Creative Writing BFA in Poetry and Fiction

 While no progress has been made on Ben's Story, I have been busy writing to complete a BFA at Boise State. Over a leisurely 8 years of taking random writing classes, I was informed that it was time to declare a major in order to get the senior discount! So, that's what I did. 

My classes were mostly fun and helpful. In fact, my last fiction class involved an entire semester of re-editing NPD. The professor was also working on his first novel, so he had lots of good tips. Fun fact: NPD was completed 12 years ago! So, it's that much closer to being published, though that road is still murky.

This summer, I hope to find time to continue writing. The grandkids asked me if I was going to have a new job, now that I had a new degree. I said, "Yes! Writer!" I'd better be an honest grandma.

Made for TV?

This semester, I'm enrolled in a screenwriting class at Boise State University. In the first class, I learned that we will have the opportunity to create three 30-min episodes for television. This is not just a class assignment--it's a competition and the winner will likely get to help edit, shoot and produce the episodes. 

Of course, I am going to select scenes from North Pine Dove and maybe even Ben's Story. The series needs to have a beginning, middle and end and stand alone, so there's so much to consider. What I'd REALLY like you to do (if you've read it) is send me a message describing your favorite scenes and the scenes that you think would best tell the story. Also, what would work well for TV?

If have not read it, I will send you the link to the book if you email or message me.

So much to consider. Please help!

Ben's Story

So much has happened since my last post nearly two and a half years ago. I'll skip all the irrelevant stuff and jump right to the news that I'm working on the sequel to North Pine Dove! 

I'm debating about whether to start a new blog that more accurately tells the story that I'm going solo this time. Wish me luck!

First, what is the current status of NPD? I am continuing to edit it, but I'll have to either hire an editor or come up with another plan to get it published. It will happen!

In the meantime, I've taken two fiction workshop courses at BSU. They've both been useful, as I don't have a degree in English or Creative Writing! I've learned some new concepts that have improved my writing. More importantly, the assignments have kept me writing, when I might have lapsed.

Most of the focus in my classes has centered on the short story, but both professors have found that several students in each class are writing novels and have tailored the assignments to suit our educational/artistic goals. Bottom line, I'm making progress on the sequel, which I call (working title) Ben's Story. Cindi and I had crushes on Ben and could not let go of him, so it only fits that he is the focus of the sequel. Other key characters are Norah, of course, Ginny and Fianna.


The plot is only developed so far and I have a couple of possible directions in mind. I won't give away too much, but in the beginning of the sequel, Norah's old phone is found and it seems to have not lost its powers. Who will get their hands on it and what kind of trouble will they get themselves into? Will Ben buy the old Johansson farm? Will he and Norah have a second go of it? Do we know Ben and his past as well as we think we do?

My brother Larry who lives in Portland, ND is a black powder enthusiast. He was instrumental in helping me learn about guns that may have been popular a hundred years ago when Ben's great uncle was mixed up with Al Capone. I'll be depending on him from time to time--especially now, without my dad's help. (My dad DID get to read NPD more than a year before he passed in April of 2016. His feedback was so important to us and a motivator to finish the book.) I mailed the first 30 pages of Ben's Story to Larry last week and hope to hear his reactions (and his wife, Schela's) soon. (Larry is a Louis L'Amour aficionado and Schela loved NPD, so they provide a diverse sort of feedback for me!)

Finally, if you haven't read NPD and want a copy, email me at pmgrich@gmail.com and I'll send you a link to it! The more feedback I get, the better! It'll keep me motivated to get it published!

Real Hits From Russia?

This is my first (and probably only) blog about my blog. I'm curious who, outside of the U.S., is reading it.

Every couple of weeks, I get about fourteen hits from Russia. This article says they could be spam hits, but if they're real people, I'm very interested in knowing who they--YOU--are!

http://www.themilelongbookshelf.com/2014/03/discussion-how-accurate-are-your.html#.VdOUQvlVhBc

This is what the writer of a blog gets to see,
along with some other data.

So, please "join" the blog or send me an email or comment below so I can learn more about you! If you're real people, I would love to know more about your interest in North Pine Dove!

Bring It On Home

Here I sit at what I sincerely hope is the end of a long dry spell of self-induced separation from NPD. My justification is that if I don't take time out for life, I won't have anything to write about. So, for a multi-generational novel you need to spend time with your multi-generational family, so that just what I did. (The event was our 40th wedding anniversary.)

Back at it, I went to an event this week that got me super-charged to do more of all the creative things I do, including not just writing, but working toward turning NPD into a screenplay (Cindi's initial goal) and even working more with video production. Years ago I directed plays, so actually making a movie is not a completely foreign concept.

The event was "Boise Cutters" a local film group at which Will von Tagen, writer, director, actor in "Almosting It" spoke about his production. (This film is just starting to make the rounds...trailer here-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaaP57CnTfY) I also had a conversation with Mike Tetro, who worked on the film and is a promoter for "Almosting It". Like so many creative types, Will and Mike are supportive and inspirational to the point that they reach out personally and via social media to include people like myself. They made me feel as though I really could give up everything else and just do my creative work.

The exciting news that is relevant to North Pine Dove today is that tomorrow I leave for Minnesota where Cindi and I will hit numerous libraries to absorb a last bit of vibe from, specifically, young women of the early 1900's. This is something that, in retrospect, would have been smart to do from day one. (Next time, I'll be smarter.) It seems that the UND Chester Fritz Library in Grand Forks has a floor and willing employees who have access to diaries and other writings of young women of that era. We will also be headed to the University of Minnesota, where there is a digitized copy of the early East Grand Forks papers. There are some resources that you just can't access online. While on our last round of scooping up material, we also hope to meet with those in EGF who have indicated an interest in helping us to promote NPD in the region. We particularly look forward to doing a little "work" at Whitey's Bar and Grill...scene of the crime, er, historical events.

Then, we're looking at some final edits and BOOM. It's a book---either with an agent or indie published! This summer was our goal all along and here we are. Go time!

Literary Circles

Here it is the middle of May already and life has been  happening, while Cindi and I try to keep each other fired up to understand and tackle the query process. At the same time, our beta readers--whom we thank profusely--are giving us helpful comments and corrections. Still, it seems things have sloowed dooowwnn.

Then, along came the Idaho Writers Rendezvous  http://idahowritersrendezvous.blogspot.com/ and I'm way fired up now.

The boring part of the story, which I'll get out of the way now, is that I was not granted professional leave (from school) to go to the conference, so I had to dash downtown, park and go to sessions, dash to school, teach three periods and then dash back downtown for more. And I only got one parking ticket! Oh, the things a writer has to endure ;).

Neither Cindi nor I has ever published anything, so what we know about the lingo and the process is mostly thanks to Google. I did go hear Anthony Doerr speak last spring with the express purpose of asking how to go about getting published. I know--presumptuous of me. But he's a Boisean, so whatever. Fortunately others had the same questions in mind, so from that I gathered that you get an agent and go from there--boom! Or not.

I won't detail all of the sessions I attended at the Idaho Writers Rendezvous, but every one taught me specific tips that will be useful--and already are useful to me. Best of all, though, were the two one-on-one sessions I had the courage to jump into at the last minute.

John Helfers, author & editor

First, I met with John Helfers, an author and editor currently living in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Check this out-- http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/john-helfers/ is one of many links to John.

This meeting was called a manuscript evaluation and John had a dozen pages of NPD in advance, which he marked up with comments and corrections. Then we met for over a half hour. (He was generous with his time, as I was the last appointment.) My biggest take-away from the meeting was the reminder that writers need to "show me--not tell me" or write out the action instead of describing it. In general, his comments both during the session and again the next morning when I ran into him were that I should trust in the story and in my writing. It was very affirming. Oh, and what a coincidence...his wife, who is also a writer, is researching soiled doves in the West. I am hopeful that she and I can communicate and share some of our resources.

Much of the conference focused on indie publishing (self-publishing) as that seems to be the preferred direction for most authors. Traditional publishing is thought to be too slow and that the author gives up some control with an agent a publisher. With indie publishing, the writer depends heavily on editors before putting their work on the market. With an agent, it seems you hand your work off, maybe make some revisions and then it's in their hands, though I'm not totally clear on that.

Elizabeth Wales
Agent, Wales Literary Agency

Regardless, by the last day, I realized how really great it was that there were agents at the clinic--I know--I'm kind of slow some times. So, on the fly, I made an appointment to do a 10 minute pitch with one of them. I chose Elizabeth Wales, the principle agent and co-founder of the Wales Literary Agency, Inc., based in Seattle, Washington. http://www.waleslit.com/about/  Instead of a real lunch, I wrote my "logline", sort of (which I learned that morning is a couple of lines of essential dramatic narrative about your book). Otherwise, I had nothing prepared, so, on my phone, I pulled up a couple of query letters I had written and after a quick bite of lunch, in I went.

Ms. Wales was receptive, yet challenging and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to pitch North Pine Dove. Some of the questions she asked were ones I had prepared for by writing queries. Others caught me off guard and made me sputter. All in all, the process made me want more! And in the end, she asked me to send her the manuscript when we're finished with the editing process. That felt good.

As I reflect on the whole experience I realize that of course it was fun. People actually wanted me to talk about NPD. Seriously, though, the more people challenge me to clarify the story, the motives, the message--the better it becomes. John Helfers told me I might want to "take it to New York" and after hearing that twice, I smiled sheepishly and said, "I have no idea what that means." (It means you actually go to New York and try and meet with agents and pitch your book!) I'm up for that. Cindi? :) Tax deductible! But hey, maybe we only have to go as far as Seattle.

Here is the logline I'm working on, though it's still twice as long as it should be:

Women's lives matter, yet our words, our everyday lives--even our names--are lost, whether we lived a thousand years ago, or a generation ago. And worse yet, if we are the disenfranchised, we have vanished completely.

Norah Martin never thought of herself as a trailblazer. It was a mystery even to her why she became consumed with finding out what happened to a young farm family. Then suddenly, she could travel back in time to solve their mysteries and discover why the missing wife, Eleanor, ended up in a tenderloin district. She would be the voice Eleanor never had, and in the process, heal herself and others.

If you read this far, you really should click on "join" in the upper right hand corner, if you haven't already.

Waiting for Godot?

Hopefully there aren't too many similarities between us and the storyline (or outcome) of Waiting for Godot other than the waiting part. And, in reality, we're doing much more than just waiting to find out what will become of North Pine Dove.

Both Cindi and I have been actively crafting queries to selected agencies. As a new author, I'm learning that every one wants something different, from 250 words to a page and the first fifty pages of the manuscript! Some want a chapter by chapter summary which is much more work than it sounds like. I thought, hey, no problem, since I had just named all the chapters. But, as I told Cindi, I have been feeling like someone is squeezing my brain while I work on the now-projected 10-page document...single spaced. Makes you wonder--is that really what they want? I sure hope so, after all this work!

One unexpected pleasure is actually found in discovering what each of the potential agents wants. So many want historical fiction, soft sci-fi (para-normal/time travel romance), literary memoir, upmarket women's fiction (anyone want to explain that?) and other descriptors that sound like NPD. That gives us plenty of queries to write in ways that are unique to each. http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/definitions/what-is-upmarket-fiction-defining-the-classification

Some of the most promising agencies are based in Minnesota and for obvious reasons, we are giving special attention to those. Still, the themes of multi-generational intrigue seem to be popular to a large market, so we're hopeful NPD will find that market!

Then, there's the eternal task of editing. I don't think there's a page that doesn't need a comma added or removed, a word that isn't perfect or a transition that is a little glitchy. Of course, at some point we'll have to be done, but we're not there yet. Most of the time, I love the story more after working over a scene.

I have a note to the few readers we have spoken to, if you're out there: We look forward to lots of comments from you!

Our dad read the rough draft and blew us away with the mostly positive feedback. He's not known for turning a flowery phrase, so we figured either Mom told him he had to say nice things (which she denies) or he was pleasantly surprised/proud.

Mom is reading the book now and everything predicted in "What Will My Mother Think?" and more has become a reality. She's not even to any sex yet--seems you can't say hell, damn, shit or oh, God and be a good person in Mom's eyes. We're sad to say this has embarrassed her and even hurt her health. We go back and forth between placating her and calling foul, having caught her in a rare, yet true, expletive in her day--or was that one of her sisters?! Bottom line: Trust us, Mom!

So to our potential agents out there...give us a shot! To our first readers...give us some feedback! Don't be our Godot ;).

The Last Chapter and Preparing to Let Go

The final chapter of North Pine Dove is taking awhile to write. I find myself thinking of all the books I've read--or decided against reading--because someone said "I liked the book but I hated the ending". Who wants to read that book? At that point, you don't care why they hated it--you just know it's not worth your time.

The other hesitation is that I don't want to let go of the book, so I'm savoring the last opportunities to include everything that matters.

When Cindi and I set out to write a book almost three years ago, we began with a pretty well-developed plot, so, the ending is more one of necessity than it is random. There are many mysteries or questions that have to be answered by the end of the book (and just a few parts left up to the reader's imagination). Had it not been for our weeks in the summer and quick trips home in the winter when we collaborated--there would be no book. But a plot outline and frequent collaboration does not automatically create a book. People have to actually write it. And in the writing of it, I have learned that getting from a. to b. is much trickier than it appears. If you've done any fiction writing, you don't need me to explain that and if you haven't, there aren't words...."

So, in gently folding the petals of the story back into place at the end, I've resorted to making lists of minutiae that have to be consiously resolved or dropped. Let me give you an example of a movie in which that didn't happen.

When I was in high school, I went to see "The Sandpiper" with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Eva Marie Saint. I was too young for the movie, which was a bit sophisticated for my taste. I'm including the link below without opening it--that'll have to be another day. Something in the movie (and I can't even remember what at this point) was neglected at the end. Some puzzle or riddle. It's bugged me ever since. I've always planned to watch it again and see if it was just my teenaged brain that couldn't grasp symbolism or something more--an actual mistake, as in, the resolution of the issue was accidently left on the cutting room floor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059674/

I don't want to annoy our readers by leaving story lines hanging or poorly resolved. Sometimes it occurs to me that if I get in a hurry to finish it, I'll make that mistake. I'll wake up in the middle of the night after the book has gone to press and think Oh, my God...I forgot to say what happens to whomever. So, even though the book is nearing 88K words, I'm going to take all the time it takes to satisfy myself, Cindi and hopefully the reader. Speaking of which, I have two people--maybe three who have agreed to proofread it! That's good, but scary. I have to remind myself that we always love our own babies, no matter what. Even if it's an ugly baby--an annoying baby--it's our baby and I'll love it.

So, to finish the book, I pulled out a DVD I have of interviews with our mother and I'm sqeezing in just a little more of her memories life on the farm. Here's a snippet of one of the sweetest memories she shared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysTvBN-_FjY

Next post will surely be about how the rough draft is complete.

Ways to Avoid Actually Writing

The "power of the white" blocks the creative juices of some writers when they sit down to a blank page. Painters feel it, too. When I took Painting 101, we were told to just add a tone--any tone--to the gesso and that would help. But people who tend to stall or go blank can be resourceful when it comes to spending hours and having little to show for it. One day a couple of months ago, I started a list of my personal patterns of distractions. Maybe some of you can relate to it.

45 Ways to Avoid Writing a Novel

1. Check FB.
2. Open Google Drive. Open manuscript.
3. Stare at list of scenes.
4. Open to last page and try to continue writing, but feel stuck.
5. Do a little more research.
6. Check FB.
7. Think about your next blog post.
8. Check FB.
9. Read a scene you wrote three years ago.
10. Wonder why you wrote something so lame.
11. Re-write scene from three years ago.
12. Check email. Respond to three emails.
13. Post a status update on FB.
14. Read the last place you left off in novel.
15. Message your sister. Exchange six other messages with sister.
16. Call sister.
17. Write a few lines and refill your coffee.
18. Let the dog out.
19. Check word count.
20. Call your Mom or Dad to ask what life was like when X happened.
21. Feel inspired and quickly write next scene but run out of time (to go to paying job) to finish.
22. Realize the dog has been barking and let him in.
23. Have out-of-town guests who hate that you’re writing a book so you go three days without writing a word. (Of course it was worth it :).)
24. Post 50 (phototshopped) pics from weekend on FB.
25. Check FB for responses to pics.
26. Write your next blog post.
27. Check pageviews on blog post every 15 minutes.
28. Ponder over old photos to try to beam yourself back in time.
29. Write some good stuff but realize you haven’t eaten all day.
30. Notice there’s no food in fridge. Grocery shop.
31. Start writing something awesome and realize your husband has been sharing (with you, presumably) a personal experience he’s really excited about and you have to ask him to start over, respectfully.
32. Go to your paying job, again.
33. Re-read nearly the whole book. Might lead to clarity and inspiration...but no new pages.
34. Turn off your computer. Your two-year-old grandsons are tag-teaming on the keyboard and pull up the trash can.
35. Check FB.
36. Let the dog out. Follow the dog out and notice you haven’t been weeding the garden.
37. Change the font and spacing and see if you like the look of it better.
38. Let the dog in.
39. Start doing reseach but buy stuff on Amazon.
40. Read a scene you wrote last night. Revel in it, while indentifying your own narcissistic tendencies.
41. Read the scene to your husband. Run out of time to write anything else.
42. Spend twenty  minutes figuring out what time of day it is in the novel to decide if the characters would be having a meal. Oh, wait...I’m hungry and they don’t matter.
43. Pet the cat.
44. Check the word count. Oh, my. the book is nearly long enough to be a book!
45. Repeat all.

Even with all that, I am happy to be at the 70K+ stage of the book and look forward to seeing the final storylines come together and the last chapters being completed so we can start to ask friends, relatives and co-workers to proofread it for us!

Not Ready for Prime Time

Innocently enough, I wrote to a couple of hometown papers last week. In my never-ending search for the kinds of letters, newspapers, diaries and photos that our characters are finding in trunks and through word-of-mouth, I decided to do a little reaching out of my own. I was at a point where I felt kind of stuck--like I was just making things up without hearing some more first-hand accounts of life over a hundred years ago.

This is a clip from the Warren Sheaf where
they mention that my great grandmother's
sister had been up for her sister's funeral
It happens to be election day, as well.

Now, those of you who are my Facebook friends know that for a couple of weeks I was posting incessant clips of archived newspapers from the early 1900's which I found online thanks to "The Warren Sheaf"--the newspaper from Warren, MN, near my mother's home town. (See link below.)

There was the one about the guy who took a train ride but wasn't cracking jokes as usual because he was dead. (It was his obituary.) Then there were ads for a massage parlor in Warren offering massage and medical gymnastics...in your home. My favorite ads were telling of the whereabouts of my long ago relatives and their visits to each others' homes. I even found my great-grandmother's obituary, which no one, including my mother, had ever seen. It recounts her untimely death a few days after giving birth in 1900.

But, back to my innocent emails to local papers in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.... By the next morning, I had received an email from "The Exponent" in EGF wanting an interview with Cindi and me--and photos. Both of us went into a frenzy, because we hadn't even thought about the publicity aspects of writing a book, beyond this blog, of course. (For me, this is just an extension of the book, more than anything.) All I was hoping for is a 2" by 2" ad requesting that people send me their grandparents' stories!

Should we give the interview already? Should we wait for a bigger publication? Should we wait until the book is going to print? I called and talked to the person who wanted to do the story--a Ryan Bergeron. I thought, "Hmmm. Sounds pretty young." But having been interviewed by high school kids for the school paper every year of my life, I figured it has to turn out better than most of those stories! In the backs of our minds, we were (and are) pretty excited and flattered that anyone is interested in the book.

Cindi and I spent the next twenty-four hours (besides working our jobs) answering the interview questions and sharing them back-and-forth for editing and locating pictures we didn't both hate of ourselves. Guess I'll need some professional head shots in the future! Anyway, the finished product will be here Wednesday:
http://www.page1publications.com/editionviewer/?Edition=09ed0444-8da6-48de-9e4c-7633159d3268

However stunning (or not) this newspaper coverage comes across, please remember that we are interested in your older relative's stories of Grand Forks & East Grand Forks between 1900--1930. Did they save old newspapers, diaries, letters? We'd like to read them or just hear about them through you! Of particular interest are stories that involved crimes, The Hollow (red light district), the lumber or railroad workers but ordinary family life can be very helpful, as well. This is a book of fiction and no names will be used. Also, we're not really looking for story ideas--the book is over half written and the plot well-developed--just more texture; more authentic events.

Best of all will be when our parents open their paper and are surprised to see the story. When you're in your late 80's and your "kids" are in the paper, you have bragging rights. If you know them, please don't call them and ruin the surprise.

The Warren Sheaf may be found here: http://www.warrensheaf.com/74444/2118/1/home

P.S. I found myself wondering what happened to Miss Christina Lind, who may have been just a teenager at the time of her sister's death, that in the April 9 issue it was reported that she was "able to be up again" and would soon be returning to her home. It didn't seem like anyone recovered from much of anything back then, so I'm relieved.

The Fading Distinction Between My Life and the Story

I wonder if all writers get so submerged in their plots that they forget something they wrote didn't really happen. That happens to me, and novels I'm reading on the side start to blur into my plot, as well. Someone receives sheet music in Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) and my characters discover sheet music in the bottom of a trunk, for example. After a while, I have trouble distinguising between the two. Who found what music?

Cindi and I have had repeated and sometimes spine-tingling coincidences all along the way and I wish I could remember them all. When we were working on the gemstone idea, for example, and Cindi chose the chrysoprase. We later learned that the stone is said to be associated with her astrological sign (Libra) and my birthstone (May) and neither one of us had ever heard of it before. (We now both own charms containing chrysoprase stones.)

Last week I spent a couple of days working out a favorite scene in which our main character and her guy friend find a trunk of old instruments. They carefully take them out and gently play a couple of them. They decide to refurbish them. Later, our heroine time travels back in time and becomes a young woman who receives a marriage proposal after which her betrothed plays her a love song on a violin. Back in the present, she learns that it wasn't her imagination--that a young woman actually did receive a proposal and that the old violin in their trunk is one and the same.

Carrie Cartee, original owner of the Weber
piano purchased in 1877. She told the man
who was about to refurbish it that it was the
right thing to do.

The next day, the Idaho Statesman ran a story about a young woman in 1877 who purchased a piano in NYC and had it shipped to Boise--part of the way by covered wagon. She played the piano for many years, wearing indentations in the ivory the size of her small hands, but recently, it has been in storage. Now, it is about to be refurbished. The man doing the refurbishing says (see link to article below) about the young woman who owned the piano in 1877, "Carrie told me it was the right thing to do." The story goes on to say, Working on the piano, especially in the dark, quiet recesses...lets him experience something akin to time travel, he said--like "Back to the Future"....

Now, I understand that to the average person that's not such a remarkable coincidence, but I had just struggled through the writing process. I had gone mentally into not only the present day world of the novel, but also the 1914 world of the novel. I was barely digging my way back to the present that foggy morning I sat inhaling my strong coffee and blinking the sleep out of my eyes to read piano repairman's version of what the piano--and it's owner--said to him. And I was there.

Whether I write in the morning before school or at night, I later walk around still in the plot, like an actor who stays in character after the curtain. So I guess in only makes sense that the past and the present and the fact and the fiction start to run together.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/10/24/3445489_new-life-for-old-idaho-treasure.html?rh=1

Target Audience--or What Will My Mother Think?

One of the motivations for my sister and me is that our parents are tuned in to our efforts to write--and to finish--our book. They are in their late 80's--Dad will be 90 in April--and have battled (and mostly conquered) health problems. I guess you might say we feel we have a soft deadline. 

From the first days of the book's inception, we were around our parents, discussing the history of the area in which they live and asking a lot of questions about what life was like 'back in the day'. We've interviewed them both, for the book and just because that's what we do, so, though they don't know a whole lot about the story line, they know their experiences, personalities and even quirks may be reflected directly or indirectly in our characters and the plot itself.

All that has made it more difficult for me to write some of the upcoming scenes that may or may not include--wait for it--sex. Our lead character is a woman in her mid-forties. She has interesting men in her life--one where she works as a college professor, one in her hometown (that bears a striking resemblance to East Grand Forks, MN) and one when she time travels. We (the writers) know where these relationships are going, but not how much detail the reader will enjoy second hand, so to speak. 

I've read some pretty sexy books along the way and often wondered what kind of person writes all that soft porn. Then there was the Girl With a Dragon Tattoo series. Not sure what you call that sex (other than rape). So here I am, deciding whether I'm that kind of person! 

Some practical issues I have to consider are the authenticity of the storyline. If you know me at all you know I will fight like hell to write--with my sister's steadfast input--a story that is the one I want to tell. Another issue is that I don't want to fall into the sugary world of the Hallmark made-for-TV-movie, though those have their place. Do I do like movie directors and insert the required number of F-bombs or nudity to get the movie/book the PG-13 or R rating? I hope not. Do I depict a sexy love scene that adults in their 40's might have? Hmmm. I'm trying to tread lightly here because I've recommended my blog to high school students. But I must admit, brainstorming a love/sex scene is not all bad. :)

Of course I hit the interwebs to find (not only these photos) but articles and blogs about writing to a target audience. I figured maybe someone had suggestions. I didn't read about the sexy part (I dread seeing what I get if I include the word sex in my search string, for starters) but I did find some inspiring and useful tips.

One I found-- http://www.yourwriterplatform.com/how-to-target-an-audience/ had a good checklist that included geographic (check), demographic (maybe), psychographic (?) and behavioural (too deep for me). 

Since we have time travel in our book, I learned that the novel might be categorized as soft sci-fi, which was a new term for me. 

But my favorite link was: http//storyfix.com/6-ways-novelists-can-use-target-marketing-a guest-post-from-jan-bear  
There is a category that the author calls literary sophistication that addresses "unusual narrative techniques for their own sake". Jan Bear references the novel Time Zone by Tom Lichtenberg and discusses the way he uses time travel to show a variety of character interactions and character development. Our plot is not exactly like that, but is similar. As novice writers, it felt like quite a validation--that it's good to write in a way that feels natural--even if it's quirky. Maybe it will hit a target audience and maybe it won't, but at least it won't get lost on the romance novel shelves...assuming it gets on anyones shelf!

So what all this has to do with my target audience is that I'm about to decide--is my mom (or dad*) at the top of my target audience or do I include mildly sexy scenes? Do I avoid sex in order to give the story line more of an historic angle? And then there's the question of what intimate sexual relationships do to tarnish or give credibility to the character of our heroine. 

I believe I mentioned this blog is about the writing of a novel (not the end product)--which, by the way, I can happily report is now nearing the halfway point. So, I guess you'll have to read it to see how steamy it gets...or doesn't. (Sorry, Mom :).) The next scenes I write will answer all these questions and as someone famous once said, "How do I know that I think before I see what I say?".

*Did I ever tell you about how my mom made my dad have a talk with me after they saw the statue I'd carved of a pregnant woman for the high school art show? I point this out only so you don't doubt their level of intolerance for controversy of a sexual nature!