The research rabbit hole

cj Sez: I think another day of celebrating the 243 rd birthday of the United States of America is in order, so here’s a shot of the July 4 fireworks over Mobile, AL (says the proud mother whose son took the photo).

Click on the picture to get a better view.

Jeff called the tiny, white sliver of moon in the middle of the photo a “waxing crescent moon.” My friend in South Africa took a photo of that same moon at dusk and described it as a “sickle moon.” Yep, that’s how an author/poet shows the lunar shape to her readers.

***

   It occurs to me that doing research for a story is therapeutic in a way, almost like getting lost in a good book.

   I can get so caught up in searching hither, thither, and yon that hours pass before I realize I’ve just spent half a day or more absorbed in collecting information, a lot of which is just interesting trivia that has little or nothing to do with the story I’m writing.

   Some days all those hours are productive, some days they’re minutes I should not have wasted. There are other days, however, when doing a deep dive into research becomes a kind of meditation. I get so mesmerized by all the words in that research rabbit hole that the mortal worries of the day disappear.

   I don’t think I’m alone in this. Do you? Besides, when the afternoon heat/humidity index in Mobile climbs to a helacious 107° F, I’d rather be meditating in front of the computer in my air conditioned office than outside…anywhere.

***

Quote of the Day: 

The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.           E. L. Doctorow

***

That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Hurricane Season is heating up along the Gulf Coast, and that brings to mind HOMETOWN HEROES, the Christmas anthology that gifts a portion of the benefits to the “Cajun Navy.” The Navy is that magnificent group of volunteers who help (on their own nickel) people in hurricane-stricken areas. The anthology may have been released at Christmas, but the stories are timeless.

You can order an autographed copy of the anthology (as well as CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, and THE POSSE) from The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

If you send me a note, I’ll personalize the book of your choice, and drop it in the mail to you (cover price plus mailing).

If you prefer Kindle, at the time of this post, HOMETOWN HEROES, CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are free on Kindle Unlimited

Contact me at cjpetterson@gmail.com and visit me at

Amazon Central Author Page =  https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj

Simon&Schuster Author Page = https://bit.ly/2uo1M0Z

and on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author on Facebook  

Could you be a Killer Nashville scholar?

cj Sez: SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE for Killer Nashville:  Deadline July 5, 2019. 

“The annual Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference was created in 2006 as a way to give back to the writing community and educate/empower writers in all stages of their careers. In that spirit, and thanks to generous donors, Killer Nashville is offering several scholarships in 2019.” 

   For more information and to apply, go here:  https://killernashville.com/killer-nashville-scholarships/

***

   Mobile has had wind gusts reaching fifty-plus miles an hour and (yesterday) two inches of rain in a forty-five minute period. Yep, there were trees and limbs down and flash-flood warnings for a lot of city streets because of this storm. On the plus side, the temperature dropped from 94 (heat index of about 100) to the high 70s.

   Thunder and lightning is not good for my writing progress, however. “I have to shut down the computer when lightning starts marching in with the rain,” says the procrastinator. Actually, I’m doing okay. One short story submitted, another in process, and a novel rotating in that endless edit cycle I seem to go through. I also have two other stories percolating (i.e., a few chapters written).

   Are you aware there’s a story arc that readers/agents have come to expect?

According to author/editor Ramona DeFelice Long, 
    "For a 400 page MS: 
          Act 1 is 1/4 of the story, so 100 pages
       Act 2 is 1/2 of the story, so 200 pages
       Act 3 is 1/4 of the story, so 100 pages 
                (Act 3 includes a denouement)
     You can adjust the math, but the 1/4 + 1/2 + 1/4 is the guiding formula."

   Have you ever analyzed a story, yours or someone else’s, to see how they fit into that three-act arc?

***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

   On July 4, 2019, the United States of America celebrates its 243 rd birthday. It started with a revolutionary war and a constitution: 

     We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

   When you celebrate the holiday this year, please take a moment to remember the great personal sacrifices that made us a free nation and have kept us free for more than two centuries.

   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

  Amazon Kindle price is 99 cents!

In the midst of prospectors, treasure hunters, and shoot-outs in the old West, there is a love story in“Bad Day at Round Rock,” my short story in the Western anthology THE POSSE. Excerpt:  Seventeen-year-old Lilly Malmstrom thought morning calm was the best time of any day—before the sun burned away the cool of the night, before hot winds drove the fine Texas sand under the windowsills, before the town of Round Rock fully awakened. By seven a.m., when she stood on tiptoe to twist the key in the wall clock to wind it, she had the doctor’s instruments scalded and air-drying on the table and fresh-washed huck towels hanging on the line behind the building. To mark the end of the work week, she drew an “X” through the date on the calendar with the stub of a lead pencil and sighed.

“July 19, 1878,” she said, pronouncing the month as ‘yulie’. “One year. One whole year.”

It’d been exactly a year since she’d left Sweden, but her new life hadn’t turned out exactly as she’d planned. Now she had a new plan.   

***

For your summertime/beach reading pleasure, stop by my Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj  — at the time of this post, CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are free on Kindle Unlimited.

To order an autographed copy of CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, HOMETOWN HEROES, and THE POSSE, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

If you send me a note, I’ll personalize your choice, and drop it in the mail to you (cover price plus mailing).

Sign up for my quarterly newsletter here: cjpetterson@gmail.com 

Visit me on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author on Facebook