New Facebook group = What makes a Strong Woman?

I had something of an epiphany while I was at my sister’s house, after the Writer’s Conference. At the conference, I learned that I need to interact with people in my genre more, but I didn’t want it to be just about me, you know? I was trying to figure out how to encourage more interactions with people who, like me, enjoy a good suspenseful read with a strong female lead. Then it hit me: I could start a Facebook group for and about Strong Women in Suspense. 

It’s off to a pretty good start. We’re already up above 25 members (which was my 3 month goal) and having some lively discussions about what makes a strong woman, in life and in fiction. We’ve shared some inspiring stories of current and historical strong women. We’ve shared inspirational memes and held each other up to the light.

We’ve even shared a blog post from a man who is suggesting tips for dating strong women. After all, the group shouldn’t just be limited to women. There are men out there who encourage, support, and inspire strong women, and it was never my intention to be a hen party of women bashing men. (So by all means, if you know a man who wouldn’t be threatened by this group and would, in fact, contribute, invite him!)

I like to write my female characters as strong women. Maybe they won’t always start out as strong women, but by the end of their story arc, they will be. My stories may even have more strong women than weak, or I like the word undeveloped better. 

In my latest novel, I had two beta readers (out of four) say the teenage girls didn’t react realistically to the situation they were in. Part of me rebelled. How was the story supposed to move forward if all they did was scream and huddle together? Then I realized I was having a knee-jerk reaction to the perceived suggestion that my females were too strong, and I took a step back to look at it objectively.

I knew my girls were strong, especially the heroine, so what the beta readers were really telling me was that I hadn’t convinced them by showing why and how they could be so strong. Which led me to consider the kinds of things that make us strong.

First and foremost, education. In my book, Kylie is the daughter of a veterinarian, and her (single) mother brought her along when she’d go to special trainings, like disaster preparedness. In a small town where there isn’t a big hospital and most of the emergency crews are volunteer, it made sense to me that a vet, who has a base of medical training anyway, would want to be ready in the event of a tornado or a wreck on the highway. Janie isn’t the sort to just let Kylie sit in the car and wait. She was exposed to these clinics, and learned alongside her mother how to handle a crisis.

Second, I think, would be a loving and supportive family. Kylie’s dad only recently came back on the scene, but her mother was always there for her, as were her grandparents. She always had someone to look up to and receive love from. They encouraged her to be her own person, and even let her make her mistakes, but they were always there to love her.

This third element isn’t something every woman has access to, but Kylie grew up around animals that were larger than her. She learned to respect that size, but also not to let her fear of it control her. She gained confidence through the knowledge that she could work with a creature who outweighed her by hundreds of pounds, and bend it to her will. She learned that to give in to fear was to get trampled, hurt, thrown, and broken, and she learned to control her fear—not to say she never felt it, she just never let it control her.

I guess that could break down to learning about fear in general. I had a friend once who told me there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are afraid and shut down, and those who are afraid and do it anyway. She and I were in the latter category, and so is Kylie.

What do you think makes women—or anyone—strong? What experiences have made you strong?

Writer’s Conference = Productivity!

It’s a beautiful day outside the window of my writing cave. I wish I had gone for a bike ride instead of driving to the gym to work out, but let’s face it. It wasn’t this nice when my schedule dictated I head to the gym. 

What? you say. Kristi with a schedule? How bizarre. Tell me about it.

Last weekend I went to the 21^st Annual South Coast Writer’s Conference in Gold Beach. As usual. (I’ve only missed 5 of the 21, I think.) This year I got a lot of bang for my buck. Not that I don’t normally, but this year they had some great speakers on topics I really needed to hear about if I am going to take a proper crack at writing full time.

Managed to get SOME time on the beach!

I spent Friday in an all-day intensive workshop about the serious business of writing, facilitated by Jason Brick. One of many things he taught that really resonated with me is, “The more you don’t want to have a schedule, the more you need one.”

Sigh. So, here I am. Writing a blog post because it is on my newly developed schedule. But you know what, instead of resenting it and fighting it, I’m actually enjoying the process. This is coming off as more “stream of consciousness” writing, but that is part of the plan, too. 

Another presenter, Eric Witchey, taught that there are no wrong ideas. Or more precisely, the only wrong idea in writing is the one that never gets written down.

I came away with so many wonderful tools. Like how to use a Pomodoro timer to focus on my writing. To me it is comparable to what I learned in a 12 Step program: You can do for 30 minutes what you can’t imagine doing all day. Then you take a break and start the timer again. In this way you train yourself to focus and cut out the distractions.

Another tool is also courtesy of Mr. Witchey. Use a metronome to trigger ideas. Train yourself that with every tock of the metronome you come up with one idea – this is great for the brainstorming stage of writing. Each idea may be more wild and outrageous than the last, but something in that maelstrom of ideas will be the perfect torture to put my characters through. 

I anticipate not spending quite so long pondering plot points, but rather coming up with more gut wrenching plots for your entertainment. My goal for the future is to not just entertain you with my stories, but really affect you with them. It’s time to move beyond the fluff, the mind-candy, and make some seriously memorable fiction you’ll want to read again and again.

Part of my new schedule is a promise to myself, and to anyone who does me the honor of following me, to faithfully write a blog post every Wednesday, and to post a newsletter on the first Saturday of each month. I tend to worry about producing content that people will find interesting, but with these new tools, I’m confident I can entertain you. Yes. Confident. Really.

And what do you know—now it's raining! This is all I have for today, but I will surely expand on it for the Newsletter, so keep your eyes open for it. You can sign up on my website - or visit the page to see it posted. I will also post a link to it here in the Bounded in a Nutshell blog.

Until then... Thrive, my friends.

Influences and Inspirations - A Tribute to Leonard Nimoy

Live Long and Prosper
(Image credit surely goes back to the Studio...)

Woke up to the news this morning that Leonard Nimoy has died. After the initial check to make sure this wasn't one of those "Morgan Freeman died" spoofs, it got me thinking about influences. 

Like many from my generation, Star Trek was one of the shows I watched as a kid (in reruns, thank you very much – I'm not quite old enough to have seen the first runs) that had an impact on the way I think. On my creativity, on my imagination and my logic.

I remember watching and discussing episodes with my best friend Shelly, and having a ball with the subtle, cynical and often sarcastic humor that Spock's character embodied. Spock was anything but cold and clinical, he was warm and full of life. At least to me.

Thinking fondly about it now, I realize that some of my best humorous writing happens in that same understated way. The best stuff sneaks in while I'm not even aware, and it isn't until I read it back that I think, "Oh, that's funny!"

Sometimes I think the things that crack me up are so abstruse that no one will get it, so it often surprises me when people comment that something in my book made them laugh out loud. It always makes me smile to know I brought laughter to someone's day.

It's all good. Days like today, when I'm reminded that my style didn't come out of a vacuum, I read back and see my wry humor showing through and bless the books and shows that influenced me.

I have tried on more than one occasion to write a "logic scene" in classic Star Trek style. I've even had success to varying degrees. Well, success in my eyes. I have yet to publish any of them. In one of my earliest novels, a hero character is trying to confuse an android using circuitous logic. The android predictably gets all boggled, but when the hero turns away, the android smirks and the reader realizes it was just going along to make the hero feel better.

Lately I have been revisiting some of my older work, looking to see if any of it is salvageable (as if I don't have enough new material clamoring in my head to get out!) and I see how strong these early influences were—and still are, if I'm honest about it.

Today, so many shows and movies seem to be regurgitating the stories I grew up with—from Red Dawn and Footloose to Total Recall and 12 Monkeys—that it seems like there's nothing new in Hollywood. It's sad to see, but then there are other shows that reassure me that there are artists who are still pioneers, who still stretch the limits of creativity to bring fresh new stories to eager viewers.

I look back to my childhood with fondness for those writers, directors, and actors who challenged me to become a writer. Who, all unknowing, shaped my style with a master's touch—like Michelangelo's marble with the statue waiting to be uncovered. I like to think I've taken over the art, and I'm still chipping away bits at a time, uncovering the greatest works I still have inside.

Thank you, Mr. Spock/Nimoy. Thank you Mr. Roddenberry, and yes, Mr. Shatner, and countless others who inspire and inspired me. You each have made the world a better place to live. And we have all prospered.