Lists, Lists, and More Lists, and an Invitation

Okay, so the book is finished and the first shipment is about to arrive. It's very exciting, but also daunting because now the hard work, part II, is underway. Promotion and marketing requires almost as much thought and organization as writing a book does. Mainly, it requires a plan, and with a plan comes list making.

I've been a list-maker from way back. Grocery lists, Christmas gift lists, packing-for-vacation lists, attending bookfair or conference lists, daily planner lists, and so on. Over the years, they've spared me a lot of wasted time and money. They're also fun to toss out when I'm done. When I'm shopping by myself, I stick to the list and pretty well come in on budget. Not so if I bring my family along.

Book promotion has taken list making to a whole new level. So far, I have a full, typewritten page of promotional things to do, and now I'm started to add more ideas. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to check off everything on that list. Some things will only take a few minutes, others a couple of days, and still others will be ongoing.

As writers tend to do, I'm preparing for my book launch (on the promo to-do list), but now my list is growing lists. There's a list for food to bring to the launch, and other things, like plates, drinks, camera, etc. I figure that, sooner or later, I'll reach a point where I'll be just as excited to put the lists away as I am to receive that first shipment, but until then,

If anyone out there lives in Vancouver's lower mainland, you are cordially invited to my book launch on Thursday, April 17th in The Lounge at the Kyle Rec Centre, 125 Kyle Street, Port Moody, from 7 to 9 p.m. There'll be some fun, some food, some reading.

And now that all of the invitations are out, I can check one more thing off the to-do list. On the other hand, there's still the press releases . . .

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption, visit www.debrapurdykong.com

Good & Bad Girls of Fiction

Karen Harrington: author of Janeology, and Linda Merlino: author of Belly of the Whale, recently put their keyboards together to talk character development. Specifically: the good girl and the bad girl. Their debut novels, released this month, have a splash of each.

MEET THE GOOD GIRL


Belly of the Whale: Meet Hudson Catalina, age thirty-eight, a wife and mother who has lost both breasts to cancer. This is twenty-four hours in her life, the morning she awakes devoid of hope, certain that she will die of the same cancer that took her mother, and the night she is taken hostage in a market by a killer more deadly than her disease.

MEET THE BAD GIRL


Janeology: Meet Jane Nelson, age thirty-eight, with soft eyes, south Texas natural highlights and a penchant for paperback romances. A former ER nurse, Jane is smart, sexy and confident. Only she hasn’t felt that way about herself since she had her twins a couple years ago while at the same time, her husband begins spending more time at work. In an attempt to soothe herself, she develops an odd compulsion to garage sale, filling up her empty hours, and filling up her garage with needless stuff.

What makes your female lead so good or bad?


KH: Like the Chris Isaak song says, “Baby did a bad, bad thing.” Jane did a bad thing by committing murder. In a moment of psychosis, she drowns her toddler son, and nearly kills her toddler daughter. Her mind dissolved into a twisted mess as a result of her depression and isolation. The result: Indefinite confinement to a state mental hospital while her husband, Tom, tries to care for their surviving daughter and shed the guilt that he should have seen Jane’s approaching mental snap.

LM: Strong women, those are the one’s that are cut from the cloth of good women; determined, do-it-myself kind of females that act assertively when the situation gets grim. Hudson Catalina is just this sort of woman. We are our history; even fictitious people have a background, that seed from which he or she grew. The molding of a person, their experiences and their choices generally determine the good or bad theory. That is not to say that, real or imaginary, a seemingly good girl can’t go bad. But, again, something in her past, some quirk or turn-of-the-screw is the trigger. And the mental illness factor is huge. History, for sure, determines the genetics for Jekyll and Hyde personalities; the good girl mask on a bad girl. In Belly of the Whale, Hudson has given in to cancer, the flaw in her otherwise seamless character; she’s hit a wall of hopelessness. This glitch turns her inward, makes her self absorbed. Life shuffles the cards, and on the day she thinks she knows “what will happen”…she is taken hostage in an all-night market by a killer more deadly than her disease. It is in the market, Whales Market, that the good versus bad portion of the novel takes place.


Characters are multi-dimensional. What qualities defy this characteristic in your female lead?

KH: There was a part of her, once, that was good. In fact, her entire motivation for wanting to be a nurse was to save people. When she was nine, her mother died and she always thought this was a mistake. And in the novel, when readers meet her as a nine-year-old girl, all of her vulnerable side is on display. She wanted to be pretty. She wanted to fit in. I think she struggled against this side of her, which was perceived as weak by her mother, for a long time. That is actually my favorite chapter in the whole book because you witness the slate of a child’s life being written on with things that strip away her innocence.

LM: Hudson Catalina has a boulder-size chip on her shoulder. Despite her seemingly good life, good family, great husband, beautiful children, she is still bitter about the loss of her mother when Hudson was fourteen. She has spent two decades plus running away from her fear of having breast cancer like her mother. This is her history, this is what shaped her, and this is how the Good Girl loses hope and succumbs to her own fears.


How did your character come into existence? What was your motivation?

KH: Stephen King is responsible. A few years ago, Stephen King issued a short story writing challenge to take a common situation and turn it on its head, possibly reversing the sexes. I thought about the fear a woman has of being stalked by a deranged boyfriend, and I thought, “What if a man was afraid of woman he still loved? What would make him afraid of her and desire her at the same time?” So those were the seeds for drawing Jane as a bad girl, as someone a strong man could fear.

LM: The seed of this story, Belly of the Whale, came from thinking about heroes. What does it take to be a hero, who is capable of being a hero and could someone who defies the acknowledged criteria for heroism, be a hero? The character Willy Wu in Whales Market is this person. The book’s title was originally, Willy Wu. I wanted to depict this young man as a hero. In order to do that, I built a story around him and it became, not just his story, but Hudson Catalina’s story.

Find out more about Linda's novel and view the Belly of the Whale trailer at: http://www.kunati.com/lindamerlino/
Find out more about Karen's novel, view the JANEOLOGY trailer, or read an excerpt at: http://www.karenharringtonbooks.com

Come back on Wednesday, April 2 for Part 2 of our Good Girl/Bad Girl discussion.

Magic in Blog

There are days when I wish I had a wand, a magic wand. The very idea of being able to wave a stick and poof the uglies into oblivion appeals to me. If I owned that wand I could blog about magic. My status could be: expert in abracadabra. People would come from the four corners of cyberspace to read my blog.

Where would I begin the magic? Would I remove all disease? Replace sorrow with happiness or death with life? How would I discriminate between those who would get a wave and those I would pass over? Would I be playing God with my magic? Selfishness might overtake me and suddenly all the magic would be sullied by opportunists banging on my door making offers to exploit my powers.

The truth is there is no magic, no incantation that will allow anyone of us to escape the bumpy roads of life. There is a beginning and there is an end. There are no potions or elixirs to instill passion or power to those unworthy or incapable of securing the same on their own.

There are few, if any, short cuts, such as magic for averting the inevitable, or for redirecting fate or destiny. The magic is carried not in a wand, but inside each one of us. A fairy godmother with the power to turn pumpkins into coaches and frogs into princes is not the magic we need to seek.

Faith in the unknown brings with it surprises, if we stay open to the possibilities of tomorrow, then having faith allows magic to happen over and over. The best I could do with a magic wand would be to play it forward.

Stay true to your bliss, to yourself and to the magician within.

Blog what you hear, think and feel.

Linda Merlino, author, Belly of the Whale
http://www.lindamerlino.com
http://www.kunati.com/linda-merlino

"I'm Sorry."

WARNING: The following post may reduce you to jello. This is a 2 tissue post.

Coming up on the 1 year anniversary of Whale Song's release, I find I'm feeling retrospective. Sometimes it's good to look back over the year, analyze what went well...what didn't. We all have regrets and sometimes they hang over us, a dark cloud in an otherwise endlessly blue sky. I have a few. But for the most part, everything I've experienced--even the traumatic events in my life like the death of my son and the murder of my brother--has made me who I am as a person...and as a writer.

They say: write what you know. I've always agreed, to some extent, and I've done exactly that. There are also times to write what you don't know, in which case, having good research instincts comes in handy. In Whale Song, I wrote about broken relationships and death--two things I know maybe far too much about.

Although I am writing mainly fiction now, I wrote a lot of poetry and song lyrics as a teen. Last year, while getting ready for the release of Whale Song, I was so inspired by the story that I wrote a song. My daughter Jessica also plays guitar and sings and she performed the following song at the book launch for Whale Song last April.

Sarah Richardson, the main character, has always been a reflection of me--the bullied child I once was, the awkward teen I grew into, and the once bitter adult who harbored resentment towards her father. But Sarah's journey and experiences are her own, and in her darkest moment, when she realizes a truth that changes her life forever, she is devastated. This is Sarah's song to her father--her words, her thoughts...her regrets.

I'm Sorry

I can't believe so much time has passed,

That you'll be with me once again, at last,

Through all the pain my life has been,

I'm sorry for not trusting you,

For pushing you so far away,

For all you did,

I hated you.

I didn’t understand what you were doing,

I thought your actions selfish and confusing,

If only I had really known,

The truth of all that happened,

I’d realize far sooner

That you loved me,

Really loved me.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could take those hurtful words away, I would,

If I only knew,

What you'd put me through,

That it was for my own good.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would,

If you only knew,

I’d make the suffering mine,

But nothing can change time.

I realize you loved me more than ever,

A father’s love could never be more pure,

But, Daddy, I wish you’d stayed,

And never have gone away,

I needed my father,

I missed you,

I love you.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could take those hurtful words away, I would,

If I only knew,

What you'd put me through,

That it was for my own good.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would,

If you only knew,

What I’d do for you,

I’d tell you this,

I’m…sorry.

©2007 Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Read an excerpt from Whale Song.

Pick up a copy of Whale Song from Amazon or your favorite bookstore or library.

I hope you enjoyed this post. And thank you all for making Whale Song the success that it is.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Fathers and daughters

Relationships need special, ongoing care, and often a bit of mending. The bonds between fathers and daughters are so important and often very shaky. I see this in my own life and I can see how not having a good relationship early on with my own father has affected my choices, thoughts and my life. But as with every relationship, there is always a chance of healing, and sometimes this comes many years down the road.

Before I wrote Whale Song, my relationship with my father had changed--evolved into something relaxing, accepting and loving. He had changed. And so had I. I watched him interact with my daughter Jessica from the time she was a baby and realized that he was making it up to me--through Jessica.

Later, when my parents divorced after 36 years of marriage, I was devastated. I blamed my father and returned to my old feelings for him. Divorce is never easy on children--even adult ones. It felt as though my life had almost been a lie, that everything I had known had changed into something unrecognizable. It affected my own marriage.

Ironically, it was at this time that I wrote Whale Song. As the story progressed, it became apparent that my character Sarah was going to have to deal with a tragic event in her life and that her father, who had always been her hero, would make some life-altering decisions.

Writing the last few chapters, I also realized that Sarah was finally ready to accept her father's decisions and forgive him. "Forgiveness sets you free." This strong message weighed heavily on my mind, and I decided that I had some forgiving to do of my own.

To date, I have received dozens of emails from readers who have shared how Whale Song has affected them. It has brought fathers and daughters closer together. It has mended broken spirits and relationships. It has brought mothers and daughters closer together as well. I had no idea that my novel--Sarah's story--would have the power to do such things.

I invite you to pick up a copy of Whale Song from your favorite bookstore or online retailer. If you know someone with a broken relationship, Whale Song makes a wonderful healing gift.

If my novel impacts your life and you'd like to share this with me, I would be honored. I won't reveal your story or information unless you give me permission to, but hearing how my book--any book--changed your thoughts or life keeps me focused on always delivering a story with emotion, depth and value.

In the end, writing Whale Song changed my life and my own relationship with my father. I may not always agree with his choices, but I love my father. And that's all that is really important.

Whale Song set me free.

~*~

• Read an excerpt of Whale Song.
• Order Whale Song.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author

Clinton may be related to Angelina, but YOU might be too.

By now the news has spread. The New England Historic Genealogical Society announced some interesting findings this week.

Hillary Clinton and Angelina Jolie have something in common: they are ninth cousins. Author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of England’s Prince Charles are also among her gene pool.

An auspicious family tree, nay, orchard, if you ask me. Lots of interesting branches.

But I am not shocked. In fact, I’d wager that at least one of the readers of this blog is my distant relative. (Hey, you want an author to write about our big, dysfunctional family, right?) This is all part of a concept known as pedigree collapse. Here’s how it works:

We all have two parents, four grandparents, and eight great grandparents. Let’s assume for the sake of math that the average generation is twenty-five years long. If we go back in time 1200 years (800 AD) each person would have 281.5 trillion grandparents. This calculation is done by reasoning the number of grandparents doubles every 25 years – and in 48 generations (or 1200 years) 281.5 trillion names would be on a person’s pedigree.

But in 800 AD, there weren’t even that many people in the world. How could any of us have that many grandparents? The answer: they are not all different people. Some names on your family tree would appear twice, or ten times, or even one hundred times over the years. Ancestors married their relatives throughout the years, knowingly or unknowingly. This was particularly common among royal families who were encouraged to marry other kinsman of royal blood.

This is pedigree collapse. So if you trace your family roots backward, you will find that it spreads out for several generations – and ultimately “collapses” back on itself, corresponding with the original size of the world’s population.


There are even some geneticists who believe that everyone on earth is at least a 50th cousin to everyone else. It’s no wonder we don’t always get along. Most families do not.

But, this is what makes the study of genetic inheritance so fascinating. The knowledge that gifts, talents – even dark traits like mental illness or disease – can be passed down from one generation to the next. This linking of one ancestor to another is the integral theme to my novel Janeology – where you will meet eight of Jane’s ancestors as her husband searches her family tree for answers to her nature and nurture.

In the beginning of the story, you will meet with Jane, age nine, as she was abandoned by her own mother. (This is my personal favorite chapter of the book.) And you meet her mother, Victoria, who left New England as soon as she was of age, forever cutting off ties with her father -- Jane’s grandfather, Horace, who is filled with regret as he comes to terms with the focus of Victoria’s contempt. And then, Jane’s great-grandfather, Charles, a distant scientist, who looked the other way when his wife once tried to sell Horace’s twin sister to a carnival manager. For his part, Charles has been plagued by uneasiness all of his life, because his mother, Jane’s great, great grandmother, Eliza Anne, woke in a London hospital with no knowledge of who or where she was. And these are merely the relatives on Jane’s maternal side of the family. Many more are found on her paternal side.

All the secrets and misdeeds occurring within the family have a domino effect on Jane Nelson – daughter, wife, mother and ultimately, murderess. Visit my website to see Jane's pedigree chart.


So next time you research your family tree, expect to find the unexpected. And for all you cousins out there I have yet to meet, Howdy!