don’t pull apart for an opening.

A magician who passes the silk out to be examined while stealing a stack of coins from behind his suit lapel is using the silk to divert attention away from the secret move. On the other hand, the magician who uses the silk to covers a stack of coins to conceal the method he will employ to turn the coins into a dove is focusing attention towards the secret move, i.e. using the silk as a cover.  There is even a possibility that if the attention were not centered on the transformation, the secret switch would be detected.

Here is a clip of magician Michael Ammar performing his Coins Through Silk illusion, which employs Misdirection.  Michael uses a silk to focus attention towards and away from the coins at different times in the trick.  Using Misdirection, he will eventually pass the coins through the silk.  Michael’s challenge? Unlike our silk, his is transparent.    

One distinction I’d like to clarify now will become very important to us as we segue our discussion from magic to writing, one point that many non-magicians (and some magicians) neglect and are thus fooled by the magician, and it is this.  Magicians manipulate both time and space when they perform.  In those terms it sounds like wizardry, but this far-fetched-sounding declaration is true.  Misdirection exists as spatial misdirection and time misdirection.  Categorized into these two major types, Misdirection is the most powerful tool in a magician’s (and writer’s) toolbox.

Thus far you have probably imagined this concept as it applies to spatial misdirection, shifting focus from one physical spot to another, so let’s direct your attention--darn you, Tricky, you’re tricky--towards time misdirection.

Time misdirection is the act of altering an audience’s perception of time in order to accomplish an act of tomfoolery (running out of synonyms here).  If you’ve ever experienced a “loss of time” sensation, such as working on a hobby for hours but thinking only minutes have passed, or upon getting home from work realizing you do not remember your drive, then you have experienced time misdirection.  Magicians attempt to create similar experiences, but they have an additional challenge.  Unlike these naturally occurring instances, magicians work to disarm your senses so that you are not conscious of these lapses in time.

There are many ways a magician can do this.  Like a book, every trick has a beginning, middle, and end; and like a book, the beginning, middle, and end is not always the same for the magician (or writer) as it is for the audience (or reader).

During a magic show, for example, the magician may be setting up his next trick, but to the audience it may appear that he is wrapping up his previous one.

I’m reminded of the magician Max Malani who would attend private dinner parties.  After dinner, without leaving the table, he would produce a large block of ice from under a borrowed hat.  To the dinner guests, when Max first asked to borrow the hat, the trick is beginning, but for Max the trick began when he loaded that block of ice.  Where he hid it and how he kept it from melting is a lost secret, but from what I understand of this trick and of Max’s style as a magician, if the conditions weren’t perfect, then the trick never began for the guests, and ended for Max wearing a pair of wet slacks.

My novel Only Human (OH) serves as an example in writing.  I wrote the manuscript of OH out of order.  It started by writing the first and last chapter but evolved to the first sentence and last sentence of a paragraph then the beginning words and ending words of a sentence.  Eventually these ends met and knitted together.  In addition, there are two major storylines in OH.  I wrote one and then the other.  Finally I carved them up and ordered them appropriately.  Obviously, that is not the order the audience would want to read it.

And with that I must end here for now.  This entry is getting a bit cumbersome, and I have fiction writing to do.  In the next installment we will look more closely at how Misdirection* can be used in fiction writing.  I ask that you forgive my pause here, fantabulous blog reader.

I’ve included two anecdotes and videos below for your enjoyment (and to misdirect you away from the fact that this is only half of our discussion and to give you something to think about until the next post is ready).  Know that I appreciate all of your support and patience. I hope this is of some value to you.

*Please note:  As a whole, spatial and time misdirection both exist in all magic tricks, and I generally denote this inseparability in my writing by using a capital M.

Consider the power of time misdirection: I am often asked how David Blaine levitated on his first TV special. I’ve done this myself over the years and have gotten great reactions from people. The method I use is similar to the one featured below.  I must admit that David's TV version looks more impressive (wait 'til you see it!). The reason?  The time misdirection that David employs is more powerful than what I can muster (although I must admit once when I did this, I had a person call me the Devil and refused to talk to me after that--no I am not kidding) 

Or this: I watched David Copperfield perform Portal at a live performance in Pittsburgh.  For his finale, David selected an audience member and teleported  to Hawaii taking this person with him.  While I can only speculate as to some of the methods used, it is clearly accomplished with Misdirection.