Monthly Archives: May 2012

A Memorial Day Weekend Tragedy: Updated

ocean view

The ocean from my deck

I live in a beach town on the Jersey shore which means that nearly every bar around here and some of the restaurants have an annual countdown clock to Memorial Day, the official start of the summer season. And this past weekend, summer was here. Air conditioners were turned on, lawn mowers were mowing, pool heaters were chugging, and wherever I drove, I stopped for beach-goers crossing the street with their coolers, their umbrellas, and their kids. We had all the wonderful sounds and smells (barbecues, suntan lotion) of summer.

But on Sunday, something terrible happened. Off the beach in the town just south of us, a 17-year-old boy who was swimming in the ocean disappeared and was swept to sea. That afternoon and into the night, helicopters hovered above restaurants where waiters uncorked bottles of wine for diners enjoying an ocean view. Searchers on the beaches and in boats mingled with swimmers and gathered around sand castles. An unusual number of police cars with flashing lights dotted the roadway up and down the coast and on the sand. While many people enjoyed the beach, one family’s heart was shattered beyond repair.

Today is Tuesday and the boy is still missing. The search has been suspended but life guards will continue searching, waiting and watching for the boy’s body to wash up. The weather today is warm and sunny, another glorious beach day. But my thoughts are with the parents and family of a kid who went swimming on Sunday and never came home.

Update: A body discovered Saturday in the ocean off Long Beach, N.J., has been identified as that of the missing teen, 17-year-old Rudy Mena. An emigre from the Dominican Republic, Rudy longed to join the Army and was a model member of Eastside High School’s JROTC. The day that he drowned was his first time in the ocean.

How Changing a Recipe Is Like Revising Your Writing

I came up with a way to roast chicken that my husband loves so much that we have it every Sunday night. We call it Sunday chicken. I can’t remember when this all began but it had to be at least a dozen years ago. And — like revising a good story — I’ve been changing the recipe over time until finally I arrived at the version we like the best.

Sunday chicken

I’m not usually a pants-er when it comes to cooking, as I am with writing. I have lots of cookbooks and recipe clippings that I generally follow. That’s why creating a chicken recipe, for me, was more like writing a story: playing with ingredients to discover what would work best.

When this all started, I just roasted a chicken in a pan with a little olive oil and with garlic cloves stuffed under the skin. Later, I started chopping an onion into segments and tossing the onion pieces into the pan around the chicken. I soon added chopped pepper, one red and one green, to the mix. I baked it for about an hour and a half in a covered roasting pan. Eventually, I started drizzling both olive oil and soy sauce on the chicken and the peppers and onions.

But, like a good story, this recipe needed to be punched up a bit. So a couple of years ago, on a whim, I added a sliced jalapeno pepper to the mix. That tasted so good that I soon started substituting five or six jalapenos for the more ordinary bell peppers I had been using. (Slicing and seeding the jalapenos provides all the conflict this story needs.) I now toss the jalapeno slices in with the onions and on top of the chicken. I also scatter garlic cloves around the chicken as well as under the skin.

Then one time I forgot to put the lid on the pan before roasting and the skin became quite crispy. Delicious, but I missed the moistness that the covered lid had provided. So now I roast the chicken for about 45 minutes covered and remove the lid for the last 45 minutes or so until the chicken is done. Voila: a moist chicken with a lightly crisped skin.Sunday chicken

For a well-balanced finish, I chop the roasted chicken up into a large bowl, add the peppers and onions and juices to the bowl, and serve that with a dish of steaming pasta. I top it all off with shredded parmigiano-reggiano.

And there we have it: solid characters, a well-timed plot, conflict, drama (those peppers can be hot!), and a satisfying ending.

Have you ever revised a recipe to make it better? Please share!

Favorite recent posts

Three posts that I read this week are really terrific! Don’t miss them.

Quality Books Take Time. In this post, literary agent Rachelle Gardner writes about the time and craftsmanship it takes to write a high quality book.

It’s the details, writers! Also addressing craft, editor and publisher Alan Rinzler describes building a narrative with thousands of tiny details.

As the Writer Turns, Episode 2: “I Loved It (But It Needs A Ton of Work.)” is a hilarious video, part of a soap opera, by author Laura Zigman. In this episode, our heroine gets critiqued by her frenemy.

Five Things Baseball Teaches Us About Story (and Life)

photo by © Eric1513

It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.

– line from Moneyball

I have loved baseball since I was a kid. I grew up in Omaha and, every summer, my dad took me to see the College World Series. For as long as I can remember, until he died, my dad and I talked baseball. That could get pretty intense since he was a die-hard Red Sox fan and I have always loved the Yankees. In the end, though, we both just loved the game.

Any fan of baseball will tell you that every game tells a story, every season provides drama, and every World Series moves all of us closer to understanding the beauty of pure accomplishment.

When you’re a real fan of any team, you get to know the players, the manager, even the field announcer. You know the state of each player’s health from day-to-day, who’s on the DL (disabled list), who’s been sent down (to the minor leagues), who’s dating a starlet, who’s in need of anger management. The team is like family. And, as with any family, there is conflict and drama. There are good times and bad. As a result, baseball teaches us a lot about story.

1. There is conflict from the first pitch.

From the moment the home team takes the field, there is conflict between two teams. Every pitch, every at-bat is focused on winning the game. The conflict grows with each succeeding pitch. It grows as the season progresses, as teams go up and down in the standings, and the playoff picture starts to take shape.

There is outer conflict on the field between the teams. But there is inner conflict in every player. If the pitcher is in a slump, or the umpire is not calling strikes, you can see the drama play out on the hurler’s face, in his stance, in each warm-up pitch as he attempts to get his game going.

The batter may be in a hitless streak, or just back from rehab, or getting the sense that he could be on the chopping block (about to be traded) unless he gets a solid hit.

In a good story, there is tension on every page. In baseball, there is tension in every play.

2. A lot rests on the hero (pitcher).

In every completed game of baseball, there is a winning pitcher and a losing pitcher. This is usually attributable to two key factors: the pitcher’s skill and the ability of his team to score runs off the opposing pitcher. Even if the pitcher is throwing strikes but he is not getting adequate run support, he may find himself the losing pitcher in the game. For that reason, fairly or not,

the pitcher can be a hero or a goat.

If neither team is scoring runs, we call the game a pitcher’s duel. If the pitcher throws a complete game without letting any batter reach base – a rare occurrence – then he has pitched a perfect game.

If a team is ahead going into the ninth inning (or the final inning of a tie ball game) and the closer blows the save, then he risks losing the game. A lot is at stake with every pitch.

As in good fiction, the stakes for the hero must always be high.

3. Supporting players can make or break the story.

Obviously, every position player on a team is valuable as well, not just the pitcher. A player in the outfield can rob the batter of a home run by leaping into the air and catching the ball at the wall. Or he can miss an easy pop-up if the sun gets in his eyes. A shortstop can turn a nearly impossible double-play or he can bobble the ball and allow both players to reach base. A miscalculation by the catcher can result in a called wild pitch and the player on third base might then reach home plate and score a go-ahead run.

I have never understood people who say baseball is a boring game. So many things can happen at any given moment.

In a really good story, every character contributes something valuable to the action. If a character falls short, you need to write him out.

4. There is heartbreak in baseball.

Where do I begin? When Mariano Rivera, at age 42 still the greatest closer in baseball, tears his meniscus while shagging balls during BP (batting practice), that is baseball tragedy. Even Big Papi (Red Sox DH David Ortiz) expressed love and sympathy for Mo.

When a player has worked really hard, sometimes years, to get to “the show” (make the team), it can break his heart to be sent down to the minors or traded to another team.

And oh, how we fans mourn when one of our baseball heroes dies. I know exactly where I was in 1979 when I heard that Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. I was in Omaha, watching baseball with my dad. I still feel the pain.

A great novel makes a strong emotional connection with the reader, one the reader may never forget.

5. There is glory in baseball.

Not every team has a happy ending to the season. Only one team can win the World Series each year and, if that is your favorite team, there is glory in that moment.

But there is also glory in many of baseball’s quieter moments:

When Jon Lester takes the mound after battling cancer and, five years later, launches “Never Quit,” a campaign to fight children’s cancer.

When Lou Gehrig tells the world, “I might have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”

In a strong narrative, a character is changed, sometimes changed profoundly, by what happens in the story. The successful plot triumphs through a strong narrative arc.

As you can see, I could go on like this all day but it’s your turn. What inspires story for you?

What Movie, What Blog Inspired Me This Week?

There is a reason I named this blog “Book Ends and Odds.” Sometimes I will just post random odds and ends: about movies, books, blog posts, life, things that make me think. Here we go….

The Tree of Life

Trees

Photo by Adashi

It rained all day yesterday so I made popcorn and watched “The Tree of Life.” This is a movie that critics either rhapsodized about or hated.

The subject matter is compelling: the day-to-day life of a family in the 1950s, the death of a son, another son’s attempt – as an adult – to reconcile with his father and make sense of it all. Themes include loss, grief, regret, and shame.

But the movie is experimental. There are amazing scenes, gorgeous filmography, suggesting how the world began and a scene at the end that seems to depict an after-life where we reunite with our loved ones on a beach. There is not that much dialogue. Instead, there is a lot of whispering and interior monologue and a sound track grounded in religious music.

But this is what inspired me the most: I have never seen such realistic scenes, such patient scenes that show the roller-coaster of emotions that children experience. They are depicted in this film by the brilliant Terrence Malick not with dialogue, for the most part, but through the smallest, the tenderest of gestures and nuanced facial expressions.

As I watched, I thought how miraculous it would be to write scenes like those contained in the film and create the same kind of emotional impact but with words. A central character in my novel in progress is an 8-year-old boy who has lost people he loves. As I continue to revise, I plan to envision those scenes with the young brothers in The Tree of Life and see if I can capture some of that screen magic.

My favorite blog post of the week:

I love Justine Musk’s blog not only because it is always incredibly informative and well-written, but because she is so passionate about art and life. Her latest post was just what I needed. In it, she relates what Joyce Carol Oates said when asked at a conference what she would do today if she had to launch her writing career all over again.

She said, “I would blog.” She went on to say, “I would blog before I wrote a book.”

Justine then discusses how important blogging is to developing a voice, a voice that an audience can connect to, and how each blog post is another chance for the writer to practice, another opportunity for feedback.

Love a post that makes me feel inspired.

What post inspired you this week? Did a movie give you an idea for developing your story?

When A Child Has To Testify At Trial

child witness

Photo by Anita Peppers

A central character in my novel in progress is a young boy who has to testify against someone he loves. In the course of this ordeal, he confronts the stress of dealing with the criminal justice system. What impact does that have on him?

If you are writing a story or a novel that involves a child witness in a criminal case, it is important to understand that the time-frame of your story may impact how the child would have been treated by the police, the prosecutors, and the court system. You will want to understand how police and prosecutors can do things well, and how they can mess things up.

(You do need conflict in your story, don’t you?)

Changes in how child witnesses are handled

My book is set in the 1980s when prosecutors and police officers did not, for the most part, have the resources that are available today to work with child witnesses, resources such as child advocates, child advocacy centers, and child interview specialists. Instead, the child who was the victim of a crime or who witnessed the commission of a crime had to rely on the interviewing skills of the detective and the prosecutor assigned to handle the case. These folks, while well-intentioned, may have had little or no training in working with children and may even have been insensitive to the trauma that such an experience could inflict on a child. Also, in those days, there was generally no alternative to having the child testify in open court in the presence of the person accused of the crime.

Before a witness ever testifies at trial, he (or she) often has to tell what happened to more than one person: the officer on the scene, the detective assigned to the case, the prosecutor, perhaps the grand jury, and then the judge and jury at trial. So in addition to the trauma associated with the crime itself, a witness – even a child – may have to relive those details multiple times.

Then there is the trial itself. Many adult witnesses are terrified of going into court and facing the person who is charged with a crime. Imagine the fear a young child may feel sitting in an adult-sized witness chair, next to a judge wearing a black robe, facing the accused, and a jury box full of strangers listening closely to his every word.

A lot has changed since the 1980s. Prosecutors’ offices and police departments often have child advocacy experts on staff who are trained to question children who have witnessed or been victimized by crime. Many localities have child advocacy centers where children can be interviewed in a non-threatening environment. There is substantially more training for all professionals – lawyers, law enforcement officers, and judges – who encounter children who may have to testify in court. And child witnesses now may be allowed to testify on camera from another location without the need to face the accused in court.

Child witnesses are different

When dealing with a witness of tender years, law enforcement officers and prosecutors must, first, gain the child’s confidence, give him or her a comfort level in talking to them about what happened. When interviewing a child for the first time, officers and prosecutors should never approach him, as they might an adult, with direct questions about the crime that is under investigation. Instead, they might ask the child about school, what he likes to do, sports, music, his friends. In effect, they are asking the child to trust them, sometimes enough to relate details the child would rather forget.

Children can be fragile or strong or both, just like the rest of us.

Competency to testify

In the prosecutor’s first meeting with a young witness, he (or she) is starting to gauge whether the child will be found competent to testify, that is, whether the court will allow him to be a witness. A child may be found competent to testify if he knows – and can articulate – the difference between telling the truth and telling a lie, understands the oath at least in terms of a promise to tell the truth, has testimony that is relevant to the case, and is able to relate it. Under these general guidelines, a child as young as four or five may be qualified to testify while another older child may not be.

Generally, prior to trial, the judge will allow a voir dire as to the child’s competency. Lawyers for both sides will have an opportunity to question the child to determine whether he can testify at trial. This is another step in the process for which the potential child witness needs to be prepared.

 Interviewing the child – and how things can go wrong

When interviewing a child who has been a victim of, or witness to, a crime, it is important to listen to what the child has to say. The interviewer should let the child say what happened.

It is important that the interviewer not tell the child what happened or tell him what he should say or suggest in any way what it is he is supposed to remember. We have all heard of cases that were thrown out of court because someone – a cop, a prosecutor, or even a child advocate – put words in the child’s mouth or, worse yet, persuaded children to testify to something that never happened.

These are just a few things you might consider as you craft a story involving a witness who is a child.

Do you have a central character who is a young child in a story or a novel written for adult readers? What issues have you faced in crafting young characters who have to confront grown-up traumas?