The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

By Kate Phillips

 

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

 

        In this post, I'm writing about a series that I loved then stopped reading because, in my opinion, the author made some big mistakes that should have been avoided. I prefer to celebrate only books I love, but there are writing lesson to be learned from books not so well written, too.

 

        As I have previously mentioned, I watch CBS Sunday Morning every week as it is an excellent program that quite often highlights authors. About 14 years ago, author Janet Evanovich was interviewed about her Stephanie Plum series just before the sixth book was released. Evanovich was wearing a hockey jersey as she took the interviewer on a tour of the neighborhood that she used as the basis for Stephanie's hometown. She then explained how she decided to make Stephanie a hockey-jersey-wearing bounty hunter.

        Intrigued, I checked out the first book in the series, One for the Money, and loved it! (Do not judge the book by its movie!) Evanovich won a Dilys Award for the book.

       

         Evanovich's characters are flawed and funny. Desperate for a paycheck after she loses her job as a lingerie buyer at a third-rate department store, Stephanie Plum stumbles into a new career when her mother reminds her of a filing job at a cousin's business. Instead, she ends up working as a bounty hunter for the same cousin (a bail bondsman who has odd proclivities) along with a high school classmate office manager as well as a wise-cracking sidekick Stephanie meets on her first case.

 

        Living in an apartment only a few miles from the house she grew up in, she is often home for dinner cooked by her mother for her semi-retired father and a grandmother who moved in when her husband died. Grandma is almost everyone's favorite character as she has trouble staying out of trouble—much of it inspired by Stephanie's new career.

 

        Besides the criminals she chases down in each book, there are two other vital and, I must add, hot characters: Vice cop Joe Morelli and bounty hunter Ranger. Stephanie and Morelli have a complicated relationship having known each other since grade school. Ranger becomes her bounty hunter tutor when Stephanie realizes she is ill-equipped for her new job through a comedy of errors. Sexual tension in this romantic triangle is off the charts!

 

I was so happy I could buy and quickly read the next four books and only had a two-week wait for book six instead of a whole year as book five ended with a cliff hanger.

 

        I highly recommend the first six books with a warning NOT to read book four in public. Everyone I know screamed with laughter in several places. And despite my warning, one friend had to scramble off a public bus and another had to run out of doctor's waiting room because they did in fact scream with laughter.

 

        Now for the bad news.

 

After a buildup through six books, the author did not live up to a promise she made that spending the night with one character would ruin Stephanie for all other men. No author should let readers down after a statement like that, but Evanovich did. Combine that with weaker plots in books 7-12 and the series didn't keep my interest any longer although book 20 has been published.

 

        I learned important writing lessons from this author.

 

In the two weeks I was waiting for book six to be released, I bought copies of the romance novels Evanovich wrote before she hit it big with her series. I like to read things in order and it really paid off as you could see her evolve as a writer.

 

The books were pretty bad frankly, but each one improved a bit until the last one (I've forgotten the title—it was 14 years ago) which had the seeds for both Stephanie's and her grandma's characters in it. I saw bad writing become better writing become prize-winning writing right before my eyes. Please note: these romance novels have been updated/improved by a co-writer so you have to look for the originals if you want to see the same progress.

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

 

In the end, the more you write, the better you will write.

Finish a book—only 1% of all writers do.

Send it out. It may be published.

In the meantime, start your next book.

Persistence will pay off.

It did for Janet Evanovich. Why not for you, too?

Do You Reread?

By Kate Phillips

 

        Rereading reveals insights in books from different perspectives as I mature. I reread other books for comfort because they remind me of the loved ones who gave them to me or because I know these books by heart and they're good for my soul as they stay constant and true.

We connect with authors who draw us in, expand our minds, and touch our hearts. They are "the company we want to keep" to paraphrase Ruth Whitman in The Writer's Home Companion.

The company I keep and reread includes:

 

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

This may be my all-time favorite book. Fadiman's passion for books, reading, and writing are captured in a series of thoughtful, funny, and poignant essays about, among other things, marrying libraries, courtly and carnal love for books, and an ode to a favorite fountain pen. She shares stories from her literate upbringing as well as raising a family with her husband, a fellow writer. A book all readers and writers will revel in!

 

 

Reflection on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion edited by Diane K. Osbon

This book details a 30-day workshop led by Joseph Campbell of "Follow Your Bliss" fame. From the flyleaf: "…poet Diane Osbon has selected Campbell's most illuminating perceptions into those fundamental subjects that are of perennial human concern: the challenge of living in the world, the process of spiritual awakening, the struggle to come into awareness, and the art of living in the sacred. This exquisite volume, crafted with love and care, will enrich, uplift, and inspire everyone it touches." I completely agree.

 

Running From Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit by Richard Bach

The premise of this book from the back cover: "If the children we were asked us today for the best we've learned from living, what would we tell, and what would we discover in return?" Bach writes this book as a tale where his ten-year-old self confronts him as an adult to ask him questions both mundane and profound. Even if the questions are painful, the child demands honesty. Bach's soul-searching answers contain mind-expanding wisdom—truly words to live by.

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig.

Books and workbooks have been written about this true account of a father and son on a long motorcycle trip with friends. The father, Pirsig, is a brilliant man who had electric shock therapy which affected his life, relationships, and memories. From the back flyleaf: "[The book] speaks directly to the confusions and agonies of existence. In the intimate detailing of a real-life odyssey—personal, philosophical—Robert M. Pirsig has written a touching, painful, and ultimately transcendent book of life." A fascinating read.

 

The Writer's Life: Insights from The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

From the back cover: "Cameron's pivotal insights and pointers are distilled in a pocket-size daily companion that will help readers lead a writer's life more easily, joyfully, and powerfully." Very inspiring!

 

What books do you reread?

Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg

By Kate Phillips

     

Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True is novelist Elizabeth Berg's invitation to anyone interested to join her in the writing world. "…I believe many people do want to share, do want to write, and are afraid to try. They need a gentle nudge to get going. It is my mission and my high privilege to try to make this book that nudge. …You feel the call. That's the most important thing. Now answer it as fully as you can. Take the risk to let all that is in you, out. Escape into the open." (page xv)

        Berg makes it easier to take the risk, to escape into the open because she is so open about her writing life, style, routines, successes, and failures. She started writing knowing nothing about the publishing world, only writing true to herself.

        "When you are first starting to write, you don't need to buy a whole lot of things. What you need most is a fierce desire to put things down on paper; and you need a certain sensibility, a way of seeing and feeling. These things cost nothing and, like many things that are free, are worth a lot—worth everything in fact." (page 19)

        Her Chapter 2 Getting Started is a descriptive list of all the useful information you need to begin. It's amusing that the first 16 items all begin with the letter P from Purpose, Plan, and Place to Privacy, Playfulness, and Payoffs, but Berg gives you all the information you need to know as a fellow writer.

        Berg's writing wisdom is found on every page. Here are a few examples:

 

"I'm sure you've also heard…Write what you know." I would change that to "Write what you love." The knowledge can be learned, the passion can't be…" (page 43)

 

"Nuance works. Subtlety works. Make the act of someone reading you an interactive process by expecting the reader to bring a level of willingness and acceptance—and imagination—to you. Lure, don't force, readers into a story with you. Remember they want to be lured, they want to lose themselves in your words." (page 47)

 

"Whenever people ask me where I get my material, I am befuddled…We need only be awake, and curious, and willing to share." (page 104)

 

"The best thing that can happen to me when I am writing fiction is to lose sight of the fact that I am writing at all. It's as though I enter into a kind of trance. I know I am writing, but I don't think about it. I just let my fingers type—it's as though the feeling comes out directly through them, bypassing the brain altogether. When that happens, I feel completely transported. There is nothing else like this feeling, very little else more important to me. That intimacy I feel between myself and my work is what makes me feel at home on the earth. I am basically a shy person, basically a loner and an outsider; and I have been all my life. But when I achieve the kind of connection I can get through writing, I feel I'm sitting in the lap of God." (page 118)

 

"I'm interested in helping people I know and people I don't know, too; that's why I wrote this book. I believe the more good writers we have, the happier we readers will be." (page 201)

 

        Many writers will be happier, too, if they read this book.

Masterclass: The Quiet Center edited by Katherine Ball Ross

By Kate Phillips

 

        As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

        Please note this blog is based on a book written by women for women so I wrote it for women writers in particular.

       

        Most women are particularly busy this time of year: cooking, cleaning, decorating, providing hospitality to out-of-town visitors as well as hosting and attending parties on top of all our regular responsibilities—so much to do, so little time for ourselves.

        When do we have time to reflect and write? Never mind entering the Novel in a Month event. By the way, I have never understood why November was chosen as the month for the Novel in a Month project. Writers don't need any more pressure this time of year. March makes much more sense—no holidays to prepare for, muddy outside so better to be inside, and 31 days long so more time to write.

        But I digress.

        If you have a moment to read at any time, pick up a copy of The Quiet Center: Women Reflecting on Life's Passages from the Pages of Victoria Magazine edited by Katherine Ball Ross. Noted writers including Diane Ackerman, Madeleine L'Engle, Jane Smiley, and many others share their thoughts about Childhood, Motherhood, Grandmothers, Sisters, Places of the Heart, Rituals, In the Company of the Past, On Writing and Writers, and The Quiet Center of One's Life.

        These essays are a delight to read. They bring back our memories even as we read about other writers' lives. We can write essays of our own in answers to theirs—a wonderful communal activity.

        In Suzanne Berne's essay "The Gift of Memory" on page 36, she writes, "Nostalgia, after all, is our remembrance of focused attention, our romance with the particular. Without the odd glimmering detail, childhood would be a faded blur, lost to us…"

        Doesn't that make you want to rush to pick up your pen or sit at your keyboard and write down the glimmering details of your own childhood before they fade?

For writers, this quote jumps out in Marian Seldes essay on page 304:

        An older writer, Sarah Jewett, advised the young Willa [Cather], "you must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world that holds others, and all of society, all Bohemia; the city, the country—in short you must write to the human heart."

        Brilliant advice given to a talented writer who wrote short stories, poetry, essays, nonfiction, and novels; Cather won a Pulitzer Prize.

        Patricia O'Toole's essay, "The Romance of Old Books," on page 322 sums up every avid reader's greatest joy. "Happening onto a favorite story is like an unexpected encounter with a friend too long unseen: You seize your good fortune and make time for each other. The rest of the world must wait."

        I first read this book about a decade ago. A reader of this blog asked my opinion of it and I'm so thankful she did. The Quiet Center is a timeless classic that should be reread often. It's inspiring. It's comforting. It's a kindred collection of essays I recommend that 'you make time for and let the rest of the world wait.'

 

What books do you make time for?

Gifts for Writers

By Kate Phillips

 

        If you're looking for some gift suggestions for writers you know or for yourself, here are some of my favorites:

 

        Writers need time to write so ask family members for 30- or 60-minute Time-to-Write coupons. Redeem the coupons by posting them where you write and listing a start time.

 

        A timer to get yourself writing quickly. Works great with the Time-to-Write coupons!

 

Mascots to keep you company in your Writers' Crates. A gift of a stuffed dragon became my first mascot. I also have two small plastic dragons on my computer tower that make me laugh. They have such disapproving faces and body language that I feel compelled to keep writing whenever I stop and they catch my eye. I also have a deep blue solid glass turtle with a smooth shell that I hold sometimes when I am considering what to write next.

 

Quote posters and large quote transfer stickers to decorate the walls of your Writers' Crates. I love the "You're A Writer" mantra available at www.kmweiland.com. (Cheryl discovered this gem.)

 

Cheap notebooks so you feel free to write anything in them. Filling one a month, as recommended by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, is a great way to keep you writing on a regular basis.

 

        InkJoy pens come in bright, assorted colors. The ink does glob a bit, but they're cheerful, fun, and especially helpful when you don't feel like writing. Pilot V-Ball fine point pens are excellent everyday pens. (Not paid endorsements.)

 

Blank journals to use as common books where you copy down inspiring quotes and passages written by other writers or to record your Six-Word Memoirs—they're great warm-up writing exercises. Search Six-Word Memoirs online for details or buy the Six-Word Memoirs books.

 

        For book suggestions, I recommend all the books I wrote about in the Masterclasses and Reads for Writers categories on this blog as well as the 16 I listed in my post on 12/17/12. However, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield are hard to top. If I'd discovered/been given just those three books when I first decided to become a writer, I'd have felt invincible. In her first book, Goldberg reveals how to start living a writer's life with practical ideas and prompts. Lamott shows you the good, the bad, the funny, and the tough aspects of living a successful as well as a published writer's life. Pressfield keeps you writing with his advice and experiences on fighting through Resistance. There are no excuses not to finish your projects. It's a book I refer to whenever I feel myself faltering.

 

        As I think every writer should blog, I recommend Are You There Blog? It's Me, Writer by Kristen Lamb and Publishing a Blog with Blogger, second edition, by Elizabeth Castro (reviewed on 9/2/13).

 

        I'd specifically recommend Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (and her best seller Wild) by Cheryl Strayed (reviewed on 1/28/13) and Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart (reviewed on 8/26/13) as each author has a strong, unique voice that resonates with readers. I aspire to reach as deeply within myself and write from that place.

       

        Happy Holidays!

Give the Gift of Written Notes

By Kate Phillips

 

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice, and/or creativity.

 

        Since it's the time of year to celebrate with family and friends and exchange gifts, why not use your writing talent as part of your presents this year? Pick a favorite cookbook and make delicious treats for loved ones. Then write each person a note. Make them smile, laugh, or even tear up. Capture fond memories and make future plans. Add a photo. Who wouldn't love to hear how much they mean to someone else?

        I've always loved to read about or see love letters tied up with a ribbon and kept in a drawer. Often looked at and occasionally reread, what a lovely remembrance of a courtship. Most of us have saved a few cards or letters, but not many people write love letters any more. It's a real loss as we can say things in letters we cannot say in person. Why not revive the tradition?

        A friend of mine found her recently widowed mother burning a stack of love letters she received from her husband over fifty years ago. Surprised, she asked her mother why she wouldn't want to keep them. Her mother said she knew them all by heart. She didn't know when she would pass away and they were too private for anyone else to read. What devoted and ardent thoughts he must have written to her—and how priceless for her to know not just that she was loved, but how deeply.

        How to Write a Love Letter: Putting What's in Your Heart on Paper by Barrie Dolnick and Donald Baack can help you write some of your gifts. According to the flyleaf: "Love letters are largely a lost and forgotten art…Fan the flames of a fledgling romance, or tell your husband of forty years that you still adore him as much as you did the day you first married him. Words are sexy, romantic, and wondrous. Letters are legacies. Learn the art today, and improve your life."

Love letters are the perfect gift for writers to give! On page 2, the authors note: "No one can resist a love letter. Not a cool teenager, not a grumpy old geezer…Receiving a love letter and the thrill of reading it can spark one of those moments in your life that lingers forever in your memory, a warm secret."

        Love letters and friendly, caring notes are wonderful gifts all on their own, but if you're looking for cookbook suggestions for the treat part, I suggest Tate's Bake Shop Baking for Friends: Over 120 Scrumptious Recipes from Southampton's Favorite Baker by Kathleen King and Tea with Bea: Recipes from Bea's of Bloomsbury by Bea Vo.

I love these cookbooks because every recipe starts with a personal note about the delectable concoction or the mention of family members and friends who love it. This makes me feel like friends are giving me treasured recipes, not just something to take a chance on. Especially because of these personal notes, the cookbooks themselves make great gifts, too.

 

Do you write notes to loved ones?

The Authentic Swing by Steven Pressfield

By Kate Phillips

 

The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novel is the third book about writing by Steven Pressfield who has written a dozen books including The Legend of Bagger Vance, his first novel. He based it on the mystical novel Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy, a favorite book of mine as well. Whether you're writing a novel or not, there is great writing wisdom in The Authentic Swing.

 

I recommend Pressfield's first writing book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, every chance I get as it supports/challenges writers to complete their projects like no other book I've read. His follow up, Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work, continues this support. The Authentic Swing concentrates on writing novels, but is helpful for most writers.

On page 69, Pressfield states, "My mantra for first drafts is "Cover the Canvas." What I mean by that is that our supreme priority is to get SOMETHING down from Page One to The End—no matter how incomplete or imperfect.

        Don't stop.

        Don't think.

        Don't look down.

The enemy of the first draft is not incompleteness or inexactness or imperfection. The enemy is Resistance. The enemy is self-sabotage."

 

On page 108, Pressfield notes, "…the struggle of the golfer…is the same as the struggle of the writer.

It's the struggle of any artist or entrepreneur, any athlete or warrior…any person, male or female, in any creative or ethical field.

What is this struggle? It's the quest to connect with one's true ground. To become who we really are.

It's the search for our true voice."

   

Writing is a struggle. You have to trust the process. You have to face blank pages over and over again and keep filling them until you reach The End. It can take a really long time so it's easy to lose our way.

 

On page 131, Pressfield writes, "…You discover who you are as you go along.

What defines you is what you have done, but the weird part is you never know until you do it.

The trick is: Do it.

        Then you'll know.

        Do it again, and you'll know more.

        Keep doing it again and again."

 

        Writers usually work alone so it's comforting to have Steven Pressfield's writing guidebooks, The War of Art, Turning Pro, and The Authentic Swing, on a shelf nearby to comfort, inspire, lead, or support us as we work hard to become authors ourselves.

 

        I have two copies of The War of Art, one near my desk and one in my reading nook where I occasionally write, because I find it indispensable. Steven Pressfield's writing books are an automatic buy for me.

 

 

What writing books inspire you?

Jim Butcher and CE Murphy Provide Masterclasses

By Kate Phillips

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

       

Since it is October, I'm recommending fiction that relates to Halloween. The paranormal genre may not appeal to everyone, but I've found reading strong writing in any form helps improve my writing. Both of the series I'm recommending show excellent examples of all of the reasons I listed in the introduction plus humor and action scenes.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series features Harry Dresden, the only wizard Private Investigator in Chicago. He has made his share of mistakes and enemies, but is always willing to work hard when hired or help when needed by friends or the police. However, he's having a tough time making a living at the moment.

Human residents live their lives discounting most things magical, but the police know better. To keep order in the city, a Special Investigations unit has been set up led by Lieutenant Karrin Murphy who calls on Dresden whenever the inexplicable plays a role in a crime.

The series, beginning with Storm Front, works well on several levels. There are new crimes for Harry and friends to solve in every book, but there is also an over arcing theme of the greater battle of good and evil.

Butcher's writing is so gripping at one point in the series I was shaking from fear and had to put the book on a solid surface so I could continue to read. I generally don't enjoy being scared—for the most part these books are more exciting than scary—but the anticipation of one magical creature's entrance into Harry's life took me back to the vibrating water cup scene in Jurassic Park, the movie, announcing the arrival of the terrifying T-Rex.

There are 13 books in the Dresden series currently. I didn't like Book Three as much as the rest of the series. I'm reading Book Ten now.

C E Murphy writes The Walker Papers series. The captivating eight book series centers around Joanne Walker, a police officer who discovers she is a shaman. Along with friends, family, fellow cops, and some supernatural allies, she defeats foes to save Seattle and, at times, the world.

It's hard to put these books down with the author's signature page-turning pace, twisty plots, and fearless, funny, and frightening characters. The romantic tension between Officer Walker and her boss, Captain Morrison, offers another layer to this series that begins with Urban Shaman.

        One of the most endearing characters we meet is Gary Muldoon. He is gallant, loyal, recently widowed, and ready for anything—the perfect sidekick for a shaman-in-training who needs all the help she can get.

Summed up on the back of his own book, No Dominion, ninth in the series: [Since meeting shaman Joanne Walker] "Gary has trifled with gods, met mystics, slain zombies…But now Gary must…fight a battle only he can win…because it becomes clear that it was not illness that took his wife's life, but their enemy's deadly touch."

        Enjoy becoming a better writer by reading!    

Sandford Lyne Provides a Masterclass

By Kate Phillips

 

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, back stories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

        As soon as I read a book that immediately gets me writing, I want to share it with every writer I know.

Before I go into more detail, I want to stress I am a writer, not a poet. However, I think poets have a lot to teach all writers as they capture minute details and moments in time using gorgeous turns of phrases.

Author, poet, and teacher Sandford Lyne believes everyone is a poet so they should start writing poems now. "With courage and honesty you initiate yourself as an artist-seeker, a lifelong learner, a worker in depth, in vertical perceptions, in discovered truths."

 

In his book Writing Poetry from the Inside Out: Finding Your Voice Through the Craft of Poetry, Lyne advocates poem-sketching (as) "it is a playful, open-ended approach; it draws upon and uses the wealth of our experiences, provides a vehicle for the specialized intelligence and expressiveness of the emotions, occupies the mind with simple puzzles to solve (the mind enjoys puzzles), and, finally is built on and requires the use of our intuition. And all of this happens in a blink of an eye; simultaneously, naturally, without having to think about it."

The key to beginning poem-sketching is to look at the over 50 pages of four-word groups until one grabs your attention. Then write phrases or sentences incorporating those four words. Sounds simple, and it is, and it works.

I was hesitant at first thinking I am not a poet. This is not going to work for me…and then I saw four words that inspired me. I flashed back to when I was nine and then a poem poured out of me. It was in rough form, but I worked on it until I was surprised with the satisfaction and joy I felt with my finished poem.

Lyne also encourages writers to make up lists of words for more advanced poem-sketching. He gives specific directions for different types of words to include in each four-word grouping to make them powerful, attractive, and inspiring.

This is another way for writers to hone their craft. It's crucial to find exact words. To notice specific details, feelings, actions, and surroundings. It forces us to use and expand our observation skills and vocabularies.

Then we use our original voices to combine the words into poems. "One function of poem-sketching is to awaken your ability to produce images in words…writing poetry is about playing with words, exploring the possibilities of combining words into sentences and fragments, rearranging lines into finished poems."

Lyne notes: "…the happiest, most successful, most fulfilled people I know are the ones who, over time, gave themselves the most permissions—in all areas of their lives…The best writers give themselves the most permissions."

Give yourself permission to try poem-sketching. "Along the way, each person on the path of the poem finds his or her own vocabulary, his or her own metaphors for recognizing and naming the experiences."

Poem-sketching makes us better writers. It's also fun!