Library loot ~ and writing that novel

Rick the Rock of Room 214 ~ by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Ruth Chan, 2022, children's picture book, 40 pages

Even rocks have big dreams in this sweet and wacky picture book about a display rock who longs to explore the great outdoors!  Rick is a rock.  For as long as he can remember, he’s lived on the Nature Finds shelf in Room 214 alongside an acorn, some moss, and a piece of bark.  One day, the teacher shows the class what rocks do outdoors, and Rick is captivated.  Exploding out of volcanos?  Plunging off cliffs?  Now Rick’s determined to get outside — after all, he’s a rock, and rocks are made for adventure.  When Rick does make his way into the great outdoors, he finds it’s not quite what he imagined and sometimes the greatest adventure of all is being a friend.

Thanks to Deb Nance, who mentioned this book on her blog.  I collected rocks when I was a child.  Once, my mother was quietly gathering up our clothes after we children were asleep.  BLAM!  A huge rock fell out of the pocket of my jeans onto the floor and startled my mother.  It didn't wake me, though; I was always a sound sleeper.

When I read this short children's book, I discovered it is dedicated to ME!  Yes, me!  The illustrator dedicated it to "all of us who love looking at, collecting, and treasuring rocks."  That's me, isn't it?  I collected rocks as a child.  I still pick up interesting pebbles I see, and I do look at the rocks between the covered walkway into my building and the wall of windows next to it.  If you ever collected pretty pebbles, this book is for you.  It made me smile.

Once again, my novel

Here's what I've come up with:  Betsy and Diane are a couple of book bloggers who go on a road trip together, after Betsy retired at 62.  The two had met in a group of people who discussed books online.  Their little group had started calling itself Book Buddies.  Driving to visit a few of their book friends in other states, they laughed at the idea that people once had that it's dangerous to meet with strangers you have only "met" online.  You know, that stranger could be an axe murderer!  At least, that's what people thought a quarter of a century ago.  (See illustration above.)  They laughed at the absurdity, since each of them thought the other seemed absolutely okay.  They'd known each other a couple of years online, but had just met in person yesterday, when Diane traveled to Betsy's town so they could go on this adventure together in one car.  The book's title could be:  Happenstance: The Case of the Axe Murderer.

What the two didn't notice as they drove along was that they were being followed by a man one was involved with, a man who was still very afraid of strangers met online.  When the man saw them pull off the road and get out of the car with one of them holding ... gasp! ... an axe, he pulled up behind the car, sprang into action, shoved the two apart, and wrestled the axe away from the "would-be murderer."  The other woman fell and hit her head on a rock.  Ironically, the one who fell was his girlfriend.  She wound up in a coma, in the hospital and totally unaware for most of the novel.  And that means, she was not able to say, "Wait a minute!  That's not the way it was at all!"  Now, which woman is in a coma, and who is on trial for attempted murder?  And why did one of them have an axe in the car in the first place?  I guess that means I need to decide whose car they were driving on this trip to visit their online friends.

That's the background, leading up to a trial for attempted murder.  The novel itself could be told through documents, like emails and instant messages and newspaper articles about the case.  Hmm, I'm not sure whether Clawdia will still fit in this novel or not.  Sorry, Clawdia, but you may have to stay at home for the whole novel.  Or were you in the car when all this happened?  And whose cat ARE you, anyway?  Betsy's or Diane's?

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Reading, writing, viewing, and exercising

Hidden Figures ~ the movie

I went to the Theater room in my building on Friday to see this 2016 film on the big-screen TV.  It's about African American female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race.  It starts during World War II and moves through the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Race.  It's the interwoven story of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who were four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes.

A Novel Idea ~ Betsy, Diane, and a cat named Clawdia

What has ended, and what is beginning for our protagonist?  You readers suggested maybe one job ends and another begins.  However, I'm retired and can see possibilities in that direction.  So-o-o, here's my idea:  Betsy's boss plans to transfer her to another city.  Yes, it would be a promotion, but Betsy has a new grandchild here, in THIS town.  She wants to watch this child grow up.  What to do?  Betsy up and quits her job.  How?  By taking retirement at 62.  Yep, she just turned 62 a few weeks ago, so that's a possibility.  But think about the money, her friends suggest.  She could get more Social Security if she retires at a later age.  Is Diane one of those friends, or does she agree with Betsy?

What are Betsy's goals now, and what would she risk losing if she is unable to meet those goals?  For one thing, she must consider the money.  Is Social Security enough?  Or will she need to figure out another source of income?

Reading ~ eh, not so much

It seems I've been busier blogging and walking than reading this week.  Yes, I've been out there walking around the block, dodging the road work that's tearing up the street out my window by crossing the street and going around Walgreen's on the other sidewalk.  I've been taking Donna's old Rollator, even though it is not really tall enough for me.  Why?  Because it's uphill to the other end of the block I circle.  By having the Rollator with a seat, I can lock the brakes and rest before coming "down" the hill towards home.  I usually stop to rest near a green shady place where I can enjoy the plants and flowers at the condos there.  The good part is that my iPhone shows I've been getting in thousands of steps more when I walk around the long block, which is actually MORE than a single block as there are side roads when I'm going one direction and coming around and back.

Gone The Next ~ by Ben Rehder, 2012, mystery, 286 pages

Meet Roy Ballard, a freelance videographer with a knack for catching insurance cheats.  He's working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core.  There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts — the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before.  When the police are skeptical of Ballard's report — and with his history, who can blame them? — it's the beginning of the most important case of his life.

I looked in Donna's Kindle and found she had given this book FIVE STARS, so maybe I'll read it next.  It is almost (but not quite) as good as being able to ask her if she liked a book.  It really is interesting to have her Kindle, as well as my own, to say the least.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A novel idea, continued

What happened to our novel idea from last Sunday?  Four people commented:

Mark said:  "The biggest question I have is what genre is our character in.  That's going to determine who they are and what drives me.  I usually read mysteries, so the biggest driver there is wanting to make sure that justice is done.  Quite often that includes clearing a personal friend who is a suspect.

Deb said:  "I'd recommend choosing a character who is like you, but is a better or worse version of you.  Or I'd choose a character who is based on someone you have met in your life who you found intriguing."

Shelleyrae said:  "Hmm…revenge is always a good motivator, or perhaps atonement."

Helen said:  "The main character should have a cat who is almost a character in itself.  Perhaps the main character is animal-driven (think crime or murder at the local ASPCA)."

So Mark and Shelleyrae and Helen seem to lean toward making this a mystery or thriller, but after reading several of the cozy mysteries on my friend Donna's Kindle, that doesn't interest me.  If the main character is like me (as Deb suggested), she isn't into murder and mayhem.  My "problems" are more mundane, like how to get through this week.  Or even how to get through today!

  

I notice that Helen says that "the main character should have a cat."  She's been reading my blog so long that she probably remembers Kiki (on the right), the cat I had before my little black cat, Clawdia.  Excellent idea, Helen!

If every end is a new beginning, let's incorporate that into our novel.  What has ended, and what is beginning for our protagonist?  As you make suggestions, remember that what I want to compose is a literary novel — not a cozy mystery or thriller or romance novel.  So what is literary fiction?  It does not fit neatly into an established genre, but is character-driven rather than plot-driven.  It examines the human condition, someone said.  Let's do that.

So here's what I think so far.  The characters are BJ (that would be me, though "I" need a name in my novel) and her best friend DC (Donna also needs another name).  Let's call them Betsy and Diane.  Betsy has a cat; what shall we call her?  The cat, I mean.

Now let's decide this:  What are Betsy's goals, and what would she risk losing if she is unable to meet those goals?

The Cruelest Month ~ by Aaron Stander, 2012, thriller, 262 pages

This book I'm reading now has a dog in it named Roxy, but no cats that I know of.  I'm having a hard time getting into this book and have to keep starting over, because I forget what I read yesterday.  I may abandon it.  Maybe it's more fun to write a novel than to read one.  Yay!

By the way, that photo at the top shows A Novel Idea, a bookstore in North Chattanooga that sold used books.  I worked at A Novel Idea for a short time before Donna and I opened Book Buddies, a bookstore several miles north of there in Red Bank, Tennessee.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A book report — and a novel idea

Library books

I have three books currently checked out of the library, but I'll be sending two of them back unread.  Why?  One because it is too heavy, literally.  At nearly 500 pages, it is too much to hold.  I want light reading right now (pun intended).  I've decided, once again, to read from my own shelves, mostly the "shelves" of books on my Kindle and on Donna's Kindle.  As you know, we can hold hundreds of books in one hand using our devices.

Using our imaginations

If I quit getting books from the library, I wonder if I could dream up a whole cast of characters and make up my own stories.  Nah, I need your help.

First, there's the main character.  What does it take to draw us into a story?  Someone we care about.  I just googled "main character" to find an illustration, and here's what I found:

Let's dream up a main character and some supporting characters.  Make suggestions in the comments.  Here's a list of what we need, and it's from someone who knows what we should be doing (click HERE to visit the page):

1.  Know what drives your lead character.

2.  Use secondary characters to add drama and contrast.

3.  Give main characters suspense-building challenges.

4.  Brainstorm stakes for each protagonist or antagonist.

5.  Describe central characters vividly.

6.  Develop main characters via minor character interactions.

Hey, this could get interesting!  Let's take this a step at a time.  Leave me some ideas in the comments about what drives our lead character.  Maybe we'll even arrive at a working title for our story.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

My novel I'm not (yet?) writing

Four years ago, according to Facebook, I posted this illustration and wrote:

"Now I know why I suddenly forget what I was about to say."

So now I need to figure out how to get this idea into the plot of that novel I'm not (yet?) writing.

My novel

I was wearing this tee-shirt when I got on the elevator the other day, and Tonya read the words out loud:  "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel."
I said, "Be very careful."
Tonya smiled sweetly and said, "I would be honored to be in your novel."
Katie said she wanted to be the villain.  Okay, yes, the bad guys are usually interesting folks.
Later, I told Melvin he couldn't be the villain because Katie had already picked that.  He promptly said, "I want to be the lover."
Not only is my shirt not frightening anyone into being nice, they are even volunteering for parts.
Now I need to come up with a plot.  Any suggestions?