Missing the Magic

Marty Ann Dee
(my nom de plume)

I used to be a writer. I'd published a mediocre novel and I was working on a good one—a spy novel set in Vienna in 1933, between the World Wars. Based on a true story Dee uncovered while writing a biography, we had actual letters, journals, newspaper clippings and telegrams that described a suspicious death that was never resolved.

Letters describing a possible murder.

We'd read them all, and together we'd figured out what could have happened.

Old Viennese documents

A year ago we were in Vienna, researching settings. I have two notebooks full of descriptions: cafes, streets, courtyards, foods, smells, landmarks.

Erwin Sarkoti passed secrets in this cafe.

I'd written such detailed back stories for my characters that I think about them now, and wonder how they're doing, even though they're just imaginary friends.

Clara wore dirndls like these.

Their cars, their hairstyles, their outfits, the way they took their tea, how they walked and talked—it's all neatly stored in computer folders, filed under "My Book."

In those days I wrote blog posts about writing, taught Write Stuff Workshops, and poured over books like Make a Scene, The Plot Whisperer, and Write is a Verb.

Writing isn't so much a verb for me now—it's a noun. It's a pile of papers I packed away in February—for later. Sometimes I miss my writer self.

"When you're writing, you're creating something out of nothing ...
A successful piece of writing is like doing a successful piece of magic."
—Susanna Clarke

Is there something you love doing that you've set aside?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.

My Book: Son of a Gun

You can pre-order my book! I am over the moon!
Click here to see it—or buy it!

The Story Behind the Story

On New Year's Day, 2010, my Uncle Mel went into the hospital to get new knees for his 86th birthday. Instead, they gave him a staph infection, and he took up residence there for over a month. Uncle Mel has very poor eyesight, but he can see stories inside his head. He entertained the doctors and nurses with tales he spun from experiences he'd had with people he'd known (who were real characters!)

On March 5, 2010 he called me from Nevada. "Marty Ann," he said, "I've got a story in my mind. Do you think you could turn it into a book?"

Five days later I received a digital recorder with his ideas locked inside. It took a few days to get it transcribed into fourteen pages of text, and on March 15th I read Son of a Gun for the first time. A western, complete with gunfights, saloons, love scenes and fallen women, it was set in Texas a few years after the Civil War. Uncle Mel came up with the main characters: Jack, Indian Joe, Ruby, Sam, Leo, JJ, MJ and Big Red. The plot was roughly outlined with details that didn't hang together, and there was no ending. It was like having a list of random spelling words with the assignment of fitting them all into a story. I didn't know where to start.

I'd done a lot of historical writing but not historical fiction. My challenge was to get familiar with a new computer program to help me organize, study up on the American West and find out what Texas looks, feels and smells like. The children's section of the library is a great starting place to learn geography and history quickly. I read every book they had on Texas. Then I checked out books on horses, saloons, soiled doves, and guns. Real life research was going on, too: my son-in-law took me shooting, I explored a pioneer village, and a local smoke-shop owner taught me how to roll a cigarette!

Uncle Mel and I talked almost every day, and we thickened the plot. I began to picture the setting; his characters came alive and introduced me to new characters. As I wrote their dialogue, they told me in their own words what happened and how—writing a novel is an incredible experience!

Six months to the day, September 15, 2010, I sent Uncle Mel his manuscript. That night I emailed a pdf to Tate Publishing on a whim. Within a week I got a thumbs up from both of them!

Writing a novel is only half the job of publishing a novel. These are some of the post-writing steps:

1. Copyediting
2. Conceptual Editing
3. First Edit
4. Proof
5. Final Draft
6. Cover Design
7. Final Proof
8. Marketing

There are other little chores, like acknowledgments, bio, dedication, back cover matter, design, layout, color choices, etc. Luckily, all the folks at Tate Publishing know what they're doing and moved me from department to department without a hitch. I've now worked with several people and they've all been encouraging and supportive. It's been more work than I expected, but more fun than I expected, too.

The book releases to bookstores on Oct 28, 2011, but it's being pre-sold by the publisher at the same price. It's also available as an e-book!

Now comes the scariest part—someone will read it!


A fictional Marty Ann Halverson writing fiction.

“For those who can do it and who keep their nerve,
writing for a living still beats most real, grown-up jobs hands down.”
—Terence Blacker

Character Study

♫ I'm the one who writes my own story,
I decide the person I'll be . . . ♫

Let's say your life (right now) is a book you're trying to sell to a publisher. How would you answer these questions?

1. What's the book about? A middle-aged grandmother reinventing herself
   
2. What's the setting? A home office in a down-town apartment building
   
3. Describe the hero in three words. Wordy, interested, maternal
   
4. What are her three best qualities? Diligent, genuine, flexible
   
5. What are three character flaws? Envious, competitive, fearful
   
6. What outward characteristics set her apart? Left handed, short hair, looks over glasses
   
7. What goal does the hero want to reach right now? Write a historical mystery
   
8. What is stopping her from getting it? Time, fear
   
9. Does she have a mentor—someone helping her reach her goal? Husband
   
10. List two subplots. Being a grandma, writing a blog
    
11. What do you want people to take from your book? There is life in an empty nest.
    
12. Where does your book fit in a bookstore? On the best-seller table
    

I filled out a long questionnaire like this for the publisher of Son of a Gun. It was like taking an English exam, with words like antagonist, conflict, theme, resolution—luckily English exams were my specialty, and I think I aced it. This week I'm outlining a new book, using some of the same questions to guide my thinking. My main challenge: make a character real using just words.

So, I've become a voyeur. Waiting in line at the pharmacy, eating at the hamburger joint, changing in the Nordstrom dressing room—I'm watching for details, listening in, wondering how to describe lengthy nose hairs and bulgy necks. Dumpy, crude, ditsy, shy—what if some writer wannabe is studying you? (It's something to consider when you're on the phone in the Nordstrom dressing room!)

Look over these questions and answer them (at least mentally.) I bet you're quite a character!

Graphology 101

Graphologist at work

Quick! Pick up a piece of unlined paper and a pen. Write two short paragraphs about anything (a quote you remember, description of yourself, what you did last night) and sign it at the bottom.

Now, we are going to analyze you.

1. A wide margin on both sides of the page shows you are extravagant. Small margins mean you're practical.
2. Small writing means you are shy; big writing means you are outgoing.
3. If your lines and letters are crammed together you're stingy with money.
4. One line touching another could mean your thinking is muddled.
5. The slope of your writing shows your emotions: lines sloped upward indicate cheerfulness, straight lines indicate an even-tempered, reliable person. If there's a downward slope, you probably need some chocolate.
6. Ruler straight, up-and-down letters show you think with your head and not your heart.
7. Very slanted writing is a sure clue that you are sensitive and easily hurt.
8. Are you loopy? If so, you're relaxed and spontaneous. If your loops are closed you might be tense.
9. A round "S" means you like to please people, and avoid confrontation.
10. Pointy writing shows ambition.
11. If your signature is centered, so are you.
12. Did you sign your full name? You're intellectual. Just your first name? You're casual. A nickname? You're cool.

A letter from Max

Aristotle said handwriting is a window into a person's mind. This weekend I've been creating some characters based on their loops and slopes, their p's and q's. It's my new slant on writing. Based on his letters, I've decided Max is a bulky, assertive kind of guy.

Clara's letters from Austria

Clara is interested and interesting.

Clara's trip journal.

Oma is going blind.

How would you feel about a stranger reading your letters and diaries in eighty years? Would there be enough clues to turn you into a real character? Are you secretly hoping someone will eventually read your journal, or have you stopped keeping one just in case you die someday?

Diary of a Novel

Years ago Dee wrote the history of a California businessman. On a research trip to San Francisco, we interviewed one of the cousins. Alice, her elderly mother, lived with her and had a cache of old letters written during the 1930s, which she gave Dee to keep. Since they didn't apply to the story being written at the time, they were set aside, packed up and saved for a second volume someday. The client died before that happened and the stuff got stored in Dee's archive.

Recently, for another project, Dee was going through his archives and ran across the bundle of hand-written letters.

Some of the letters had been sent from Vienna where Clara was waiting while her husband traveled by train to meet Stalin in Moscow. Her daughter Alice wrote back from San Francisco, detailing the romantic, lavish lifestyle of a rich young woman before WWII. In Europe the times were troubled, and Vienna was a city of spies and secrets, as Hitler was coming to power, and the old Austro-Hungarian Empire was falling apart. Clara's husband had been right in the middle of it and was now doing his bit for peace, introducing free enterprise to Russia. Clara was alone in a foreign city dealing with men she didn't trust, who tried to win her favor and manipulate her thinking.

Suddenly Clara got word that her husband, a healthy man of 61 had died mysteriously in Russia. No explanation, just a promise to bring his body back to Vienna within a couple of weeks. Amidst all the political secrets, there were questions about how he died and if he was murdered. This much of the story is alluded to in the letters.

We've spent hours discussing what could have happened and now we realize we've got a full-fledged murder mystery aching to be solved. It's set in our favorite place, at the exact time in history we've spent decades studying.

Plot, check. Tomorrow I'll meet the characters. With a cup of cocoa I'll sit down for a long day of snooping through the past. Anticipation is tingling through my arms. This could be the book I've wanted to write: a historic novel set in pre-World War II Austria. Spies, intrigue, wealth, love, war, family drama and to top it off me and Dee sitting on the sidelines analyzing clues, and even making up a few. I'm between assignments and this is the perfect time to start a new novel.

I'm going to keep track of my exact steps in this diary of a novel.

I'll keep you posted.