Lisa’s Blog
The Road We Follow
I’ve always been facinated with roads, in photos, in paintings and in life. There is something haunting, compelling and strangely empowering about them. When the weather permits, one of my favorite things to do is to go on a hike. My favorite walk is near my home. I am lucky enough to live near areas that have still been untouched. Areas I walk that allow me to feel at peace with nature and that has always been important to me. This is a photo of one of them. It is not only beautiful, but hilly and filled with unexpected wilderness friends. I do most of my best thinking, meditating, praying and contemplating on this path. It is something I do to feel energize and also to feel motivated.
Winter’s are hard for me. Once December is over and done I am looking towards the Spring. I am a mother of two sons. My oldest is married and has a daughter of his own and my youngest is in his third year of college away ten hours from me. As I try to reinvent myself each day I think of the road I have traveled. All my decisions, all my turns have brought me to where I am today. Every detour, every turn is a step, a decision one makes that changes and has an impact on the next step or turn.
I post this because I have been immersed in writing my new book. As I write I realize that each chapter, each conflict or resolution is an outcome from a decision or choice I made early on. Just like my walks and hikes, just like the roads I travel and the choices I make, I make turns and take steps up and down hill with my plots and characters. The major difference is that as a writer, I do have some kind of control and the unseen down the road is something I can create. In life we don’t have that luxury. We either take the next step with fear or jolt into the unknown with hope that our expectations will be met and our dreams reached when we get to the end of the road.
I want to encourage all of you out there who have stories in your head and are filled with wonder if they should ever be written down. Yes they should! Write them. Write them for yourself, write them with hopes to perfect them. The more you write the more you will loose the fear of writing and gain an appreciation and a confidence to do so. Even if you begin with timelines for your stories. You might not know how to write your story, but you know what you might want to happen with your characters. Set markers in the time line about different points in the characters lives or moments that are important in his/her evolution as a character in your novel. Before you know it, you will have a sort of map showing you what will happen and how and when it will take place.
Then take each moment in time and give it life. Fill out the blanks. Give color to your canvases. Make goals for yourself and keep them when it comes to writing. Say I will finish writing this specific scene by the end of the week, etc.
Make time to write. Take that step up that hill and around the bend and see what you might find. You might surprise yourself. Many times my characters have felt like they have taken over where my story is going. I become so involved with them that they become a powerful force to the point where when I’m writing and I have one of them do something that in actuality they would not do, I find myself saying things like, “wait, he would never do that. Re write this.”
It’s an advernture. LIke my walks and hikes. I don’t know who I might meet along the way, nor will the hills feel steeper or the terrain rougher, but I do it because it allows me to strengthen and grow and relax. Write each day so that you may strengthen, grow and relax. Enjoy.
The New Book – Holding Hope
Photo idea from getty images.
Holding Hope
Nicholas Garrett calls Cape May, New Jersey his home, a lovely town with gorgeous beaches and rich in architecture and history. The story begins with Nicholas along side his wife’s hospital bed three weeks after the birth of their twins. During the natural birth of the twins, Hope, Nicholas’s wife of two years, experiences complications that create a code blue scenario complete with seizures and thus resulting in a comatose state. Twins are delivered healthy and safely as Nick waits frantically a few doors down. Hours after the delivery, Hope’s condition is still the same. As the days pass and the waiting room rotates family and friends, Nick seeks solace in his time alone with his thoughts. As he waits, longing for answers, he refuses to meet his children without his wife by his side. In the hopes that he can see them together he completely ignores the advice of doctors and the nurses to be with his twins even after two and a half weeks of being in the same hospital and only a few doors away.
It is the week before Christmas and Nicholas is second-guessing everything he has ever done looking for someone to blame. Raised by his jewish mother and left by his catholic father, NIcholas has had a life long struggle with his faith and what to believe. Marrying Hope had always been somewhat of a challenge when it came to his faith. Hope was always sure of her christian upbringing and where she stood. So while he is at a crossroads with the question of having faith at all, his family and friends all return hesitantly to resume their lives while Nicholas continues to hold his daily vigil in the same chair in the hospital visitor’s room. There is where he meets an older woman whose husband is in a failing state. She befriends him and helps him put his feelings in order by coaxing him to tell her his story.
It is during that week that he is utterly convinced that he has made all the right decisions and taken all the precise paths to lead him to where he is. In the waiting period he is strengthened and reaffirmed that he is where he should be and that all the roads throughout his life have all pointed and intersected to this moment in time.
With a heartbreaking decision to make and pressure from the doctors he continues to hold on to hope. Only the next few days will tell and while carolers sing, and menorahs are lit, Nicholas waits for a miracle.
Creating Memorable Characters
One of the toughest challenges for a writer in my opinion has to do with creating characters that are unique, different and that will resonate with the reader.
I have completed two novels and I’m proud to say that my characters are all individually unique and equally compelling. I wish I could say that I have a system but I really don’t. For me the characters kind of evolve when I think of the idea for a new book. When I was working on The Shoebox, Peter and Maddy always existed in a way. However in The Eighth Summer the ensemble evolved over time. Now I have read many books and have been introduced to many characters but in all honesty, not all have been memorable. Not every character you find resonates or becomes alive in your mind. Some times I find a great character and then just when they are growing and changing, it all suddenly stops and becomes dull.
How can you keep that from happening?
Well for me, and that’s the only way I can answer is to keep them as real as they can be. Remember, you are creating a visual, unless you have a picture book, the reader has to build the person you are giving them. They will need all the right ingredients to create and give life to their character. You are God in the writing world. We are, lets face it. I know I am a bit of a control freak. Maybe all writers in a way are. I want to control my story because I’m the creator of it. So I am going to give as many hints, clues, descriptions, and emotions for each so that when my reader is sitting in their comfy chair with a cup of coffee or tea ready to be snatched inside my story, I need them to see a tangible character.
So lets say your starting. You have a plot line and a basic idea of what you want to write about but you just have a faceless character. Someone without a soul. That’s where you are about to breathe in life into this fictitious creation.
The way I begin is by asking a few questions that help me form my character. Here are a few questions that you can use to help you create a memorable character that your reader will be able to see, feel and hear.
l. After you have determined the sex of your character, think age? For this activity lets make it a woman. How old is she?
2. Height and weight and skin color, eye color, hair color . Be specific if there are any scars or identifiable markings or characteristics. Does she have an accent?
3. Where was she born?
4. Who were her parents?
5. Where does she currently live?
6. What is her favorite movie and book?
7. What does her voice sound like?
8. What is her deepest fear? Pet peeve?
9. What are some of her favorite things? To eat, do, go?
10. Married/single/ mother?
11. What is her motivation?
12. What is her inner conflict?
You get the idea?
By the time you have answered most of these questions in detail please, you will have a pretty good idea of who this woman is. Then you can add the character fill ins I like to call them.
For instance:
Does she smoke?
Does she drink?
Allergies?
Does she say a particular word in a strange way? Like when I say TV I always for some reason stress the T before the V. When I sneeze I tend to actually say the word achoooo! I know, but that’s what happens. Ha ha. I was once in radio city music hall at a concert and in a moment of silence I sneezed. There were friends in the audience not sitting anywhere near me and knew immediately that I had been the one that had sneezed.
Think of things like that. Characteristics that make your character unique and familiar to your reader.
In my first novel, The Shoebox, my main character had a few things he would do when he was stressed or nervous. I added them to so many parts of my story in the beginning that once the reader is in the middle of the book and is reading any section where Peter is running his hands through his hair or pulling on his shirt collar they immediately know without even having to read further that our character is in a stressful situation. These mannerisms are key flags that allow your reader to identify and see the character more clearly. The goal is to create someone that is so visible in your writing that they then become a tangible person to your audience.
Try this exercise the next time your working on a new character. I promise it will help.
xoxo
Lisa
Meet Amy and Tommy from The Eighth Summer
I have always loved The Big Chill. I grew up loving the movie and although the story wasn’t as compelling as I wish it had been, there was a familiarity about it that I loved. The thought of friends vacationing together at a picturesque setting and being alone with their feelings was too enticing. Then throw in a loss of someone from their own circle and you have drama and the making of a wonderful plot line.
I remember being on my favorite beach in Cape May NJ and thinking about Tommy and Amy. They were the first characters that I created. I guess you might say everyone else came after. Tommy was this quintessential guy. He was the great friend, the husband everyone wanted and father and I imagined him being this deep and sensitive yet strong character. I’ve always loved the native american culture and legends and stories about american indians and I decided to make Tommy part cherokee. His father’s role throughout the story evolved into something much bigger than I originally had planned.
Being a faith driven person, I always tend to have faith being someone of a force or character in the stories I write. Each of us are either driven by it or driven away from it. So I wanted this presence of Awi, to be one that might symbolize the a superior force in our lives. Although he is not alive in the story, he is reference throughout.
Tommy and Amy have such a beautiful and layered relationship. There is a lot there and most of it needs to be uncovered and dealt with. I didn’t want a perfect couple nor did I want a tragically flawed couple either. I think the subplot of Amy’s insecurities towards Tommy’s old “friend/would be girl friend” is important in the couples journey.
The idea of Tommy and his need for closure with a Maggie Steadman was an idea that was influenced by my favorite television series thirtysomething. Michael Steadman (gave a tribute to the show by giving her Michael’s last name) had saved these letters from an old girl friend who was never truly his girlfriend so he has all these feelings that he never confronted until he sees her after many years. I borrowed the story line of an exchange of a notebook the couple mailed back and forth while in college. They wrote couplets and quoted from poetry to one another. That always struck me as being extremely romantic. Ironically it was the only thing that was romantic in their relationship. So I incorporated that with the subplot pertaining to Tommy and Amy.
I think having them have Gracie (their baby) created a family within the family of friends.
All the others came after.
Although when The Eighth Summer opens up we don’t see Tommy and Amy, we meet Mark. The unseen force behind the story. He is the catalyst for so much that occurs and he later ties them all together in the end without ever saying a word.
I don’t think there is ever a moment that the reader questions Tommy and Amy’s commitment or love for one another. In a way they are the parental figures in the group to all the friends even thought they are all close in age.
I find that in my writing there is always a steadfast stable and magnetic character that serves as the force or conscience to others involved. I definitely did that with Tommy and Amy.
What makes The Shoebox unique?
I could say the answer is that I have tangible multi-dimensional, realistic and believable characters who take the readers by the hand up a steep and jagged coarse and then drag them down like a rollercoaster ride gone haywire.
Maybe it’s the circumstances that make the shoebox unique. To lose someone so integral in one’s life and suddenly have absolutely no contact with and no quick and sure proof of a means to find them can be devastating to anyone. Remember people, internet and google and social media didn’t exist. Hard to believe since we are so horribly pampered with everything and all information at our fingertips.
Maybe what makes it unique is the intensity of the love and passion Peter felt for Maddy throughout his entire life. Although his life changed at each stage, he never truly lost sight of what he once had.
Honestly it could be anyone of those. My feelings are biased. I love these forces that fight all obstacles to be together. I’m a great believer in fate and karma and the great God above. I believe that the universe listens and while we make the choices whether wrong or right ones.
Peter chose to stay monogamous in his heart. Maddy had set a precedence for Peter and although he handled every obstacle in his life with the utmost grace and respect for himself and others, his love remained constant.
I think some of us long for the constant, the never changing and the familiar. At least I do. The saying that love conquers al is something we all want to believe in.
In The Shoebox, love does conquer all, even through death. So yes there are many books out there that have painful and triumphant stories of love and devotion, but what is the one thing that sets them aside from all others?
For me, it is when a character begins to take on a life of their own in your mind. When the beings written and carefully crafted begin to take on form and become somewhat real. They find a home in your inner psyche and you are forced to search for their traits in those you encounter and know.
My cousin said to me after reading my book, “Why was it so sad? Why did it have to end that way?
I responded with a simple answer. If it’s not as close to real life as possible then it’s not worth telling. Haven’t we all lost chances with people we have never again seen? Haven’t we all had someone leave our side whether by choice or by tragedy?
We all have high ideals and standards about love and relationships but one of the common threads we all understand is the fact that nothing is perfect and nothing is forever. We are all flawed and imperfect and in the imperfections and through the flaws and cracks, that is were we find honesty. That is where the true beauty lies.
The characters that are not perfect and magnificently together are the ones that we relate to the most. Sometimes there are rare characters that are fragile and human and yet stoic in some way. They are able to take on what comes with dignity and strength. Those are my favorite. Peter is one of those.
For me, Peter was both strong and tender, and although he was torn with his decisions and haunted by his regrets, he always remained strong in his comportment and respectful of the path he had chosen. Both Maddy and Peter were strong individuals who never gave up on the love they both shared for one another giving the saying “till death us do part” a whole other meaning all together.
What is the Shoebox About?
The Shoebox takes us into the life of Peter Michaels in three different stages. We first see him as a young man in his 20’s finding love. In the second stage, we meet Peter now in his 40’s and as an up and coming architect in the heart of Boston where he is a few weeks shy of his marriage to a fashionable socialite.
The third and final stage takes place with Peter being in his 70’s dealing with his regrets and failed attempts to be with the love of his life.
I wish to stress that the story is beautiful and poignant and touching and not a depressing journey for my readers. Yes there is sadness but there is also so much joy surrounding this character’s life, as in each and every life on this earth has a bit of both.
A few months after the release of my book I received an email from a gentleman from Missouri. I saved it in my computer planning to print it out and save it in the near future. I unfortunately lost the email a few months back when my computer had a malfunction in which I lost hundreds of photos and information. So this is pretty much what I remember from the email. It went something like this.
Dear LMF,
When my wife approached me about your book and how she desperately wanted me to read it I did what every man’s man would have done. I put it off. But after several weeks of nagging I folded like any one in love with their spouse would have.
I would never have dreamed that I would have been immersed so quickly into what I thought was a book that my wife loved but might not interest me. I found myself captivated with the story and most of all, with Peter.
He then continued to tell me about himself. He was in his 70’s and a retired architect. Yes you heard that right. An architect. What are the odds? He said he had fallen in love with his wife in his early teens and they had been together ever since.
What touched me most about his email was that he complimented me on writing in a male perspective and point of view. He said that I had captured not only Peter’s voice but had succeeded to truly express what someone in his age group could relate to.
He also loved how my love for architecture was apparent and he said it was very believable throughout the story.
Now don’t get excited, I really don’t know much about architecture but I am trying to learn. I have don’t quite a deal of construction on my own farmhouse and have learned just from the experience a few things here and there. I researched a few of my favorite architects when forming Peter’s character and since then have devoured several architecture books. I can talk about transoms and arches and chat about restoring, period correct additions and keeping the integrity of an old federal or a greek revival but I have a long way to go in being well versed in the world of architecture.
In closing the gentleman proceeded to tell me about the love he had for his wife and he confessed that he couldn’t bare ever loosing her even after all these years and that’s why Peter’s story had resonated with him.
I loved that email and it was the first validation for me as a “newby” in to the literary world.
What Inspired the story The Shoebox?
When I first thought of writing this novel it was about 25 years ago. I was cleaning out my closet in my office when i stumbled across an old shoebox.
Among a few postcards, old high school photos and a few old boyfriend mementos I found some letters and cards I had kept and for some reason had never discarded. And as I read through them. . . Peter began to take form.
I have been asked by my readers if Peter Michael’s is indeed a fictional character or is there a glimmer of reality in my story. To be completely honest I have to say. . . (wait for it… )
Peter is not completely a fictional character. He is a morphed version of people I have known and yes my husband is one of them. Peter is my perfect “dream man” if I am going to reveal the real truth.
Madeline Marsden, although a primary character takes a second seat to Peter in my novel. The true protagonist, hero, and main character is Peter Michaels.
Ask Lisa A Question