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 Introduction:

Welcome to the premier issue of The Fiction Forum Review!
I'm glad you could join us.  First, I'd like to introduce myself.
My name is Renee Faucher.  I was the Book Review Editor and
Co-Founder at the Fiction Forum until Dawn Seewer, the other
Co-Founder, decided to leave the site.  The Fiction Forum was 
originally her idea and the vast breadth of its community, her
vision.  I would like to thank her for her generosity in
transferring ownership of the site to me after all the hard work 
that she put into it.  I wish her the best with her new endeavors 
in web design through Novella Studios,
www.novellastudios.com.  I would also like to send a
kind farewell to Myra Nour who has decided to focus her energies
with her publisher, Ellora's Cave.  Her column and homepage are
no longer hosted by The Fiction Forum and visitors may find Myra
at her own domain:  www.myranour.com.

In addition, I want to thank the Staff of The Fiction Forum 
for being so patient during the long transition of ownership.  I
value the Staff of The Fiction Forum, since without their help,
this web site or publication wouldn't be possible.


What you can expect from The Fiction Forum Review:

The Fiction Forum Review will be the subscription version of The
Fiction Forum's content updates. However, we are going to add new
features to make it more interesting for readers and writers. 
Currently the web site is being redesigned.  The features found
in The Review will not be archived in the usual departments
right away.  In addition, all of our articles, reviews, and
columns will be printed in their entirety through The Fiction
Forum Review until the new site design is ready.  You will be
able to read a copy of The Review in total on the following
page:   www.fictionforum.net/ffreview/index.html.
Regular features in The Review will range from selections of
Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Columns, New Releases, Events,
Bragging Writes, Voices from the Forum, and,
eventually, to excerpts from our new Book Club.

The spectrum of The Review will hopefully be a broad one.  I
feel privileged to say that our staff is an international
collection of writers.  Though this publication is based in the
USA, some members of the staff live in Australia, the UK, and
Canada.  Therefore, readers may find differences in style,
punctuation, and spelling.  As editor, I do not want to strip
the distinguishing features of British usage by "American-izing"
the prose of the international staff.  I would prefer the reader
learn to adjust to the differences in spelling between "meter"
and "metre" or single quotation marks in place of our common
double quotation marks.  Also, this month's issue includes the
beginning of a series of articles dealing with inspirational
fiction.  This in no way reflects the slant of the publication.
Kathryn Lively is graciously developing this series of articles
examining the different genres of Christian fiction.  In the
future, I'm certain that some of the content of The Review will
reflect views that express different genres of prose and
lifestyle.

We have plans for new site features in the future as well.  We
hope to add an online Critique Group for writers of short
fiction.  If you are interested in applying for the moderator
position, please go to our sign up page for more information:
www.fictionforum.net/writers/critique/moderatorsignup.html

The frequency of The Review has yet to be determined.  At the 
moment, publication will bi-monthly.  As content allows,
our goal is to publish twice a month.


Comments:

If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to
email me at editor@fictionforum.net.


Renee Faucher
Owner, The Fiction Forum
The Fiction Forum Review,  Copyright 2003
Published by The Fiction Forum-Where Fiction Lovers Come to Play!
www.fictionforum.net                   
                   

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An Interview with Maud Casey
Conducted by Mark Schofield


Maud Casey and I have exchanged numerous e-mails, though we
haven't met.  In the jacket photos of her, I see a quirky beauty
that is very appealing.  Also notable from those jackets is the
fact that a host of established authors praise her work in
superlative terms.  If you haven't read her, you should.
	
Her debut novel, The Shape of Things to Come, was a New York
Times Notable Book of the Year, and her story collection,
Drastic, published last year, has also met with critical and
popular success.  On a recent Sunday morning, I drew a bath,
uncorked the Frexinet, and gave her a call.


Fiction Forum:  Maud, are you aware there's a malevolent deity
who rains chaos on our lives?  How do you guard against this?

MC:  I'm glad to hear there's a malevolent deity raining chaos on
other peoples' lives as well as my own.  I was aware of my
own.  But I guess in terms of guarding against it, I try to
invite that malevolent deity into my writing.

FF:  So you're able to make that productive?

MC:  To some extent.  In my writing, I do try to face my demons.
But it's an endless struggle to face the demons and fend them
off-if that's not too abstract.

FF:  Do your work habits involve superstitions, about foods,
music, dress, time?  Maybe you start each session doing
chin-ups in the attic wearing your aunt's straw hat.

MC:  Well, I don't have an attic, and I'm working on my biceps.
But there is a two-to-three hour period in the morning that works 
best for me.  It's just getting myself into the desk chair before
that moment's gone, because later in the day, it's not there.  I
wake up, I have coffee, and then I move quickly from the coffee
to the chair.

FF:  So you don't have a backwards day? You're not an incorrigible 
night owl?

MC:  I'm a very nerdy writer.  I go to bed quite early.

FF:  How long did it take to write The Shape of Things to Come and 
Drastic, respectively?

MC:  Shape took six years, door to door, involving a year when
[my job] took up most of my time.  The sense of myself as a
morning writer has only recently emerged, because it wasn't much
of an option.  Drastic started as my MFA thesis, which I put
aside and returned to many years later and completely tore apart 
and razed and rebuilt.  It was about two years creating that
skeletal structure which I then tore apart, and about a year
rebuilding it.  Shape happened much more chronologically.

FF:  A great warm humor is lurking in your work, in spite of the
essential despair of the characters' lives.  Does that spring
from an instinctual resilience that you've applied in your own
life?

MC:  I'm thrilled to hear you've found this great warm humor
because I do think of my writing as an attempt to describe
despair in a not despairing way.  I do think of myself as a kind
of sad but funny person.  I try to work with those two qualities 
because I can't shake either one.

FF:  How closely does gender inform your work?  Could a man have
written Shape?

MC:  It's an interesting question.  I think absolutely a man could 
have written Shape.  I believe very strongly that writers can
inhabit any character, really.  Now having said that, I realize
that in both Shape and Drastic I inhabit mostly female
characters, so it appears that until now that's where I've been
most comfortable. 
	
The novel I'm working on now is actually told from the
perspective of about six different characters, two or three of
whom are men, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.  So I think
writers can and should do anything, in terms of trying on
different personas and characters.  But I've stuck pretty
closely to female characters.  I don't know whether they're
necessarily representative of all females.

FF:  You've recently left New York.  To the misguided who
sometimes think this city's energy is indispensable to their
writing, how important would you say is geographical location as
a motivating force in your process?

MC:  I resisted New York for many many many years, fearing that
its tense energy would deplete my own energy or distract me from 
my own writing.  So I have a perception of the city as being an
energy drainer and a distraction.  The thing I've noticed about
place in my fiction is that I need to be away from the place that
I'm writing about.

I've only written a couple of stories set in New York and perhaps 
now that I'm away, that sense of New York as a place will emerge.
The midwest is a place that I lived in only briefly, but when I
left it, it became very vivid in my consciousness.

FF: The Beach Boys supposedly used cheeseburgers to coax music
from Brian Wilson when he had writer's block.  Even if that's
apocryphal, it makes a point.  How do you transcend writer's
block?

MC:  I wish I could remember because I'm sort of in a period of
writer's block myself.  I'm a big list maker.  So I will take
notes I have on a character, rewrite the notes, and thinking it
out by writing it down helps me.  Actually, one other thing I've
been able to do now, since my current novel will be based on a
fair amount of research, is that I can say to myself,
"Well, I can read up on this right now."

FF:  Writers are people driven by demons, often their own desires.
What ought you to avoid that you simply can't keep away from?

MC:  It's a tough question.  As I said, I'm kind of a nerdy
writer.  I think the main thing that I need to keep away from is 
the self-loathing and perfectionism that causes me to think what
I'm working on is no good.  I have to fight through that to get
to the end of whatever I'm working on.

FF:  The effect of personal turmoil on the quality of a writer's
output is debated endlessly.  Are you more creative in times of
emotional upheaval or relative calm?

MC:  Absolutely: relative calm.  I think there's the myth of the
hard-drinking late-night writer, and along with that, that
madness, terror, and emotional upheaval begets creativity.  For
me it's the absolute opposite.  You know, I draw on the difficult 
times in life that have happened in the past, but I definitely
have to feel a kind of centeredness in order to write.

FF:  What's been disappointing about your success thus far?
After you sign your first deal, is it all a little
anti-climactic?

MC:  After I signed my first deal, it was so exciting for so long, 
that feeling of waking up every morning and you can't believe it
happened.  That said, once you've published, there's always a
feeling you need to do more, you're on to the next thing, and
those books are behind you.  There's a feeling you have to do
better.  Those books were the best I could do at the time, and
now I want to do something bigger, different, and more complex.

FF:  What would a beginning novelist find most surprising about
the importance of marketing and publicity as she embarks on a
writing career?

MC:  Well, it's no surprise that if you're not a best seller, your 
publishing house is probably not going to get that excited about
you.
	
But what was more unnerving was that you, the writer, who has
been involved in this very private activity, suddenly you're
expected to be this very public person.  I mean, it's all
relative, it's not as though I was on an international book tour. 
But even just suddenly having to change out of your bathrobe and
put on some decent clothes and go out in front of a crowd and
perform, there's a way in which you're not quite prepared for
that.  For me, performance is not something I sought out.  When
my first book came out, I thought "I can't do it.  I'm not going
to do this."  But I managed to find a little bit of inner ham.

FF:  In your published work, can you see nagging missteps in
characterization or plotting that you'd love the chance to
correct?

MC:  There's a way in which, I think, in my novel the focus is
a little narrow, and I can see how I might have opened it up a
bit.  But looking back, I am able to say it's the best book I
could write at the time, and I have a lot of pride in that.  

And certainly in the story collection, which just came out,
there are stories that I see could have used more work, and there
are some stories that I felt more solid about.  There's something
kind of false about the notion of publication being the final
draft.  It's a superimposed, artificial sense of finality.

FF:  Who are some actors or musicians that you'd say are providing 
a healthy and sane model for women today?

MC:  Lauren Ambrose, from 'Six Feet Under,' Susan Sarandon, Edie
Falco, my friend Julia Greenberg, a singer/songwriter who
co-wrote a fabulous rock opera called 'People Are Wrong,' which
will be at P.S.122 in March.  Ani DeFranco, certainly, Lucinda
Williams, 	Emmylou Harris, Gwen Stefani.

FF:  Two language questions: what's a word you adore and need to
restrain yourself from overusing in your prose?  

MC:  Bone.  There's something stark and stripped down and lovely
about it.

FF:  What's a word you deplore the sight and sound of, that you
never use and wish nobody would?

MC:  Snot.  Something about that word.  The sound of it, the
actual sound of it, is horrifying.


Maud Casey is at her desk with a cup of coffee, working hard on
her next novel, tentatively titled Genealogy.

Copyright 2003, Mark Schofield.  

           

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

Interview with J.A. Clarke
Conducted by Carrie Smoot
January 2003

J.A. Clarke??™s latest book is "Moonfire," a futuristic romance.
She has also gained a following from "Summer Heat," a fun
contemporary love story. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with
her husband and two sons. A world traveler, she grew up in
Africa.  Books and libraries have always been her special
passions. "I've always loved reading, and books...were a primary
form of entertainment, so trips to the library every week were a
favorite treat," Clarke says. She has tried to instill a love of
reading in her sons. So far, it's working.  "My sons do read
every day, my oldest because I strongly encourage it, my youngest 
because he truly does like to read. We're currently reading
Tolkien's 'The Two Towers' together. They mostly enjoy adventure
stories of boys their own age getting into all kinds of
mischief," she says. Clarke??™s creativity and enthusiasm are
inescapable. Let??™s see what she has to share with other
writers??”and readers.

FF: You said in an AuthorsDen interview:  "Let your imagination
take flight." How can aspiring writers free their creativity
more? What works for you?

J.A.: We all need a place to escape to from time to time. For
some of us, it's books and where we can go in the stories and how 
we can be inspired by them. To aspiring writers I would say:  be
open to every new experience, learn from each one, look for new
paths to follow, don't limit yourself to what you've always done
and what is familiar and comfortable.  To grow, we need to
stretch ourselves sometimes (often) beyond our comfort level. I'm
inspired by a variety of things??”my family, movies I see, books I
read. I love to travel and learn about other cultures and
traditions.

FF: What was it like growing up in Africa?  Where did you and
your family live? What is your favorite thing about it??”your
favorite memories?

J.A.:  I grew up in a beautiful, but very poor, country in
southern Africa. Looking back, it was a wonderful childhood
experience although, of course, at the time I didn't have
anything else with which to compare it. I went to a girls??™
boarding school in a neighboring country. We didn't have TV where 
I lived, so we children entertained ourselves with all kinds of
games, many made up, and books. The political climate wasn't
comfortable, but as a child I was shielded from much of that. My
favorite memories are of trips to the lake, game reserves??”because
I loved to watch the animals, and surrounding countries. Nothing
compares to getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go on a
game-viewing trip. I hope to take my family "home" one day.

FF: What other countries have you visited or lived in for a
while? What is special about them?

J.A.: I've traveled in many of the countries of southern Africa,
the UK, Greece, Turkey, Fiji Islands, Mexico, and Canada. Every
place is special and unique. I love the history (especially in
Greece and Mexico), the culture, the traditions, and the scenery.

FF: Where in the Pacific Northwest do you live? What is special
about that area of the country?

J.A.: I live in Oregon where you can visit the mountains, the
ocean and the High Desert in just a few short hours. There's so
much to experience outdoors here but we joke that we need webbed
feet to do it because it rains so much!

FF: Does lots of traveling necessarily make a better writer?
Why or why not?

J.A.: Personally, my travel experiences have helped tremendously
with my writing. You can learn so much on the Internet these
days, but you still can't experience the sounds and smells and
multiple other details that way, and good writers will use all
the senses in their writing. I think actually experiencing a
place helps with the details that can bring the story to life.

FF: Please name the places depicted in your current Web photos.
I particularly liked the sunsets, though they all were
interesting.

J.A.: Most are of Lake Malawi and Kasungu Game Reserve--a large
population of hippo lives in the dam although you can't see them.

FF: You said that you had a career in banking, which led you to
a lot of business writing. What kinds? Did you learn these skills 
on the job?

J.A.: Business writing over the years has involved a lot of
correspondence, proposals and training material, most of which
was learned on the job.

FF: How did you make the leap into fiction?

J.A.: Like many writers, I have many voices in my head clamoring
to be heard. At some point, they needed to be put down on paper.
Actually, at the time I started my first book, it was a great
form of stress relief (and still is), just like reading.

FF: How much research do you put into your books?

J.A.: Depends on the book. I use a variety of resources,
including travel, the Internet, other books. It really depends on 
the plot, setting and conflict. My family has spent many
vacations in the High Desert of Central Oregon so it seemed
natural to set "Summer Heat" there.


FF: Why do you like romance and science fiction novels? Where
do you get inspirations for your characters?

J.A.: It's always fun to think about what the future will be
like. I've always enjoyed the SF books, movies and TV series,
although there never seems to be a lot of romance in them. The
SF/Fantasy cartoon shows my kids have watched have been pretty
wild sometimes, too. My character inspirations come from
everywhere--bits and pieces from people I meet,
behavior observations, books, movies, TV, but my own imagination
mostly.

FF: I think mixing the two genres sometimes is interesting. How
do you know when the combination will work?

J.A.: I hope it does work. I would love to see more SF/futuristic
romances. The heroes and heroines of the future have many of the
same but also very different challenges to face. The imagination
of the author (and reader) is the only limit.

FF: What makes a good romance novel? How do you make it "real"?
What do you think are the best plots?

J.A.: Great conflict, strong character development, unexpected
twists and, of course, a happy ending. My favorite authors do all 
of that. There are certain romance genres I don't read because
they are too predictable. The best plots are fast-paced and have
something very unique about them. It could be an old story line,
but just done in a fresh and exciting way.

FF: How can you tell if you're on the right track with your
manuscript?

J.A.: My writing flies along, my characters are behaving (or
misbehaving), and the ideas for the next turning point in the
story are simmering.

FF: Why did you decide to use pen names?

J.A.: Mostly in an attempt to keep my two (or is it three?) lives
separate.

FF: How have professional associations helped you?  What other
resources have you found helpful? How do you make association
membership worthwhile?

J.A.: Romance Writers of America, http://www.rwanational.org,
and its local chapter have been a tremendous resource. I thought
I knew about writing when I first started. I can't tell you how
much I've learned by going to local chapter meetings and
conferences??”not just some of the how-tos about writing, but also
what I've learned about the business side of writing. It's been
great. Other writing organizations, such as EPIC, http://www.epicauthors.org, 
have also been a great help.

FF: What do your husband and sons think of your writing? Do you
ever ask their opinions? Is that wise?

J.A.: When I first started writing, I didn't tell my husband what 
I was doing for three months! Then I wished I'd told him sooner.
He's been nothing but tremendously supportive to the point of
taking on grocery shopping, dinner and other chores. He's also my
Webmaster. My sons provide constant inspiration and help me dream
up names for my futuristic characters. My husband and my sons
also run around telling people that I write books, which I'm
often too shy to do myself.

FF: Do you think it??™s best to work with a critique group? How
can you make one stronger?

J.A.: I haven't tried a critique group, but I do have a critique
partner and several "cold" readers. Being able to bounce ideas and plot
points off people is very helpful. For a group to be effective,
I would imagine that the expectations need to be clear from the
beginning and everyone wants it to work the same way. People also 
need to learn how to give and take constructive criticism.

FF: Please tell me more about future projects.

J.A.: I have two books under contract with LionHearted,
http://www.lionhearted.com, one a futuristic and one a
contemporary set in Africa. I have a short story scheduled to be
released by Awe-Struck, http://www.awe-struck.net, as part of an 
anthology in 11/03. I'm currently working on a contemporary set
on the Oregon Coast about a heroine with an identity theft
problem and a hero who thinks he can fix everything. After this
last contemporary, I think I want to write another futuristic,
especially since I've had a wonderful response to "Moonfire."
Ideas for the futuristic have been bouncing around in my head for
a while. It's time to put them down on paper.

FF: What do you like about making personal appearances, and how
do you organize them and make them successful?

J.A.: Meeting people who like to read. Preparing enough ahead of
time and having a good idea of what to expect from the event and
location.

FF: What trends do you notice in E-book readers? Do you think
E-books are catching on at libraries? Why or why not?

J.A.: Everything I read and hear indicates E-books are fast
growing more popular. I have a REB1100
and love it. I know of at least one local library that has an
E-book reader they lend out and there must be more.

FF: Do you read a lot of E-books? What do you currently enjoy
reading, and who are your favorite authors? When not writing,
what do you enjoy?

J.A.: I do read a lot of E-books, especially since I got my
REB1100. (It's fun reading in bed with the lights off.) I still
read a lot of paperbacks as well. My favorite authors are Jayne
Ann Krentz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Linda Howard. When not
writing, I enjoy spending time with my family doing all those
things little boys like to do despite the weather in Oregon.

Thanks, J.A., for spending time with us, and we look forward to
reading your new novels. Learn more about J.A. Clarke at her
Web site:  http://jaclarke.home.attbi.com.

Copyright 2003.  Carrie Smoot.

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Getting It Down
++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
 

"Best Wishes, J. Sernaise" by Julie Wilson


My Grade Nine math teacher was a reserved man who mumbled in
hushed tones barely audible above the wheeze of his sneakers and
the quick zip of his corduroys. We knew Mr. Sernasie -
Mr. Sernasie-Sir - could speak louder; we'd all heard the
occasional spat coming from the staff room. I wondered if his
subtle demeanour was a ploy, meant to force our attentions to the 
front of the classroom and onto the task of reading his lips,
pursed from behind the bristle of a close-cropped beard. If he'd
bumped the volume just a titch we could've kept our heads down,
appearing to busy ourselves with who-knows-what. As it was, we
all bore the look of anguished anticipation, like waiting for the
thick sting of a dodgeball, or a snowball, or worse - being
called on by teacher.

In this quiet, safe place, with the blinds drawn, the lights 
low, his throaty inflections guided us into a world of Numbers.
Math was fun. He told us so. And we believed his puckered puss,
wafting swirls of coffee breath among flourishes of chalk dust,
as he covered the boards with the language that had forever
eluded me.

'The answers are in the book,' he assured me. For the third day
in a row, I left, my homework unfinished and incorrect, a dismal
mark atop my pop quiz.  The answers are in the book. The answers
are in the book. I'd asked for help and gotten a riddle in
return. Perhaps he thought I was smarter than the others, I
couldn't be sure. But I took his confidences seriously, mulishly,
as I sat slumped under my desk lamp long after the rest of the
house had gone dark. I wanted good grades, but this was a new and
exciting challenge; one clearly meant for me. Mr. Sernasie-Sir
was offering a philosophical journey and I would take it; I would
crack this code. I would find these answers he spoke of. And math
would be fun.

Math. Is. Fun.

This went on for a week. 

'Sir, I don't??¦' 

'The answers are in the book.' 

'Okay, now when you say??¦' 

'Julie - Look at me.'

Oh dear. I zoned in on his lips, his voice nothing but vapour
spelled out in chalk powder. And slow, my god, so slow. My ears
coursed with a rush of blood.

'The answers??¦??¦are in??¦??¦??¦the boooooook,' in timed metre, all the
while tapping my text with a dusty digit, before handing it back
to me, each time with a little more force than the last.

'The answers are in the book!! The answers are in the book!!' I
mocked, digging my heels into the pavement the long walk home,
mindful of the cracks.

Meanwhile, I continued to fail the quizzes of Little Miss
Whispers. Math wasn't fun. Math sucked.

To make matters worse, as incentive, he'd started rewarding us
with autographed pieces of chalk - signed by him. We thought this 
was silly, but kids always want what someone else has. The tiny
stacks building on the surrounding desks - some were pyramids,
others a harbour of logs - started to nag at us, so the race was
on.  The same chalk that had elicited groans upon revealing that
night's homework - applied so faint, so super soft it was hardly
legible; changing-a-baby's-diaper-soft; piss-me-off-soft - had
suddenly become a coveted treasure. Indeed, jealousy lead to
unsavoury deeds. A tell-tale snap; the snuffed out crunch under a
wedged heel; the familiar traces of white outlining the edge of a
coat pocket slipping out of class as last bell rang.

One could easily find his good intentions, save for one small
clarification. Mr. Sernasie-Sir wasn't awarding the students with 
the most correct answers - just the most questions answered. Was
this some sort of reverse psychology? Was he trying to instill in
us a desire to want to get things right? Could be. If all we had
to do was scribble down any old answer to collect a prize it
would reason that sooner or later we'd get bored, maybe up the
ante by actually trying. I wanted to, just once, scratch out an
arbitrary list of numbers, but, even back then I knew it could
never be about the answers so long as the questions continued to
evade me. I was angry; determined more than ever to understand
this insipid riddle by the time class ended - if only because
that's when my teacher wanted to see me, and I wasn't going to
show up empty-handed, yet again.

'I think you might be trying too hard,' he said. 'You need help
in order to complete these equations. Don't get ahead of
yourself. There's plenty of time for deep thoughts. But, right
now, I need you to understand the basics. You need the - '

I'd had enough. It was time for clarity. 

'What are these answers you keep talking about?! I'm wrecked
looking for the answers!!'

At this point, he turned my text around and opened it to a page
of charts, leaving a caked trail of fingerprints up and down each 
column.
     
'These??¦' 

He could tell by the stupefied look on my face that I had no idea 
what he was talking about.

He roared.  Head-back-falling-off-the-hinges-tears-streaming-
rafter-shaking laughter.

'All this time,' he giggled. 'I thought you'd tried to memorize
it all! Julie, you need these charts to finish the formulas. You
can't do them otherwise. The answers??¦' He couldn't finish.
The next day, I worked myself into a fit, and to my first and
only piece of chalk. He placed it gingerly on my desk with a
knowing smirk. Best wishes, J. Sernasie. Afterwards, I checked my
answers, horrified that I'd only gotten half right. That was
okay. No one needed to know. Each day, I applied myself to the
questions at hand, working towards only the goal of getting the
most right answers I was capable of. These tiny exercises showed
me how much work I had to do. But what of it?

I've been butting my head against this theorem most of my life.
And, ultimately, I'm facing it again in my writing. I believe in
inevitabilities. It's how we arrive at those conclusions that
makes storytelling so precious, though. It's a math of our own.
So what if it spills into the margins and onto the table? We're
getting things down. 

In life and in writing, which is more important - how many
answers you get down, or how many you get right? If you figure it 
out, don't tell me, I want to get there on my own.


 Copyright 2003.  Julie Wilson.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

The Path Toward Prose  
++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

"Brainstorming, clustering and listing??¦ Oh my! 
Ways to expand on ideas and thoughts..." by Robbi Hess


You've narrowed it down. You are going to write about (drum roll, 
please) butterflies or, possibly, vampires. Thank goodness!
Finally, you have an idea with possibility??¦ ideas that will
(excuse the pun) - fly.

Whether fiction or non-, these ideas, while appealing, are much
too broad in scope. They need to be cut back, pared down, and
their focus needs to be reined in. The act of brainstorming,
clustering, listing or any of the myriad other names this
exercise goes by can help you:

1)  Bring the focus of your writing in to a more manageable range;
2)  Target the markets you may be considering writing for;
3)  Or, offer up a whole realm of connected ideas and various
    writing angles.

To "cluster" your idea, write it in the center of a large sheet
of paper. Draw a circle around it and come up with any ideas
dealing with that larger topic. Say, you chose vampires as your
idea. Once you have vampires written on your paper, let your mind 
roam and see either what closely connected, or not even remotely
connected ideas that word spawns. When you come up with your
ideas-- vampire bats; what if my heroine could only survive in
the tropics where she was drenched in sunlight 24/7 and my hero
(the vampire) can naturally only survive in a darkened, drafty
castle; how will their love overcome, Dracula, the vampire who
was afraid of the dark, gothic mansions; Vlad the Impaler,
transfusions, garlic, aversion to daylight, etc.; --write these
words down and circle them.  Off of these words more ideas will
cluster until your paper looks like a splatter painting.

The word, garlic, might spawn the ideas of:  cooking with garlic, 
vampires' fear of garlic, growing and harvesting garlic,
medicinal purposes of garlic, or love among the garlic cloves. As
you can see, the possibilities are endless and the ideas
countless.

Some of you may not like the untidy look of a clustering session, 
so you may prefer listing. This essentially works the same way,
but is much neater (it kind of looks like the old-school outlines
with the capital letters followed by Roman numerals). Topic A
begets Roman numeral I, and so forth.

There are those of us out there who prefer to talk out loud. Yes, 
I will admit it. I talk to myself??¦but only for the benefit of my
craft! On my nightly treks through the frozen tundra that is the
Erie Canal bank, I will spout off the word butterfly.  I will
then brainstorm that idea on my walk.  (I have discovered that I
am quite the conversationalist when I have only my tape recorder
to talk to.)  I will come up with ideas such as:  is it true that
butterflies can no longer fly if you touch them and the powdery
stuff on their wings comes off; what is the powdery stuff on
their wings; how can I get butterflies to come to my garden;
where do they go in the winter; what if the protagonists' life
cycle was tied in with that of the butterfly he was charged with
protecting, what species are indigenous to my part of the world;
what is the biggest/smallest species of butterfly, the love
affair between the butterfly and the ladybug, etc., etc.

When I hit upon an idea that is particularly intriguing, I will
whip out my trusty pen and paper and jot it down.  But the rest
of my ideas are saved on the tape for future reference. Remember
I told you...never discard an idea.

For any would-be writer who has ever asked any published writer,
"where do you get your ideas from" brainstorming may be the way
to get yourself from, wanna-be to actual writer. Everyone has
hobbies, hopes and dreams. For any writer who has wanted to
fulfill the dream of writing but can't come up with an idea,
these brainstorming techniques could be the way to go.

Take a topic near and dear to your heart and simply let your mind 
wander to the myriad ideas that are floating around out there.
Your original topic may be one to which you are truly connected
and knowledgeable about but your brainstorming sessions could
take you down paths never imagined.

This month's exercise:  Let's practice what I've just preached.
Take one of these ideas, or one of your own choosing, and
brainstorm it. Remember, it may take you a couple of tries to
find the method that appeals to your personality.
Your topics are:  lighthouses, fairies/faeries, etc.


Copyright 2003.  Robbie Hess.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

Word Alchemy  
++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

"The Ironic Life of Adverbs and Adjectives" by John Caruso

Adverbs and adjectives intoxicate with their promise of
description and clarity. But beware! Overuse leads to laziness
and vague writing. A dependence on modifiers can leave you with a
group of words that don't say much at all. Would you rather have
a character that "drinks quickly," or one who "gulps"? Would you
rather have a character that has "splotchy, red skin" or one who
is "ruddy"?

Scan your work. Do you have a lot of the tell-tale "ly" words?
Do you rely on adverbs to punch up your dull verb choices? Pick a 
work in progress and list your verbs. Do you find many of them
are crutched with adverbs? Now go through and take a look at your
nouns. Does it appear that you're depending on the adjectives to
convey the message?

Consider these two paragraphs:

1. The shy, frightened boy named Paul quickly hid when he heard
the terrifying bullies loudly making their way through the park.
Under the rusty slide, he waited anxiously for the bullies to go
past. Paul bit his thin, boyish lip until the scary bullies
finally left. When they did, he audibly sighed and continued his
long, careful walk home, hoping he could deftly avoid the mean
boys.

2. Paul heard the bullies before he saw them. His heart galumphed 
as he rifled through his options. He considered making a dash
through the playground, but those sixth graders knew how to hunt.
The teeter-totter and the swings afforded no cover. Just before
the thugs rounded the corner, Paul ducked under the slide,
staining his shirt with rust. Better rust than blood, he thought
as he cowered. He sucked his lips into his mouth and tried to
slow his breathing like Houdini did in the movie he saw last
week. On the other side of the slide, the bullies joked about
pushing Lisa Bauer into her locker. When the cackles passed with
the patrol, Paul eased out from under the slide. He nibbled his
fingernail and decided to take Larch Avenue home, hoping to avoid
another encounter.

In the first paragraph, we find a lot of adverbs hanging out with 
a lot of bland verbs. We also find adjectives used to describe
Paul, the bullies, the slide, and so on. While this paragraph may
tell us what's going on, it is dull and lifeless. We get the
information, but we don't get tension.

In the second example, we feel Paul's fright and anxiety because
we experience it with him. We're not just told, "Paul is
frightened" or "Paul is anxious." Instead, we see him panic. We
see him emulate Houdini. We are presented with a tangible example
of why he should fear the bullies (pushing Lisa Bauer into her
locker). We see him nibble his nails.

In each instance, the ACTION remained the same, but the WORD 
CHOICE differed. Like a sauce to a meal, adverbs and adjectives should
enhance and compliment your writing. In the end, using too many
modifiers sucks the life out of writing, renders it listless.
Oh, the ironies of life!

Copyright 2003. John Caruso.                   

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FANS OF FICTION BOOK CLUB Do you enjoy reading books and discussing them with others? The Fiction Forum is starting a BOOK CLUB! The FANS OF FICTION BOOK CLUB will be hosted by Stephanie Baird. Her first book for discussion is: "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold. To join in the discussion, please visit our Yahoo! Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fans_of_Fiction/join

Lady of Two Lands by Elizabeth Delisi

Reviewed by: Briana Lambert 
Publisher:  NovelBooks 
Publication:  April 2003
Format: Ebook, print
ISBN: 1-59105-193-2 trade paperback 
ISBN: 1-59105-168-1 e-book 
Rating:  4 stars

"Lady of Two Lands" by Elizabeth Delisi is a fascinating in-depth 
journey to ancient Egypt. Join Hattie as she journeys to another
time and lives the life of a great Egyptian ruler!

Hattie is an artist who is sketching a scene of Hatshepsut, an
ancient Egyptian ruler. Hattie is unsettled by the feelings of
being watched as she busily works in a deserted museum.  She is
further frustrated by her apparent inability to recreate the
features of the ruler. After a time, she is so unsettled by her
feelings that she approaches her friend Tom who is the curator of 
the Egyptian exhibit.

While Tom finds Hattie's work to be impeccably detailed, he is
concerned about her fragmented concentration. He takes her back
to a special storeroom where he unearths a necklace purported to
have belonged to Hatshepsut. This task done, he leaves Hattie to
her work.

As Hattie loses herself in sketching the magnificent piece of
jewelry, she continues to feel that she is being watched. Certain 
that she is the victim of a practical joke, Hattie sets into
motion a complex course of events that finds her whole life
change in the blink of an eye.

As Hattie grasps the ancient treasure, she is taken to another
place. She awakens to find herself in the very time that she had
been sketching and inhabiting the very body of the ruler who
originally owned the necklace. A cryptic message has been passed
along to Hattie as well, underlying a sinister plan afoot. Can
Hattie adjust to life in a vastly different time?

"Lady of Two Lands" is an engaging, if predictable, tale. A solid 
time travel, it explores the journey of a woman ill prepared to
deal with a culture that she is largely uninformed about. The
transition from modern woman to ancient ruler seemed to flow
almost too flawlessly, but that was a minor weakness in a very
strong offering.

To purchase this book:
http://www.novelbooksinc.com/authors/elizabeth_delisi/ladyoftwolands/index.html


Copyright 2003. Briana Lambert.

 ++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
I Leave You My Dreams by Bernadene High Coleman

Reviewed by: April Chase 
Publisher: Coleman and Coleman.
Publication: 2001
Format:  Paperback						
Rating: 3 stars

Cora Hightower would do anything to give her five beautiful
daughters a better life. Understanding the advantages a strong
upbringing and a good education can bring, she realizes the
poverty and repressive atmosphere of the rural South is no place
for her family. So she boldly moves them all lock, stock -and
piano, which she ships by train - to Los Angeles, California.

"I Leave You My Dreams," Bernadene High Coleman's second novel,
details Cora Hightower's move, and the exciting results. World
War II rages overseas, so her husband, Webb, is able to find work 
in the booming defense factories. Cora finds work, too, cooking
for construction crews, and the family enters an era of
prosperity like they have never known. They are even able to buy
a small house! But there are difficulties. Although there is less
prejudice than in their small Southern hometown, it is still a
tough world for black families, and her daughters are not used to
big city life. Likewise, they find the schools to be challenging
- far ahead of the schools back home.

Cora's strict code of behavior, with rules for everything from
housecleaning to daily speech, is not always easy to follow,
either, but her obvious love for them keeps the girls in line,
and they prosper under her guidance. They even learn to play the
piano she so painstakingly had shipped across the country. "That
piano was a symbol of pride. It was a status symbol Cora had
worked hard to gain. To her, a piano was evidence they had
achieved something, " writes Coleman. She movingly portrays the
struggles and triumphs of this tight-knit clan.

Although this book deals with an African-American family,
Coleman's spare, easy-reading prose details the kind of
challenges that all of us, black or white, can relate to,
from alcoholism, marital problems, and the difficulties of coming 
of age, to the deep friendships that can develop when prejudices
are forgotten. The moving ending to this saga will not be
soon forgotten. This is Coleman's second self-published novel -
look for more great reading from this promising author.

To purchase this book:  www.mamarose.com

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Questions This Month::


1) What role did writing play in developing your view of the
world?

2) As a reader, how would you describe your relationship with
your favorite novel?  Did it effect your every day life? --Does it still?

Answers:

Topic--What role did writing play in developing your view of the
world?

Response by Julie Wilson:

A while back, I had a conversation with a friend who argued that 
reading is a dialogue with oneself more so than with the author.
I realized that I'd been writing subversively instead of
honestly, because for the longest time I approached my work with
the assumption that no one would get it. It was an insult to the
abilities of both myself and my readers. It did lead me, however,
to the subject matter that now occupies me day and night as I ink
out my first book of short stories, so I don't begrudge a
moment's hesitation on my part. I describe the book as the
musings of a queer little girl growing up in a queer little
world.

I write about young children and adolescence because I like the
bittersweet nature of hope-and-optimism-meets-inevitability.
You can't read about a kid and not wonder who she's going to
grow up to be; wonder if she'll be better equipped than you were
to meet life head on. And there's nothing quite like recognizing
something of yourself in a wee tot and realizing that as an adult 
you haven't changed a bit. Or maybe you did, and it's nothing
short of a miracle. Writing through children gives me the
opportunity to show the reader a new entry point into how they
see themselves. We want better for our children, but secretly,
sometimes not so much, we want to see them fail, because it's a
measure of our humanity. It gives us permission to start over, to
try again, to get back on the bike and forge on down the road
however wobbly our efforts may be. It gives us a reasonable
distance from which to ask, 'Did I get it right?' without the
answer stinging so much.

My relationship with my text has changed considerably in the last 
year. I'm setting the bar higher, because readers are a capable
lot. We know how to keep up. I'm allowing myself to write with
less restrain, less translation and explanation - fewer
apologies. I'm employing the same openness that readers bring to
our words when they experience them for the first time. A
challenge has been issued, and I'm meeting it - Tell me something
I didn't know.

Copyright 2003.  Julie Wilson.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++

Topic--As a reader, how would you describe your relationship with 
your favourite novel?  Did it effect your every day life???“-Does it still?

Response by Louise Karczmarz:

In my teenage years the tales that stood out in my mind
were ???Robin Hood,??™ ???Sati??™ by Christopher Pike and the ???Lord of
the Rings??™ by Tolkien. The first version of ???Robin Hood??™ I read
was from the series of ???Classic Adventures??™ retold by Charles
Wilson. This tale varies from the movies in several key
instances. Robin??™s father was not a nobleman as in later
incarnations but a head forester. The death of his father was not
sudden and brutal as the movies portrayed, he died because
another coveted his position and schemed for him to be arrested
and rot away in jail. Where the movie often ends at Robin of
Loxley??™s marriage to Marian, this tale continues until the more
sombre death of the ???hero.??™ These differences made the story more
tangible and credible to me. At first, such a tragic account of a
young man turned outlaw for avenging the death of his father
brought me to tears. It took some time for the moral and social
lessons of the legend to sink in. As the death of friends and
family changes the course of one's life irrevocably, the night I
stayed up to read past my bedtime by the moonlight has forever
touched my heart. As for affecting my every day life? This legend
was my first real contact with a hero who I could not easily put
immediately into ???good??™ or ???bad??™ guy. I came to realise that I
had grown up a bit because of a book in which committing a lesser
evil for a greater good was possible. So,  as the first book to
teach me about shades of grey, this book still has an affect even
today. This is still by far my favourite kind of hero or villain
to read/write about.

Copyright 2003.  Louise Karczmarz.

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++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
**Julie Wilson has a short story, "Pitched," being published in
the summer issue of Taddle Creek Magazine.
http://www.taddlecreekmag.com
++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
**Kathryn Lively has an online book release party for "Saints
Preserve Us" at http://livelywriter.blogspot.com       

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Orpheus' Blues" by Carlos Rubio
Genre:  Mainstream fiction
Release:  March 2003
Publish America
www.publishamerica.com
 
Orpheus' Blues chronicles the struggles of Jack Stewart to
achieve a name for himself as a jazz musician.Throughout the
novel we become aware of his dream, and the high price he must
pay to ultimately achieve his goal.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"The Legend of Ron Anejo" by Ed Teja
Genre:  Humorous adventure
Release: March 2003
NovelBooks Inc
http://www.novelbooksinc.com

It takes courage, low cunning, lots of optimism, and a healthy
sense of humor to survive as a Caribbean boat bum. Even then,
survival itself can often seem like a pretty ambitious goal.
Despite the best efforts of government officials, raging tropical 
storms and a casual attitude toward basic survival, the legendary
Ron Añejo keeps on squeaking by.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Dance with the Dragon"  by E.F. Watkins 
Genre:  Horror 
Release:  4/1/03 (Electronic); 4/8/03 (POD) 
Amber Quill Press 
www.amberquill.com

Peggy Walsh, daughter of U.S. Senator Dan Walsh, is kidnapped
into a dangerous cult, the Church of Eternal Life.  When an FBI
rescue attempt fails, Walsh accepts help from super-psychic,
Dr. Armand Renascut, who has worked for the Pentagon.  But can
Renascut be trusted?  If cult leader Stephen Farkas really drinks 
the blood of his followers, can Renascut hope to defeat him?  And
why has Renascut concealed his own past from everyone except his
beautiful assistant, Kat Van Braam?
++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"The Lair" by J.Q. Starmer
Genre:  Young Adult Horror
Release:  April 2003
New Concepts Publishing
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/jqstarmer.htm

When the caretaker of the old closed down Manor??™s Peak Hotel
suddenly and unexpected leaves for an extended vacation, Annie
and her friends finally get their chance to explore the once
popular resort.  Two strangely unexplained deaths have greatly
contributed to its dark and mysterious past. 
 
THE LAIR is a frightening story of four friends who unwittingly
uncover the resting-place of a fiend.  By their discovery, they
are forced to defend themselves and their families, who remain
blissfully unaware of any danger, against a deadly encounter with 
the thing that they have angered.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Sam's Ghost - A Nick Ellis Mystery" by Tony Ardito
Genre:  Mystery
Release:  May 2003
Publish America
www.publishamerica.com

The old buildings at the university were spooky, with creaky
floors, dimly lit halls, eerie sounds and strange shadows. When
Nick Ellis took a job as a campus security officer he never
thought it would lead to an encounter with a ghost, time travel
and the investigation of a sixty-year old murder.
Nick is drawn into the murder investigation by an unlikely
source; the restless ghost of the murder victim. Sam's Ghost has
crossed time and space to seek Nick's help in uncovering his
murderer and saying goodbye to his lost love. Then Nick uncovers
a mystery could change his life forever.

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Saints Preserve Us" by Kathryn Lively
Genre:  Mystery
Release:  May 1, 2003
Wings e-Press
http://www.wings-press.com

Where??™s Lorena Alger? This is what everyone in Ash Lake, Florida
is asking about their most famous resident??¦a young girl about to
be canonized as a saint, a young girl who hasn??™t moved from her
grave in over 150 years. Now she is gone, and her grave is now
occupied by the fresher corpse of the cemetery caretaker.

Great grandniece Ronnie Lord is determined to aid the town
sheriff in Lorena??™s safe return. She finds it isn??™t an easy task
when obstacles like a nosy reporter and stubborn relatives get
in the way. Meanwhile, as an object of ransom tucked away in a
single-wide trailer belonging to two petty thieves, Lorena is in
for the adventure of her...well, death. 

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Dangerous Words" by Bob Stanton and Kathryn Lively
Genre:  Suspense
Release:  May 2003
an Echelon Press Dollar Download 
http://www.echelonpress.com

HE is Jack Daniels, a lonely man who certainly lives up to his
name, a blossoming psychotic who aspires not only to write the
great American serial killer novel, but also to become one with
the character he creates.

SHE is Vanessa Russo, a forensic expert whose skills in the lab
have helped her avenge the tragedy that incessantly haunts her.
She is everything Jack desires and desires to become, and she
hates herself for it.

Thrown together for a week-long writing workshop, Jack and
Vanessa struggle to channel their emotions into the therapeutical 
exercise of writing, all the while engaging in a game of
cat-and-mouse with the streets of the French Quarter as their
maze. But who exactly is the cat, and who ends up getting
scratched as the game turns deadly?

Dangerous Words is an Echelon Edge exclusive novella, co-authored 
by EPPIE nominee Kathryn Lively and best-selling author Stanton
(The Devil's Rood, with the US Five).

++~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~++
"Corn Maiden" by Joyce Jones
Genre:  Women's Fiction
Release:  September 2003
Lean Press

In 1974, Ruth Kristinsdotter, a housewife whose last of four
children has gone off to college, sets off on her 42nd birthday
to find a life after children.  Her quest is sidetracked by
Johnny, a young Native American man who rescues her from a
frightening stalker, and the two feel an immediate psychic and
physical attraction.  She follows Johnny, and begins a strange,
erotic journey, part legend and part history lesson, in which
Johnny's obsession with his tribal past presents Ruth with
physical and emotional challenges beyond her wildest imaginings.

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*An Interview with film maker, Tim McCann by Mark Schofield
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    Fiction by Kathryn Lively
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The Fiction Forum Review is published by Renee Faucher, Editor & Owner
of The Fiction Forum.
The Fiction Forum Staff and Contributors for this issue:
Article:  Kathryn Lively
Book Reviewers:  April Chase, Briana Lambert
Columnists:   Robbie Hess, Sable Jak, Julie Wilson
Interviewers:   Mark Schofield, Carrie Smoot
Voices from the Forum:   Louise Karczmarz, Julie Wilson

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