Another Bo Fexler Story

Bo Fexler has made her first appearance in the new zine Crooked. You can click here for the PDF of Crooked #2 with my short story "Black and Pink and Blond All Over."

This is a longer one, but I think it's worth it. It's got a car chase, some seduction, and some clever investigation by a woman who's as smart as she is sexy. Another typical Bo Fexler story.

And while you're there, don't forget to check out the other stories. Patti Abbott's got one in this issue of Crooked. And she always writes great shorts.

Quirks and other Character Traits

Sometimes, I think writers forget how much a little detail actually can reveal about a person-- be it a real or fiction one.

Many a writer stops to explain just what that particular quirk means and how the character got it and all that sort of stuff.

Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself, but I'd prefer that the quirk speak for itself. Leave things implicit. Let me apply my own interpretation. To a point. Besides, often, writers explain things that are fairly self-evident. As if they don't think they're reader is nearly clever enough to get the genius.

I used to have a hard time not explaining all the delightful backstory. Then I got over it. Partly because I was writing so much flash fiction-- all those 750 and 1000 word peices that went over to Muzzle Flash (RIP) and Powderburn Flash. I learned to imply, to leave things out. Sometimes I think I'm a little too coy with my subltey.

Hubby would think that's funny since he says I'm never subtle. He forgets sometimes that I know where he sleeps... ;-)

So, if I described a young female character, early twenties, married, has taken her husband's last name, but prefers Ms. to Mrs.-- what things would you conclude about this woman?

It's Hubby's Fault

I'm finally starting to rearrange my routine after the turmoil of moving. But even as I've planned and allotted chunks of time, I kept feeling like I had no time. In fact, it's been far, far too long since I've opened a Word doc that wasn't a school assignment.

I can blame a lot of moving and turning the new house into a home. Then there's the end of semester grading. Then the beginning of semester preparation.

And, the biggest time chunk of all... goes to Hubby.

I've finally figured out where all my writing time went. I've been spending more time with Hubby than I have in, well, years.

This isn't inherently a bad thing... I am kind of fond of the guy. But I think I'm hiding from my writing. I haven't had much inspiration. Though that's an excuse that only goes about three inches before it runs into trouble. I've forced myself to write plenty of times before, inspiration or now. I've revised, written, plotted and submitted without "inspiration."

Now that many of the tasks for the coming semester are dealt with, my work load in that regard should lighten up. I'm getting used to how job number 4 works out. Most of the projects in the house are done (for now.) It's time to take a little more time for writing.

I have fans waiting. Right? Are you folks still there, waiting for Bo Fexler to saunter on back in something provocative?

Thanks for you, my readers of both my fiction and my blog. I do appreciate you. It's more fun to talk when someone's at least nodding along. (And yet I'm a high school history teacher... ;-)

Now, I'm gonna get a sandwich and play writer for a while.

AYKB vs. Reminder

This may not seem like a crime fiction post, but it gets there. Hubby and I are watching Babylon 5 (aka the BEST TV SHOW EVER!!!), part of a near-yearly tradition since we got the whole show on DVD. This show was written as a closed arc-- with a plot line that builds in nearly every episode to culminate in the last seasons.

So, the story builds over the series, taking place of the span not just of weeks, but years. There is sometimes considerable time between one event and the next time it is important. Flashbacks are used, but thankfully are done so sparingly.

More often, B5's writer, J. Michael Straczynski, uses dialogue subtlely to remind the audience who or what something is in the world he created. Sometimes it almost seems like an "As You Know Bob" (BTW, the Turkey City Lexicon makes for good reading and good studying. Clicky-clicky.) One example that is an outright AYKB is from early in the show where one character is reporting to another that their colony on "Ragesh three, our agricultural colony, has been attacked." However, both characters should know that it's an agricultural colony.

Others are more subtle. These are the ones I like most. It's a little reminder if you've forgotten who did what, or what that made up word or name means again.

I actually employ such reminders in my own novel. Because of the nature of a detective story (or at least one that's not cozy), there are a lot of names. Many are not imporant in the long run. So, I leave little clues to the reader. A phrase, a comment, to help the reader. Especially if the reader is like me and sometimes has to sneak reading in while waiting for an appointment or while dinner cooks. Plus, my memory's not so great.

It seems a very thin and subtle line that differentiates an AYKB and a reminder. Mainly, I think, execution will be the deciding factor. This is easier in fiction-- particularly first person fiction because Bo can think it to herself. People often recall things to themselves. A TV show like B5 has more limitations.

Some stories I've read use just a few charcaters or are obvious like Columbo (Just one more thing-- oh, that guy did it. ;-) Others seem intent on confusing the reader. Do you like reminders to refresh your memory when there are many pages between you and the last time that character, event, etc. came up? Or maybe you prefer the author just simplify things?

Me, I like complicated stories, but with just a smidge of hand holding. This particular model of Clair didn't come with enough RAM, that's for damn sure.

Happily Ever After... or at least Satisfactorially So

I like dark stories and gritty settings. I like characters who are sharp and ruthless. I like reading characters put under pressure and who must sacrifice their dignity or integrity or some other virtue for success.

But I want a satisfactory ending. The good guy wins. The bad guy loses. I don't need a happy ending, but I need a satisfying one. Endings that are ambiguous or clearly bad leave me feeling like the story is incomplete. Maybe my copy lost a couple pages. (I had a book once that was missing the last few pages. That was awful.)

I don't spend all this time rooting for a character just to see them lose!

I know that life isn't always happy or satisfactory. And I prefer fiction that is realistic. Up until the end. I want things to end well in fiction. If for no other reason than because life can be a bitch.

Though, there are a few exceptions. For example, when watching the movie "Pitch Black" I was so rooting for the creatures to eat everyone!

How do you like your endings? Sunnyside up, hardboiled, or maybe as an omelet with cheese and ham [insert other toppings] that's fully satisfying?

In Cold Predawn Hours

I get up easily in the morning like a penguin flies. Especially when it's cold outside and warm in my bed with the flannel sheets, two blankets and comforter.

But, Hubby's car is in the shop for a few days. Which means I have to get my ass out of bed at dark o'clock in the morning to drive him to work. I need the car after he's gone to work.

I don't like getting up in the morning. And I really don't like getting up in the middle of the night. If it's dark out, as far as I'm concerned, that's the middle of the night.

But, once we're out on the road, it's not so bad. The roads are empty. Maybe a few cars. The ground is blanketed with a foot or so of snow. The air is crisp and it's so quiet it's almost as sound waves are frozen by the single-digit temperatures.

And at the exit ramp where Hubby gets off there's a single flame in the night. Blue or maybe orange. It's a sight to behold. (Okay, so it's the flame from the landfill... but it's still a pretty sight. And you can't see the actual landfill at night under the snow.)

Downtown, the city sleeps. The streetlamps, shining on empty streets, seem almost forbidding. You're not supposed to be here. It's time for bed.

Even the ducks, on the frozen surface of the Mill Pond, are huddled in their feathers and sleeping in a crowd.

Yesterday morning a train was sleeping right across the major crossings in town...

After my journey out in the predawn, I'm more than ready to climb back into my own pile of feathers and other warm blankets and go back to bed. I don't get up when it's dark.

My Town Monday: Second Amendment

Second Amendment is the biggest, baddest punkin chunkin gun... and it's part of Livingston County.

The gun was constructed by S & G Erectors in Howell Michigan. The crew is from Howell, Lakeland, Whitmore Lake as well as other places both in and out of Michigan. The gun shoots little hard punkins. Second Amendment won the World Championship in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.

I have actually driven by when the Second Amendment was in a local field shooting. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop and stare... I mean, watch.

What is punkin chunkin? The goal is to hurl a little hard pumpkin as far as possible by mechanical means. Those means include slingshots, trebuchets, catapults and pneumatic air cannons like the Second Amendment. The punkins for competition are specially grown and aren't any good for eating.

Travis Erwin is still displaced after a fire took out his entire house, but the My Town Monday torch is being held aloft over at e-Cuneiform scratchings. Check out some other places.