The Writer chooses the names, The Reader brings them to life! (Is a name, just a name?)

I am sure you have all read Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, it was required reading when I was in high school. I fell in love with Will Shakespeare words, before I fell in love with a guy. His language was so romantic and it sounded cool not matter how many different ways you spoke it, or how many different accents used. (This was a fun activity in drama class BTW.) I read every play. I knew every word to Romeo and Juliet.
 Yet, I wonder if I would have loved William Shakespeare had his name been something different like. Albert or Elmer? As Shakespeare said: "What is in a name? That which we call a Rose, by any other name would it smell as sweet."

This brings me to my point this week, How important is a name? Does it really matter? Does it change our opinion of the story or the character. For example my name is Jessica. I am not a fan of my name I will tell you why: Everyone has it. All through grade school, middle school, high school, even college I had at least 5 Jessica's in every class, they had to come up with nicknames sometimes it was terrible. I mean I am grateful my parents didn't name me something weird but, I would have liked something less popular.  I truly think a name has a major impact on the story and its audience.
I mean no matter how gorgeous the guy is described if his name is: Sir Oliver Loser... the first thing that comes to mind is Loser right? Even if the guy is amazing you'll be thinking during the whole book, hes a loser. I have seen this in lots of books. It somewhat ruins the story for me. The other one that frustrates me is names I cannot pronounce. Changing the spelling of common names is great too; Like Jayson, or Mykel. However,it needs to be the same pronunciation, something similar or you have lost the audience in a name. This is a point my college creative writing teachers really pressed upon. I have never forgotten it either.  So ethnic and historical names are great if the general audience can understand them, and say them. Otherwise it is difficult to become part of that characters life and there world if you are not connected, and it begins through the name.  To me the name draws you attention on the back of the book, just like the title and cover draws you attention in the front. This is just my opinion though. I am an avid reader and as such I am looking for these things all the time. My hope is that it will make me a better writer too.

This week I was putting together my extensive cast list for my four book series.
As I was going through my list I realized I had four different Jack's?? What? Now mind you some of these names and characters are ones I had written over ten years ago with the start of this book. So I checked out baby name web sites, and checked out baby name books from the library. I love doing this because I feel like my characters are my kids so I take care when naming them just like you would with your own child. As your child grows so does the amount of friends they have etc. Also I realized a whole family didn't have names, etc. So I thoroughly enjoyed myself while naming them all and there children. I even wrote little bios for each of them. It is silly, but my family has grown larger so I have become attached lol, to them. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; a name was the enemy, it was what kept Romeo and Juliet apart. It makes for a very dramatic play and story.
   

Characters and Secondary characters are what makes up a story. Some of my teachers had a firm belief that the secondary characters need to have as much back-story as the main characters. This works great for me because, I write in series so the same characters carry on to their own stories. This was a hugs drawback when I first began my story. I loved my secondary characters so much, I would jump from head to head, voice to voice, taking away from my love story and my heroine and hero. That I have learned is not what you want to do. I have learned to mention things small and little things here and their instead of huge monologues by them.

The coolest thing about a name I think is what it means to you, why did you chose it? When I chose the name, I can see the person, and they start to be real, it was an amazing discovery this week. With all that research in names, and characters, and small bios, I found new story ideas, and new scenes I can add etc. it opens doors when you find the right name. Keep in mind though when you are dealing with a period piece or a historical novel you need to make sure the name is accurate. I am pretty sure they didn't have all the Apples, and Kelsey's, and Maddison's that they do now. So its always important with cultural references too, specific cultures chose specific names based on religion, beliefs, family etc. so all those need to be considered too.

~Life is a work in progress as writing is...Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

The Writer who overcame writers Limbo, The Reader who is researching and seeing locations come to life!

 One of my favorite things to do when writing is look for photos that inspire me. A name, a place, a flower, whatever sparks the muse or mood I guess. Every once in a while I find a photo I love and I have to find out more about it. My current book has a character from Missouri, it is where my mother grew up and I have always wanted to visit. Thanks to the amazing internet I can visit their. The left is a photo and below are of Rock port, Missouri..I loved the fact that it was black and white and also was charming. The classic buildings are adorable. I decided my girl needed to grow up here.  My research has been so much fun. All of my stories are set in Portland, Oregon where I grew up. So I find the city and all its buildings amazing. Portland is great in that it restores the old and meshes it with the new buildings. In some areas it looks as if you stepped back in time, just like Rock Port below. England is also a place I have always wanted to visit. Wikipedia is one of my favorite sites on the internet and I love that I can find small towns and villages there.

The next set of photos are of Overton, Hampshire, England. Where my girls dad grew up. I chose these towns based on the photos. It is beautiful how a town or a moment can be captured behind the lens. I hope I am able to capture that in my stories as well.

There are so many times during this writing process when I am just overwhelmed there are so many books out there to read. So many versions of what to do, how to write etc. I have found this is my way. Research, visuals, and sometimes going in person to a location to see it, feel it, smell surroundings etc.

The above photos are of the Pearl district  it is one of my favorite places in Portland, Oregon. It is fascinating to me that a warehouse district is now an upscale shopping an restaurant district, it also boasts loft living at its finest! Below is my current building. I found a photo of this. Just its corner. The first shot of the brick building was all I found on the internet. I only had a street number. So I went in search of this actual building in the Pearl. It is better in person then online and the buildings around it are too. Below are some of the photos.

Around this area is also my other place to be when not writing Powell's city of books. It is one of the things our city is famous for and it lives up to its name.

Below are quotes I love, they describe writing in its essence..

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

So I am happy to say my writers block is gone hallelujah!! As a reader I started reading my story as a  it has been great, except for a few parts... (well stuff I forgot to add, my poor readers glad I caught it!) Documented above is my research has lately on my current book, and adding to finished book...

~Life is a work in progress as writing is...Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

The Writer who is Thankful... The Reader who is in search of Thanksgiving recipes?

 It is amazing to me that as I get older, I am still learning each day. I enjoy the challenge of learning new things each day. I have been doing this lately with recipes and trying new ingredients and different tastes. My family has enjoyed this too. All of them except my 10 year old son he is less then thrilled with new stuff but he has been trying it. I used butternut squash with a pork chop recipe it turned out yummy. Heres the link to that recipe by the way:

 http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-pork-recipes

This Thanksgiving was no exception. I am the oldest of three. I have always had a certain responsibility when it comes to holidays and in recent years it usually means I host the events at my house and everybody comes...So when holidays arise it is hectic.  This year was no exception. I was hosting and in charge of making the main meal! In the past it has been my house, I am the host and everybody else brings the food. I just show up usually because I am working at the hospital. So I have been spoiled I guess! I have made a turkey before but never for other people at a large event. I was very stressed. I was sure I would mess it up and everyone would be talking about the mess up till I die. My family is great that way. Reminding you in subtle ways forever, like the time at Christmas when the flue on the fireplace was closed and started a fire not knowing this and caught the wreath above it on fire!! Lol, I can laugh about this now. I am happy to say I didn't burn the turkey!!! No fires either!!!  So I learned that with faith and a good recipe food turns out very good.

 My most interesting thought while as the READER looking though all the cookbooks and websites. Was how a recipe is like a good novel. You have all these ingredients and temperature, and you make it and have faith it will turn out good. I think this is what in essence what writers do. We add all the ingredients, and after we try the recipe once, the next time we make it we change it to our tastes, or add other ingredients we like, and the recipe becomes ours. A good story is something that you read and you love. As the WRITER I am always thinking well if I wrote this story I would have added more to this, or taken this out. It is like doctoring a recipe. So I am still working on the recipe that I think will work best for my finished novel and I am creating a new one with my second  book.

  So I am very thankful for my family that keeps me grounded and my husband who gets me to laugh a lot when I am stressed. I am grateful for my friends who keep reading my ramblings and my future friends that will read my stories. Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you have much to be thankful for, and many blessings to reflect upon.

Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

Research and Real life!

 As a mother and wife, I find myself constantly pulled in ten thousand directions, I always seem to put others before myself. I chose to do other things for them. Then my research on agents, or I miss critique meetings because my children are sick. I wonder sometimes if I will ever have time to complete my personal goals, like published novel, or college degree. Both things, I have consistently put off because I put family first. it is something at a young age I was taught to do.

My mom (whom I have a great relationship with now) walked out on my dad and us kids. Myself age 13, My sister age 7, and my brother age 6. So at the tender age of 13 I had to take on the responsibility of the household duties and my siblings with no help! I didn't know how to do laundry or cooking? My mom never taught me those things. I am not sure why. I taught myself, and I learned quick and I have always been the fixer and the planner. I am very good at helping others, I fall short when it comes to myself though.

 It is a lengthy story, but at its heart is the most profound thing.
 My mom spent her life taking care of my dad, us kids, the neighbor kids, daycare kids, in church daycare. She gave up her chance at a college degree, and good job with a cosmetic company (one she adored) to marry my dad. She was only 19. She an my father didn't communicate at all. My mom would think my dad could read her non-verbal signals (as we know men are not mind readers, neither are we) My mom spent her free time writing, she is one of my biggest inspirations to write. She was a fantastic poet, and writer. She told us stories, each day she would pick out a random word in the dictionary and we would learn its definition. It was amazing. I could see the light in her eyes an the excitement. It was contagious. She even had one of her stories published. She won a writing contest too. She was so excited she told my dad. He was UN-impressed. My mom was crushed. She stopped sending her writing out, and she stopped telling us stories. She gave up. She was so hurt, but she never told my dad. She still hasn't published her stories. I am trying to encourage her too. Its a challenge she has convinced herself she is no good and won't even try. I am working on it. =)

 Mind you my dad was not perfect, I still wonder if she would have explained how much that meant to her, would his reaction have been the same? Why do I talk about this. Well in my own life I have seen many similarities to my mom and me. I find myself drifting away from my goals. Doing all for others and not myself. It is my husband that shakes me out of this funk and encourages me to pursue this dream. I am so lucky to have that.

My first year of college I told my dad I wanted to major in English. My dad told me that writing was not a job. That English teachers are a dime a dozen, and I needed to get a real job? I was crushed by that statement,so I changed my degree to Business in response to this. I respected my dad and thought he was right. I learned he was very wrong at least for me. I listened to the egotistical male teachers talk about business as if they were the kings. Everything was done only one way. It was so frustrating for me, my creative mind was screaming get me out of here. So I dropped business. I returned to English, with a minor in History. It was a great move for me. I loved school again and was learning everything I could. Still have not finished that degree, I am very close and, returning to school hopefully the winter term. Moral to this is I need to get moving on my goals.

My reading this week has included a lot of publishing, and agent books, as well as the writers market. My research brain is tired. I am making sure to educate myself with this business decision, my agent and my book.

 I am reminded of one of the first series books I read at the age of 13. The Little House on the Prairie series, I also loved the television show when I was a kid. Wonderful stories. Wonderful family. My love of history and creative imagination loved these.

Here is a link to learn more about the Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder

A wonderful read for any little girl, and great intro to series books!

The list of books (thanks to Wikipedia):

Little House books

The eight "original" Little House books, were published by Harper and Brothers with illustrations by Helen Sewell (the first three) or by Sewell and Mildred Boyle.

• Little House in the Big Woods (1932) – named to the inaugural Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 1958
• Farmer Boy (1933) – about Almanzo Wilder growing up in New York
• Little House on the Prairie (1935)
• On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)^[b]
• By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)^[b]
• The Long Winter (1940)^[b]
• Little Town on the Prairie (1941)^[b]
• These Happy Golden Years (1943)^[b]