Week of July1, 2012 - Book Review of Ann Rice's "The Wolf Gift"

By Joan Whetzel

I purchased this book because it was something other than vampires. I read Ann Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" as a College Lit class assignment. I loved it. Could not put the book down. I figured if the Vampire book was that good, then this book held promise as a good read as well.

The first couple of chapters start out a little slow for my taste. I usually like books to jump into the story a bit faster. I almost put the book down, based on the first three of chapters. The main character, Reuben, a newspaper reporter with a Master's Degree in English, interviews a lady, Marchant, who is trying to sell a large old house that she inherited from her uncle. The uncle went missing 20 years ago and has finally been declared dead. His will named Marchant the sole heir to his entire estate. The house has been in the family for generations and has a history of its own, but nothing so intriguing as the story behind Uncle Felix and his disappearance.

Spending a few days with Marchant, Reuben falls in love with her, the house, and with Uncle Felix’s story, papers, and the artifacts he left behind. He tells her he’ll buy the house from her. Before he can do anything about the house or the story he’s writing for the newspaper, Reuben, Marchant and the old housekeeper are attacked by her two drug addict brothers who show up to rob the estate yet again. They end up killing Marchant and the housekeeper and would have killed Reuben too if they had not been killed themselves by a mysterious animal. The only marks on Reuben's body were those left by the attackers, and one bite mark left by the animal. Neither Reuben nor the authorities can figure out what the animal was or why it killed the two attackers but left Reuben alive.

While Rueben recovers from his wounds, he and his family begin to notice some physical changes – his wounds heal too quickly, his hair gets thicker, his eyes become darker in color, he starts hearing conversations between people who are too far away for him to be able to hear. Soon enough, he takes on other changes, becoming a man wolf at night, and rescuing his fellow San Francisco residents from violent attacks. His boss asks him to write about these attacks and interview the people rescued. Judging by the reaction to his attacks, and his stories, Reuben begins to realize he can’t stay in San Francisco and moves out to the Marchent’s house, the house she changed her will to leave him the day she was killed. From this isolated location, Reuben must figure out the conditions under which he changes between wolf and human, how to control the change, how to handle his new found gift.

This book is told in third person, only showing Reuben's side of the story. You don't get to see or hear what anyone else is doing, except through Reuben's thoughts and actions. It's probably the best method for this story.  It makes it totally Reuben's story. Like "Interview with a Vampire", Ann Rice's "The Wolf Gift" is a great read. Once you get into the book, it's hard to put down. You'll want to keep reading to find out what happens.

Demographics for Writers

Demographics for Writers

The Nature of Nature Writing

The Nature of Nature Writing

Budget Friendly Party Foods for Teen Parties

Budget Friendly Party Foods for Teen Parties

Week of June 24, 2012 - Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, a Book Review

By Joan Whetzel

I read this story in high school in novel form and loved it. The version I just read was the stage play, also quite enjoyable. It is, for those who do not know it, the story that became the basis for the musical movie and play “My Fair Lady.” For those of you who have seen “My Fair Lady,” then know the basic plot. For those of you who have not seen it, it is worth reading Pygmalion and seeing “My Fair Lady.”

Act I follows the plot of the movie to a tee. The flower girl is plying her trade near the theater and church just as the theater lets out. There is the rainstorm, the flower basket knocked over by Freddy Eynesford Hill, Professor Higgins taking notes on her speech patterns, and the first meeting of Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering.

Act II, though it follows the movie for the most part, the plot is altered somewhat. The day Eliza shows up at the Professor’s house for lessons, Mrs.  Pearce takes her upstairs for a bath. Her old clothes are burned, and she is given a Japanese kimono to wear until the new clothes arrive. On that same day, her father pays a visit to Professor Higgins to demand five pounds if they intend to keep his daughter.  On his way out the front door, he passes what he thinks is a Japanese lady in a kimono. It is not until she opens her mouth that he realizes its Eliza. The scene ends with a brief snippet of one of the speech lessons where he is trying to get her to say her alphabet correctly – more genteel – and to say “cup of tea” rather than cuppatee.

Act III changes quite a bit from the "My Fair Lady" movie. The initial trial with Eliza was at a Tea Party at the home of Henry Higgins's mother at which Freddy Eynseford Hill along with his mother and sister are present. The Act ends with the Ball in which Eliza is introduced simply as Miss Eliza Doolittle, leaving everyone to guess who she is. The Hungarian grammarian descends on her almost immediately and denounces her as a fraud and that she can only be Hungarian of royal descent. The scene ends with the Professor, Colonel Pickering and Eliza leaving early to go out to dinner and celebrate the Professor and Colonel's victory.

Act IV follows the Colonel, the Professor and Eliza as they return home from the ball. The Colonel and Professor congratulate each other on their fine success and admire each other for all of their hard work, completely ignoring Eliza. Her feelings are deeply hurt not only because they didn't congratulate her and failed to recognize all the hard work she'd put in as well, but also because they have completely ignored her since leaving the ball. They did not even hold the door for her. She had to let herself in. After a row with the professor, complete with slipper throwing, Eliza has had enough. She goes upstairs, but not to bed. She changes clothes and packs her bags, and then she leaves the house. On the street, she meets up with Freddy Eynesford Hill, who is quite smitten with Eliza. They walk the streets for a bit, and then hire a cab to drive them around London until the sun comes up.

Act V begins with the Colonel and Professor at the home of Mrs. Higgins. They are calling the police and searching frantically for Eliza. Soon Mr. Doolittle shows up after being sent there from the Professors house. He is mad because the Professor referred him to an American who was looking for "moralists" and it has elevated Mr. Doolittle to middle class respectability. He also wants to invite Eliza to his wedding.

Mrs. Higgins informs them all that Eliza is there and that the Professor and Colonel need to settle things with Eliza. Eliza and the Colonel settle their differences quickly. Eliza and the Professor have to duke it out for a while. The Play ends with an uneasy truce between the professor and Eliza, and with his uneasy acceptance of Eliza’s plan to marry Freddy.

The play write, George Bernard Shaw, goes on to narrate the story of the main characters' lives after the play ends. I won’t spoil it for you, but it makes an intriguing alternate ending to the “My Fair Lady” version of the story. Like all play and movie scripts, “Pygmalion” includes stage set and character instructions mixed in with the dialogue.  Unlike any other script I’ve read, Mr. Shaw has also included narrative to fill in the reader about the plot points not included in the script, including the end story following the end of the script. Personally, I found it a bit disconcerting. I felt that most of these little narrated vignettes could have been written into the script somehow and the narration at the end could have been shortened and included into the script.  If you read “Pygmalion” in script form, read the narrations as well, and decide for yourself.

What is Prayer?

What is Prayer?

Taking a Personal DIY Writer's Retreat

Taking a Personal DIY Writer's Retreat

Planning The Perfect Picnic

Planning The Perfect Picnic

The Week of June 17, 2012 - How to Design a Creative Space that Inspires Your Writing

By Joan Whetzel

Whether the writing space is small or a full-fledged office, every writer deserves a space that inspires his or her writing. What makes a writing space inspiring can be as simple as adding a little color, or the choice of artwork, music, and reading materials. Whatever stimulates the writer’s senses and makes the space warm and inviting to the writer’s creative spirit.

Color

Color can come from many sources. The main source of color comes in paint on the walls. Pain color should be visually stimulating but glaring or disturbing. If you find bright yellow or red over-stimulates your senses, don’t use them. If you find that blue or green calms you to the point that it puts you to sleep, don’t go that direction. Simply choose a color and a shade (Dark, medium, light, that is visually appealing. Other sources of color come from window treatments, furniture, pillows and blankets used a comfort, and artwork.

Books

Having at least a few shelves of books, I find to be extremely stimulating to my writer’s spirit and soul. Books should include those on writing style (Shrunk and Whites, APA, Chicago Manual of Style, MLA), books that help you write better (dictionary, thesaurus, books on the writing process, idea starters), reference books (anything that gives the necessary background information for both nonfiction and fiction writing stories), and books by your favorite authors.  Many of these books are available online. In fact, Word for Windows includes a dictionary and thesaurus. But I find the Word versions of the dictionary and thesaurus don’t seem as complete as I would like them to be.

As for books by favorite authors, Year there are many ways to read e-books (Nook and Kindle), but I find that, since I do a lot of my writing on the computer, that it’s nice to turn off the computer and just read a regular book.  All books, whether for writing assistance or reading pleasure, are quite stimulating for writers. So keep them in your writing space.

Artwork - Yours and Others'

Artwork acts as a place to rest your eyes. Why not make it visually appealing as well as something that tells it’s own story. Taste in artwork is individual to the writer but it can include photographs, paintings, drawings, wall quilts, even party decorations, if that’s what suits your spirit.  Include a mix of your own artwork and the artwork of other artists for a little variety. The only rule is that the artwork should stimulate your writing juices. If you find your artwork is starting to bore you, don’t be afraid to change it out from time to time. The artwork you take down can be moved to another room or put away in a closet for the time being. Personally, I find that changing out the artwork also has the effect of jarring me out of my writing ruts and keeps my writing space inspiring.

Lighting

Lighting should serve a number of purposes. It should be decorative (an alabaster ceiling lamp cover, or a period lamp, or something bright and colorful), aesthetic (something that appeal to your design aesthetic), and functional (lights up specific areas of your workspace). It should also be adjustable so that you can make it softer or dimmer when you need to or make the workspace bright and well lit as need dictates. Having the right lighting can also feed your mood so that you can adjust the lighting – and consequently your mood – to inspire what you’re writing. 

A Window

Windows not only let in natural light, they give you somewhere to rest your eyes. When you keep your eyes glued to the screen, or the page, for long periods, they get tired. Besides resting your eyes, you never know what you can secretly witness going on outside when you pry your eyes away from the writing and look at what’s going on outside the window. A writing space window is your window to the world. What you witness, when nobody thinks you’re watching, might even become inspiration for your next story. Windows let in the sunlight, let you watch the rain (I love a rainy day; I get more done when it rains), and you can open them to let in some fresh air on a beautiful spring day or luscious fall day. What does that cool breeze or the smells of spring and fall inspire in your writer’s soul.

Attractions Outside the Window

Besides the neighborhood activities, the lawn work going on, the garbage man, the package deliveries (isn’t it fun trying to guess what’s being delivered in those packages), there is also the birds in the birdbath, the flowers (changing with the season), ladybugs, butterflies, snails leaving their gummy trails across the window, hummingbirds, and spiders building a web. I once had a large spider (with a 4-inch leg-span), building a web outside my office window. I watched that spider for weeks. It was such a cool, first hand look at a natural phenomena that you can’t plan.

Window treatments

Besides adding color and visual appeal, window treatments can adjust the lighting and the mood of your writing space by opening or closing the drapes or blinds. Closing the window treatments can also close out the things going on outside the window when those things start becoming too much of a distraction – you know, when you spend all of your time looking out the window instead of writing. Let the window treatments inspire your writing by closing them and shutting out the world for a while.

Closing Off Your Space

Either a door with a special pattern or paint job (for those with an actual office) or a folding screen that’s visually appealing can shut out the world when you’re working. It can also close off your office when you need to take a break from writing. Either way – closing out the world or closing off your writing space – I find to be inspiring to my writing. My office has blue folding doors, which is inspiring in itself. But also, being able to put away the writing and walk away for a little while is inspiring as well. Walking away forces me to think about other things, like the laundry, the grocery list, what my granddaughter wants for dinner, the news and weather. The real world calls out to us writers to stay involved and not just stay closed up with our writing.  The real world is the main inspiration for our writing.

Music

Set your writing space up with music that feeds your writing, whether its vocal or instrumental, slow or something with a beat, actual music or sounds of nature (forest, ocean, rivers, waterfalls). Use an MP3 player or a stereo with a CD player and radio and a tape player (for those of you who still have audio tapes). Use either speakers  that fill the room with your sounds or use headphones. I find the headphones that block outside sounds works great when I’m having trouble concentrating. But sometimes they start feeling too tight against my ears and give me a headache. At those times, I like the stereo speakers. Music in any form inspires writing. So does silence so don’t be afraid to turn off the sound machine from time to time.

Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Taste Stimulation

Feeding all the senses provides comfort to writers, and keeps us thinking about all of our senses when writing. Those sensory details need to make it into our writing. These sensory inspirations can include: blankets (to keep warm in winter), fans (to keep cool in summer), marbles,  blocks, shells, rocks, squishy balls, mobiles, wind chimes, chocolates, candles, aromatherapy infusers, toys to play with while thinking. They all play into the writer’s inspiration.

Musical Instruments

Instead of playing everyone else's music, make your own music. Keep an instrument and some music around to play while you’re trying to think. Even if it’s only a kazoo or an harmonica, maybe a set of bongos. Let it inspire you to give a character in your next story some musical talent or write some nonfiction stories about different instruments or music. What does the simple act of making music inspire you to write?

Camera

Taking pictures causes the eye to see things differently. You look at things from a different angle, to look at only things that are framed within the shot. The camera lens visually edits what we see, the same way a writer’s inner editor edits out the non-essentials from any piece of writing. Try using the camera to look for the unusual part of the scene. Take photos of the mundane things in life that you normally overlook. What inspires your writer’s eye? How can these photos inspire your writing?

If you’re writing nonfiction, use the camera to take your own stock photos to go along with your stories. I say stock photos because many of the photos I have taken have been used to illustrate multiple stories. Keep this in mind when taking your photos. They should inspire future stories. Upload your photos to your computer as soon as possible. Manipulate them, play with them, and crop them. Pull them out from time to time and see what they inspire you to write.

There are so many ways to add inspiring features to your writing space. Keep these things around you. Change them out periodically. Have fun with them. But above all, always use them to inspire your writing.