D. Hart St. Martin

I make female heroes badass AND believable

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Dancing with the Denouement

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(Originally published November 12, 2015)

This article is a favorite of mine, so I decided to repost it. I hope you enjoy it.

The best piece of writing I’ve ever experienced was not a book or a short story. It was a movie—The Terminator. I found myself thinking about this movie and its brilliant screenplay by James Cameron last night as I was considering how to approach an explanation to a writing friend of what I call the punch-line denouement. (According to Writers Digest, “the denouement is the final outcome of the story, generally occurring after the climax of the plot. Often it’s where all the secrets (if there are any) are revealed and loose ends are tied up.”)

For those who’ve never seen it, The Terminator tells the story of Sarah Connor, a 1980s college student working as a waitress. Sarah’s life is irreparably changed when two travelers arrive from the future. One—a cyborg—has come to kill her to keep her from conceiving the savior of humankind. The other—Kyle Reese—intends to stop the cyborg and keep Sarah alive.

Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

From a feminist standpoint, this movie is perhaps the first I ever saw with a female hero at the helm of an action film. Yes, Sarah is the hero. It is she who must change in order to make the future possible. She begins as a fun-loving young woman who by the end has gathered together all the strength she possesses in order to face that future straight on.

Back to my point. Storytelling. The amazing screenplay by James Cameron blows me away every time I watch the movie or even think about it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to taste the joy of how to tell a very complicated story in a couple of hours. Cameron hands us each piece of information required at the very moment we require it.

Two men are after Sarah. Who are they? Are they both bad guys? Or, if one of them is good, which one is it? Boom. It’s Kyle Reese, the young man who looks totally out-gunned by Arnold and who came back in time because he’d fallen in love with Sarah from a Polaroid picture. Why is Arnold after her? What does he intend to do with or to her? Boom. She’s the future mother of the man who sent Kyle back in time to save her. How can you tell these cyborgs from humans? Dogs can sniff them out. And it goes on.

If you haven’t seen The Terminator and you’re a writer of any kind of fiction, I highly recommend it as the next movie you stream. Don’t accept watching it on commercial television; they cut out the stupidest stuff, including any time a blow from Arnold connects, even when he punches through a windshield. Brilliantly concocted and shot on a budget that apparently precluded getting permits from the city of Los Angeles for all those street racing night scenes (they filmed them on the sly then slipped away into the night without getting caught), it is, in many ways, an indie film.

But, the most important aspect of this film is the way Cameron sets up his final scene. The movie reaches its climactic ending right after Sarah and Kyle have consummated their blooming love for one another. The terminator kills Kyle and then Sarah terminates the terminator. Glorious.

Cut to the final scene. Sarah in a Jeep driving through the desert, dictating into a tape recorder saying, “Do I tell you about your father?” Then, she rubs her very pregnant belly and continues on briefly about Kyle. A dog sits with her in the Jeep.

She pulls up to a little gas station out in the middle of nowhere. A boy runs up to the Jeep and exchanges a couple of lines with Sarah. He has a Spanish accent. He takes her picture with his Polaroid and then asks for payment which she gives him. It’s the picture Kyle had fallen in love with. The boy’s grandfather says something in Spanish, and Sarah asks the boy what he said. “A storm is coming.” Sarah looks off in the direction she’s headed and agrees when she sees the cloud. Then she drives off, and the credits begin with the Jeep heading away from the camera. Fade to black.

Now that all took far more time to describe than it takes on the screen. It’s a simple little scene, and every single aspect of it requires no explanation to the viewer because Cameron set it all up earlier in the movie. And that, my friends, is how to deliver the punch line to a story. Set-up is everything. You shouldn’t have to rely on explanations in the denouement. It should stand on its own.

Interview – J. Conrad

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J. Conrad

J. Conrad, a fiction author who was born in St. Louis, and I have been following each other for years on Facebook and now Twitter. About ten years ago, when she started writing her first fantasy series, she only knew she wanted to write. After finishing a lot more books and doing a little soul searching, she realized a subconscious desire to teach lessons about human nature was what dragged her to the keyboard every day. That’s where her primary inspiration comes from, and she’s found putting it to use is the best feeling in the world.

J. and her brilliant husband currently live in Louisiana, but she dreams of moving back to Texas where they’ll live forever in a cute house amidst a field of bluebonnets.

J. loves connecting with readers and other authors. Feel free to contact her in the following ways on Facebook, Twitter, and, in particular her great website.

Hart: You write in several genres. Tell us a bit about how that works for you and what attracted you to those genres.

J.: Writing in several genres actually came about as an experiment. I consider myself a young adult fantasy author, but young adult is a much smaller market than some others, such as mystery, thriller, and romance. Thriller was the larger genre in which I could tolerate writing, so in 2017 I wrote Blood Red Winter. Interestingly, because I didn’t love it as much as fantasy, it was easier to be more objective about my own writing. My experiment was a success and that book outsold every other book combined I’ve written to date. I learned so much about writing and marketing from the experience it was worth the effort. I might even do a new thriller series, but I’ll always come back to fantasy.

H: My favorite genre (she says with a smile). Do you schedule time for your writing? Or do you just grab the odd minute or hour when it makes itself available to you?

J: For the most part I try to stick to a schedule. Currently I’m writing in the afternoon, and I have a minimum daily word count quota of two thousand words. If I stick to this routine, I can have a rough draft in about two months. This has been workable for staying productive while not getting burned out, but I’m trying to develop an even better schedule which will allow me to write in the morning as well, with a break in between. I’d love to become proficient at writing great books faster over the next couple years.

H: What research do you find absolutely necessary to keeping your story authentic?

J: It depends on the story, but with my fantasy novels I think one of the biggest points is researching the time period in which the story is set and making sure I don’t accidentally add anachronisms. Especially in the dialogue, it’s incredibly easy to do and sometimes tricky to spot, because we don’t always realize how relatively new some of the phrases we use in everyday speech are.

For example, my Cinderella retelling series, The Joining, is set in an imaginary place, but the time period roughly corresponds to what we might think of as the late 18th century—but without firearms. They don’t have guns in Edim. I have to be mindful not to use common idioms which have derived from the use of firearms (there are more than one might think!). Also, the main character has telepathic ability with animals and Fae, but the word “telepathy” didn’t come about until the late 19th century. So, I use the term “thought-speak” instead. Since Edim isn’t a real place, I have some liberty, but it wouldn’t feel the same to readers without the right language.

H: I totally get that. Things like the verb “trigger” are out in my books as well. Tell me, how do you see the role of women in fiction these days?

J: I see the role of women in fiction as one which teaches that because women are insightful and observant, they often find their own unique solutions to complex problems. Might isn’t always right, and sometimes actually giving a damn about the opposing party wins the day. Exhibiting emotional depth and looking beyond the surface manifestations of life isn’t a sign of weakness, but humanity. Women often exemplify the most human quality of being able to emphasize with others. Yes, there are differences between women and men, but different doesn’t mean better or worse. I believe our female fictional characters help to show that.

H: So true. In depicting battles and wars in my books, I’ve endeavored to give them the “feminine” edge, showing a battle, but then opening up negotiations. That sort of thing. And how do you promote women in your work?

J: With the exception of one thriller novel, all my books center around women and their relationships with one another. I think in some ways, women bond more deeply with other women than they do with men. Think of that best friend you’ve had since high school, a sister you’re close to, or a mother and daughter. Those bonds are unbreakable. Growing up, I loved reading stories such as The Mists of Avalon, a story of King Arthur but told only from the viewpoint of the women. Now in my own writing, I love to teach lessons through the interaction of female characters and the strength of their spirit.

H: Yes, The Mists of Avalon was a real eye-opener for me as well. Do you have a current release to share with us?

J: Yes, Cinders and Fae is the second book of the current series I’m working on. It’s a Cinderella retelling with fairies, shifters, witches, animals, and lots of magic. The main character Elin Kendrick is part Fae, and her prince Trystan is a wolf. Elin is telepathic, but only with animals and Fae. Trystan is a shifter who hides this fact from most humans, including his own father King Odswin. He was raised in secret by his mother, the queen of the wolves. In book 2, Elin and Trystan plan on marrying, but the Fae Queen is challenging Elin’s lineage since she’s only one-quarter Fae—she must prove herself by manifesting her inborn Fae abilities which thus far have eluded her. This is a clean fairy tale telling and not a steamy shifter book, suitable for just about anyone who likes fantasy. Cinders and Fae is currently up for preorder and will release on July 11th. Here’s the blurb:

What really happened after the ball?

My bloodline is in question, my marriage to my wolf fiancé forbidden by the Fae Queen unless I pull off near-impossible feats of magic to prove myself. Can I truly change my stepmother into a human… and turn her evil heart to good?

As time slips away toward my deadline of the spring equinox, I’m losing hope. But after the castle is attacked, I meet with Trystan secretly and make wedding plans against the queen’s orders. All I have to do is show up at the appointed time.

But I still need a way to escape my assignment, and I’m terrified what our decision means. If I marry Trystan now, I might be imprisoned—or worse. But if I play by the rules and fail the Fae queen’s test, she swears she’ll marry my fiancé to a more suitable bride—my own mother! How can I make a choice that won’t end in losing the two people I care about most?”

Thank you so much for interviewing me on your blog, Hart! I absolutely loved your  Lisen of Solsta series and I’m looking forward to reading more of your books in the future!

H: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. And thanks for the kind words.

Interview – Julie Weston

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Julie Weston

Julie Weston is a long-time online friend from our AOL days, and I’m pleased to welcome her to my blog today. Idaho is in Julie’s background and foreground. She grew up in a mining town in the panhandle and now lives in south central Idaho. In between, she attended law school in Washington and practiced law for over 30 years in Seattle. When she began writing (other than as a lawyer), she took classes at the University of Washington to get rid of the legalese. There, she met a group of women writers. They met every week for ten years and then slowly went their separate ways. Two of them are still her readers and she is theirs.

Her first published book was a memoir of place, The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009). It won Honorable Mention in the 2009 Idaho Book of the Year Award. Her next two books, Moonshadows and Basque Moon, soon to be three with the publication of Moonscape, are mysteries set in Idaho in the 1920s, featuring a young woman photographer and her black Labrador dog—Nellie Burns and Moonshine. She has also written several short stories, many of them published.

Both she and her husband practiced law. Now he is a photographer and she writes. They live a lucky life in the mountains, skiing, biking, hiking, photographing and writing. Her husband’s photographs have been used by her publisher for the covers of all her mysteries.

Hart: Welcome, Julie. So tell me. What genre do you write in? What attracted you to that genre?

Julie: For now, I primarily write historical mysteries, set in Idaho. I have on the back burner a couple of other historical novels and a novel about law school. I began reading mysteries in about the 6th grade and have never stopped. When I was unable to sell a novel about a mining town and a labor union, I decided to try my hand at mysteries because I felt I knew so much about them. I learned a lot more as I began writing mysteries. Favorite mystery writers right now are Louise Penny, Anne Hillerman, Craig Johnson, Marvin Walker and Donna Leon.

H: Do you schedule time for your writing? Or do you just grab the odd minute or hour when it makes itself available to you?

J: For my first book and short stories, I tried to write regularly—about three days a week for certain—and attended to other matters on the other two. The weekends were up for grabs. Now that I am retired, I have much more time available, but it gets filled up with other activities, e.g., skiing in winter, other sports in summer. I love the outdoors. I aim for 1,000 words of new writing or revision three to four days a week. I spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out plot ideas in my head. When I sit down, I often have full scenes pretty much ready to go. I often begin a scene or write a scene long hand. When I input that writing into the computer, I usually am able to keep going for some time.

H: You, like our mutual friend Jan Maher, write about a place you know well, in a time long gone. What research do you find absolutely necessary to keeping your story authentic?

J: Because I write mostly about Idaho, I have much history in my head or through family stories. My forebears came to central Idaho in the 1870s. A great aunt wrote a book called Generations (Caxton Press, no idea of date) that also serves my writing well. The most helpful are those books written about towns and areas by local writers, photographic archives, old newspapers, and local libraries and museums. These have all been invaluable to helping keep my stories authentic.

I have a book Flappers 2 Rappers with language details that I consult regularly. My husband and I have regularly hiked around the areas where I set my mysteries. We have visited Craters of the Moon in Idaho, the setting for my new book, a number of times, and I did research in the Visitor Center library.

H: I used Flappers 2 Rappers for Soul Doubt, my paranormal romance set in the 60s. It’s a good one. So tell me, as a declared feminist on your web site, how do you see the role of women in fiction these days?

J: For years and years, mysteries were always solved by men, even when written by women, e.g., Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and others. A few women detectives or amateur sleuths began showing up, and now there are a plethora of women in mysteries, both as protagonists and villains. Publishers finally “get it,” I think. I belong to Women Writing the West which emphasizes women’s roles. Although male authors still use men in the lead roles, I am doing my part to be certain strong women are featured in mysteries.

H: Do you have a current or earlier release you’d like to promote?

J: My two earlier mysteries, Moonshadows (2015) and Basque Moon (2016), both published by Five Star Publishing/Gale Cengage Learning, are still available. The former was a Finalist in the May Sarton Literary Award and the latter won the 2017 WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction. My new book, Moonscape, is due out this June and is available for preorder. Same publisher, same characters plus a few more, and same setting: 1920s Idaho. This one takes place mostly in Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho (named a monument in 1924), an eerie lava-filled location with caves and tunnels. I am working on a fourth mystery set in the mines of North Idaho.

This year is the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing on July 20. Astronauts trained at Craters of the Moon on the supposition that the landscape there would mimic that of the Moon. I am going to be a featured speaker at the anniversary at Craters of the Moon, talking about Moonscape!

I always encourage readers to buy my book at local bookstores. Ebooks are available through Amazon. And you can find me at my website here.

H: Well, thank you, Julie, for participating in my blog this week. It’s been a pleasure. And to all my readers, the comment section is open again. Let’s give Julie some great comments.

Comments

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For those who have wanted to comment but couldn’t over the last couple of months, I’m happy to announce the comment section is open once again. Carry on.

Writing’s Hard

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Photo by Oleksii Hlembotskyi on Unsplash

Life is messy, and just when you think you’ve got the clutter picked up, an earthquake shakes everything up again and leaves you crying why.

The last few weeks have thrown me up against a wall and left my head spinning. It began when I took chapter 21 of my current WIP into my writing group. I read, they told me it was great, then they calmly, somewhat kindly told me what was wrong with it. I was grateful for the critique as I’d been tossing and turning in my head over the movement of the story, how it wasn’t moving. Or maybe it was. I’ve been so caught up in the thing—what with the protagonist being closer to me than any character I’ve ever placed into fiction before—that I knew my perspective was off.

I went home that week determined to resolve the issues they’d brought up. And I thought I had when I took chapter 22 in the next week. The ending of that chapter introduced a creature into the mix that had only been hinted at up until then. I thought for sure the ending was great. So I read, sure the BAND-AIDS® I’d placed on the open plot hole wounds would cover all the problems up. I was wrong. The group eviscerated it. Okay, a bit of hyperbole, but I walked out of the class during the break and didn’t go back. I was devastated. Now, I’ve been devastated before by critique. I’ve even cried about it. But this time, I’d been hit twice in two sessions, and it took me a couple of days to pull myself out of the hole and look at the plotting honestly.

And they were right. I was right. I’d known the story wasn’t working for me, but I’d pushed on through. Which is fine in first draft. After first draft, though, I should have done all I could to find the flaws and clear them up, and I hadn’t. I’d shifted the point of view and the verb tense, both changes that strengthened the storytelling, but the story itself was lacking, and I didn’t know what to do.

The advice most writers with even the slightest amount of experience will give you is to set the manuscript aside for a bit. Let t sit. Work on something else. Go for walks. Watch movies. Binge-watch TV shows. Whatever. I, on the other hand, tend to be fairly quick about coming around. Or I don’t come around for a year or two. I’m an all-or-nothing type of gal. Lucky for me, in this case, it was the former.

Here’s what I had to do: I deleted a character which left a great hole in the entire piece, but she was more baggage than necessity. I moved the revelation of the creature mentioned above to chapter 2. Yeah, twenty chapters ahead of its previous first appearance. I added a secondary character and gave her narration rights in tiny increments. All of which have brought me to a place where finishing this thing is going to take a whole lot longer than I’d planned, but it will be better for the work, and I know it.

So if anyone tries to tell you writing’s easy, they’re either liars or they’ve never glued their butt to a chair and made themselves do it for longer than a sneeze. Writing is work. It’s work that gives me a great deal of satisfaction and keeps me sane, especially on the crazier days. I wouldn’t exchange it for any other vocation. But the last few weeks have been messy. Is the earthquake done? Maybe. But the aftershocks will live on until I put this baby to bed and call it done.

Interview – DeVonna R. Allison

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DeVonna R. Allison

DeVonna Allison is a freelance writer/speaker and a Marine Corps veteran who grew up in Los Angeles, moved to rural southern Michigan in 1983 where she currently lives, but will soon be heading to Florida to reap the benefits of warmer climes. Her husband, Earl, is also a Marine veteran, and they are the proud parents of four children and four grandchildren. Her website and samples of her work can be found here.

Hart: What genre or genres do you write in? What attracted you to that genre?

DeVonna: I write essays, or Creative Non-Fiction, because it allows me to record my real-life events into articles that encourage, educate or inspire my readers. The first book I ever read that incorporated this style of writing was Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl. That, of course, is the memoir/diary of a young girl during the days of the Holocaust. I was gripped by the realization that reading one person’s life struggles could affect millions of readers.

H: Do you schedule time for your writing? Or do you just grab the odd minute or hour when it makes itself available to you?

D: I’ve made it a habit to write daily at the beginning of my day. I am a devout Christian, and I have a morning ritual that incorporates devotional and scriptural reading with prayer/meditation. After I’ve spent time renewing my mind and spirit in this way, I find it easier to spend time writing, either on assignment or extemporaneously.

H: What research do you find absolutely necessary to your work?

D: I read memoirs and essays by writers in my genre as well as other literary works. I enjoy reading for pleasure; it just works out that it also helps me to hone my craft.

H: How do you see the role of women in literature, fiction or nonfiction these days? How do you promote women in your work?

D: I think as a woman author it is important for me to represent well, and therefore I always try to submit my best work. To that end, I am always seeking to sharpen my skills through reading and attending writers conferences.

H: You were involved in the creation and editing of Grit and Grace: A Women Writing Anthology as well as contributing to The Upper Room Disciplines: A Book of Daily Devotions 2019. Tell us about your experiences working on these two books.

D: Grit & Grace is the work of my all-women writer’s group and is a project I’m quite proud of. We decided to keep the book an all-female endeavor because women have a unique voice in our society, and we wanted to highlight that voice with this book. Grit & Grace became available in February 2019 and can be purchased here at our website.

The story of how I came to be involved in the 2019 The Upper Room Disciplines is an interesting one of self-promotion. I have been writing for the Upper Room’s daily devotional since 2009, but I wanted to do more for them. I know they publish books and one in particular sparked my interest. I emailed my editor at the Upper Room, expressing my interest in writing for the book but was told the contributors were chosen by specific invitation only. I was not deterred. I wrote back, thanking her for letting me know how the process worked and including an example of what I would submit if I were chosen to write for them. It worked! My next email was from the editors of Disciplines, formally inviting me to write for them! Never give up.

H: That is excellent advice, DeVonna. And an excellent note to close on. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today.