I like having my wife working from home.
(As long as I can stay out of the camera every time I dash past to refill my mug.)
Tag: Relationships
Why settle on one explanation?
In developing sections of The Secret Side of Jaya, a novel upcoming this fall, I found myself applying a technique I’d developed in a genealogical project. There, as I had conflicting accounts regarding a specific instance or detail, rather than trying to lean toward one over the other, I let them all stand in contrast to each other. Sometimes there were two sources, sometimes three, each seeing a person or event quite differently.
It makes me recall the way forest fires are located from lookout towers. Each observer has a horizontal azimuth for determining the direction of the fire from the tower. Once two other lookouts can zero in on the plume of smoke or the flames, the position can be triangulated on a map and forest firefighters dispatched. My technique resembles looking along that line and seeing what comes in front of the fire and what lies beyond.
By acknowledging the different observers in my stories and histories, I also allow for the wider terrain and error in positions. (The smoke might be rising from an unseen valley or be blown by wind.) In these applications, I feel the alternatives make for a richer, more lifelike story.
Well, that’s how it looks from here.
What I’m encountering in a raft of ebooks
As an author of ebooks, I’ve been lately engaged in an orgy of reading works by my fellow Smashwords writers. Admittedly, many of my selections have veered toward writings that reflect topics in my own novels – hippies, yogis, subway riders, millennials, Buddhists, Greek-Americans, and the struggles of new adults, especially. Still, it feels good to get a sense of what others are up to, and their formatting does give me a better sense of my digital options.
As I do so, I often leave brief reviews as a guide for other readers with similar interests. You have no idea how much these mean to a writer, so let me urge you to do the same whenever possible. As one responded, just knowing that she was heard was warm and welcome affirmation.
Just because many of these books are what the big imprints would deem “not viable for commercial publication” does not mean they lack value.
One of my favorites is a two-part memoir by the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who wound up in Nebraska somewhere around the turn of the 20th century. Her candor and details, however simply told, strengthen my understanding of what I present as Cassia’s ancestry in What’s Left. I dread to imagine what would have happened to the memoir in an attempt to jazz it up for wider sales. We should feel honored being allowed in behind the doors of a particular family history so honestly revealed.
It’s something like visiting artists’ studios or art galleries rather than going to the big museums. The scale’s definitely different.
One thing I’m finding is that I apply a more laid-back standard in reviewing these volumes. Yes, they are cheaper, for one thing, but I also read these more like manuscripts than finally processed books. I’m looking especially for freshness and energy, the edge often absent in the book industry. Remember, the big houses no longer nurture talent in the hopes of reaping a hit five books later. Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is where the action is now. Besides, even commercially published works these days aren’t particularly well edited. Alas.
Still, I’m having some common complaints, the pet peeves of an aging copy editor.
“Grey” instead of the American “gray.”
“Towards” rather than the American “toward.”
“That” instead of “who.”
Punctuation errors, especially with single and double quote marks.
Short stories posing as novels. Admittedly, I’m frugal, but these short entries are rarely worth the same as a fully fleshed out book.
To see what I’ve been reading, go to the book reviews at my Jnana Hodson at Smashwords page.
Got any favorite ebooks to recommend?
Another take on divorce
In drafting the first section of what’s now Nearly Canaan, I remembered:
Divorce is a kind of death.
Maybe worse.
Well, Cassia sees something similar in What’s Left.
~*~
How do you feel?
Who sez nothin’ ever happens in a small town?
As the sophisticated outsider at the outset of Nearly Canaan, Jaya’s already at odds with the small-town outlook of Prairie Depot.
For some, she’s a breath of fresh air. For others, she’s a threat. Is it enough to ignite combustion?
Her presence bursts into romance, certainly.
But in freeing her suitor from the inhibitions of his strict upbringing, does she create a monster?
~*~
What’s your take on inhibitions? Especially where you live?
Ten ways ‘What’s Left’ and ‘Nearly Canaan’ differ
I’m relieved to find these two novels have big differences.
Here are ten.
~*~
- Children and family. Cassia starts telling her tale from age 11, and she’s surrounded by her two brothers and a clutch of close cousins. No kids of note in Jaya’s tale.
- Greeks. Central to Cassia’s identity. None pop up in Nearly Canaan.
- Gypsies. Are they really a strand in Cassia’s background? Not a factor in Jaya’s.
- Ghosts. Cassia’s dealing with her family history, after all. Jaya isn’t.
- The cat. A key figure in Nearly Canaan. None by name with Cassia.
- Sexuality. More explicit in some scenes of Nearly Canaan.
- Infidelity. For Cassia, it’s an issue in her parents’ generation. In Jaya’s circle, it’s a more immediate threat.
- Wilderness. The desert is a major influence when Jaya and Joshua move west. Hardly noticeable for Cassia, even when she’s living in Las Vegas. In addition, much of Nearly Canaan veers off into the forests and mountains to their west.
- The volcano. A turning point in Nearly Canaan. No geologic activity in What’s Left, apart from the mountain that triggers Cassia’s lifelong obsession.
- Photography. Her father’s archives become the key to Cassia’s discoveries. None to examine with Jaya.
~*~
Any of these strike your fancy?
Well, there were architects
In drafting my novel, What’s Left, some of my favorite passages came about while sketching the family’s business possibilities. What would be involved in transforming their restaurant? In expanding their real estate holdings? In undertaking alternative financial models?
Well, this is a novel, and in the revisions, they story’s become much more about Cassia than her parents’ generation or their roots. Or even my passion for architecture.
Ten things ‘What’s Left’ and ‘Nearly Canaan’ have in common
Considering that they were drafted 30 years apart, I thought these two novels would have nothing in common.
Boy, was I wrong.
Here are ten overlaps.
~*~
- American Midwest. Southern Indiana for Cassia. The Great Plains or somewhere similar for Jaya and Joshua.
- Asian spiritual practice. Tibetan Buddhism for Cassia’s father. Hindu-influenced yoga for Jaya.
- Relationship and family focus. Five generations for Cassia, including her close cousins known as the Squad. Three same-age couples for Jaya, plus her in-laws and landlords out west.
- Livelihood. Family-owned restaurant and real estate for Cassia’s clan. Nonprofit public services for Jaya.
- Women in business. Cassia’s whole family, from her great-grandmothers down to herself. Jaya in nonprofits management.
- Career uncertainty. Cassia’s cousins have difficult decisions to make about whether to stay with the family business or find other livelihoods. Three of the spouses in Nearly Canaan struggle in their search for suitable employment, while the other three are caught up in their professions.
- Far West. As a young adult, Cassia works with clients across the western half of America, while Jaya and Joshua eventually relocate to the Pacific Northwest.
- Death and loss. They’re central to both books.
- Food. Cassia has all of that Greek heritage. Jaya and Joshua move to a land of orchards and fresh seafood.
- Restaurants. Cassia’s family owns a landmark café. Jaya is introduced to Joshua where he’s a flippant waiter.
~*~
Any of this appeal to you?
Colleges closed down 50 years ago this spring
With all of the college students furloughed home to study online, it’s hard to believe the last time American campuses shut down was springtime a half century ago. Make that the ONLY time.
It was different, though, in several key ways.
The kids weren’t told to pack up and go home. No, we stayed together rather than scattered.
The strikes came from the students and then faculty as a protest against administrators and national events, rather than orders from the top-down.
They were triggered by the slayings of unarmed students at Jackson State in Mississippi and Kent State in Ohio by police and national guardsmen. (Sorry about the pun.)
There were other factors as well.
For those who are interested, my novel Daffodil Uprising covers much of that experience.
~*~
What’s happening today reflects a much different generational divide.
We shared a dream, and our career options appeared wide-open, though they chilled greatly in an economic downturn later that spring. We felt a hippie kinship across much of the nation. And we were angry.
By the way, we weren’t burdened by tuition debt, much less one we’d likely never be able to pay off over our working lifetime.
~*~
At the moment, the generational divide I’m watching is an attitude many have that Covid-19 is just for old folks (like me) or those with preexisting conditions (like some younger people I’m worrying about). Some of them think they’re immune or won’t get truly sick. As one I overheard saying, “I’d take a coronavirus for the team.” Oh, dear.
Let’s get real. I’ll go back to that report from France, where half of the intensive care beds were occupied by people under 30.
Still, there’s much more in this generational divide that’s simply festering. We ignore it at our own peril. What’s your take?
Desire at first sight
My novel, What’s Left, springs from the ending of my first published novel, where our hippie-boy’s troubled journey finally brings him to true love and an embracing community.
Part of his epiphany is brought about by his colleague and guardian angel, Nita, when she hangs two portraits of her younger sister on her wall. Even as a professional photographer, he’s riveted. You could say it was infatuation at first sight. Or something more primordial.
And then, when he visits their family, the romance blossoms.
