Celebrating DEATH ON THE MENU with a Hemingway Contest!

LUCY BURDETTE: Death on the Menu is in bookstores today! Finally! (And it's also the book birthday for Rhys's FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING--Hurray--she'll be telling you more about that tomorrow.) To celebrate, I declare this Hemingway copycat contest day. 

What does that mean? I'll tell you...but a little background first. Sometimes I go in directions I never imagine when I’m writing, and end up adding a subplot that I certainly didn't plan. For example, in DEATH ON THE MENU, food critic Hayley Snow is checking out a suspect and discovers that he is a Hemingway wannabe. 

And then while googling and studying up on Hemingway, I learned that there actually was a contest for "Really Bad Hemingway" in which contestants submitted a page of bad Hemingway-esque writing and prizes were awarded. So then of course I had to write a page that this character had supposedly written.

Here’s how it went, starting with Hayley chatting with her suspect:

“Fun fact: did you know there is a contest for bad imitations of Hemingway’s writing?”

I shook my head.

“You should Google it—there are some snippets posted online and they’re a hoot. I entered a couple of years ago and got an honorable mention.”

“You entered a bad Hemingway contest? Do tell!”

He laughed. “Of course I have it memorized for moments like this. I called it ‘A Farewell to Harm,’ and it went like so:

He had hired the guide again after one too many women gone wrong. ‘You drink too much,’ the woman said. ‘You stink of beer and fish.’
The man and the guide had been at sea for hours, and reeled in two marlin. Both of them were big as Spanish bulls and that strong too; heaving silver bodies, that glinted in the sunlight and left the man and the guide breathless.
‘Let’s have a drink,’ the fishing guide said, though he knew the man’s history. ‘One drink won’t hurt you.’
‘OK, but only if it’s rum and beer. And only if you pour the rum slowly so the foam resembles the beach at low tide.’
‘Not until five. The tide won’t run out until five PM,’ the fishing guide said. ‘That’s when you see the foam.’”

By the end of Rusty’s recitation, I was laughing too hard to speak. 

So I thought it would be fun to have a contest right here, among all you clever Red readers. Put on your Hemingway fishing caps and post your best Hemingway-like paragraph in the comments. We have a great prize package for the winner including Lucy Burdette's DEATH ON THE MENU, a hardcover copy of Deborah Crombie‘s GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS, a copy of Hank Ryan’s SAY NO MORE, Ingrid Thoft's LOYALTY, a paperback copy of Jenn McKinlay's DEATH IN THE STACKS, and a copy of Hallie's YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR. We will announce the contest winner later in the week.  

On your marks, pencils and keyboards ready, go!

And ps, please come to Brookline Booksmith on Wednesday at 7 pm to hear about both new books and meet five Reds at once!

Or come to RJ Julia at 7 pm on Thursday the 9th in Madison CT, where Rhys and I will chat and sign books and eat cake!

About the book: Lucy Burdette, Death on the Menu from Crooked Lane Books

Food critic Hayley Snow is thrilled to be working at a three-day international conference at the Harry S. Truman Little White House. But things get off to a bad start when Hemingway’s Nobel prize gold medal (which belongs to Cuba and is on display for this weekend only) disappears. And they only get worse when a body is discovered in the storeroom. Hayley must spring into action before the killer adds another victim to his menu. 

“There’s a lot to love about this series—deft plotting, likable characters, and an ending that always satisfies. But one of the things I love the best is how the author transports her readers to Key West with every page, describing real landmarks and restaurants with such realism that I feel I’m actually there. Magical and delicious fun!”—Suspense Magazine

"Fascinating details about the Truman Little White House, Cuban American history and relations, Cuban food, and Hemingway’s years in Key West are woven through this atmospheric cozy."—Booklist

“Burdette’s loving descriptions of food and the appended recipes are an added fillip for readers who enjoy some history and romance with their mysteries.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Tightly plotted, with plenty of island-style red herrings and mouth-watering food-prep descriptions, DEATH ON THE MENU is also full of friends helping friends, and the sweetness of love.” –Kingdom Books 

You can buy the book wherever books are sold.

Title clinic with Elizabeth Lyon

HALLIE EPHRON: She's ba-ack!Remember when Elizabeth Lyon spent a memorable day talking about subtext on Jungle Red. We had a record-breaking 76 comments and a lively discussion.


Elizabeth is one of the most thoughtful, incisive editors in the business. She's been editing since 1988, and her Editing International typically has a waiting list of authors lined up at the "door." Her book, "Manuscript Makeover," is a classic, and she's written five other books on writing.
Today she's back to talk about titles and her booklet #2 in a series for writers, "Crafting Titles."

I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds coming up with a title so difficult. I wanted to call one of my novels "Baby, Baby" because there were two pregnant women in the story and because a song with those lyrics figured in a particularly pivotal scene. My publisher said the title sounded like a book about pregnancy and childbirth section. Instead we called it "Never Tell a Lie." Suspense, mystery, and a little creepy. Perfect.


Why is it so hard to come up with a good title?

ELIZABETH LYON: Finding the best title is your most important and shortest writing assignment. Just a few words. I’ve been working as a book editor for a long time, since the prior century. Seldom have I seen a first title make the final cut.

Author Janelle Hooper told me about reactions to her contemporary women’s fiction title, “Custer and his Naked Ladies.” A potential reviewer told her she didn’t accept erotica, and other readers were disappointed when it wasn’t. Custer as the protagonist? No. Custer is a dog, a common name, Janelle tells me, for old yellow dogs in the Fort Sill, Oklahoma area, which is Custer’s old stomping ground. Naked ladies are lilies that have a bloom but no leaves, thus naked. The title perfectly matches the symbolism in her moving story, but you wouldn’t know it from the title.Catch-18 anyone? How about -11, -17, -14. Aw heck, let’s make it “Catch-22,” but Heller had to run through all of these numbers before settling.

Another author’s choice, “Fiesta,” seemed perfect since his story takes place during the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

Hemingway thought again. Next he chose “Lost Generation,” coined by Gertrude Stein, referring to the post-WWII generation and his characters. Discussing the title with his editor, Max Perkins, Hemingway said the characters in his novel “may have been ‘battered’ but were not lost.” (Wikipedia). “The Sun Also Rises,” from Ecclesiastes, hits the mark: it is evocative and poetic, and captures its thematic meaning from the biblical reference.

In other words, title torture is common and will always be a novelist’s challenge.

In a sweeping statement, I can tell you that your task in finding a best title is to

(1) determine what is most important in your story,
(2) hook and don’t confuse your reader,
(3) please you,
(4) hint at or broadcast your genre,
(5) be uniquely yours, and often, but not always,
(6) taste good on the tongue and sound pleasing to the ear.

In nuts and bolts, you can accomplish these tasks by choosing character names, their roles, settings, themes, animal-vegetable-minerals, other things, quotations, creations of your imagination, and/or word patterns or devices. Which one and why?

I wrote this booklet to lead you through the wilderness of these demands and choices. Any questions?@#%!

HALLIE: A million of them!

And today we're asking you to ask them. In particular Elizabeth is here to offer her take on any book title you're considering. In particular, she'll tell you if your title and genre are working together.

So send in your questions, and send in any working titles you'd like worked over. Especially if you're considering several titles, send them and hear what Elizabeth has to say. (If you submit a title, tell us the genre, too.)

Cuba: Taking things for Granted @LucyBurdette

Photo by Raymond L. Blazevic

LUCY BURDETTE: In a year of unusual experiences, we had one more last month, the opportunity to take a trip to Cuba. 


In Key West, only ninety miles from Havana, Cuba, we hear a lot about the island. In fact, frequently we read news stories about Cubans who've attempted to reach the US in a variety of homemade, unseaworthy vessels— even windsurfers. “Cubans who do not reach the shore (dry land), are returned to Cuba unless they cite fears of persecution. Those Cubans who successfully reach the shore are inspected by Department of Homeland Security and generally permitted to stay in the United States.” (Wikipedia)

Whether it’s fair or not, it saddens me when they take such a risk to attempt to make a new life, get so close, but get sent back to whatever they were running from. Or worse yet, die of exposure or rough seas. At any rate, that line of news has led us to an intense curiosity about Cuba and what life could be like for its inhabitants.

As you may know, Americans are not allowed to visit that nation on our own. However regulations have recently loosened up to allow American tourists to visit as part of an educational group. So when the chance came to travel over with the Florida Keys Tree Institute, we grabbed it.

I thought I'd share just a few things that after this trip, we realize we take for granted in our country:

We can leave the country any time we have the money and a passport.

We can start our own businesses. As Cuba is not a democracy, entrepreneurship is not officially condoned. However, the regulations about running a private business are also loosening, of course with the understanding that the government taxes them heavily. Raoul Castro apparently cares much less about the specifics of what people do than that they pay their taxes. He was aware that things had to change for the island to thrive. But the government still owns many hotels, restaurants, and museums.


We expect good food and good service in a restaurant. We ate several unimpressive meals at a government buffet or restaurant. But when we visited private restaurants, called paladars, the food was immensely superior to the government buffet. 


We expect email, and wifi and iPhone service. More about that tomorrow, but though the Cuban folks who could afford it were answering phones and checking email, we had none. Nada, nothing.


We expect roads that can be traveled and trains that run and horses on farms. In Cuba, every kind of transportation shares the road.

Mid-fifties Chrysler

In Havana all the old cars are a big draw, many of them serving as taxis or else as stages for tourist photos --for the right price of course.


  









We expect doctors to make a lot more money than waiters. In Cuba, everyone is paid the same salary regardless of their job—an amount that is roughly twenty-five dollars per month. Of course, underneath the surface is a thriving black market and system of barter. The folks who work in the tourist industry and have access to tips do much better. (And by way, we expect the same money to be used for everyone--not so in Cuba, where tourists must use a special money called "Cucs".)


We expect Hemingway's home to be in Key West! But one of my highlights was visiting Finca Vigia,

photo from Wikipedia

his Cuban oasis outside the city of Havana, where he lived for  twenty years with his fourth wife, Mary. The house is now a museum. The weather was rainy so they were not willing to open the doors and windows to risk damage to the history they are working hard to preserve. We were able to peer into the window and see the typewriter on which he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Also his private bathroom where he weighed himself daily and recorded the results on the wall... His fishing boat, the Pilar, was there, too. 

Photo by John Brady

Hmmm, do we expect our capital city to be in good order? The city of Havana is a complicated place, gorgeous facades still stand but many are crumbling into ruins. Many also are being restored. 




 
We expect art to be on walls in museums. One of our last stops brought us to the neighborhood of Jose Fuster, whose ceramic work pays homage to Barcelona architect Antonio Gaudi. He has gradually replaced the facades of the homes in the area with the most fantastical ceramic murals. We were enchanted!

Batista's Gold Phone

I won't try to summarize the politics and history of this island--I'm sure I could not do justice to the complications of the Spanish American war (which name our guide noted should have included Cuba, as it was fought there,) Batista's reign of terror, the Revolution, the US embargo, the emergence of the Soviet Union, the effects of the collapse of the socialist countries, the entrance of Venezuela into the picture. There is a lot of chatter about when or if the embargo will be lifted, and how a country which is way behind in terms of infrastructure and technology could handle the influx of tourists. 

 
I can say that my impression of Cuba as a land where people are suffering and waiting their chance to escape a communist dictator has many more shades of gray than expected. But I   can also say that the people were thrilled to hear Obama’s speech on immigration while we were visiting, especially this line: “We were all immigrants once.”

And I'll end with our fabulous guide Renier's steady refrain over the week: "In Cuba, everything is possible, but nothing is guaranteed." (Kind of like life, right?)

On writing...authentic dialogue with James Scott Bell

Continuing with our look a the just published second edition of “The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing,” welcome James Scott Bell, a bestselling suspense writer and former trial lawyer who wrote three of the most popular writing books ever, including "The Art of War for Writers" and the the classic “Plot & Structure.”

Jim contributes a terrific article to "The Complete Handbook" with some truly insightful tips on how to create authentic dialogue.

HALLIE: Love your advice, Jim, especially “Pour it out like cheap champagne.” What did you mean by that?

JAMES SCOTT BELL: We all remember those New Year's Eves, or weddings, where the champagne flowed freely. The guests all looked happy, didn't they? They were talking it up, laughing it up. In the moment. When you write dialogue, one of the best ways to go about it is to let it flow without too much thought. You can always edit later. The free form pouring out will get you things you didn't anticipate, just like those champagne conversations at the New Year's party may have got you the love of your life, or a new, good friend.

HALLIE: One that’s counterintuitive is “cultivate silence.” I know you don’t mean to leave blank space on the pages in place of dialogue. Can you give an example?

JAMES SCOTT BELL: What I mean is, think about silence as a response from time to time. Substitute an action instead. The story I reference in the Guide is Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." He makes masterful use of silence, in the way the character reacts: looking at a table leg, reaching out for a beaded curtain and so on. We too often think of putting words in mouths as the only way to respond, and that's wrong.

HALLIE: Can dialogue be just a bit too clever for its own good, and how can you (as the author) tell?

JAMES SCOTT BELL: Absolutely. Dialogue that jumps too far off the page can seem forced. On the other hand, I'm all in favor of polishing bits of dialogue so it's fresher, even memorable. There is no scientific way to measure it, of course. I would ask a couple of questions. First, is it completely natural for the character? It has to sound like this is what that character would say at that moment, even if it's elevated. Second, how does it sound out loud? Often, saying the words will reveal weaknesses, and "too clever" may be one of them.

HALLIE: What mistake do you see new writers most frequently make in writing dialogue?

JAMES SCOTT BELL: Too often writing dialogue in complete sentences. Trimming out a word or two will sometimes work wonders. Also, too much "on the nose" dialogue, meaning direct response followed by direct response. While you shouldn't avoid it altogether, it does help sometimes to do what I call "the sidestep." Be a little indirect in response, or give a sudden punch, or answer a question with another question. There are various techniques that work. The nice thing is that anything "off the nose" creates an immediate sense of conflict. Why'd the character answer that way? Reading interest goes up.

HALLIE: Can you tell us what you’re working on now, and do you find as I do that it’s harder to take your own advice than it is to give it?

JAMES SCOTT BELL: Great question. I think about this all the time. Teacher, teach thyself! I must admit that it's easier to be objective when you're looking at other work besides your own. But I do find things becoming second nature. When I write dialogue, for example, I do use the tools I've come up with, and do so somewhat naturally. I guess I've finally drummed some of that into my own head. I'm entering the home stretch on the first draft of a novel. I can't slow down for too much reflection. I write and I trust. I'll go back over it, though, and fix things later. That's really what all this writing technique should be about. When you write, write like the wind. When you edit, edit like a gentle breeze.

HALLIE: Jim will be checking in today so please, if you have any comments or questions, join the discussion!

And tune in tomorrow to join the conversation with the amazing Jane Friedman, former Writers Digest Books publisher, who truly is what she bills herself: "the most progressive media professional you'll ever meet." We'll be talking about how some literary agents are adapting in order to survive in a changing publishing industry.

House of...worth?

She's not exactly one of us, if one of us means mystery writer in the traditional sense, but Edith Wharton was a woman who wrote when it wasn't easy for a woman to write, with a husband who wasn't always supportive, (can you say aggressively unsupportive?) A woman who kept at it whatever the feedback was. In that sense she was one of us. And now her house is under seige, in danger of being foreclosed on by a bank. It happens. The bank is not the enemy, but that's not the point.

The Mount, in Lenox Massachusetts is a wonderful place. I feel particularly sad about this, not just because I'm an Edith Wharton fan, but because the garden in Pushing Up Daisies was loosely based on Wharton's garden at The Mount. I had an inspirational visit there a few years back and thought that Edith or Beatrix Farrand, who designed her gardens, were long past minding a similar layout in my book.

If this were Ernest Hemingway's house in Key West I wouldn't to be writing this. I wouldn't need to. Some professor or university or movie star would pick up the gauntlet and raise the money needed to prevent his home from being turned into condos or a spa or whatever the heck new owners might want to do with the property.

Any other Edith Wharton fans out there? The place where she created masterpieces of American literature should be preserved and you can help. Check out

http://www.edithwharton.org/

HANK: She's one of my favorites. In fact, when I still was in a book club (pre-Charlie) and we all got to choose a book for the group, I picked Custom of the Country--which if you haven't read, do. It's astonishingly modern and incredibly well-written. A wonderful story--compelling and irresistible, with a complicated and unique main character, and no punches pulled.
And then, half of my book group just hated it. Which has always baffled me. I thought it was staggering. And House of Mirth. Sometimes I just can't get it out of my mind.
But anyway--we go to Lenox every summer, to hear the symphony at Tanglewood and walk through the sculpture garden at Chesterwood and go to the Book Store on Housatonic Street and have espresso slushes at Soco and martinis at Bistro Zinc. And we never miss The Mount. We've seen it through the highs and lows, and watched Wharton's one-act plays performed in her parlor, had lemonade on the balcony.
Now its kind of weirdly re-made into a decorators show house kind of place, where they've designed rooms that aren't even the way "Edith's" were, which frankly drives me crazy. Because--what's the point? Plus, she was the expert and icon in architecture and decorating before she went on to literature, and the idea that they...oh, well.

Anyway. Ro is so right. The idea that it's going to be foreclosed on seems bizarrely anachronistic. Or something like that. To take such a 21st century phenomenon, and slap it across an historic site. Seems, what? Crass? Absurd? Short-sighted? And do what with it? Make the Mount a furniture store?

HALLIE: "Custom of the Country." Check--now it's on my TBR list. Still, can you imagine how bizarre it would be to look back from your grave, 70-plus years post mortem, and see the world trying to make the place where you wrote into a monument?? And how heavenly(!) it would be if anyone would be blogging (will they still blog?) about your writing.

HANK: Who owns it, anyway?

RO: It´s the Edith Wharton Foundation, and try as I might I wasn´t able to find the suggestion any mishandling of funds..it seems they just got caught up in some unfavorable loans and bad refinancing deals. I have to say...I´m writing this from El Salvador..where I´m finishing up a blitz build with Habitat for Humanity. Fifty four houses are going up (pix on my website in a week or so) for less than it would cost to...I don´t know... replace Edith´s azaleas. It´s strange to have these two situations side by side in my brain, but I do.

ROBERTA: Now I've got Custom of the Country on my TBR list too. Have never been to Edith Wharton's home, but I did tour Hemingway's house in Key West this winter--twice. The place is constantly mobbed with tourists who want to hear the story of his life--he had four or five wives, I can't remember, and was a hard-drinking, adventurous and tragic figure in the end. You would absolutely salivate over the room where he wrote. It would be very sad to see Wharton's--or Hemingway's--home disappear. This is the kind of "museum" where ordinary people can go to appreciate the mastery and humanness of writers.

RO: Does anybody else think Hank has the coolest life? Espresso slushes..? Martinis? Tanglewood..every time I go, it rains.