The Utterly Baffled Tag

All right! No blog party is complete without a tag that you can take back with you to your own blogs, so I've concocted a tag for you with quite a lot of intriguing questions! The rules are simple: Fill out the questions of your own blog and come back here and comment to tell me you've done your post so the rest of us can run over and check it out! Also, thanks a million to all those who have entered Chatterbox! We have 13 entries to this blog event in its first month of life so I think it's been a rousing success! Now, on to the questions. I have answered them below as well!

1.) You are writing a mystery novel and decide to base the detective off of one of your writing friends: who do you choose?
2.) If you and the best of your writing-blog friends were living out a mystery, which of you would be most likely to end up as the victim?
3.) If you decided to write a mystery (or if, on the other hand, you do write mysteries) would your style fall under thriller, terror, literary, historical or cozy?
4.) Who is your favorite mystery-author?
5.) What is the best mystery you've ever read?
6.) If you were going to be in charge of solving a mystery, where would you want it to be set and what would the circumstances be?
7.) You walk into a library and find a body on the floor. Your first reaction:
8.) Your second reaction:
9.) What do you say when the policeman tells you that you are the prime suspect in the murder?
10.) How does your answer effect the powers that be?
11.) Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle walk into one of those Solve the Murder Dinner Theatres and sit down and start to spoil the fun by solving all the mysteries before anyone else and shouting the answers to the crowd: do you retaliate and if so, how?
12.) Post a quote from your favorite mystery//mystery author:

1.) You are writing a mystery novel and decide to base the detective off of one of your writing friends: who do you choose? This is actually an uber-easy question. I would choose Mirriam Neal because come to think of it, she would be a truly original personality for a sleuth. Actually, she'd make an awesome detective - one everybody would love to read about because she's just a mixture of Too Darn Cute & Impossibly Clever. Abigail Hartman would be a close runner-up because she's methodical and observant and rational which (as far as the method and perhaps rationality goes) Mirriam is not.
2.) If you and the best of your writing-blog friends were living out a mystery, which of you would be most likely to end up as the victim? Oh! Let me think for a sec....hummm....there would probably be an attempt on Jenny's life first, but I think that she'd surprise the villain by being rather unkillable. Thus, I think the first victim would be Katelyn Sebelko (poor darling!!) because there is no reason anyone would want to harm her, and that would make the mystery so complex.
3.) If you decided to write a mystery (I am) would your style fall under thriller, terror, literary, historical, or cozy? Cozy, definitely. Also loosely historical. I doubt it will ever become strictly historical albeit the mystery happens in the 1930's, but it will likely deal loosely with historical events as they pop up in the natural timeline of my character's Life & Times.
4.) Who is your favorite mystery author? Oh gee. I have really enjoyed what of Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey stories I've read and then again, the little of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels, but as far as being able to speak authoritatively on a broad scale, I'll have to stick with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
5.) What is the best mystery you've ever read? Hmmmm. I would have to say The Five Orange Pips by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because I kinda have a thing for unsolved mysteries. And as far as being somewhat of a mystery, though not really qualifying, I adore The Scarlet Pimpernel and I didn't know the YOU KNOW WHAT was YOU KNOW HIM in the final scenes. So it qualifies in my book.
6.) If you were going to be in charge of solving a mystery, where would it be set and what would the circumstances be? Oodalolly. It would be set in...in...the Lake District of England/Scotland and the circumstances would be that a body was found in broad daylight sitting upright in a rowboat moored in the middle of the lake. It would seem easy to solve except for the fact that there was a fishing competition that day and not a single person of all 50 competitors saw the boat moved into place. Furthermore, news footage of the event doesn't show it either.
7.) You walk into the library and find a body on the floor. Your first reaction: I would freeze on the threshold of the room and get very quiet. My heart would sink and I'd tip-toe over and probably prod the body with my foot (assuming it was facedown) to try to see who the heck it was and whether he was really dead or simply in a swoon.
8.) Your second reaction: I would perch on the edge of the desk, heart pounding, trying to sort out who to tell and how on earth the murder was committed. Then I realize the murderer might still be in the room and I scuttle off to phone the police.
9.) What do you say when the policeman tells you that you are the prime suspect in the murder? "Murder I might write, but I would never commit murder. I'm a christian, first of all, and secondly, I'd never be brave enough. Besides--I don't hate him; I don't even know him!" (Notice I would be flustered and not thinking coherently or cleverly."
10.) How does your answer effect the powers that be? Oh, they'd think I was sassing them and lob me off toward the station. Abigail Taylor would bail me out because she always does bail me out of everything else, and eventually my name would be cleared even though evidence of my shoe had been found on the body. (Note to self: never prod a prostrate form with your foot, okay?)
11.) Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle walk into one of those Solve the Murder Dinner Theatres and sit down and start to spoil the fun by solving all the mysteries before anyone else and shouting the answers to the crowd: do you retaliate and if so, how? I would at first be annoyed, but upon recognizing who it was, I'd probably sit there laughing helplessly and thinking what a fine blog post it would make, and then I'd edge closer and strike up an acquaintance and possibly go out for icecream with them afterward.
12.) Post a quote from your favorite mystery author:(AH! So many from which to choose!)
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Well that was jolly good fun. I hope you join in, as I'm eager to read your answers to these questions. Toodle-pip and cheers, everyone. I've got to go be useful now since breakfast is almost ready.

"We're glad the Dauphine is so pleasant with us."

"Letters of business...how odious I should think them."

-Caroline Bingley

But letters of business sometimes do fall our way, and in its own fashion, this post is halfway a letter of business.

-Ransomed Giveaway- 

I want to remind all of you that you still have a few days left in which to enter the giveaway from Elizabeth Ender's book Ransomed. If you *have* entered, remember that the mandatory entry is to leave your name and email address in a comment below. Spread the word! You all love free books, I know. I mean, who *doesn't* love a free book? Also, Ransomed appears to be an exceptionally good book and you will not regret taking the time to enter. Thirdly, I made this giveaway disgustingly easy which means that if you don't enter, you're a wee bit lazy.

-Chatterbox-

You are all wonderful; Chatterbox (in its very first week of its very first month) already has 10 entries! If you missed out on what exactly Chatterbox is, do go to the post and give it a read!

-Writing-

 I hope to be able to dig down deep this next week and get quite a lot of writing done. Most of my feedback for The Windy Side of Care is home and the expected changes must be made before I can polish it up for the final time and send it off to Anne Elisabeth Stengl. The Baby is going through mental agonies. Like Jenny with her Gingerune, Baby is requiring a feat of mental strength that I have not quite found yet. I may shelf The Baby for a few months and work on the other projects that are rendering me ineffectual.We shall see. As far as those "other projects" go, all I can say right now is, "Anon, sir, Anon".

A regular bachelor’s pad, Whistlecreig was, and though Farnham prided himself on feeling little but physical pain, a faint, resentful twinge cropped up toward this unknown female barreling toward him on the 12:55 out of Darlington.

 You will get an explanation sooner than later because certain people (Meghan. Ahem.) have been smiling knowingly and if there's one thing I can't stand it's the be patted on the head paternally. Though I don't mind so much when it comes to people excited about my Projects. :)

-Listening To-

Andrew Peterson. A close family friend died very unexpectedly this Monday. Thank God he knew Jesus and loved Him dearly, but that doesn't make it hurt much the less for the wife and seven children he leaves behind. There are so many of Peterson's songs that fit the situation...truly a blessed man.

The Scarlet Pimpernel Musical. This is something I am purposely exploring because you know how much I love TSP, and how much I bet I'll love the musical. When getting into new shows, there is always that awkward moment of "I don't know ANY of these songs!" but then you sit long enough and are suddenly singing along - I'm in that stage.

-Discovering-

Charity Klicka's blog. This is a gal that works in the same building as my brother and I've met her once or twice. For a long time I've followed her on Pinterest and loved the things she pinned, and today I found her blog. She is having an autumn reading challenge as well as giveaways of various books & book-lover packages each week; this week is The Wind in The Willows. Check it out - it is well worth your time! :)

And now for the un-business part of this post: favorite quotes from everywhere. I am a sucker for beautifully-worded things and I've come across many in recent days. I thought I'd dump them here for you to enjoy alongside me. :) 

“We shall creep out quietly into the butler's pantry--" cried the Mole.
"--with out pistols and swords and sticks--" shouted ther Rat.
"--and rush in upon them," said Badger.
"--and whack 'em, and whack 'em, and whack 'em!" cried the Toad in ecstasy, running round and round the room, and jupming over the chairs.”  

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

“Secrets had an immense attraction to him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to.”-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

“It'll be all right, my fine fellow," said the Otter. "I'm coming along with you, and I know every path blindfold; and if there's a head that needs to be punched, you can confidently rely upon me to punch it.” 

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

"Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror - indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy - but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august presence was very, very near.”

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

 “If God made everything, did He make the Devil?' This is the kind of embarrassing question which any child can ask before breakfast, and for which no neat and handy formula is provided in the Parents' Manual…Later in life, however, the problem of time and the problem of evil become desperately urgent, and it is useless to tell us to run away and play and that we shall understand when we are older. The world has grown hoary, and the questions are still unanswered.” 

-The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers

“To complain that man measures God by his own experience is a waste of time; man measures everything by his own experience; he has no other yardstick.”  

-The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers

“The adult must seem to mislead the child, and the Master the dog. They misread the signs. Their ignorance and their wishes twist everything. You are so sure you know what the promise promised! And the danger is that when what He means by ‘wind’ appears you will ignore it because it is not what you thought it would be—as He Himself was rejected because He was not like the Messiah the Jews had in mind.” 

-A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

“Between the probable and proved there yawns
A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd,
Then see behind us sink the ground and, worse,
Our very standpoint crumbling. Desperate dawns
Our only hope: to leap into the Word
That opens up the shuttered universe.” 

-A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

“His jest shall savour but a shallow wit, when thousands more weep than did laugh it.”

-William Shakespeare's Henry V

“Cheerily to sea; the signs of war advance:
No king of England, if not king of France” 

-William Shakespeare's Henry V 

“We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us;
His present and your pains we thank you for:
When we have match'd our rackets to these balls,
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard."

-William Shakespeare's Henry V  

I am in love with Henry V right now. Honestly. Have you ever read such rousing words? The play is full of them and by golly it's marvelous. In the past month I have watched both the Kenneth Branagh version and the Tom Hiddleston version. Both are beautiful productions and I love it. Which have you seen? Which do you prefer?

“Oh, it has all the modern conveniences: mice, mold, damp, draughts. You name it, Farnham has sent off for the latest patented model.”

Interview & Giveaway with "Ransomed" author Elizabeth Ender

Earlier this fall, author Elizabeth Ender agreed to do an interview with me for The Inkpen Authoress. An interview complete with a giveaway of her debut book, Ransomed. 

I have not had the chance to read this book yet, but everything that I have heard about it tells me that Ransomed is a book worth reading. And it has a beautiful cover and you know how important covers are to me.

   Both of them have promised to protect me. My Lord is not here. The Stranger is. One said I would die if I left; the other says I cannot live unless I go...And to go with one means to forsake the other. 
   Do I stay or go?
   This is my choice. 

At long last, I would love to present to you Elizabeth Ender speaking on her story, Ransomed:

1. As a first time self-pubber, what was the hardest part of the process?

 Probably finding the time! Trying to self-publish as a full-time college student applying to medical school was, perhaps, not one of my more brilliant ideas. Getting breaks lined up with my illustrator's time frame and figuring out all the endless details that appeared out of seeming nowhere was definitely a challenge. Formatting was also somewhat of a nightmare, but, oy I learned a lot. :)

2. What was easier than you expected?

The final editing. After messing around with it every couple years on my own, I hired as an editor an author whose writing style I loved (Rachel Starr Thompson) and sent her the story rather expecting it to come back in pieces. How little she actually marked up and suggested changing, and how big a difference those changes made, surprised me. 

 3. How long did it take you to write Ransomed?

I wrote it when I was about thirteen, and I'm pretty sure I wrote it in not more than a few sittings. Since then, however, it has been through many beta-readers, several re-writes and much, much editing. Also, much sitting on a shelf, so the answer to that is somewhere between a few days and a decade.

4.  What was your first thought upon holding a copy of your book in your hands?

I ordered about three proof-copies before I was satisfied with my formatting job (which all said PROOF COPY on the inside), and then ordered a large order for people I knew personally. That order did not come until right before I left for medical school, so my reaction when picking up an actual a finished version of my book was honestly, 'It's finally here!' LOL. I think if the process had not been quite so long and if I had not been involved with every step of the way, there would have been a bit more awe. :)

5. Who did the fabulous cover-art and how did you decide you wanted to use that artist?

Louie Roybal III , who also illustrated the inside! I contacted several illustrators but kept running into dead-ends, and was somewhat on the desperate side when Jessica Greyson suggested him. I contacted him, and he was generously willing to give me a price cut since I am donating all net profits to ministry.
(Rachel: What a cool idea...I love that, especially since Ransomed is an allegory!)
 

6. In a world of consistently-growing technology, what are your feelings on e-books vs. their paper counterparts?

Personally, I spend enough time on the computer that picking up a book in paper form is a treat. As of now, I don't intend to publish an e-version of Ransomed, both because of time-constraints (formatting a different version is not high on my list of things I want to do :) and because, as an illustrated short story, I really do not see Ransomed as made to be read on a computer. But perhaps that belief is colored by my own memories of my mom reading to me as a child, and the hours and hours I spent curled up with a book. :) (If anyone has a different opinion I would be interested to hear it.)

7. What style book is Ransomed, and can we expect any future books to mirror its flavor?

It is a first-person short-story allegory set in the Middle Ages. :) Neither short-stories nor allegories are among my typical writing categories, though I do have a few first-person novels, and several involving castles and kings, etc. What I believe does tend to bleed into my writing, and I think all my novels can be classified as explicitly Christian, though perhaps not as extremely as this one. :) They will all probably be rather more different from this than alike, though.

8. Do you like pickles?

The answer to that question for most of my life would have been a rather emphatic 'no', but in the past month I have eaten both kimchi and swordfish and actually liked them both...Now I will say that, given that I sometimes like pickles with other foods, at some point I may begin to like them plain. :)

9. Do you drink tea or coffee? (This is a mandatory question for new interviewees on The Inkpen Authoress)

Good question. :) Tea, yes. Coffee, no. (Or not yet; we'll see what medical school does to me. XD)

10. Do you have difficulty hearing your words read aloud?

I tend to have a difficulty reading my words aloud...it just feels incredibly awkward and makes me royally self-conscious. I guess I have not often heard other people reading them...but I think for my longer stories it's a good idea -- hearing what people stumble over or how it sounds in someone else's voice is really good for catching trouble-spots. :)

Many thanks to Elizabeth Ender for letting me run her through the wringer with my questions. If you would like to try your hand at winning a copy of Ransomed, follow the instructions below! A winner will be chosen and notified on Thursday, October 24, 2013.

Mandatory Entry: 

Follow The Inkpen Authoress and leave your email address and name in a comment below. (2 entries)

Follow-Up Entries:

 Follow Elizabeth Ender's blog (2 entries)

Follow me (@Rachelswhimsy) on Twitter (1 entry)

Share this interview on Facebook (1 entry)

Buy a copy of Ransomed (and come back to tell me about it.) (5 entries)

Have fun, and let's all thank Elizabeth for taking the time out of her hectic med-school life to chat!

 

 

Elizabeth Ender. Current med student with a big imagination and unfortunate time-management issues. Lover of horses, cats, and sometimes puppy-dogs. Also a private pilot, because there is absolutely nothing like flying. Daughter & sister (family is forever). Music is necessary to my continued existence. Addicted to reading like I am to breathing. Story-teller, because it's in my blood. A child of the Most High King, because He loved me, created me, and made me His own through the precious blood of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

From the Rest of You

Just as while reading you'll come across a part of a book that inspires you, in reading the blogs of my writing friends, I have come across posts that give me that ache-y break-y feeling of: I have to write because of things like this. You know the sort--they are unmistakable when you actually come across them. Because I know that it's an encouragement to hear that those countless posts you labor over actually effect someone, I've compiled a list of the particular posts over the years that are my favorites. They might be posts of snippets. They might be how-tos. They might just be a beautiful, breaking piece of prose. But each of these links are worth reading, and if one of your posts is on here, know that this is a thank-you for real. Not flattery.




From astonishing Jenny: A Strange Power in Those Riddling Words
Also from Jenny: The Fierceness of Defending Life
From Jenny as well, to me, which makes it twice as nice: Janus

From Anna: Only Dull People Are Clever At Breakfast

From my dear Katie: Contentment: a One-Butt Kitchen is Better Than no Kitchen at All
Also from Katie: "The Terror, the Suspense, the Thrill!"
And last but not least from Katie: Chainsaw Therapy

From The Anne-Girl: The Story of My Beginning (because I like hearing about starts)
Also from my Bertie: Christmas With the Sage

From Abigail: Burning the Straw Men
Also from this Valiant Girl: The Stereotyped Woman
And: The Creative Mind

There are, I am sure, many more posts from these authors and others that I find close to my heart. Most of the posts I read have had some effect on me, just as most of the books I read rub off in some way. But these pieces in particular I tip my hat to, and say "Pass the crumpets, we're out of tea."

The Mrs. Palmer Effect: a guest post by Amy

Hello everyone!  My dear blogging friend Rachel has kindly offered to let me guest post for her while she's off politicking in Georgia, and I'm so delighted to be here! Let's start off this post with a picture.  Pictures are worth a thousand words and all that, so without further ado... here's one that makes me all kinds of annoyed.

Now that I've (hopefully) got you hooked and wanting to know why that picture annoys me so badly, we may proceed.  (A hook is one of the most important things in fishing and in writing.  This is not the time to draw parallels between fishing and writing, especially since I've never done the former, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.  *bad pun alert*)
 Lately I've heard a great deal about dialogue tags in writing, and I am here today to tell you a great and important truth.  Sit up straight, take the Popsicle out of your mouth, cross your legs neatly and the ankles and listen closely.

There is nothing wrong with the word "said."

Did you get that?  

"Said" has been getting a bad rap lately.  It seems that everywhere I look, writers are advising each other not to use that word, because something bad will happen if they do.  Their books will become dry and hard to chew, the dialogue will turn clunky and the characters will be stuck in a monotone.  Or so you might think.

"Don't strain to find synonyms for 'he said,'" William Zinsser writes in his hilariously helpful book On Writing Well.  "Don't make your man assert, aver and expostulate just to avoid repeating 'he said,' and please--please!--don't write 'he smiled' or 'he grinned.'  I have never heard anybody smile.  The reader's eye skips over 'he said' anyway, so it's not worth a lot of fuss." Don't be afraid of "said."  Use it if you have to.  Don't use it if you don't have to.  If you can, leave the dialogue at bare bones (that is, without any kind of tags whatsoever, not even to distinguish who's talking) and see how it looks on the page.  If you need clarification, add some.  Even better, try using "said" as sparingly as possible and replacing the dialogue tags with action.  (See this post for ideas.)

 There's a phenomenon in writing--especially material written by young writers-- that I like to call the Mrs. Palmer effect.  Mrs. Palmer, in case you don't remember, is a character in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.  In the 1995 film she remarks that Marianne Dashwood will certainly be soaked to the skin after going out in the rain, to which her husband replies, "Thank you, my dear, I think we have all apprehended that much." When someone writes a sequence of dialogue like this (see below), that's what I call the Mrs. Palmer effect (because it's easier than calling it the Thank-you-my-dear-I-think-we-have-all-apprehended-that-much effect).

  "Please go with me to the party," Lisa begged.
"No, I don't want to!" Sandra yelled loudly.
"You are just so mean," Lisa insulted.
"Take that back," Sandra snapped angrily.
"Girls, stop arguing right now," their mother scolded.
"Mom, pleeeeeeease make her go to the party with me," Lisa whined. "
I'm not going and that's final!" Sandra exploded.

 Oh, cringe. Now, of course, that was an example of the worst of the worst, made up entirely by me.  I didn't copy it from a book, nor did I base it on anything I've actually read.  But believe me, there is writing--published writing--out there that sounds... well, like that.  Ugh. Here's the same conversation, reworked.
  "Please go to the party with me."  Lisa plopped on Sandra's bed and tweaked the book out of her sister's hands.
"No, I don't want to!" Sandra snatched the book back.
Lisa scowled.  "You are just so mean."
"Take that back!" Sandra snapped.
Their mother poked her head around the bedroom door frame.  "Girls, stop arguing right now." "Mom, pleeeeeeeeeease make her go to the party with me!" Lisa put on her most pitiful expression
. "I'm not going and that's final!" Sandra scooped up her book, scrambled off the bed, dove into her closet and slammed the door.

 I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking which paragraph sounds more natural.  Obviously the dialogue itself is cheesy and uninteresting, but I think you'd agree with me that the action surrounding the conversation in the second version is much better than the stilted synonyms for "said" in the first.  I didn't take out all the dialogue tags, however-- Sandra still "snaps" in the fourth line.  In this case, I felt that saying "snapped" was justified.  It isn't evident from her words that she was snapping, and Mr. Palmer has no reason to thank his dear and tell her that everyone has apprehended that much. Another thing I changed in the second paragraph was the use of adverbs.  In the first paragraph, Sandra yelled loudly and snapped angrily.  Well, of course she yelled loudly.  That's what yelling is: loudness.  Thank you, my dear, I think...  And since we were told that she was snapping at Lisa, we don't need to be further informed that she did it angrily.  I've never heard anyone snap sweetly. But even if you aren't being ridiculously over-redundant (see what I did there?) you can still fall into the trap of adding an adverb after every "said." I know because I used to do it all the time.  He said suavely.  She said coldly.  He said arrogantly.  She said disgustedly...  Blah-de-blah-de-blah.  "Said" is not a baby.  It can stand alone.  Really, it can.  It's been around for a while and doesn't need an adverb to hold it up.  Unless, of course, you are Agatha Christie.  In which case you are permitted to use tons of adverbs in your dialogue tags because they just seem to fit somehow, and besides, everything else you write is sheer genius anyway. But most of us aren't Agatha Christie.   (If you do happen to be Agatha Christie, please leave a comment on this post and make my day.) In conclusion (I do like saying that, it makes everything seem much more important somehow), the way you write your dialogue is completely up to you.  I am not the boss of you, nor am I the expert who knows how to fix everything that's wrong with your writing.  (If, that is, there IS anything wrong with your writing.)  I'm just a scribbler with an overcritical eye, a zest for perfection and an abhorrence of unnecessary synonyms for "said." And, too, maybe I just over-emulate those crotchety writing critics in the Anne and Emily books.  Go ahead and cut out all those flowery passages.  Skip the sunset, too.  And ditch that sap Percival who sits around mooning all the time and never lets a girl get a word in edgewise.  In real life she'd have pitched him.