THE ICE PICK

How to Grow a Novel : the Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them, by Sol Stein. New York, St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999. 240 p. $14.95. Includes "Glossary of Terms Used by Writers and Editors." ISBN: 0-312-26749-5.

"A writer is someone who cannot not write." But "who will judge the writer’s work? Who will cast the decisive opinion to accept or reject? The answer," says Stein, "is terrifying."

"In the past the decision on which books to accept and which to reject was made by editors and publishers who were book people . . . steeped in the literature of both past and present, to whom reading is an act of discovery, and to whose abode books are as necessary as walls." Now unfortunately, sales and marketing people, who rely less on taste and quality than on celebrity names and what sold well last year, are usually the deciding force as to whether a book is published or not.

Sol Stein, who has been an editor and writing instructor, as well as a successful writer, explains how you may be able to make the cut in spite of those odds and get your book published, by avoiding or overcoming common mistakes made by writers seeking to sell their work. He spells out the responsibilities of the writer in rewarding the reader with memorable scenes and characters and in "never taking the reader where the reader wants to go," but of "leaving the reader hanging."

The first chapter is full of his practical tips for planning and revising scenes and for creating affection for your characters, and he asks questions you can answer for every scene to help improve your story.

In the chapter on conflict, Stein demonstrates that conflict in a scene need not be a fight or even an argument, but simply the minor adversarial exchanges of human nature.

Openings, he says, may "begin with a flash fire" or "a situation that is slowly alarming," but what "entices the reader in the first few paragraphs of a book [is] most often . . . a character one wants to get to know better." And Stein proceeds to give examples from successful novels to show what he means.

He discusses how to make your story come alive through the use of particular details that illuminate your scenes and how to make your characters "stand out in a crowd."

If you are having difficulty turning ideas into stories, Stein tells how to take "any everyday occurrence and with a flick of your imagination turn it into horror" or into "more-realistic plot lines drawn from something that may have happened to someone you know, or that you fear might happen to you."

He explains how dialogue differs from everyday speech and the hazards of using dialect. "Think of dialogue exchanges," Stein says, "as confrontations or interrogations," which will add tension to your scenes. And, to aid in characterization, he shows how you can use "oblique" dialogue, in which your characters send the conversation off in different directions.

He covers the advantages and dangers in handling different viewpoints, gives hints on solving common problems, and discusses at length the process of revision and how to avoid mistakes or correct them.

The last few chapters are devoted to the realities of the publishing world and what we can expect to experience there.

The first appendix is a summary of "little things that damage the writer’s authority" and "sabotage the reader’s experience." The second appendix is a listing of books, websites, and software that can provide help to writers.

I wish the book had an index, but it is still an excellent, practical guide for writers, and I recommend it highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, June 2004.}

THE ICE PICK

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Crawford Kilian. Bellingham, Wash. & North Vancouver, B.C., Self-Counsel Press, c1998. 165 p. (Self-Counsel Writing Series) $14.95. Includes: bibliography, recommended web sites, samples, checklists, and character worksheet. ISBN: 1-55180-189-2.

Mainly for the beginner who wants to write and isn’t sure how to start or who has written a lot of stories but needs help to go further, this book also has plenty of advice for any writer who would like some help.

Kilian begins with the basics of knowing your genre and your theme and moves on to the challenge of world-building, for it is not enough to simply imagine a strange place and use it as a backdrop for your story. In science fiction and fantasy the setting is part of the story. As he says, "The writer of science fiction or fantasy must keep answering one simple question: Why?" Your answers may involve the symbolism of the place or the natural and scientific details, or both.

In Part Two, Kilian discusses work habits, including using time effectively and keeping a journal, log, or project "bible" to help you. He talks about research and how to get your science or your magic right, so that your story makes sense and is believable.

"Elements of a Successful Story" covers introducing your main characters, establishing your setting and the scene of the conflict, showing what’s at stake and your characters under stress, developing your plot, creating suspense, setting the tone of the story, avoiding melodrama, etc.

He points out that, "The conflict should be understandable to us, but consistent with the different society you portray. A merchant in the 1780s wouldn’t understand the details of a hostile takeover in the 1980s . . . of a company specializing in satellite communications or biotechnology. But the merchant would understand that money and power were at stake on a grand scale."

There are separate chapters on characters, constructing scenes, plotting, viewpoint, dialogue, and symbolism.

I found the "character resume" worksheet awkward to use for fantasy characters, but thought-provoking nonetheless. ("Address and Phone Number"? Well, how would someone contact your hero?) And I especially liked his "storyboarding" idea for organizing a plot and his "style checklist" for revising the story.

Part Three is "Getting Published." This section includes a basic grammar, which answered a couple of questions I’ve had for a long time and couldn’t find in regular grammar books. Kilian discusses manuscript formatting, query letters, and synopses, and provides samples of each. In the chapters on publishers and agents and on publishing contracts, he includes information for Canadian authors as well as U.S. ones in marginal notes.

And he concludes with a short inspirational chapter for those writers who have become thoroughly demoralized by the time they get that far.

The book unfortunately lacks an index, but the Table of Contents is fairly good, and there are wide margins for jotting down notes.

"To conceive, write, revise, and publish any story are real achievements. When you achieve any of them, you have achieved something special." And this book may help you do that. I recommend it.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, May 2004.}

THE ICE PICK

The Complete Book of Scriptwriting, by J. Michael Straczynski. 1st pbk. ed. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2002, c1996. 424 p. $19.99. Includes: Glossary of Visual Terminology for Television and Film; Sample Release Form, Evaluation Agreement, and Client-Agent Contract; Complete script for Babylon 5's "The Coming of Shadows" episode; and index. ISBN: 1-58297-158-7.

Did you know that "cut tos" are old-fashioned? Do you know the difference between a "close shot" and a "close-up"? How and why to indicate a "fade in" or a "match cut" or the use of a hand-held camera? Do you know how to write a sample premise for an animation script or market a stage play? Or how to structure a radiodrama or tell radio listeners that a character has arrived home using sound alone? And did you know that you should not only enclose a release form with your script, but also write "Release Form Enclosed" on the envelope to prevent having your script returned unopened?

This book can help with all of those things. It can also help you avoid being ripped off by unscrupulous agents, producers, and workshops.

Completely revised from the classic 1981 edition, the book includes an entire section on animation, as well as updated information throughout.

Chapters cover television, motion pictures, animation, radio, stage plays, and the business end of scriptwriting. Brief histories of each field are given, plus the "art and craft" of writing for each one. Writing with both clarity and humor, Straczynski explains how to improve your writing while mastering the art of creating a script, and then how to market it.

This is hands-on, practical advice from a master in the field--and someone who knows science fiction, besides.

As Straczynski says, this book was written for those who say, "All the other books can tell me how to write a script, but nobody tells me what to do when I’m finished with it."

He explains in detail, for example, how to present a pitch for a TV episode at a meeting, down to "don’t try to read your pitches from a page; tell the story, the way you would around a campfire. What I usually do is allocate one page per pitch; write in big bold legible letters a few words for each important beat. . . . This way I . . . easily know where I am without having to fumble . . . flipping pages trying to find [my] place."

The book is full of wonderful advice and tips like that.

But perhaps you are just getting started and only dream of a chance to pitch your work. You will find here the instructions you need to format your script professionally, as well as the steps you need to take after you have written and polished it.

If you missed the 1996 hardcover edition and are writing scripts, or want to, or you are dreaming of the day someone asks you to do a screenplay based on your novel or short story and want to be prepared, you should get this book.

"Because," as Straczynski says, "sometimes, every once in a while, the dream really does come true."

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Mar. 2004. Reprinted in Write Connections, Oct. 2004.}

IN THE SILENCE

"God bless you!" we say if someone sneezes or if they are going through hard times, and even more especially when they have done something wonderful for us--something mere "thank you" won’t begin to cover.

"Bless the Lord," the Psalms command us. And God has done more for us than any of us could imagine. But how can we say "God bless you" to God? Can we bless God? How could we? Can the lesser ever bless the greater?

Perhaps by praise. "Praise You, Lord. I thank You and praise You." How else? How does a field of flowers bless me? By being their own beautiful selves. By being the thing they were meant to be and doing their best. Well? What am I waiting for?

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Jan. 28, 1995.}

THE ICE PICK

Letters to a Young Novelist, by Mario Vargas Llosa. Translated by Natasha Wimmer. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002. 136 p. $17.00. Includes index. ISBN: 0-374-11916-3.

"All creators of fiction," says Vargas Llosa, "are embroiled in the same process . . . a reasonable human longing to live a life of adventure, an undying love--that makes them wish passionately for a world different from the one they live in, a world that they are then compelled to construct of words and upon which they stamp, usually in code, their questioning of real life and the their affirmation of that other reality which their selfishness or generosity spurs them to set up in place of the one they’ve been allotted." And, perhaps, never is this more true than among those of us who write speculative fiction.

Not having read any of Vargas Llosa’s works, I was unprepared for this delightful little book. Written for the "young novelist" of all ages, Vargas Llosa leads and teaches with a gentle humorous touch, exploring the "inner workings of fiction" and explaining not only his own philosophy of the creative urge, but also how to improve our writing.

Using the works of writers from many different literary traditions around the world, Vargas Llosa shows how wannabe writers can begin to write the kinds of stories "that would dazzle . . . readers," while warning "that those who see success as their main goal will probably never realize their dreams."

He is blunt in his dislike of "disagreeably academic language" and his assessment of those famous writers whose work he considers boring or who have irritating or "stuttering" styles, while he praises those with "the power of persuasion" who "awaken in us a lively curiosity."

Throughout his clearly written and straightforward discussions of how to create and use style, different narrators and their space, fictional time, "levels of reality," and possible shifts within all of them, I was impressed by the number of classic authors he cites who wrote works which are actually what we would call speculative fiction.

Beyond the usual inclusion of Henry James, Kafka, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery are Julio Cortazar’s "The Idol of the Cyclades" and Juan Carlos Onetti’s use of the nesting Chinese boxes (one story within the other) in a "voyage between reality and fantasy," plus Ambrose Bierce’s "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Jorge Luis Borges’ "The Secret Miracle," Gunter Grass’s "The Tin Drum," Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of This World, which unfolds on fantastic and realistic levels that "almost make us live inside the myths and legends of his story," and many others with which we should be familiar, but which I’m sure most of us probably have not read.

It made me eager to read Juan Rulfo, Roger Caillois, and Hermann Hesse, as well as works by Vargas Llosa himself.

Written in an easy, eloquent, and conversational style, this book is one that can help get you started writing stories and improve those you are working on, aid you in making a switch from short stories to novels, and expand your horizons both as a reader and a writer.

Like the layers of reality within fiction, which Vargas Llosa so carefully explains, this slender book possesses deeper and deeper layers of truth, from which I think you will learn something new every time you read it.

And if you fear translations for the awkwardness usually found in them, this one reads seamlessly. Natasha Wimmer has done an excellent job.

I loved the book and I highly recommend it to you.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Feb. 2004. Reprinted in Write Connections, Mar. 2004.}

ICE CRYSTALS

Someone asked me if "Contentment Cottage" was a real place. Yes, it is, and I live there. This is a drawing I made of it. The house was built in the 1700s. When my grandmother bought it in 1920, it was common practice to name your home. After all, there were no house numbers, and most of the roads had no names. They were simply known as the road to the river or up the mountain or to whatever the nearest town was. Directions consisted of phrases like, "turn left before you get to the Widow Hannah Jones's place on John Smith's road just past the elm tree where the old barn used to be." Never mind that Hannah Jones and John Smith had been dead for years. One of our neighbors' houses was "Holmcroft"; another's was "Indian Trail." Nana called ours "Contentment Cottage."

THE ICE PICK

The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature, from Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest : How to Write Fantasy Stories of Lasting Value, edited by Philip Martin. 1st ed. Waukesha, Wis., Writer Books, 2002. 240 p. $16.95. Includes: bibliography, index, "list of top markets for fantasy fiction." ISBN: 0-87116-195-8.

From the Hildebrandts’ cover art through the market list and "other resources for fantasy writers," this book is a treasure.

The book covers fantasy from children’s literature to dark fantasy in essays by Patricia A. McKillip, Elizabeth Hand, Jane Yolen, Gregory Maguire, and Ray Bradbury, and in interviews with John Marco, Donna Jo Napoli, Diane Schoemperlen, Franny Billingsley, Kij Johnson, Ursula K. LeGuin, Peter S. Beagle, Susan Cooper, Midori Snyder, and Terry Pratchett.

The first part of the book explains Pottermania and discusses what fantasy is, why it has endured through the centuries, and how you can tap into that power. As Lloyd Alexander says, "Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it."

Whether your fantasy is about "lofty purpose and great causes," "adventure for its own sake," magic in everyday settings, "personal transformation," or "dark themes of sharp satire [or] urban decay," you will find it defined and discussed.

And whether you "follow the forms closely . . . or bend the rules and break the frame at every chance . . . knowledge of what is being bent and broken can help a writer succeed in the key act of writing" and in presenting your tale to editors and agents.

The book’s second part deals with the "building blocks of fantasy stories": characterization, viewpoint, setting, patterns, plots, and themes.

This section is full of practical advice to help you become a better fantasy writer. For example, Jane Yolen, in showing how precise details make your fantasy more realistic and believable, suggests you "write out a travelogue of your world. Take yourself for a trip to its most famous points of interest. Or pretend you are writing an article for an encyclopedia that will include customs, laws, historical background, flora and fauna, and the Gross National Product."

Common threads of fantasy are discussed: the power of names, repetition, magic, duels, riddles, premonitions and prophecies, symbols, humor and parody, and myths and legends. These things have been common to the fantasy tradition for centuries, and their appeal is still a powerful one for readers.

Along the way, the fantasy authors reveal "secrets" about problems they have faced and solved, characterization, tying up loose ends in the last book of a series, etc.

The third part of the book deals with "techniques of writing fantasy," which includes generating ideas and keeping track of them, planning a story, doing research, creating maps, setting goals, overcoming writer’s block, revising, submitting your story, and handling the inevitable rejections.

I found this book enjoyable to read and very informative. "This is not," as Martin says, "a ten-easy-steps book. Rather, it tries to share the words and thoughts of great writers. . . . They gladly share their knowledge, but you need to find your own path. . . ." And this book can help you do that. I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Jan. 2004.}

THE ICE PICK

1,818 Ways to Write Better and Get Published, by Scott Edelstein. Updated edition of The Writer’s Book of Checklists. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 1997. 213 p. $14.99. ISBN: 0-89879-778-0.

With something for beginning writers, as well as amateurs and professionals, this book is a gold mine of very specific and practical information on everything from how “to generate fresh ideas” to “how to fire your agent gracefully.”

The first two sections are aimed mostly at beginners and deal with getting started. The first part offers suggestions on responding to criticism and comments, spotting and ignoring bad advice, and living with rejection or success, plus setting up a workspace and finding the best time for you to write.

The second section helps with things like keeping a journal or notebook, rewriting and editing your work, beating writer’s block, and creating titles.

Like the rest of the book, both of these sections give very practical and detailed advice and information, from choosing the kind and color of your journal to using copyediting marks.

Next, there is one part dealing with fiction (characters, plotting, “how to show instead of tell,” description, dialogue, viewpoint, beginnings, endings, children’s stories, etc.) and another part dealing with nonfiction (research, interviews, etc.). Both parts cover preparing a proposal. Do you need to get to know your characters better or how to qualify an assumption you are making in an article? This is where you will find lists of questions to ask about your characters or advice on what things to bring to an interview.

Most of the book deals with the business end of writing: “Publishing opportunities,” “Finding Information and Support,” “Doing Business with Editors,” “Selling Yourself and Your Services,” “Dealing with Agents,” “Keeping Track of Business,” and “Legal Matters.”

Types of magazines and other markets are listed along with advice on whether they are easy or hard to break into and average pay scales. There are guidelines on how to make business contacts that will help you, how to prepare a manuscript, what to do if an editor is slow to respond, how to handle deadlines, ask for more money, compose a resume or an invoice, arrange a book signing or reading, deal with an agent, fill out IRS forms, alter a written agreement, etc.

The lack of an index is very annoying to me, but overall I have learned a lot from the book and have found it to be extremely useful.

Writers always have lots of questions. This book has lots of answers. I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Dec. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King. New York, Scribner, 2000. 288 p. $25.00. Includes bibliography. ISBN: 0-684-85352-3.

"This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit," says King. "Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do--not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t work when it’s bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit."

The first part of the book is mostly autobiographical and, in between episodes ranging from sad to hilarious, is filled with tidbits of writerly wisdom King has learned over the years.

For example, are you a beginning writer looking for good story ideas? "Good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere . . . two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up."

Are you discouraged by criticism? "I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction and poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write . . . someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that’s all."

The book’s second part contains more specific advice for writers about plotting, description, dialogue, character development, symbolism, theme, etc. and reveals King’s strength and clarity of thought. A former English teacher, he starts with the basics: "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut." "People who decide to make a fortune writing like John Grisham or Tom Clancy produce nothing but pale imitations."

He goes on to explain how he sees the creation of a story. He begins with the basic situation, not knowing the entire story, but willing to follow it where it leads. "If there is," King says, "any one thing I love about writing more than the rest, it’s that sudden flash of insight when you see how everything connects." "My basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves." "Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world," which writers must excavate and keep as "intact as possible." He suggests that "if you are enslaved to (or intimidated by) the tiresome tyranny of the outline and the notebook filled with ‘Character Notes,’" you may find his way a liberating one to try.

In his discussion on description, he warns against exhaustive descriptions of faces and clothing: "Locale and texture are much more important to the reader’s sense of actually being in the story than any physical description of the players." "Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s."

And in speaking of theme, he says that "good fiction always begins with story and progresses to theme; it almost never begins with theme and progresses to story." But that after you have written your basic story, then you should take the time to think about meanings and go back and enrich your tale.

He recommends laying a finished novel aside for "a minimum of six weeks" before revising it. And at the end of the book, King includes a sample of a scene, before and after his revisions, to let you see how he revises his work.

If you’re working on a series and want to know how to start the next book, he suggests reading the Harry Potter novels, noting how J.K. Rowling, "the current champ when it comes to back story . . . effortlessly . . . recaps what has gone before."

Perhaps the most inspirational thing about this whole book is the condition under which King finished it. He had completed only half the book before he was run over by a Dodge van and nearly killed. He began working on the second half in terrible pain and with the fear that he might never be able to write again. It got better, he says. He was still weak and in pain, but the words began to come again.

Whether you are a Stephen King fan or not, there is a lot wonderful advice for writers in this fascinating and inspiring book. I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Nov. 2003.}

IN THE SILENCE

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the elder brother is in a snit because his father has killed the fatted calf and held a party for his worthless brother, who has just returned home, while the elder has stayed home and been obedient and faithful. The father says to him, "You have been with me all the time, and everything I have is yours." But the elder brother never asked for anything. He never asked! "Ask, that you may receive."

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Jan. 21, 1999.}

THE ICE PICK

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, by Tom & Marilyn Ross. 4th ed. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2002. 521 p. $19.99. Includes: illustrations, bibliography, glossary, index, & resources. ISBN: 1-58297-091-2.

How to Get Your E-book Published : an Insider’s Guide to the World of Electronic Publishing, by Richard Curtis & William Thomas Quick. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2002. 278 p. $21.99. Includes: bibliography, index, & resources. ISBN: 1-58297-097-1.

If you are considering self-publication, you are about to enter a wilderness of possibilities, responsibilities, and confusion. There are rewards and, as the Rosses say, "options beyond your wildest imaginings." And also many pitfalls.

Beginning with the "publishing scene" of what is out there and the basic choices you will have to make, the Rosses take you from "product development" (writing your book) to selling it.

You can learn how to establish your own publishing company and how to handle bookkeeping, billing, pricing, discounting, taxes, and all the other nitty-gritty of setting up shop. They walk you through copyright registration, getting an ISBN and a Library of Congress Card Number; and explain what you need to know about cover and page design, typeface, proofreading, and choosing a title for your book that will help sell it.

The second half of the book is devoted to marketing, in both traditional and non-traditional ways. And they discuss how to approach a regular publishing house, if your book is a success, or how to raise your small one-book publishing enterprise to become a small press with more books, if you ever have time in your life again to write another book, because self-publication is a full-time job.

The book is awesome in what it covers and provides and in the little tips and hints it gives. For example, in most areas, when you set up a company, you need to advertise "your intention to do business as (dba) XYZ Publishing Company." They recommend saving money by advertising in a small "weekly neighborhood paper" instead of a major daily.

The Curtis book is restricted to e-publishing. Richard Curtis, is a leading New York literary agent, and William Thomas Quick is a self-described "full-blown computer geek" who writes science fiction. Together they are well qualified to help you understand e-publishing and publish your book electronically.

The Ross book includes a great deal about e-publishing, as well, but if you are serious about electronic publishing, the Curtis book has very much more for you.

Curtis covers the kinds of e-books and the issue of rights, how to get your book into digital format, set up your domain name, etc. And he discusses whether it is better to try to make money advertising on your website, use pay-per-download with PayPal, or try Amazon.com’s honor system.

If you would rather go with "brand name e-publishers," Curtis outlines the advantages and disadvantages, tells how you can find them, and warns of some of the scams that are out there.

The last section of the book deals with marketing. It tells why you should avoid spam advertising and why you should not ignore libraries. It explains how to get your book stocked in e-bookstores or sold through Amazon.com, how to get your e-book reviewed, create other publicity, and submit to search engines and improve your rankings on the major ones.

If you are thinking of self-publishing, you should read the Ross book. It will help you decide whether to "do-it-yourself" or not and, if so, how to go about it. They even include a "self-publishing timetable" and "a realistic and complete marketing plan" for you.

And if you are considering e-publishing, the Curtis book has the most complete coverage of the field that I’ve seen.

Both books are down-to-earth, practical guides full of detailed instructions, advice, and tips to help you publish your book and make it a success. I recommend both of them highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Oct. 2003.}

ICE CRYSTALS

"JANE TOOMBS’ NOVEL IDEAS"

"Plots stack up in my mind like planes over Newark," says Jane Toombs, romance novelist, whose twenty-sixth book, Midnight Whispers will be published in December [1989], and whose recently completed Riverboat Rogue is due out in March [1990]. She has written under her own name and various pseudonyms, but she recommends "against using a variety of pseudonyms, because if readers like one of your books, they won’t be able to find your other books in a bookstore."

Jane writes romance because she believes that the relationship between a man and woman is the most important thing in the world--the foundation of family and civilization. Romances provide an escape into a world where women of mythic proportions find strong, nurturing men who care for them as if they were the most wonderful people in the world. In romance, the relationship is the most important part of the plot. Other elements may be present but only in limited doses. Romance readers prefer romance unmixed. Love must triumph in the end but readers want pitfalls, excitement, and conflict. Jane warns that readers don’t want any loose ends.

Intrigued by mystery, suspense, and the paranormal, Jane tries to make her romance stories different but says you must not let outside action overshadow the romance. Jane started with Gothics and when she switched to historical romances, she found them more difficult to write because they’re longer and also because sexy scenes are easier to read than to write.

To unify your story, Jane says you should be able to express your theme in one or two sentences. "Love conquers all" is the theme of all romance; each romance needs something more. Never preach at readers but subtly weave personal opinions into the story.

It takes her four to five months to complete a book. She has no set schedule but writes 7 to 9 pages a day on a word processor with the simplest program she could find. She begins with an idea, then fleshes out the plot, looking through her notebooks of ideas if she gets stuck. She says the middle is always the hardest and that the incidents she thinks of first are usually too trite. Jane recommends Dean Koontz’s How To Write Best Selling Fiction as practical and readable but warns against trying to deal with a publisher’s contract yourself. It is easy to get an agent once you have an editor interested in your work.

Jane said that her first book was written while she was in the middle of a divorce, had a job, and five children. If she could find the time to write, so can we.

{Article published in Word (W)rap : Newsletter of the Hudson Valley Chapter, National Writers Club, Sept.-Oct. 1989, based on a talk given by Jane Toombs at the August chapter meeting.}

THE ICE PICK

Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life, by Terry Brooks. New York, Ballantine Books, 2003. 197 p. $22.95.

One of the joys, for me, in reading many books about writing in order to try and pick the best to review, is finding a book like this one.

And I think that whether you are a Terry Brooks fan or not, you will find his book an informative one and a fun read.

More than an autobiography and less than a how-to-write book (although he offers much advice and a few rules along the way), this book is an invitation to learn how Terry Brooks went from wannabe to best-selling author. He tells of his frustrations and successes with movie adaptations, of how the element of luck played out in getting Lester del Rey for an editor, and of how he learned from his son to be willing to look for “the possibilities” and allow himself to be surprised by what he found.

Written in an easy open style, the book made me feel as if I were sitting and talking with him. He gives tips on how to “show,” rather than “tell” your story, and how you can make your characters come alive, just as he does. He talks about the importance of daydreaming for an author and how to get your emerging story down on paper.

I am not a fan of outlining--it doesn’t work for me--but even so, I was envious as I read how his system of outlining a novel allows him to do one draft, one rewrite, and be finished. It made me want to try it out.

Brooks gives warnings too. “If you do not hear the music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.” “If you don’t think there is magic in writing, you probably won’t write anything magical.” “If you do not ever wonder what happened to your characters after you stopped writing about them, you didn’t care enough about them in the first place.” “If anything in your life is more important than writing, you should walk away now while you still can.”

I think the book’s price is a little steep, but I’m glad I bought it, as I loved reading it and will probably re-read it many times. I recommend it very highly. (Maybe you can get someone to give it to you as a Christmas present.)

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Sept. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

Agents, Editors, and You: the Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book Published, edited by Michelle Howry. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2002. 260 p. $22.99. Includes index. ISBN: 1-58297-141-2.

Whether you are a beginning writer or a professional, you should be able to find the answers to many, if not most, of your questions about publishing in this great book. Sometimes books on publishing seem to conceal as much as they reveal, and what they do tell you is frequently couched in language that is difficult to understand and proves even more difficult to put into practice. But this book, which is a compilation of up-to-date advice and information from top-notch agents and editors, explains things in a no-nonsense, practical, and easily comprehended manner.

The golden rule of publishing fiction is explained: Finish your novel first before you approach either an agent or an editor with it. Stephen King may be able to sell a novel on an idea and a promise, but most of the rest of us, who have a limited or nonexistent track record, should finish our book first.

Included with advice on finding and approaching an agent and submitting your manuscript, are warnings about the kinds of agents to avoid and what to do if you have doubts about the legitimacy of offers you receive from agents or editors.

Sample letters are included along with the agents’ comments on what made the letters stand out for them. If you have been wondering whether you should send an e-query or not, and if so, how to format it and what to include, guidance is provided here.

Advice is also given on how to meet agents and editors at conferences--what to say, what not to say, what to bring (including a plan, a pen, and your own business cards), and what not to bring (a shy attitude, for one thing). And what to do if you can’t attend conferences.

There is also a chapter on what to do after you’ve caught an agent’s or an editor’s interest. This includes how to prepare a proposal, cover letter, synopsis, and outline for a novel or a nonfiction book.

There are chapters on what fiction, nonfiction, and children’s book agents and editors are looking for these days.

An entire section covers what happens after your book is sold, including the actual process your manuscript goes through, as well as how you can best cooperate with your editor to make your book a success, what you need to know before you sign a contract, and how to help market your book.

Chapters on e-publishing and self-publishing discuss both the advantages and the pitfalls, but if you plan to go in either of these directions, I recommend you look into books like Tom and Marilyn Ross’s The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing or Richard Curtis’s How to Get Your E-book Published for more information.

The chapter entitled "Are all the good agents and publishers in New York City?" includes fascinating information about how agents and editors operate and relate to each other and to authors, particularly in handling and building the careers of first-time authors.

I enjoyed reading this book and I learned a lot. If "it often seems as if the publishing industry itself was structured to make it as difficult as possible for a first-time author to figure it all out" or you wish for a guide through the publishing maze--"a kind of ‘publishing mentor’" to answer your questions, or you just want to learn more about the publishing industry and how it works, I highly recommend this book.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Aug. 2003. Reprinted in Worlds of Wonder E-zine, Sept. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, by David Gerrold. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2001. 246 p. $14.99. Includes index and recommended books and software. ISBN: 1-58297-007-6.

In this book, Gerrold, the author of Star Trek’s most popular episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles," takes you through the process of writing your own science fiction or fantasy stories and--with a light touch and gentle humor--gives you valuable tips and hints from his own experience.

He begins with the three basic questions all storytellers must answer. "What’s happening?" which gives you your plot. "Who is it happening to?" or who are your characters? "And why should we care?" which is the most important question of all.

He discusses dialogue and structure, theme and style, viewpoint and tense, love scenes and sex scenes, and first lines, last lines, and punch lines.

As to setting and world-building, Gerrold says, "Both science fiction and fantasy . . . require strict adherence to the rules and structures of believability. . . . The reader will suspend disbelief--he won’t suspend common sense." And Gerrold devotes several chapters to explaining how to build a believable science fiction or fantasy world, along with how to show your setting rather than merely telling about it.

In showing your setting, Gerrold explains the importance of writing the story from within your characters and their world.

He tells how to create a hero, develop him, her, or it, and make the reader care. I was especially impressed with the questions he lists in the chapter on creating your main characters. He also discusses the necessary transformation of character that must take place in what he calls a "flipover" scene.

Why he hid this neat term in a footnote in his chapter on structure, I don’t know. Sometimes I questioned the organization of the book, or lack of it, and I disagreed with some of his philosophy on why people have problems, crises, and challenges in life, but that does not affect the validity of what he says about plot, character, etc. All I can say is that you will never agree a hundred percent with any author, and in arguing with him or with any other writer, you may discover other truths or deeper understandings for yourself.

"A story," says Gerrold, "is about the experience of problem solving and the lessons learned." The writer must evoke the experience by sharing what it feels like with the reader, and throughout this book, Gerrold gives you tips on how to choose the words to do that. He discusses the building blocks of sentences, paragraphs, similes, metaphors, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, passive and active verbs, rhythm, clarity, word choice, and the manipulation of language.

Lastly, anytime, but especially when you feel blocked, or your writing seems dried out, read his chapters on why we write and on discipline. You may find the inspiration and help you need in them or in his "The First Million Words," "Ten Pieces of Good Advice" or in the first chapter of the book: "Start Here."

There are many books that tell you how to write, but very few that specifically deal with the problems and challenges of science fiction and fantasy. If you are seeking such a book, this one was written for you.

"Write from your heart and you will go into stardrive."

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, July 2003.}

IN THE SILENCE

Some scholars criticize the New Testament because the same words of Jesus are repeated in a different Gospel under different circumstances or in a slightly different form.

But Jesus came to teach. Why wouldn’t He have repeated the same or a similar message many, many times to different audiences whenever the opportunity was presented?

It wasn’t like the AP wire services were going to publish His message and let everyone in Israel read it in their morning paper or the Evening News repeat His sound bites at six and eleven. It was more like the whistlestop tours of politicians. Listen to campaign speeches!

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Jan. 14, 1999.}

THE ICE PICK

Writer’s Market FAQs: Fast Answers about Getting Published and the Business of Writing, by Peter Rubie. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 2002. 271 p. $18.99. Includes: sample letter of agreement between agent and client, glossary, and index. ISBN: 1-58297-071-8.

Peter Rubie, of the Peter Rubie Literary Agency in New York City, and professor of "the only university-level course in the country on how to become a literary agent" has, by now, probably heard all of the Frequently Asked Questions. As an author, he has probably asked quite a few of them himself.

Arranged in a question-and-answer format, the book provides answers to questions like: "Should I start my . . . career publishing short stories rather than a novel?" "Why do I keep getting rejected?" "Can I make more money keeping rights and selling them myself? Or should I let a publisher take a share and sell the rights?" The answers given are not merely brief retorts, but are fully developed discussions. For example, there are explicit instructions on what should be included in a fiction proposal, including information such as: "if the book is part of a series, include a half-page or one-page description of a few more titles in the series, as well as a brief series overview."

"The Basics" includes such questions as: "How do I get started?" "How do I know if my manuscript is ready to be published?" "Is keeping a journal a good idea?" "Should I go to school or take lessons or something?" "Why does it sometimes feel like everyone in publishing is conspiring to stop me from getting published?" and are writers’ conferences worthwhile?

The second chapter explains genres and cross-genres, tells about meeting "the reader’s expectations," and why it might make sense to use different names if you write in different genres.

"Agents, Editors and Other Publishing People" answers questions like: "How do I approach editors or publishers?" "Why has publishing become so hard-nosed these days?" "Why is it so hard to get hold of an agent between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.?" "What do I do if I’m able to actually speak with an editor?" "How do I protect my idea?" "How do I register my copyright?" "How do I get permission to use somebody else’s work?" "What should I know about an agent before I approach one?" "How do I attract the attention of a good agent?" "What should I ask a potential agent?" "Why should I bother with a literary agent?" and how do I "submit to an editor without an agent"? The Code of Ethics for the Association of Authors’ Representatives is reprinted and explained paragraph by paragraph in plain English.

The chapter on marketing explains how to "define" or "target" your audience, that is, the people who might buy your book. And it discusses what publishers do to distribute and promote ("not much") your book after it is published, and some things you can do to help. Questions include: "How do I write a letter to a ‘famous’ person asking for an endorsement?" "Should I hire a publicist?" "How can I get myself on TV?" and "What do I do if my editor and imprint are swallowed up in a merger?" A list of Web sites you can "go to for help with marketing and publicity" is provided.

Chapter five, "Developing Ideas and Creating Book Proposals," covers everything from "What should I write about?" to "How do I create a fiction proposal?" Other questions and answers include things like: "How long should I wait before I contact the editor or agent to see whether they have read my material?" and "What is meant by a ‘narrative hook’?" There is also a list of organizations and useful web sites for writers.

"Cultivate a reputation for being a sweetheart to deal with," advises Rubie in the chapter on the process of "How Your Manuscript Becomes a Book." That process and "Reading Your Contract" make up the next two chapters. A sample contract is given with each clause explained and warnings included.

"Subrights and Royalties" are detailed in chapter eight, and the advantages and disadvantages of "E-publishing and Other Routes" are discussed in chapter nine.

The last chapter is on "Writing and Editing Tips" and includes things like: "How do I get started writing a book?" "How do I go about tackling rewriting?" "I write description well, but my characters are weak. How can I get over this?" "How can I improve my writing style?" and "What do people mean when they talk about structure in writing?"

This fascinating book is written in clear, easily understood language. It has a wealth of information that can help you become a better writer and help you sell what you write, and I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, June 2003.}

ICE CRYSTALS

Do you like bacon? Here’s a filler I wrote and had published.

To cut bacon’s fat, sodium, and cost in half each time you use it, and to keep it longer, cut the slices in half with a sharp knife when you first open the package. Fold two to four slices at a time, accordion-style, into wax paper. Then slip these little packets into freezer bags and freeze. The bacon thaws in seconds when fried, and the half-slices are the perfect size for BLTs.

{Published in Women’s Circle, "Daily Dollar Stretchers," June 1996.}

THE ICE PICK

Medieval Celebrations : How to Plan Holidays, Weddings, and Reenactments with Recipes, Customs, Costumes, Decorations, Songs, Dances, and Games, by Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly. Mechanicsburg, Pa., Stackpole Books, c2001. 149 p. $19.95. Includes illustrations, music, bibliography, filmography, and index. ISBN: 0-8117-2866-8.

Intended for those who enjoy reenacting the Middle Ages or who would just like to host a Medieval-style feast or party, this book is a nice resource for writers of Medieval fantasy, as well.

Because the authors need to explain everything in enough detail for people to actually perform or reenact, there is more than enough information here for writers to construct a scene.

In addition to presenting a brief calendar of Medieval holidays and explaining how to set up a feast, a twelfth-century Mass, a wedding, games, and dances, the book gives plenty of historical information about daily life in the Middle Ages, including details like the fact that people rarely traveled more than seven miles from their village because that was the farthest the average person could walk and return safely home by dark.

There are chapters on Medieval celebrations in general and one dedicated to Christmas alone. Another chapter explains how walls, windows, floors, tables, etc. were decorated and rooms lighted. In separate chapters, table manners are covered as well as menus, adapted recipes, drinks, rules for playing a number of indoor and outdoor Medieval games, and so forth.

The music and lyrics for thirteen songs are included along with a sample version of an entire mummers play about Robin Hood. And there is an entire chapter devoted to making clothing, the information from which can be used to dress your characters.

The authors define the Middle Ages as the period from 1066 to 1450 and use "an amalgam of styles, manners, and foods from this period" in the book.

For example, because few early recipes have survived, the menus and foods are "primarily from cookbooks of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries." And since they are of simpler design and easier for people to recreate, "the clothing styles and decorative motifs . . . are taken primarily from the fourteenth century." To add to the confusion, the music and dances have been chosen "from a variety of times and places throughout the Medieval period."

So if historical accuracy is important to your story, you will have to check the facts for your chosen time period carefully lest you introduce anachronisms into your work, but, even so, this book is a wonderful introduction to Medieval life and certainly gives you a place to start. And the bibliography can lead you to more information if your needs are more exacting.

Any book like this that covers nearly four hundred years of fashion changes and trends cannot present you a completely accurate view of any given time period within that span, but that is not its intention. And given that understanding, there is so much here that can be used by a Medieval fantasy writer, that I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, May 2003. Reprinted in Worlds of Wonder E-zine.}

THE ICE PICK

How Fiction Works : the Last Word on Writing Fiction from Basics to Fine Points, by Oakley Hall. Cincinnati : Story Press, 2001. 228 p. $18.99. Includes bibliography of Suggested Reading and index. ISBN: 1-88491-049-1.

I don’t know about being the "last word on writing fiction." I don’t think there is such a thing on writing fiction, or anything else. But if you’re tired of how-to-write books that tell you what to do, but don’t show you how it works or that are filled with jargon you don’t understand, this may be the book you’ve been looking for, because Hall teaches mainly through showing you examples of what works and what doesn’t. By studying the samples he provides of both good and bad writing and his explanations of why they seem to work, or fail to do so, you can analyze the examples and learn how to improve your own stories.

The book covers the basics of dialogue, plot, description, characterization, and point of view, as well as the finer techniques, like using symbols and indirection, that can make your writing special.

Above all, the book gives practical, direct advice that you can use. For example, if you have always been told that short sentences are necessary to show fast action, Hall shows that "run-on sentences have a speeded-up, breathless quality that is effective as well." Or if you want to figure out how you can follow the oft-given advice to put your descriptions "in action," but you’re just trying to describe a person or a landscape, Hall shows you, through examples, how to depict people and scenes "in motion," by making the portrayal exciting and vivid.

At the ends of the chapters on plot and character are brief lists of what Hall calls "First aid," to help you if you run into problems. And there is a similar list for dialogue. I’m usually not crazy about end-of-chapter summaries, but these lists add to what is covered, rather than simply being restatements of material. Thus, I found them helpful not merely as review aids and further learning tools while writing, but as checklists against which to measure my work when revising.

The second part of the book contains two short stories and a discussion of certain elements in novel-writing: beginnings, endings, flashbacks, and the process of writing itself. For example, if you are having trouble getting your novel’s beginning to work, Hall not only gives a number of suggestions to help you, but also warns you not to worry about the beginning so much you get hung up on it, because first chapters are frequently discarded after the author really gets into the story.

The appendix of Suggested Reading has nine lists of books that different authors consider to be classics or "required reading" for writers. While most of the books are not science fiction, fantasy, or horror, the lists do include books every writer should be familiar with, not only to show us what has been done, but also to inspire us.

This book is not a list of rules. Nor is it an easy book. Although it is written in a very clear, straightforward, and easily understood style, Hall requires you to think about what you are reading, not only in this book but in your other reading, as well. However, if you have found other how-to-write books to be unsatisfying or downright confusing, this book may help you understand what to do and how to do it to make your story the best it can be.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Apr. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

Space Travel, by Ben Bova with Anthony R. Lewis. 1st ed. Cincinnati, Writer’s Digest Books, 1997. 273 p. Science Fiction Writing Series. $16.99. Includes bibliography, glossary, and index. ISBN 0-89879-747-0.

If you are writing realistic science fiction, rather than science fantasy, and your story involves space travel, this book may have the answers you need to make your story fly.

The chapter on rockets includes everything from the Medieval gunpowder-propelled ones and the chemical ones (solid and liquid), to nuclear and solar-powered electric rockets.

Effects of weightlessness, how to produce artificial gravity without making your characters dizzy, and the details of orbital mechanics are thoroughly discussed.

Space habitats and the difficulties of living and working in space, plus future space industries and military uses of space are explored.

Are you planning a lunar colony? Do you need to know whether lunar mines would be underground or open pit? Or how sunrise would appear on a lunar morning stroll? The chapter about the Moon discusses what it would be like living there and working in lunar industries.

Travel in the Solar System and conditions on each of the planets is discussed at length, along with the problems of travel over increasingly long distances and resulting communications home.

If your story requires interstellar travel, there are chapters on the problems of star flight, which will help your starship captain avoid such errors as ordering his vessel to hover or come to a full stop.

In the chapter on the Universe, the topics explained include natural lasers, black holes, space warps, and quasars. Questions are asked as to whether quasars are really starships, or if it’s possible that we are the most technologically advanced species in our galaxy.

One of the things I really like about this book is that along with providing the scientific and technical background, it shows how to use the details and facts in creating a story without boring your readers to death.

As the authors say, "You have to know the facts in order to write a convincing, well-crafted story that is internally consistent. But the reader does not have to know every tiny detail." Unless, for example, something goes wrong with your spacecraft’s engines, you should use the information in the chapter on rockets only as background to make your story better and not put in every detail about the engines you have laboriously researched. "If it’s not important to the story’s forward momentum, leave it out."

If your story takes place in outer space, or even on Earth in a future where space travel is taken for granted, and you need story ideas or want to avoid making scientific errors, I highly recommend this book.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Mar. 2003.}

IN THE SILENCE

If I try to forgive out of my own strength and ask God to forgive, as well, I find I cannot. Secretly, I am hoping to heap coals of fire on their heads, praying that God will avenge me.

Only when I reach beyond and become aware of my oneness with God, knowing that I cannot be separated from Him no matter what happens, and that He loves me eternally, can I forgive and know the forgiveness is real and in God’s hands, as I am.

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Jan. 7, 1996.}

THE ICE PICK

Mastering Point of View, by Sherri Szeman. Cincinnati: Story Press, 2001. 218 p. $16.99. Includes bibliographical references, glossary, and index. ISBN 1-884910-52-1.

This very comprehensive examination of viewpoint might be a bit too difficult for the beginning writer, but for the amateur yearning to improve or the advanced writer reaching to perfect skills, this book may be extremely helpful.

Szeman speaks of mastering or controlling point of view rather than simply handling or using it, and she defines various viewpoints far more stringently than you may be used to seeing.

Where we are often told that we are changing point of view when we switch from our heroine’s third person viewpoint to our hero’s third person viewpoint, Szeman says that is not a change in point of view at all, but merely a different perspective in the same point of view. Only a change such as that from first person to third is considered by Szeman to be a true viewpoint change.

She is also far more strict in what she considers to be a lapse from point of view than most of us are used to or have been taught. Studying what she says should make you much more aware of viewpoint and more able to control your use of it.

Szeman includes advice, like using first person to create sympathy for unsympathetic characters, and tips, like watching movies with the sound turned off to help you learn body language, which is especially helpful if you are writing in outer limited (or camera-eye) viewpoint or trying to "show" rather than "tell."

Along with explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each point of view, she explains how you can figure out which one will best reveal or hide your characters’ motives and how to know when to change viewpoints, as well as how to use point of view to keep a sense of tension and urgency high in your story.

She gives tips for handling setting and dialogue in different points of view and discusses the special problems of viewpoint when writing erotic or violent scenes.

The book is filled with examples from contemporary and classic literature illustrating the various points of view, and there are appendices covering the historical development of viewpoint in literary and commercial fiction. She covers science fiction, alien novels, time travel, alternate worlds, cyperpunk, space travel, fantasy, heroic/sword and sorcery, magical worlds, utopia/dystopia, and animal novels; plus science fiction/fantasy, futuristic, time travel, and paranormal romances; as well as science fiction mysteries/thrillers, and horror novels.

If you are struggling with viewpoint and want to learn how to master it and use it to keep your reader hooked and reading, create atmosphere and mood, and develop realistic characters, I recommend this book.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Feb. 2003.}

ICE CRYSTALS

"AN AMERICAN GRACE"

Bless, O Lord, those who patrol
our streets and seas and skies
that we may dwell in safety.
And bless those who work our fields
and tend our flocks and herds
that we may eat when we are hungry.
And bless us, Lord, that we may come
to love and serve Thee better. Amen.

{A poem - prayer published in Easy Herb Cooking for Busy People, by D.C. Ice. Burlingham, N.Y., Contentment Cottage, 1996.}

THE ICE PICK

The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth, by James N. Frey. N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 260 p. $23.95. Includes a bibliography. ISBN 0-312-24197-6.

Much of modern fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as mysteries and romances, all use the myth-based story.

If you want to create screenplays or "fiction that has the power to profoundly move a reader" this book is a step-by-step guide to doing that through using the magic of the myth--not a modern copy of a Greek, Roman, or Norse myth--but the universal form and structure that has turned on readers for generations, that speaks to our deepest longings.

"Mythic forms," says Frey, "resonate in every individual human being on this planet. When a human being encounters some version of a myth, the individual responds at a very deep level, subconsciously, and is powerfully drawn to it as by magic."

Emphasizing that heroes must be interesting and well-rounded characters, Frey begins with a discussion of the physical and psychological qualities all heroes and heroines in myth-based stories must possess at the beginning of, or obtain sometime during, the story. He explains in detail the qualities required of your hero: courage, cleverness, some special talent, a wound or vulnerability, expertise at what he does, and a rebellious streak, and he tells why these are important.

He does the same for your antagonist, the Evil One. He shows how you can and should make the Evil One a rounded character and a worthy opponent of your hero. One of Frey’s techniques is to write a "journal" entry in the Evil One’s voice, so that you can get to know how he or she feels and thinks.

According to Frey, "Mythic forms and structures are the foundation on which all good stories are built." Using modern movies and books in various genres, Frey goes on to show how myth has been used and to explain how to construct your own story using the mythic structure.

He begins with "the hero in the world of the common day" who is then called, or forced, to "leave" or begin the adventure, which may or may not be a real "journey" at all. The hero is sent on a mission (or finds one at home), is forced to learn new rules, is tested, and suffers a transformation.

Discussing each of the mythic characters and motifs usually found in myth-based stories--and which you can use or refuse--he shows how you can adapt them to your story, so that you sustain tension throughout its development and end with a dramatic, satisfying climax.

No actual myth has ever had all the elements, and "when creating your own myth-based fiction," Frey says, "you should continually ask yourself: Would my story be stronger, more effective, more dramatic, more engaging, more emotional, and more gripping if I included this or that mythological element?"

These are tools to use, not a prescription, and you can follow his steps as closely as you like in your own story. "The force of myth is irresistible," says Frey. And you can use its form and structure to create your own myth-based heroes and to build your own myth-based stories.

I wish it had an index, but I love this book for its clarity and simplicity and, most of all, for its practical approach. I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Jan. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

Writing as Adventure: a Writer’s Companion, by Varda One. [Philadelphia]: Xlibris Corporation, 2001. 159 p. $17.84. ISBN 1-4010-1392-9.

Whether you are a beginner, amateur, or a professional writer there may be days when you wonder what you’re doing and if it’s worth it.

This book is written for those days and for any other days when you feel the need for some inspiration or encouragement or when you just want to know that someone else understands.

A "collection of comforts written in a personal style," as if by a friend, this book is filled with practical advice, personal tips, passed-along wisdom, and encouraging stories. As with any collection like this, it contains some repetition and is best used when you "dip in anywhere," rather than trying to read it straight through.

Some of the things may make you laugh, or even cry, but Varda One writes of the experiences common to authors everywhere. Her advice is pithy and direct, and always encouraging.

Varda discusses everything from the "woodwork angels"--people who "seem to come out of the woodwork . . . bearing information, guidance, suggestions," at just the right moment--to the joys and pains of the paying and non-paying marketplace and how she handles the inevitable rejections.

She talks of talent and fear, of believing in yourself, of motivation and persistence, of the burden of perfectionism, of style and writing as process, of feedback and readers and the writing life, and of scheduling and the luck of timing which may depend more on your own openness or resistence than to chance.

But above all she speaks of the joy of writing, of allowing yourself to write or not to write, of telling your inner critic "Later!" and giving "yourself permission to be trite, inconsistent, even chaotic" until you get the piece down.

She warns about the envy of other writers that can hobble or destroy you, and the death of individuality that can come from crippling schedules or conformist jobs. "The marketplace," says Varda One, "requires that you serve the needs of others; the muse demands that you be faithful to your inner voice."

This is not a how-to-write book, in the sense that you will not find guidance here on how to handle viewpoint or construct a plot, although I learned a neat way to handle telepathic speech, by enclosing the dialogue in .

But if you seek encouragement and enjoy learning what other writers have discovered about writing and marketing, then this wonderful book belongs on your shelf or on your desk. It would make a nice Christmas present for yourself or another writer you know.

As Varda One says, "Writing is an adventure into the unknown. Writing is confronting fears." And, "just as my friend made a statement that helped me, maybe something I write will click with you. Don’t quit before the miracle."

I very highly recommend this wonderful book.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Dec. 2002; reprinted Feb. 2003. Also reprinted in The Write Stuff Book Review, Jan. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

Time Travel, by Paul J. Nahin. Cincinnati, Writers Digest Books, 1997. 200 p. (Science Fiction Writing Series) $16.99 Includes bibliography, glossary, and index. ISBN 0-89879-748-9.

If you want to write a story that includes time travel and get the science right, or you simply want to know if time travel is possible, this comprehensive "writer’s guide to the real science of plausible time travel" is for you.

Nahin says that "physics seems to be coming to the astonishing conclusion that time travel to the past doesn’t violate any of the known laws of physics."

And time travel to the future? Since 1905, physicists have known that that was possible. Nahin shows how it might be accomplished, using the special theory of relativity and a high speed rocket.

Nahin discusses the history of time travel in science fiction, along with explanations of mistakes authors have made and how you can avoid them. He explains the rules you must follow if you want to avoid writing fantasy, plus the theories that make time travel possible, and how you can use them to create your own scientifically sound story.

He explains hyperspace; theoretical time machines already "invented"; block and splitting universes; time as the fourth dimension and how it is shaped and "moves"; folded space-time and wormholes; cosmic strings; the uncertainty principle; and paradoxes--like meeting yourself, changing the past, causal loops, etc. and he tells why most of them are invalid.

Nahin also tells how you can use current scholarly journals in physics to generate new and original story ideas without getting bogged down in the technical details.

This is not an easy book. It requires a fair knowledge of physics and mathematics in order to fully use and appreciate it. But he says not to let the math discourage you, and he explains the general concepts behind the equations.

If you want to write "scientifically respectable" time travel, "or at least sound that way," I recommend this book.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Nov. 2002.}