As with any relationship my relationship with my former publisher, Mischievous Muse Press was a learning experience for me.  Soon after the contract was signed suggestions for improving my manuscript were made.  One of the owners edited the first three chapters and instructed me to use her edits as a guide to re-writing the novel.  I followed her suggestions; however, my learning style requires constant exchange and a lot of questions. 

My re-write based on the suggestions of the first three chapters was only moderately successful and represented some growth and improvement in writing but I admit, not a great deal.  After reading the first re-write another owner suggested I purchase and study the book Word Painting – A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan. The instructions I was given for the next re-write was:  Show me Ireland!  I purchased the book and decided to read it carefully before embarking on the second re-write.  The chapters include:  What is Description?; The Eye of the Beholder; From Eye to Word; The Nose and Mouth and Hand and Ear of the Beholder; Figuratively Speaking; Bringing Characters to Life Through Description; The Eye of the Teller: How Point of View Affects Description;  Descriptions of Setting;  How Description Shapes the Narrative Line and finally The Big Picture. 

I took weeks studying McClanahan’s book.  My habit is to extensively underline both to help me to remember and to look up and find key passages months later.

McClanahan’s book has had a profound influence on my writing.  I must admit when I worked on the second re-write I realized my plot took place in a vacuum.  I hadn’t described characters by their appearance or mannerisms or what they ate and drank.  I had also omitted all but the most scarce detail on physical setting. It was a different manuscript when I was finished. 

All of the reviews I’ve received and comments from readers and book clubs extol the sense of actually being in Ireland when they read Murphy’s Troubles.  I’ve been complimented for capturing what it’s like to be in Ireland both from the characters and the landscape.

  

When writing about a specific country and time period it is very important to be authentic, especially about the details of daily life.  It’s the snippets of detail on food, clothing, beliefs, customs, traditions, history, and geography. that give the reader an image they can create in their minds as they read.  I revel in readers who tell me that the scenes in Murphy’s Troubles are realistic, credible and have a movie like quality.  That is key to my style writing.

I was once told in a critique group that no Irish person outside of Northern Ireland would drink Bushmill’s whiskey.  I believed that person and removed all references to Bushmill’s in my manuscript.  When visiting Ireland in 2008 all the pubs in Dublin, Killarney and Limerick served Bushmills.  Being an ignorant American I asked the barman about serving the Northern Ireland whiskey.  “Why not serve Bushmill’s, its whiskey isn’t it?”  That’s the last time I took advice from any critique group about the details of daily living in Murphy’s Troubles.

I wanted my protagonist, Ian Murphy, to show he had been successful as a writer by some of his habits.  While in Ireland I learned the most prestigious whiskey is Midleton which is distilled in Midleton, County Cork.  The distillery was originally owned by two brothers named Murphy, so Ian Murphy became one of the descendants of the distillery owner.  Ian Murphy can afford the whiskey and has a family connection, it was perfect.

For research, Google is the perfect tool.  I was able to find learn about traditional meals in various regions of Ireland.  I had read that often potatoes are served in three different forms at an Irish supper.  I thought that was historical but again my trip to Ireland proved eye opening.  We went to a traditional Irish restaurant in a rural area near Killarney.  My meal came with mashed potatoes, several boiled potatoes and fries and a small piece of white fish – no other vegetables.  It was a lesson.

All of the meals in Murphy’s Troubles are authentic and you can find them served in pubs and restaurants throughout Ireland today.

I used several methods to choose the names for the characters in Murphy’s Troubles.  I didn’t want to make Dublin the setting of the novel because it was too common for an Irish story.  The main setting is Cork which is a very international city surrounded both by hills and a port.  County Cork was the home of Michael Collins and the county has a reputation for being rebellious.  I researched the most common surname in County Cork and it was Murphy, so the protagonist is Ian Padraic Murphy.

My son’s best friend is John Doyle so I chose ‘Doyle’ as the surname for Ian’s best friend growing up in Cork.  I read a story about Ray Bradbury when he spent a summer in Ireland working on the screen story for the movie Moby Dick.  He was given a driver, Timolty.  Timolty was such a unique Irish name I thought it was perfect so Timolty Doyle became Ian’s best friend.

For all the other characters I researched Irish male and female first names and surnames.  Many names in Ireland have been Anglicized but I wanted the characters of my book to have original Irish names.  In my travels I’ve learned that names are common to their country of origin and it made the novel more authentic.  I didn’t use the English version of a name.

However, I mixed the spelling of names between Irish and English.  The Irish spelling of ‘Ian’ is ‘Ion’ or ‘Eion’.  I worried that readers wouldn’t understand and settled on using the English spelling.  For some of the minor characters, especially when their setting was in rural Ireland, I used the strictly Irish name with the Irish spelling, again to make the novel more authentic.

I believe names are important and one hint about a character’s traits is found in their name.  For example, “Murphy” means warrior and in his own way Ian Padraic Murphy is a warrior during The Troubles.

After high school my son, Tim, and his best friend John Doyle (called just ‘Doyle’ ) saved enough money for a trip to Europe.   Doyle had relatives living in Ireland and their plan was to make their farm home base and make excursions from there.

The plan worked for about two months, they tried to get green cards to get odd jobs and extend their stay.  The world was in the midst of an economic depression and Ireland didn’t feel the need to have two Americans wandering their island taking the odd job.  As a result they ran out of money.  Once day I received a call from Tim, he needed $500 to get a flight home.  I wired him the money and within a week he and Doyle were back in Wisconsin looking for a job.

As part of his thank you for bailing him out of Ireland, Tim brought me a stack of Irish newspapers.  He thought I would enjoy reading papers from Ireland.  I’ve never understood what gave him that notion but it caused a euphoric moment for me.  In 1997 Ireland was still a year away from approving the Good Friday Agreement that ended The Troubles.  The papers carried stories of civil violence and atrocities.

One story in particular caught my attention.  A ten year old girl was maimed in a ‘peace zone’ in Belfast.  The government had created areas between the walls that separate Catholics and Protestants that were neutral zones where no violence was to take place.  Neither the Protestants nor the Catholics accepted the peace zones because they were imposed on them from the British government.

From that story I began to imagine what it would feel like for a family to have their daughter injured while just playing outside – being in the wrong place and the wrong time.  That became the major incident that I built the story of Murphy’s Troubles around.

In the front cover of Murphy’s Troubles in the Appreciation Section I thank Tim for bringing me those newspapers.

          

As grandparents we’ve decided that our mission is to enrich the lives of our grandchildren by sharing experiences with them.  We have no interest in buying them “things”.

For Christmas this year we have searched for gifts that, at their age, our grandchildren may not understand but will, we hope, give them opportunities they will enjoy.

For our granddaughter in Omaha we purchased a family membership at the Omaha Zoo.  When we visited earlier this year the entire family visited the zoo and the pictures we have of our granddaughter staring at the aquarium and the dinosaur exhibit are priceless.

Our oldest grandson loves to visit the library with me.  This summer he learned how to select books he wanted to have us read to him.  There’s a children’s corner with a variety of activities that he has become expert in and he makes instant friends with whoever is there that day.

We decided that while only 3 ½ our grandson should have his own library card.  We completed the form, got Mom & Dad’s signature and I took him to the Library to get the card.  I showed him that his card looked exactly like mine.  We walked to the picture book area and he ran up and down the aisle grabbing books off the shelf asking, “How about this one Poppa O?”  Then he discovered the cd area and was thrilled to find Curious George cd’s.

We took our collection of books and the cd to one of the self check out areas that was at his height.  I showed him how to enter his code on the touch screen and scan the bar code on his selections.  Listening to the machine talk to him captivated his attention.  As we left the library I asked him if he wanted to carry his things, “No thank you.  You can carry them for me.”

We hopped into the car and as I turned the ignition, from the backseat he said:  “Thank you for taking me to the Library Poppa O.”  My grandson had given me the best Christmas gift ever.

   

I took a month off from fiction writing after completing the first draft of my second novel.  I’ve vacillated on a title but recently have settled on Out of Darkness, at least for the time being.

While I took a month off from fiction writing I didn’t stop working as a writer, I continued my blog, my Extra Innings column and most important, researched self-editing a novel.  Of course, I would never take on editing by myself.  I will hire the same copyeditor and proofreader, Christine Keleny, who worked with me on Murphy’s Troubles.  I am also working with my dear friend and mentor, Marshall Cook on story development and novel structure.

About a week ago I sent Marshall the first three chapters to read.  As usual, he gave me thorough, thoughtful comments – three pages worth of detailed review.  The last line of his review said it all.  “After studying these comments I think it would be a good idea to re-write the first chapter.  I hope you agree.”

I felt like a train that just derailed.  I didn’t need to tinker with this or that I need a complete re-write.  I studied his comments and read my manuscript together so that I could learn from his analysis.  Of course, Marshall is right, the chapter needed to be re-written.  I spent three days re-writing that one chapter and have sent it to Marshall for critique.

This experience has taught me that I misjudged the time I’ll need to edit a 97,000 word novel.  The first chapter is absolutely critical and I may need to change the point of view, meaning a complete overhaul.  I am thankful that I have someone like Marshall to help me learn the craft.  I need to get on the right track.    

I have always believed that much of the story of Thanksgiving is an American myth.  We want to believe that early European settlers were able to co-exist with native Americans and even that the Europeans survival depended on learning and adapting from the Native Americans.

In spite of the historical murkiness of Thanksgiving, the notion that we should, as a society, set aside a day each year is important and not frought with religious overtones.  Being thankful in life is important.

I don't want to judge what readers may be thankful for, however, I would hope that material things are low on your list.  Here's my short list:

--a life where I can pursue my creativity
--a caring, loving relationship with my wife
--two great sons and two wonderful daughter-in-laws
--my granddaughter
--my two grandsons
--my siblings
--friends
--the resources to have experiences leading to growth 
--opportunities to volunteer, give back and pay forward

So, don't forget to give thanks for what you cherish on Thanksgiving Day 2014    

Like most of you I had a great time as a kid on the teeter totter.  At my elementary school the teeter totter was a heavy wood plank, painted green with most of paint gone from years in the sun, rain, snow and ice.   On each end there was a metal upside down U also worn from many sweaty hands to hang on to for dear life.  The teeter totter was perfectly balanced across a four inch metal pipe; I don’t remember how it was attached.

There’s some dispute over the correct name.  The name ‘seesaw’ got its name from the French ci-ca, meaning this-that after the English butchered the French language.  The name may also derive by combining the French word scie (saw) with the English word “saw” to become ‘seesaw’, again with apologies to the French.  The origins of the name teeter-totter are too complex for this little blog.

It was tricky to hop of the teeter totter at the same time as your friend so that the thing balanced.  Once straddled across the plank we would race to push off with our legs first to thrust ourselves into the air and force the other person to use their legs like a spring to avoid the end of the teeter totter banging into the ground with a chance of falling off.

Two kids could spend an hour lunging back and forth with that momentary thrill of being propelled into the air.  I don’t have any idea who invented the teeter totter, but that person was a genius who understood kids.  The risk was always that one person jumps off so that the other person plummets to the ground.

Looking back I now realize that the teeter totter is a metaphor for life.  We cannot journey through life alone, we need other people – in the same way a child can’t teeter –totter alone.  In life we need to learn to trust others, in the same way you trust your partner won’t jump off the teeter-totter.  Finally, the good life requires balance.  In the same way, the principle of the teeter-totter is all about balance.

So there you have it.  Accept life as a teeter-totter and you can have a satisfying, balanced life.

As with most serious independent authors/publishers I worked very hard to create a high quality book for my readers.  I worked with a graphic designer to design a striking, eye catching cover, and I’ve received a number of compliments for the cover.

I researched the type and color of paper to use in the book and the type and size of the font.  I have been satisfied with the high quality of the paper and the font.

I hired a content editor, copyeditor and proofreader to work with me to guarantee the quality of the final book.  The proofreader was instructional, I knew nothing about semi colons; and, was inspired to take a grammar refresher after my book was published.  I was fortunate that the copy editor provided line edits which add polish to my book.  The content editor convinced me to introduce one character much earlier in the story and to revise the ending.  All of these changes, I believe, improved the quality of my book.

Once the file was uploaded to Create Space I received a hard edition of the book to edit.  It was both a thrill and a chore to look for all the little proof reading errors.   I chose to make the edits myself to the electronic file.  I edited my book three more times on the electronic file.  Having completed four proofreading edits I was both exhausted from the process and ready to launch my book into the world.

After receiving my complimentary order of books, I just looked at it in wonder.  I never thought about giving it one more read for proofreading errors.  I “trusted” that it was perfect.  Recently, to prepare for my Tuesday Morning Book Talk discussion of, Murphy’s Troubles, there on page 3 was a proofreading error.  This was the error: ‘Do they think with their arses’?’  What an obvious flaw, I was horrified. There was another error on page 10, 17, 20, etc. 

I decided to read my own book specifically for proofreading errors and I found forty-six!  When I shared my discovery with my wife even she said:   “That’s a lot.”  She has a reputation for understatement.

I wondered why no one had ever said anything to me.  None of the people who posted a review on Amazon said anything.  The professional reviewer at Inkspots, Karyn Saemann, didn’t mention the problem.  Were they all trying to be kind?  I don’t need that type of kindness.

I am embarrassed.  I contacted Create Space and I was able to correct the errors for only $55.00.  I’ve requested a hard copy proof to review, trying to proof from a document is just too difficult.

I have learned a very valuable lesson.  I must never again let the thrill of excitement of publication to let me waiver in ensuring the next book is blemish free.

                   

I have been attending the Tuesday Morning Book Talk, lead by Dr. Emily Auerbach and Marshall Cook for more years than I can remember.  We meet each fall and spring and take a break in the summer.  Usually, Dr. Auerbach chooses two themes for each session and we read three books on each theme.  For example, this fall one theme was Nobel Literature prize winning authors.

At the end of our session in the spring of 2013 she asked for suggestions from our group on books to read in the fall 2014 session.  In a bold, audacious moment I suggested the group discuss my debut novel, Murphy’s Troubles.

I didn’t want Dr. Auerbach to accept my suggestion without the opportunity to read my book so I gave her a copy.  I also asked my friend/mentor/editor Marshall Cook if he would be willing to lead the discussion if my book was accepted.

I waited all summer and never had a response from Dr. Auerbach.  In August, I heard from my friend Marshall that by book was scheduled for discussion in the fall 2014 session but he didn’t have a date.  It didn’t seem real.  Later that month the schedule of books to be read came out and there it was

October 28, 2014 – Murphy’s Troubles by Rex Owens, lead by Marshall Cook.  I’ve framed that schedule and hung it on my writing room wall.  No one in the class said anything to be about my book on the schedule.  Finally, last week several folks asked me if I had copies or where it was available locally because they didn’t want to buy it on Amazon.  One local independent bookstore, Mystery to Me, does carry a few copies and I recommended them, expect our group has about 25.  There was a possibility that our University Bookstore carried by book.  I called the University Bookstore and was never able to connect with someone to give me a definitive answer.

Monday night I didn’t sleep well.  I tossed and turned and slept in a spare bedroom to not disturb Lynette.  Tuesday morning I kept asking myself why I ever got myself into this position.  I talked with Marshall before class and he announced that I wanted honesty and that they way for me to grow as a writer was to get constructive comments and viewpoints.  I also agreed to ask whatever questions they wanted to pose.

The discussion began slowly, everyone was tenuous.  With  a few thoughtful questions from Marshall the discussion gained momentum, I answered questions and all was going well until . . .  I person was sure that I had not portrayed the correct age for one of the characters, she insisted the character must be older than 12 as I had written.  I responded with events in the novel that supported an age of 12 and many of us thought the questioner was confusing mother/daughter characters.  The questioner was relentless.  Finally, I responded by saying that I hadn’t completed a specific timeline for these characters and that was a mistake I’d not make in my next novel. 

Overall, the discussion was animated, we laughed, read some scenes out loud and one member said she was distraught reading the last chapter because she was sure that the protagonist, Ian Murphy, would be killed – she cared!  Her comment was the highlight of the discussion for me.  Marshall said, Rex you’ve done it – readers care about your characters.  Eliciting this response from readers is the writer’s Holy Grail.

To close the class I was asked when my next book would be published and what it was about.  I told them novel number two will be out in 2015 and Ian Murphy’s story continues as he searches for redemption.  The entire class broke out in spontaneous applause.  I blushed.  My sole thought after this experience:  now, I’m a writer.