The Reluctant Reader/The Defiant Child

For the Love of Reading

Irony is a part of life.

I am a writer (in case you weren’t aware.) I love reading (in case you think I could possibly contemplate writing books without reading them.)

I have two children, a boy and a girl (oh, yes, the perfect family.)

I have ONE reader in the family, besides myself.


This is how it works, or how it worked for me. My first child was born, a girl, and she loved books. It stands to reason that a mother who absolutely adores reading will pass on that passion to her child.

She never liked dolls, or Lego, or fuzzy stuffed animals. She loved books. She used to go to sleep surrounded by her favourites: Curious George and Dr. Seuss, Charlotte’s Web and The Berenstain Bears. (We’ll miss you Jan.)

As she grew older, the stacks migrated from the protective wall around her body (I don’t know how she ever woke up without creases and striations all over her skin) to the night table, but the stacks never diminished. She eventually took a literary arts specialty in high school, and although her true passion is now visual art, she will never grow out of her love for books.

Four years after my daughter was born we had another child, a boy.

Now don’t think that I agree with the gender bias that suggests non-readers are all male; this is just a fact in my life.

The boy didn’t like books. In fact the boy didn’t like hockey either, or skiing or anything his parents adored.

My husband is crazy about hockey; well, he’s a Canuck, so what else do you expect. So . . . my son was required to learn this exciting, demanding sport as soon as his feet could properly support him on a single blade, not two. At four we enrolled him in the Mite Hockey League. He stood on his skates, quite well. And that’s all he did. Stand in the middle of the ice like an obstinate rock while the ebb and flow of four-year-old hockey magic zipped around him. (They stumble-skated back and forth on the ice and managed to flip a few pucks beside the net.) He would not move.

Next we tried skiing. I’d developed a passion for this sport in my university years and thought, what kid wouldn’t love racing down the slopes with wind in his face and gravity doing all the work? The sense of freedom and exhilaration, the blistering speed. What kid wouldn’t? My daughter did.

Every Saturday we’d truss him up, beg, borrow and steal (well, not really steal) ski equipment and set him up with lessons for an hour with the option of a full day of free skiing after that. One hour  later, when the eager-to-escape ski instructor returned our son to us, the whining would begin and wouldn’t end until we stripped off the skis and fled the slopes.

I don’t think my son hated hockey or skiing. He was simply determined to loathe anything we loved. We had bred a defiant child.

When it came to reading, though, the refusal just wasn’t acceptable. My son had to learn how to read—literacy is essential to success in this very difficult world. Plus, I was a writer. How could I explain an illiterate child? I had to ignite in him a passion for reading, if I did nothing else.

Thus began the endless parade of books.

This isn`t endless, because we`ve donated most of books to the school library, but I`m sure you get my point.

My son will never love reading. I came to accept that after a number of years, although it was painful for me. His teachers would chuckle at me kindly, at my hopeless efforts with full understanding and sympathy. Eventually he did learn to read, although never to love it, and that’s a reason to rejoice in itself.

This is what worked for him:

Hugo Cabret—a book that tells a story through illustration rather than simply text.

Nonfiction titles of topics he’s passionate about: gardening, plants, the universe and planets, rocks and minerals.

Wimpy Kid—not my favourite, but a Best Book of the Decade according to a children`s survey. Basically comics and graphic novels. If your reluctant readers like humour, try to interest them in a Wimpy Kid style of book, if they enjoy adventure and movies, furnish them with graphic novels.

I failed to entice my reluctant reader into the world of books, but he does love movies. We don’t share many passions, but at least we both appreciate stories (in whatever format), and we’re avid gardeners and amateur geologists too. I’m not a failure and neither is he; we’re just somewhat different and that’s okay. Not everyone can be a reader.

If you`ve had similar struggles, I invite you to share them. If something drew your reluctant reader to books, let me know. If you're a former reluctant reader and now adore books, what ignited your passion? I’d like to assemble a list of helpful advice and potential books, if not to create an avid reader then at least to awaken a spark and keep kids literate.

An Arduous Journey

Announcement: Ice Tomb is now available as an eBook.

Since I’m re-releasing Ice Tomb, solo this time, I thought it only fair to provide an explanation. It’s been eight years since the book’s publication, an arduous journey for me, a learning experience. When I first received notice that Ice Tomb would be published I immediately popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. I’d devoted a year to the project, researching like a mad woman, diving into challenging topics like rocket proposals for a moon mission, a potential science station and quantum physics. I’m never one to shy away from difficult topics even if they’re extremely technical or analytical – and not exactly my cup of tea, although I find the theories of the universe intriguing to the say the least.

Little did I know that the publisher, although happy to publish my book and very pleasant in other ways, wasn’t everything I’d hoped for. They released the book without a decent round of editing and, after numerous attempts to persuade the business manager to join the eBook revolution, he refused. Marketing was non-existent, which is par for the course in small presses, but something I was unaware of at the time.

So I obtained a publicist, but I did most of the sales and promotional work myself, sending out press releases and submitting my book for review.

Some critics gave the book a great review. Other less-than-enthusiastic critics treated it to a sound thrashing.

Great reviews:

Top Pick

“Ice Tomb is set in the near future, and the science in the fiction is very plausible. A fast-paced story with plenty of twists, this book reads like a classic sci-fi tale. The characters are well drawn, the action plentiful and the outcome surprising.”

– RT BOOKclub Magazine

Editor’s Pick

“She may be a new kid on the science fiction block, but Ottawa writer Deborah Jackson could well rank up there one day with the likes of Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke.”

“Ice Tomb is surprising not just for its entirely believable plot and well-crafted suspense, but because it has all the earmarks of a tale written by a sci-fi master.”

– Mike Gillespie, The Ottawa Citizen

BTW, even though I live in Ottawa, I had no association with this editor whatsoever. He actually liked it without any persuasion on my part.

Not-so-great reviews: Jonathon Cowie, Concatenation

With Ice Tomb she has moved her target readership upwards to young teenagers, (reviewed after the release of Time Meddlers) (intended for adults) and for them has produced a gripping adventure that also makes for a reasonable (so-called) 'young adult' SF read. Older readers will find some of her (fortunately occasional) turn of phrase facile...(Sob) The plotting is also very contrived, (it was/is) but this will probably not matter a jot to young teenagers, especially as the rest of her writing style conveys the story with fluidity.

He uses some harsher words that I couldn’t even print. Then he goes on to bash the publisher, which I won’t include either, since I’ve said enough above and I truly do appreciate their acceptance of the book.

The review continues:

Publisher issues aside, were I back at school I would probably welcome Ice Tomb. Indeed as an adult when it comes to the science, I really can't seriously fault this. It was reasonably researched. In fact I wondered whether she had read Blankenship et al., (1993) Active volcanism beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Nature 361, 526-9? Big Brownie points here even if I have ice sheet stability problems with a part subterranean Antarctic base. Ditto personal problems with an episode of geological timing mentioned which was (northern hemisphere dominated Younger Dryas aside) one of climatic and ice sheet change as we were coming out of the last glacial, but your average SF reader (even if a scientist other than one into climatology of biosphere science) simply would not know this. Ditto the iridium record.

Which wasn’t so bad.

So I did my homework, but I wasn’t a literary genius and my plot was very contrived, probably because I watch too many movies, and let’s face it, nearly every thriller/adventure/horror film has a contrived plot.

This was the beginning of my journey from naïveté in thinking my publisher would help me produce a pristine product and underestimating the brutal world of criticism, albeit justified. I realized I desperately needed a critique group to spare me some of the humiliation by catching my mistakes before they hit the editorial desk.

Yet some people, like the kind reviewers above, loved Ice Tomb, despite all its failings. I even had questions from parents of Time Meddlers fans asking if their kids could read Ice Tomb. “No!” I insisted. “Too much adult content.”

Ice Tomb needed to be revamped and made more kid-friendly before I’d give it one more chance in the eBook world. Since readers of Time Meddlers were interested in it, I thought it deserved that chance.

But how do you revamp an aging book? I liken it to old bread. You can scrape off the mold, you can sprinkle some spices on a slice or two, but it will never be fresh bread. I tried . . . valiantly. I did remove the offensive chapter and rewrote it entirely. I tried to rework some of the passive writing and delete the clichés. One or two totally illogical sections I ripped out and replaced. I like to think of it as a reupholstered story that still retains the original thrills and science that some people actually loved and removed the most offensive aspects that some people really hated.

Of course revising an old manuscript can lead to some technical problems. I will repeat one of Jonathon Cowie’s statements: “her writing style conveys the story with fluidity.” When I write a first draft, it inevitably flows along like a rippleless river. Where I might fail in other aspects of writing, I think I have this inherent sense of rhythm and flow. When you begin ripping out this word and replacing that “facile” phrase with something more dynamic or interesting, you inevitably mess with the flow—a flow that was established years ago. So in my valiant attempt I undoubtedly threw rocks into the river and produced a few rapids, and where it would make for a rafting nightmare, I desisted.

If you’ve never read one of my books, it might be a strange journey at first. To avoid any misconceptions, let me tell you exactly what I write:

Thrillers/Modern-day adventure stories/Science fiction with some near future speculation/Mysteries . . .

. . . that often blend in historical or mythological components . . .

. . . and include a romantic subplot more often than not.

And how I write: Fast-paced, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek (but in a fluid way ;))

If this type of story interests you, then follow the links below. I have every intention of publishing the next thriller, Sinkhole, in the near future—eight years and three middle grade time travel adventures later. Sinkhole is also kid-friendly, but not a children’s book.

Kindle

Kobo

Nook

Smashwords

If you have an iPad or iPhone, Smashwords sells copies in every format. You can also get the Kindle app for free on these devices.

Please feel free to ask me about my journey. Believe me, life is never what you expect, particularly in the writing world.

Lost in Translation

I suppose it was a couple of years ago when I was confronted with another dilemma: To read or not to read and simply watch the movie. If you haven’t noticed yet, from previous blogs, my house is virtually bursting at the seams with books, not only read, savoured and hoarded, but stacks on my “to read” list as well. When word finally reached my less-than-attuned ears that Stieg Larsson’s books were worth a read, I was already knee-deep in kidlit and YA and opted to rent the Swedish subtitled versions of the movies instead.

Being the lovely (North) Americanized “please spoon-feed me” type of person, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about reading my movie. Don’t get me wrong, I adore reading, but when it comes to movies I like to “experience” them visually, with the necessary auditory component that doesn’t require distraction through reading – just like I don’t like to watch my books. I believe the iPad may have something to say about that in the future, though.

I was fully prepared to be annoyed.

But that didn’t happen. First of all, I know a little Dutch, and Swedish has some similarities. Secondly, I didn’t mind reading the subtitles, because the story was so engaging and the acting phenomenal. And the message was all too clear.

Last week, a friend mentioned on Facebook she was reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the English translation left much to be desired. Another FB entity chimed in and mentioned he’d recently watched the English version of the movie and found it filled with graphic and “pointless” violence.

Pointless violence?

How much has been lost in translation, I wondered?

I clearly understood through the Swedish movies that violence is the point, “violence against women.” Perhaps this would have been crystal if the original title hadn’t been changed from Män som hatar kvinnor - “Men Who Hate Women.”

Lisbeth Salander was, to me, the embodiment of “women finally striking back,” wielding power over abusive men for so many women who are defenseless. I’ve seen the results of rape and abuse, although I’ve been lucky not to have been touched by it personally. Most women are psychologically afflicted and often incapable of leading a normal life, let alone striking back. Lisbeth was never a realistic character to me, but she was the personification of hope and retribution for these women.

I fail to see how this wasn’t clear in the English movie. I wonder if sloppy translation made it less than obvious in the books. But I found it disturbing that people didn’t understand Stieg Larsson.

I later learned why he wrote the books. It was to atone for the guilt he felt over witnessing a gang rape years ago and doing nothing to help the girl. The story is more than the character and plot. The story is the author and the girl.

Sometimes a fiction story is simply a moment’s entertainment in our lives. Sometimes, it’s a great deal more. (And should never be linked to a clothing line.)

Please, let’s translate it correctly.

How I Came to Love Twitter

It was unexpected. It began as a chore.

You must promote! As a writer you’re hammered with this notion incessantly, even though you despise self-promotion. At least I do. I write because I can’t imagine not writing, but once the book is published, all the other tasks that accompany it are tedious. And in the back of my mind, I think I’ll never measure up to the literary geniuses, so how can I promote myself?

Despite my distaste, I gritted my teeth and I joined.

Over a period of time the duty became a joyful experience, one I rush toward every morning and at various hours during the day.

The joy began when I realized that Twitter was more than a vehicle for sales. In fact it was the quite the opposite.

A universe opened up to me – a universe of information at my fingertips, breathtaking photographs and art, but above all people. These people had incredible insight, generosity and gift of the gab – in 140 characters or less. Immediately I realized that I would not self-promote, but I would take in and I would give back. When I began to do that, friendships developed – extraordinary friendships over vast distances that could never be bridged except in the cyber world.

Twitter emerged as something quite different from Facebook – more than “I know you from somewhere, so let’s connect.” Instead the connection occurred because of shared interests and passion, the way we sometimes make lifelong friends at conferences. For me it wasn’t just writerly people, but those interested in science, photography, art, archaeology – other passions of mine. It opened up an astounding world of fascinating, comical and complex human beings.

Another thing occurred to me as I observed and explored this strange and wonderful network.

Twitter was another manner of writing. A vehicle of expression, albeit a raw, ragged, sloppy one, minus the rewrites and editing. I could play around with language, something I love to do. Usually I express my thoughts, through characters and situations, of course, in 90,000 words. It’s a long, very self-involved process which I call “creative mode.” The purpose of writing is often personal – to transfer what the author is passionate about into a comprehensive tale while exploring various characters - weaving mulicoloured patterns into the tapestry, then trying on different outfits and diving through the mesh - but there’s also that desire to connect with readers. The problem with novel writing is that, for so many years, the author has been distanced from the reader.

Twitter allows you to connect directly. You can’t tell a tale, but you can inject personality and, because you’re constrained by the number of characters, it forces you to become creative.

I love the hashtag. Not to promote an idea or subject across the Twitterverse, but to add a splash of humour or contradict my own statement. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s me.

I like to comment on scientific discoveries or photographic enticements or rocks. Yes, rocks! But most of all, I like to smile, wink or chuckle with Twitterpals.

If you’re into Twitter simply to sell something, then I think you’ll become disillusioned rather quickly. Nobody wants to hear a sales pitch. But most people, if you really listen, have something valuable to say. And if you’re willing to give of yourself, your return will be more than you imagined.

If you smile at someone and they smile back at you, it’s worth more than all the gold in the ground.

The Toy Graveyard

Has your basement, attic, spare bedroom or cupboard under the stairs become a toy graveyard? Do remnant Thomas the Train tracks or cabooses litter the visible carpet? Have Beanie Babies been tossed in obscure corners, collecting dust bunnies on their silken fur? Do you have to slalom through Polly Pockets and headless Barbies to get to the laundry?

Yes, sometimes our kids accumulate too many toys. What do I blame for that, besides myself? Christmas!

For some reason gold, frankincense and myrrh have transformed into heaps of toys, neglected and hardly used. The joy of giving has become the act of spoiling. Initially our kids squeal in excitement on Christmas morning, but even they start tossing the multiple toys aside after a while with barely a glance. And after spending all that money, we haven’t the heart to dispose of that perfect toy too quickly—especially after wracking our brains trying to come up with something different.

My kids have reached their teen years, so the gifts are fewer, but more expensive. Electronic gadgets—cell phones, iPods, Wii Games, but at least most of them are used until they’re out-of-date. For my younger great-nieces and nephews, I purchase books, but their parents have suggested a moratorium even on those. Too many books.

How can you have too many books?

Okay, so I have too many books. I have a bookshelf of unread books. I have a Kobo full of partially read classics. I have books on the floor, books on shelves in the living room, books on the shelf going down into the basement, books on several shelves in the basement and books on my night table and shelves above my bed. So yes, you can have too many books.

But I’m still convinced that books are the best gifts for kids. If you’re going to give your kids more gifts for Christmas, think of everything a book can do that the toys in the graveyard can’t seem to match (which is why they end up in the graveyard). A new world, an exquisite combination of colours and artwork to dazzle or amuse—if it’s a picture book—a laugh when it’s a sad day, a story that let’s your child know that he’s not alone with the problems he faces at each challenging age, a place to escape the pressures of this world (and let’s face it, kids have enormous pressure these days), an expanding vocabulary, the ability to focus—something multitasking and reduced physical activity (required to expend energy) have removed—the wonders of a different society or culture, lessons subtly incorporated to give them a moral grounding and the strength to face difficult choices, the magic of words so skillfully combined they’re musical to the ear and a future that only literacy can bring. There’s many more, but I’ll stop here so you can breathe.

My daughter once said on FB: I think that there are more books in my house than the average person can read in a lifetime... let's hope I'm not an average person. (I intend to dig into them all... if they're interesting.)

Why would she say that? Because she loves to read. And that is the best gift I could give her.

The Real Me--A Look at the Books I Read and Treasure

If you ever want to get to know a writer, all you have to do is take a look at their bookshelves. The past few days I've been diligently organizing my shelves, taking the stacks off the floor, so you won't be able to judge how chaotic my life really is, but you will understand me better by the books I preserve.

I have two shelves on the main level, which is also my office. I have no living room, or rather I live among the books.


This is my reference shelf, for the most part.

From the top:

The top is a mixed bag, because I ran out of room. From archeology, which has always fascinated me, to China to WWII and a few classics.

Next shelf: Writing references, including Hemingway and Stephen King, my favourites. I know, I'm weird.

Egypt, geology (bet you don't know many people turned on by rocks), the Fodor's Guides, you know, the essentials.

Going down:



 More geology, geography, some haunts from my past that come in handy--Essential Human Anatomy and Medical Microbiology--Egypt, caves and NASA. If you noticed the sticky notes, I thrive on them. You'll also see the Idiot's Guides. If you're a writer, never be without the Idiot's Guides. (This is not a comment on our profession.)

The shelf below contains a few of my favourite modern novels: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, of which there is only one, because another avid reader in my family appropriates and lends them out--never to be seen again. The Hunger Games--Book One repurchased as a paperback--and, of course, Wilbur Smith classics, Cryptonomicon--one of the bulging tomes I thoroughly enjoyed (let's not discuss Ann Rand) and The Historian--vampire or not, it was excellent.

Continuing on:

This is my larger volumes' reference shelf, mostly WWII and Egypt. Are you beginning to understand where my obsession lies? And yes, it continues onto the floor. My larger volumes tend to accumulate beyond the capacity of one shelf.

The next shelving unit has a few different books. We'll start with the literary...

Wall of Shame

The left side has the books I've read, for the most part. Shakespeare, Poe, Hemingway, a Giller Prize winner, but the right side has classics I fully intend to read, someday. 

Next are my classic favourites:

Ann of Green Gables, Lord of the Rings, Anne Frank, C.S. Lewis, Dickens! and a few modern favourites: Kenneth Oppel's Airborn series, The Book Thief, The Giver. Now how did Agassi get in there? Avid tennis fan, I'll admit it.

On the bottom:

A mixed bag: The Ice stands out--for those Antarctica novels--biographies, more WWII. You might have even seen Scaredy Squirrel. Your eyes have not deceived you. On the bottom shelf: pirates, Florida and National Parks. Adventurer/romantic, that's me.

On the way to the basement: Recognize these? 

And a close up:

Remember The Secret of the Old Clock? This was my first series as a child, purchased second-hand by my parents. Can't part with it.

In the basement, beside the hockey sticks: The Adult Fiction Shelf

Do I really need to explain this one?

And across the room:

Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy.

Need I say more?

Yes, you do see Twilight there. Ignore it.

My delightful magazines are on the table, the few I don't have in DVD:

I haven't found a home for them yet.

And last, but not least, the "to read" stacks, the short version:

But I'm starting a new library now.

And this is what it usually says.

Well, that's it. You might think I'm rich with all these books, but honestly, I have no furniture. Hand-me-downs. Priorities, you see. I live for story and story lives on through me, I think.

Remember . . . the courage, the commitment, the sacrifice.

In light of Remembrance Day, to honour our veterans and fallen soldiers, the best tribute is to learn their stories. I thought I’d recommend some books and movies that exemplify the trials and sacrifice, the courage of so many during one of the darkest periods in our history.

Band of Brothers.

One of the most impressive series Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks ever produced. The story of the 101st Airborne, the paratrooper division that opened the area behind the lines on D-day for the Allies to push through, were the first to begin the liberation of Holland and discovered one of Germany’s “Final Solution” concentration camps.

The Pacific is also worth looking at, but Band of Brothers is as revealing of the personalities of the soldiers and the missions they had to endure. It captures their courage and their weaknesses without emphasizing the depressive nature of war. Although it’s necessary to understand the misery and hardships, I found Pacific dragged me down too much. I want to understand, but I can’t relive.

Between Silk and Cyanide, by Leo Marks

A Codemaker’s War, 1941 -1945

In 1942, Leo Marks left his father’s famous London bookshop and went off to fight the war. He was recognized as a cryptographer of genius, he became head of communications at the Special Operations Executive, where he revolutionized the codemaking techniques of the Allies and trained some of the most famous agents dropped into occupied Europe, including Violet Szabo.


One of the most mesmerizing accounts of the Special Operations Executive and the ingenious codemakers of World War II. Not only is Marks a spellbinding narrator, he translates coding for the layman and has a delightful sense of humour. Not many events that occurred in the war were humourous, and his gift at wry wit in no way diminishes the reality, the tragedies and the blunders. I read this to do research for Time Meddlers Undercover, but I continue to pull out examples of great writing for my students.

The Diary of Anne Frank

In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe” of an old office building.

There will never be a more moving testament to the struggles the Jewish people faced during the Nazi occupation. The passion, the small joys, the constant irritation of living in close quarters and coming of age in a horrific situation, this book explores the reality of war from a persecuted young person’s perspective. It’s my hope that everyone will take the time to read this at some point in their life.

The Great Escape

In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft III, a maximum security prisoner-of-war camp designed to hold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military history, brilliantly portrayed by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. They worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted.

This is my all-time favourite. It reveals the determination and ingenuity of the Allied prisoners, but doesn’t shy away from their actual fate—some were recaptured and shot. This is no Hogan’s Heroes, but it’s still light enough not to disturb you for days on end. I think that we, kids and adults alike, should be aware of the reality of war, but still come away with some admiration for the heroism.

This a short list, but I think a comprehensive one for a week of remembrance. We have the soldiers, the spies and codemakers, the persecuted and occupied, and the captured. I could list several others, but I selected these because they aren’t designed to make you relive the horrors, only realize them. And I think that’s all we should do in this day and age. To relive is to become traumatized all over again, and I worry that our own traumas are just over the horizon.

Shoot the Writer

What could I possibly mean? Who would want to shoot a writer?

Well, I could think of a few examples, but I’m referring to an experience I had a few years ago, or perhaps it was many years ago, but I won’t let you do the math.

Many years ago, on a planet far far away, or at least I was on an existential plane that was as remote as such a planet (in other words, I was a newbie to the whole author/now-you-must-be-a-speaker way of life), I was invited to do a school visit at a local high school.

Wrestling with my inner demons and some outer ones (yes, you know who you are) I agreed and spent days in preparation, creating a riveting PowerPoint presentation, with the inevitable stick man animations (which I use to this day), flexing my vocal muscles which were rather flaccid and pathetic (and still give me trouble when I spend too many days chatting internally and ignoring the husband and kids), and sifting through my mountain of props—mostly books.

Yes, I was prepared.

Yes, I was terrified.

But I could do this. I’d written the books, now I could talk about them and talk about writing.

I entered the school, a little damp, a little quivery—picture a pale version of Scaredy Squirrel—shook hands with the teacher and followed her dutifully down a kilometre-long hallway and up the stairs to the library, sagging under the weight of my laptop and props. There she smiled and set me up with the computer and projector, and I inserted my disc (stop doing the math) and took a deep breath.

In filed the students, eager, passionate potential writers, and a few students who’d look for any opportunity to skip class. They assembled in front of me and I began.

I explained the exciting process of brainstorming, character development, research—including some examples of volcanology, NASA proposals for a moon base and the mysterious lake with unspecified life beneath Vostok research station in Antarctica. I explained how my science fiction stories were based on hard science, including the bane of my existence—quantum physics—and how essential the Idiot’s Guides were to writing (at least as a baseline). I was passionate, so I don’t imagine they noticed that I was paler than usual or that my voice cracked occasionally. Amazing. They looked . . . interested.

Then it happened. Bells ringing, loudspeakers blaring, students stampeding into the library. A lockdown.

I stopped, of course, as the students were ushered into the back of the room and thrust behind the shelves that blocked them from any view through the glass windows at the front. The doors were subsequently locked.

The teacher then smiled, shushed the students as best she could, and gestured for me to proceed. Are you kidding me? So yes, I continued, but I kept glancing at the doors and began to consider that all the students and staff were handily protected from potential gunshots, but I was chatting away in full view of any shooter who might decide to wander our way.

Might as well put out a welcome mat: shoot the writer. Or, at least, shoot the writer first.

I wasn’t shot. The shooters or whatever they were never even made it into the school. And nervous Nelly finished her speech in front of a hundred students instead of thirty, despite constant interruptions over the loudspeaker. But it always made me wonder.

Why did they not think to move me? Is it because writers are dispensable? A novelty, a bauble to place on a tree once a year, but if it shatters, oh well, there will always be others.

Sometimes we’re subjected to acid reviews when we strike the wrong chord, and once again it’s time to shoot the writer, in a little less dramatic fashion. Often people forget that there’s a human being behind that book they’ve trashed.

If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison

us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not

revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will

resemble you in that.

That Shakespeare Guy

I know the staff at this school made no conscious effort to put me in the line of fire (and I have no wish for revenge). Protecting the kids was paramount and I understood that. And if one good thing emerged from the experience, I discovered I could speak through anything. They even invited me back this year and I had a wonderful experience.

I just ask that if there is a next time, perhaps they usher me behind a desk too.



The Reluctant Muse and NaNoWriMo

Everyone’s so excited about NaNoWriMo. Are you ready? Gear up and start writing.

Uh huh. Right.

Why am I not excited? Because I know that I will not write a book in a month. I didn’t say I couldn’t. I could. And it would be exciting, full of the energy of slap-dash writing, bursting at the seams with stream-of-consciousness chatter. In other words, it would be atrocious and I’d have to completely re-write it.

I know there’s all kinds of help out there. I read on an agent’s blog about plot formulas and (of course) a great e-book you can buy that will guide you through the process. How wonderful. And your plot will be . . . formulaic.

Almost anyone can write a book in a month. Almost no one can write a “good” book in a month. Ask how many “years” the prize winners took. Plain Kate, one of my all time favourites, took about six years to inject all the nuances of character, to place the perfect word on the page, to refine plot, etc. What about all the preliminary research? What about character development? And pacing?

Do your original words sing off the page, or do they cough and sputter? Do they need a tune-up after writing?

I imagine you might be able to do it, and it might be a brilliant book. I’d have to bow at your feet, because you’re a genius.

I know, I know. Sometimes it’s just a method of forcing that reluctant muse to work. Banishing the procrastinator.

But my muse can’t be forced. It has to be coaxed. My ideas only develop over time and a few sleepless nights, and I know I’m not alone. If I force myself to write on a topic I have no passion for, even for a blog, it needs to be tossed or rewritten. That’s why I’m writing this blog. Because I passionately feel that NaNoWriMo is a waste of time.

Say you have this seed of an idea. Let it grow, nourish it over time with research that will send up more shoots, process it through your creative soul, develop memorable characters who will make that idea flourish, then write and focus on scenes, chapters, expansion. After the approximate time for a full length novel first draft, three or four months minimum, let it sit and stew for another three months. Then look it over, rework, revise, flesh it out or strip it down. Do this again and again until it shines from the inside out.

Or flush it out of your system in a month. You can do it. But you might just want to keep on flushing.

Standing OUT in the Crowd

You’re a small voice in a stadium full of people, screaming to be heard. Screaming doesn’t work, because everybody is screaming.

Buy my book, look at my product, pay attention to me!

If you get in my face, to deliver your message, I will turn away. It’s annoying. And the screaming is like the constant drone of machinery, chipping away at my cochlea, numbing me to any message you might deliver.

If you have something meaningful to say, through your book, or you have a quality product to sell, I first have to trust you. If you can build a relationship with me, give me something of value first, or talk quietly, but with substance, I will look your way. And if you show me you’re a real human being, I’ll like you even more.

I recently joined a writing community of teens and teen writers, because I’ve written a teen book and I would like opinions from readers and writers of the same genre. It’s a critiquing community of which there are thousands of members. How do you get a reciprocal trade of opinions when there is so much choice? I noticed that one of the “Top Critics” has flitted around from manuscript to manuscript, giving each a cursory glance—one chapter—writing a critique and getting points for evaluation. She’s spread herself thinly through the community and thus gained the top billing. However, I don’t think she’s well liked, because her critiques lack genuine involvement or care in developing these young writers.

Comments like: “She doesn’t really look at the pitches.” Or her own comments: “Thank goodness, an adult to talk to . . .” I won’t continue. Suffice it to say, she writes for teens, but I wonder if she cares for teens.

I know I can’t spread myself so thinly. Nor do I want to. I joined the community, I picked manuscripts that were along the lines with what I write or offered my advice when requested. I became deeply involved with three manuscripts because that’s all I’m capable of managing at one time, and I’d rather go deep than wide. I like to make connections with readers, with children, with teens—that’s why I write for them. But I know a surface connection in a critiquing capacity is useless to me and to the teen writer.

The same goes for Twitter. You can’t bond with 14,000,000 people. You can only talk at them. But if I connect with a few people deeply, and I like what they have to say, then I’ll probably like what they have to sell—at least I’ll have a look at it. And I’m sure they’ll do the same for me.

An iron link between two people is stronger than a thousand tiny threads.

How to Kill your Writing Career

1. Write like someone else. Be inspired by Hemingway or Dickens and adopt their style. You’ll produce some amazing work and everyone will hate it in this day and age. In fact, the better you write, the more people will hate it, anyway. Guaranteed.

2. Listen to the critics. They’re critics for a reason. If they could actually sit down and write a book, do you think they’d be writing lousy reviews? Often their reviews are related to their last meal: if it was burritos and beer . . .

3. Change your novel every time somebody tells you to, especially editors and agents. If you pass your first chapter to enough “experts” at conferences, eventually you’ll find they contradict each other. These experts are guided by their own preferences—some of which has to do with good writing, the remainder related to genre, style, and the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

4. Write to the latest trend. If you have a fabulous idea for a vampire, no wait, fairy, no, just a minute, angel . . . Just don’t!

5. Don’t experiment. Keep to the code. The Writer’s Code, not the Pirate’s Code, ’cause if you kept to the Pirate’s Code, you’d realize that it’s simply guidelines. So if you’ve written a “different” book and your critique group or editor tells you to adhere to formula, what do you do? You listen, because you don’t want to grow or challenge yourself or your readers. You just want to be an average writer anyway. Not an artist.

6. Ignore social media, because you heard of a study that said it makes absolutely no difference to a writer’s career. Bah! Hide in a hole because people are only interested in your books and don’t want to get to know the real you. It’s not like you spill the most intimate parts of yourself into those books every day, right?

7. Stop reading or taking workshops. I know, I know. You’ve read everything, you can’t possibly learn anything new, you should be teaching. Well, then, teach, because you can learn from teaching, and when you stop learning and trying to improve, the work shrivels up before you do.

8. Never write about something you’re not an authority on. God forbid you take on a challenge.

9. Don’t pay attention to your readers or fans. Only Lady GaGa does that, and she’s crazy (like a fox). Never follow anyone back on Twitter, because you’re amazing and everything you have to say is golden and everything everyone else says is dull and superfluous: Followers 20,000 Following 3

10. Reject those speaking engagements, because public speaking is hard. After all, you’re an introvert, your talent dwells within your mind but can never flow past your lips. Let’s face it, you have the speaking ability of Frankenstein. You can only speak decently when there’s something you’re passionate about, and that can’t be writing, can it?

11. Never follow the latest news in the industry, reject change because it doesn’t exist. The publishing industry will stay the same forever and you don’t have to adapt. You don’t care how cute those Angry Birds are, you will not buy an iPad, or any other snazzy gadget from the future (doddering old fool).

12. Never write a blog because you hate writing short informative pieces or silly lists.

Book Bash with the Kidlit Authors

Come party with children's writers and illustrators! On Friday, October 14 from 6 to 9 p.m., authors from near and far will gather to celebrate at Collected Works Bookstore (1242 Wellington St. W., 613-722-1265)

Come meet the people who are creating the latest books for young adults, tweens, and children. Hear about new releases directly from the authors, and have them autographed on the spot.This party launches the SCBWI Canada East fall conference (October15-16).

Those who will present their latest work at the party include author R.J. Anderson (Ultraviolet, Spell Hunter, Wayfarer) and illustrator Ben Hodson (Richard Was a Picker, Jeffrey and Sloth, Hear My Roar), both featured speakers at the SCBWI conference. Governor General Award winner Rachna Gilmore (That Boy Red, The Flute) will also be on hand, along with writers Catherine Austen (My Cat Isis, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, All Good Children), Lizann Flatt (Let's Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here), Alma Fullerton (Burn, Libertad), Deborah Jackson (Time Meddlers, Time Meddlers: Undercover), Caroline Pignat (Greener Grass, Wild Geese, Timber Wolf), and Marsha Skrypuch (Stolen Child, Daughter of War). Both adults and kids are welcome. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

SCBWI Canada East's fall conference ("The Courage to Create," October15-16) is open to adults who want to learn more about publishing. Please pre-register if interested. For more information see SCBWI website.

What You Shouldn’t Write (But I Do).

In recent years, I’ve heard this phrase commonly used by editors and agents: “nothing didactic.” Or this one, “eliminate the deep moral themes.” Ruled by my defiant nature, (a quality my son shares, although it exhibits itself in his refusal to read, an issue that gives me constant pain) I ignored them.

My books, although laden with adventure, always explore complex issues, deep moral themes and are sprinkled with facts, scientific jargon and hopefully fresh material for kids and adults to learn and grow (as I did, when I researched them). Every learning opportunity for me is another for my readers.

Why would I ignore trends, the voices of experience? Have you ever re-read a book that was superficial, empty, and reiterated old and dreary facts? Have you ever recommended a book that didn’t touch you in some way? You might have said to a friend: “It’s okay. It’s a light read.” You might have even thrust it into their hands so you wouldn’t have to get rid of it yourself. A light read might make it up to the bestseller list—we know who you are—but it won’t be talked about for years to come (unless it’s mocked and scorned). Dracula, however, will never go away. There’s nothing sparkly about real evil.

The Hunger Games fled my shelf recently, (because my daughter lent it to a friend who lent it to a friend, etc.) and I had to re-purchase it for my class, because it’s an example of a book that doesn’t shy away from complex issues: communism/fascism and the importance of that one defiant voice (such as Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela). A student told me how a friend borrowed The Book Thief from the library, and then someone stole it. ;) No doubt this happened because it’s such a good read: Nazi Germany, death—are those light themes?

Books rich with details of history or science, Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian series or Cryptonomicon, are examples of those that I will not part with (unless someone lends them to a friend, who then lends them to a friend, etc.)

I do write fast-paced, action-packed thrillers. But I still want the book to linger in your mind long after you've read it. I want you to say, “Wow, I didn’t know that the Piri Reis map, copied and recopied over hundreds of years, and originating long before modern ground-penetrating radar and satellite images, displayed all the contours of Antarctica without the ice sheet.” Or something along those lines, but not quite so longwinded. Or you might say, “Cool,” regarding nanobots that could replace heart surgeons. Maybe the description of a cave in Sinkhole will inspire you to visit caves, even those slick with “bloody” bat urine from vampire bats. Or maybe not. But if they will make you ponder the desperation of people caught in the trap of poverty, or the shades of grey to every human being, even apparently evil ones, or the injustice of the past that filters into the present, then I have done my job. Because I refuse to write an empty book. (If you haven’t noticed, generally Book 2 of most trilogies is simply “filler.”) And even if you’re picking up a book to escape the real world, I hope it will still touch you on the journey.

The Ordinary Hero—Far more to admire than the celebrity.

In light of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, I think it’s time to consider the ordinary hero once again and pay tribute. We spend so much time creating heroes for our fictional projects, sometimes never realizing that we may see these extraordinary qualities every day and need not look to fiction.

The fire fighter, the policeman, the nurse, the neighbour next door—they do exceptional things on a daily basis and are often never given credit. Credit goes to the sports figure, the movie star, the author for simply having talent and working hard to rise into the spotlight, but how often do these figures put their lives on the line or rescue someone from certain death?

One day my son came home from school and told me he had to do a project on “heroes.”

“Whom should I choose,” he asked. Actually he said “who.” His teacher suggested the usual heroes, amazing people like Terry Fox and Nelson Mandela—and they certainly are my heroes. But most of the students in his class had heard everything there was to know about these extraordinary people of courage and conviction. Would his classmates learn anything new by studying them once again?

I pulled out the DVD I’d been looking at while researching Nubia for my next book. I said, “Why don’t you write about Adam Sterling.”

Of course my son had never heard of Adam Sterling. Not many people have. He’s a waiter in a restaurant in California—not a spectacular career to make him notable. But it was what he did that made him exceptional. He decided to protest the genocide that was taking place in Darfur. Not only did he stand beside the notables: George Clooney, Don Cheadle and Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, he also educated himself regarding law and introduced a bill to the then governor/ator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This law forbid companies in California from investing in the oil prospects in Sudan until the genocide had stopped. He had no idea how to do this, he had no experience with law, but he got involved and he learned what was required because he cared. He did something difficult in order to make a difference. That is the type of person to honour. That is the hero I most admire. Someone willing to get involved, sometimes at great peril.

Needless to say no one else in my son’s class chose this man as a hero. The teacher had never heard of him. But now, everyone in that Grade Seven class has.

I’ve always been fascinated with ordinary/exceptional people. It’s why I focused on the Dutch people who harboured and protected those targeted by the Nazis in World War II in my second TM novel. I discovered my grandparents hid Jews beneath their chicken coop at great risk to their own lives. I can’t imagine the courage it took to do that. To stand up for what is right, even under the threat of Hitler's retribution. To run into a burning building on verge of collapse and rescue people. I can only write about it and admire, and hope, if I’m ever faced with that kind of situation, that I won’t run the other way.

Off-the-Cuff Commentary

It's interesting how writers have made the transition from closeted fiction writers with a wealth of editors scanning their material and demanding perfection before it hits the shelves to "off-the-cuff" columnists. It seems to be a necessary transition, since newspapers are disintegrating, publishing houses are spiralling downward and people are still looking for quick news feeds or, in particular, opinion pieces in which they can weigh in, either to object to or agree with the blogger. It's the era of instant connection, therefore the painstaking effort of scrutinizing every word is thrown aside for the quick news flash.

I find this particularly difficult, since I'm somewhat of a perfectionist where language is concerned. Not that I get everything perfect, but I'd like to see my pieces as polished as possible before they're released. I'm now writing on topics related to my expertise: writing, science and science fiction, history and historical fiction, but what I find extremely daunting is the new miniseries I've begun: Matt and Sarah's Misadventures. I pore over it before posting, I ask my daughter to do a quick read (since she's a lit student) and I ask my son to tell me everything a kid would not say, in this day and age. Then I post, with a tingling of apprehension.

If you haven't noticed, so much of what is posted on the web today is done without forethought and definitely without spell-check. I keep wondering do other writers find the transition nauseating? Or at least somewhat uncomfortable? We're so used to spending months discussing manuscripts in a critique group, then trading commentary with an editor, then passing the work on to the copy editor to tidy up any loose ends. I've seen bestselling award-winning authors post entries that were riddled with typos, and sometimes even grammar errors. It should be plain by now that many authors are not grammar gurus, but are blessed wordsmiths in other ways, or have such a vivid imagination they can transform any mundane plot, that has been repeated over and over again in the past, into something fresh and exciting. We have varied skills.

So I wonder, do readers forgive imperfections? Do they look at an author's book and feel the same way once they spot the warts? Or is it that they come to like the author more, for being human. I know I love James Durbin. Not just because he's such a talented singer/performer, but because he overcame his human difficulties to become such a talented singer/performer. We are who we are.

So I blog. I resisted for a long time, writing every few months in fits and starts, where everything I wrote emerged consistently as a story. But I am nothing if not adaptable, just in a stubborn-mule fashion. So I make a concentrated effort, I opine, then I scan, then I post. But I wonder, will I ever feel good about it?

Setting—How to Paint the Quintessential Backdrop

Characters shape the story, but setting places you there, as a reader, in the midst of blue-white glaciers or spitting pits of lava. I could never forget seeing the barracuda while snorkeling, lurking beneath the surface of a turquoise ocean, framed in a grotto with a coral gateway. Its long narrow snout seemed magnified beneath the water, along with a precise row of jagged teeth, grinning, or contemplating whether I would make a nourishing snack. Can you picture it?

Setting is a physical place and time. It is intimately interconnected with your character or characters. Can you think of examples of settings that you found unforgettable? What was it about the writing that made the setting so memorable, so real?

Describing simply copies what is seen. Some budding writers tend to include everything, as a visual. But that would bore your readers to tears. Describing includes everything witnessed in an attempt to elicit emotions by filling in every blank spot on a canvas. But it doesn't work.

"Setting selects details that are essential and places only them on the page. Setting is intentional and careful, choosing the details that will lead to a deliberate response."

                                                                       —R. Andrew Wilson, Write Like Hemingway

The small boys came early to the hanging.


It was still dark when the first three or four of them sidled out of the hovels, quiet as cats in their felt boots. A thin layer of fresh snow covered the little town like a new coat of paint, and theirs were the first footprints to blemish its perfect surface. They picked their way through the huddled wooden huts and along the streets of frozen mud to the silent marketplace, where the gallows stood waiting.

                                                                    —Ken Follet, The Pillars of the Earth

What emotion does this elicit?

Setting certainly incorporates location, landscape, but its more than that. It's a crucial part of the story including aspects of geography, characters daily activities, and the time and atmosphere in which the characters live.

It also includes action! Think of setting in terms of film production. The story unfolds and the combination of background and action within the movie creates drama. Setting is alive, it moves!

In Ken Follet's excerpt, boys are moving through the snow and there is no activity yet in the village. As readers, we sense both the movement and the silence. We understand that this is an earlier time period, with the word choice of "hovels" and the description of wooden huts, along with the mention of hanging and gallows. We get a clear sense in just one paragraph of the time period, the place and the atmosphere.

It is your job, as a writer, to bring your characters to life as part of their surroundings.

"Overloading a scene with static description can pull away from the narrative. Move through the scene in three-dimensional space, describing how people interact with it and how parts of the environment interact with each other."

                                                                —R. Andrew Wilson, Write Like Hemingway

Have you read the Robert Jordan series? I absolutely loved the books, loved them, at first. But as the series progressed each book became bulkier, filled with extraneous characters and such an abundance of description it bogged the story down. I finally put the series down. I never read another book after Eight. And occasionally I felt like screaming "get on the with story" as I read the last four books. The imaginative world and intriguing beginning kept pulling me forward, but the static description ended my journey. Always remember the reader, and don't get caught up in your love of words and your own ability to paint a glorious picture with them. Never forget the story.

To create an effective setting, it begins with careful observation, but you also need an understanding of how tapping into the senses creates emotions in your readers. Simply by how the scene is described, the reader is given a sense of awe, pain, joy, fear or other strong emotions.

Description with Dialogue and Action:

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

‘Heads down!’ yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles.

                                                —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Does this description of the castle at Hogwarts evoke a sense of awe and wonderment? Do the children seem like ants in its presence?

Description and Action:

When I landed on the top of a lamppost in the London dusk it was peeing with rain. This was just my luck. I had taken the form of a blackbird, a sprightly fellow with a bright yellow beak and jet-black plumage. Within seconds I was as bedraggled a fowl as ever hunched its wings in Hampstead. Flicking my head from side to side , I spied a large beech tree. Leaves moldered at its foot—it had already been stripped clean by the November winds—but the thick sprouting of its branches offered some protection from the wet. I flew over it, passing above a lone car that purred its way along the wide suburban street. Behind high walls and the evergreen foliage of their gardens, the ugly white facades of several sizeable villas shone through the dark like the faces of the dead.

                                                                   —Jonathon Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand

Don't you feel as drenched as the blackbird? Can you picture a gloomy November day in London? Does it heap on your shoulders a rather oppressive feeling?

Another thing to consider is that setting must enhance the conflict. Not only is it connected to your characters, but also to plot.

Think of Moby Dick vs Captain Ahab on the high seas. The Summoning takes place in a half-way house for the mentally challenged—ideally suited for conflict and relates directly to the protagonist's problem. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway uses Spain in the arena of bullfighting and nightclubs with the occasional drunken brawl.

Another way to enhance conflict is to use confined spaces. In Ice Tomb, the settings include a moon base, small, prefab buildings in Antarctica, and a tunnel beneath the ice sheet. Sinkhole takes place in an extremely dangerous network of caves.

Style and structure are very important to keep the reader glued to the page. Remember to describe your world without making it sound like a grocery list. As shown in the examples above, mix in action, dialogue, and description. Vary sentence length. Too many short sentences will make it sound juvenile, but action sequences work well with short sentences. As often as possible, without becoming tedious, use all the senses.

The little Bed and Breakfast just outside of Hilo on the active island. She could still see the lush tropical flowers in brilliant hues of lavender and pink, crimson and orange, swaying in the warm sun-drenched breeze. Erica walked through the garden of cream and butter orchids and tangerine bromeliads to the gently swaying hammock where David was sleeping, tied between two spiked palm trees. A scarlet Apapane was twittering near his head. The little honeycreeper kept brushing his nose with its tail feathers as it sipped nectar from an o hi’a-lelua, a pretty purple cluster flower. He absently twitched and dusted his hand over his face, still caught in the tight embrace of dreams.

                                                                      —Deborah Jackson, Ice Tomb

Notice how the above paragraph uses sight, touch, sound, and taste (to a certain degree).

You may have heard this quite often, but it seems the most difficult thing for some writers to grasp. Use the "true" word whenever possible. Details have to be specific and concrete—not just a bird, which bird and how does it match the surroundings (Hawaii). It will give your reader an impression of the uniqueness of your setting. But it also depends on point of view (POV). If your character doesn't possess the knowledge to describe with correct terms, use similes or metaphors. I was using the word gumbo limbo for a tree in Florida, then realized my character wouldn't know this term so I called it a pretzel-shaped tree.

Some writers tend to include so few details, the work is dull and unimaginative. Some tend to overcompensate with an obese piece of work that loses sight of the story. Include just enough details to give a sense of place, elicit an emotion and then let the reader's imagination take over. That's why I don't emphasize the physical description of characters to any great extent, because it robs the reader of the opportunity to imagine the character.

"Telling" details, no more.

Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.

—Stephen King, On Writing

In search of strong female characters!

Two weeks ago, I went to see Transformers 3. After the prologue, I quickly became disillusioned as the camera zoomed in on the long bare legs and nearly-bare bum of the "lead" female in the story. Oh no, I thought. Not another bimbo. And I was right.

As the story progressed, the lines she was given were lame, she never wore more than half a dress, except when she was sliding through a collapsing building—then they allowed her to wear pants—and she had to run through the entire movie in six-inch heels. Of course, she needed to be rescued. And the only significant role she played was trying to talk Megatron into attacking Spock. (I know he has another name, but I could only think of him as Spock throughout the entire movie.) By that time, even that scene was unbelievable, since I couldn't regard her as anything but eye candy for the males in the theatre. Funny, even my husband wasn't impressed. He's starting to believe that character, and not simply action, makes the story too.

The next week I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Deux. What a contrast! Here we have Hermione coming up with a solution to escape near-death and saving her two best friends in Gringotts, by jumping on and freeing a ferocious dragon. Go girl! Throughout the entire series, Hermione, more than anyone else seemed to come up with solutions and muddle through whatever dangerous and complex situation they encountered. Brilliant and brave.

It was interesting, but it took other people to point out how courageous and strong my own Sarah is in Time Meddlers. Terrified at times, but possessing an inner strength and conviction that pulls her through lethal environments and unfriendly encounters with historical figures in the midst of wars. I began writing Mars Maze, and this suddenly emerged, something I hadn't even realized.


"Sarah," said Matt. "After all we've been through, do you think I would have let you get hurt?"

Sarah pondered his remark, thinking of all the crazy places he'd dragged her to and the even crazier situations, dinosaurs being the least of their near-death experiences. But then she thought of all the times he'd saved her. Hmm. There was the time they were ejected into the river in a canoe while being assailed by arrows. No, that was her saving him. Well, there was the time that Nazis nearly discovered them in a wagon and they were distracted by an uproar of farm animals. Yeah, her again. There was the time that Albertasauras nearly took . . . Matt's head off . . . and she dove on top of him. Okay, what about the time he pushed her out of the way of gunfire? Yeah, that was Matt saving her. Hmm. Was there only one?


Only one. Matt was not the greatest hero in my story, Sarah was. Women are not stupid bimbos placed in a story merely for a man's enjoyment, and it degrades women every time this is done. Every time a music star thinks she has to strip to sell her music. Women have talent, intelligence and sparkling wit. We can sometimes dig that tree out of the back yard when our husbands can't, or won't anyway. We can climb mountains, swim oceans (maybe lakes) and man space shuttles. We love men, but we don't need men to love us. We can do just about any . . .

Sorry, I have to leave. I feel a Helen Reddy song coming on.