Musing about fiction - WHAT

So last week, in a fit of desperation for a topic, I decided to talk about "who" (in the Who, What, Where, When, Why, How list). Which means this week, what I talk about, is "what."



You knew it had to come at some point. Might as well get it out of the way now!

Anyway, so "what." What do you write about?

I've always been drawn to writing fiction. And when I write fiction, I tend to write about the improbable and fantastic. Why is that, I wonder?

I think I tend toward writing speculative because if you stick with stories of what is plausible, or even possible, then I think you might as well write non-fiction. I do like historical fiction in principle; of mainline Christian romances, the only ones I've even tried reading are historicals. I also enjoy and fiction that involves substantial non-fiction elements (like the Little House books being semi-autobiographical and My Side of the Mountain doing quite a lot of downright "telling" about survival and the wilderness). I've heard kids nowadays aren't interested in the "Little House" books because they're really divorced from the natural world. That could definitely be true (not sure many kids want to hear about the fun of roasting a pig's tail and playing with an inflated pig's bladder). But on the other hand, I imagine young adults enjoyed the details of "The Hunger Games," like purifying water with iodine.

As I argued last week, it's not necessarily about writing "what you know." But if not what you know...then what?

You know those weird passions that you get for no reason and don't even know where they came from? (Mine is the old Coney Island, given I don't like rides that are TOO thrilling (the Cyclone is scary but fine), don't care for beaches, and dislike crowds and seedy places.)

Do you think when you get those random things that fascinate you for no reason, that's what you're meant to write? I don't know.

One thing I can say--at least for speculative/children's and young adult series--is that a bit of inspiration can be honed into something wildly successful. Reportedly, C.S. Lewis was inspired by an image of a faun holding an umbrella and parcels which (obviously influenced by his background and childhood imaginings) eventually led to the Narnia series. JK Rowling says the idea for Harry Potter just fell into her head on a long train ride. And I haven't read the books, but I've heard it said that Stephenie Meyer had a dream of a human girl and a vampire who loved her and also wanted her blood, which inspired "Twilight." Wikipedia even reports that Suzanne Collins was inspired to write "The Hunger Games" when she was flipping through channels on TV!

I'm sure there are many successful series that weren't built on a flash of inspiration, and I imagine it's possible that authors would lie about where they really got their ideas from. But it sounds like when you get that inspiration, you might want to follow it.

So, how do you decide which "what" is worth pursuing? Honestly, I'm no closer to knowing than I was a month ago. I'm starting to seriously think I need to pray for inspiration!

Or, perhaps, pray about which thread I should follow.

What do you know? At least one of those threads (2 if you count a potential collaborative project) involves Coney Island!

South America's Coney Island - July 24, 1921

Busy night (good, but busy), so gonna be brief here. Come on, compelling article!

OK, how about this one? I like it because it shows how popular Coney Island was in the 1920s, that they would use it to draw attention to a story that has little to do with Coney at all. They talk about "Buenos Ayres" (interesting how foreign places used to be spelled!). The main idea of the article is to describe the seaside in South America, and to note that an enterprising American could bring some amusements (if cheaply priced) and profit.

Yet, to a modern reader, it tells you what Coney Island was in part by telling you what South America is not. There are some good details buried here that I hadn't read elsewhere.

HERE are some of the things the Coney Island "fan" will have to do without if he or she ever tries the delights of sea bathing in South American resorts, where the ocean dip is prized for its own sake and not for its attendant features:

Chutes. Nobody ever slides down a glazed trough in South America, because there are no glazed troughs here.

Roller coasters. Nobody increases the action of the heart and lungs by the Coney Island method.

Hot dogs. There never has been a strike of sausage venders in South American resorts because there are no sausages to vend.

Acid drinks. Citrus lemonade and the South American resorts are strangers.

Barkers. One's vocabulary of slang has to be increased by other instructors. There is nothing to bark for at a South American bathing beach.

Witching Waves. The only ones are the wet waves off the shore line.

Merry-go-rounds. There may be some made-in-Germany affairs later, if American manufacturers don't wake up to their opportunities.

By Charles Evers:....

Obviously, the nations of South America are afflicted with the conventions of civilization in the same measure as we are ourselves, and the people must have compensation and inducement to endure the ills attendant on their pursuit of the joyous dip. The sweltering, confined journey to the subway, the heavy bag, the hutch in which they undress, the absurd ponderous costume ordained for women by the blue laws, the long, weary waiting at the door of the bathhouse, the dripping, heavier bag on the return journey--all these impedimenta to pleasure must have their corresponding reward--the water, the friendly intercourse, the opportunities for flirtation, the scenic railway, "drop the dip," the water chute and the succulent hot dog.

In Honolulu and Tahati (sic?) the bath is sufficient inducement, but then there is no journey, no bag, no bathhouse, no waiting and no costume. The water is clearer and the friendly relations are more intimate.

In South America there is nearly always a journey to be made, a bag to be carried, a costume to be donned and a period of waiting to be endured before entering the uninviting cubicle; but there is no "giant racer" and no hot dog, and open flirtations are frowned upon with the utmost severity.......

But the poor of South America do not take much use of the sea for their pleasure. What do they do? I don't know, but I have noticed that they often utilize a guitar. It is generally spring time in South America--or at least the lovely climate would lead us to suppose--and then, we are told, "the young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." For him the purlieus of the city are "Paradise enow."

--The New York Tribune (book section?), July 24, 1921

Not sure South American amusements took off any time in the 1920s, though. There are probably webpages on it, and they're probably in Spanish or Portuguese!

Hot Dog Strike! - 1921 - Also Coney Island Con

I found this fascinating. 1920s sarcasm, too.

Famine Barks in Coney's Wake as Frankfurter Makers Strike
---
10 Hours Too Long, $37 a Week Too Little for Their Art, Say Stuffers of Familiar but Ever-Mysterious Refetion, Solace of Bleacher and Boardwalk
---

A general strike became effective yesterday in the frankfurter industry in this city which, it is believed, will spread want and famine in Coney Island. Hot dogs are delicate creatures and age rapidly. The strikers are confident that when to-day's supply is exhausted the red-hot man will have to get a job with the Weather Bureau or some other place where his cry of "Here y'are! Red hot! Red hot!" will cause no mouths to water.....

The decision to strike followed ineffectual attempts to adjust a dispute enused by the announcement of the Meat Packers' Association of New York that frankfurter men's wages would be reduced from $44 to $41 a week to $37 and $34 and their hours increased from eight hours a day to ten....The meat packers insisted that they and the hot dog could survive only if hours were lengthened and pay rolls shortened. The frankfurter stuffers asserted that they would stuff frankfurters eight hours a day and not a minute longer, nor would they take a penny's reduction in their pay.

They regard themselves as the true scientists of the meat packing business, synthetic chemists, secure in their position by reason of the recondite knowledge of the structure and anatomy of the hot dog which they alone possess.

Their confidence of success is based upon knowledge of their power. No amateur, they assert, could turn out a genuine hot dog even though he worked with text books at his elbow and devoted an entire ten-hour day to the task.

A hot dog to the professional frankfurter stuffer is art of the highest type. It savors of the poetical, but no mere poet ever achieved one; its harmony is as delicate and definite as that of the composition of a supreme composer, but no mere musician ever stuffed a perfect frankfurter; the creative vision and precision of the painter are required in the efficient stuffer of hot dogs, but the painter would be helpless with the implements of the master stuffer at his hand.

With their very art and science in peril, the frankfurter men are determined to fight ruthlessly, even though Coney Island starve.

--New-York Tribune, June 11, 1921, page 18

Hot Dog Reserves Feed Coney Multitude Despite Strikers
---
Veterans of Many a Gridiron Rush to Front When 300,000 Visitors Clamor; New Acquaintance Robs Two Girls of $1,000 in Jewels and Cash
---
Undaunted by the strike of the frankfurter stuffers, 300,000 persons made their way to Coney Island yesterday by trolley, train, motor, afoot and boat, and for the first time this season the bathhouse establishments were taking them as they came....

To be sure, there was the usual number of children lost only to be found by frantic mothers, but Coney Island is one place where children simply will get lost--and found.

The water was warm and unusually free from banana and orange peels. So as the good word went from one to another, the beach by mid-afternoon began to resemble a bathing beach rather than a picnic ground....

The hot dog bazars fooled every one and went about selling their wares as if there was never such a thing pending as a scarcity of woofers due to the strike of the aroused frankfurter makers. At one booth alone it was estimated that 35,000 pounds of frankfurters were sold during the day. The keen-sighted venders (sic) had laid in an extra large supply to carry them over any emergency. Whether they will have anything in that line to sell next Sunday is something to be worried about next Sunday.

So if it had not been that a dapper young man, introducing himself by the odd yet serviceable name of John Smith made off with Miss Mary Frimerman's engagement ring and other jewelry and money amounting to $1,000, the day as it fell upon Coney Island would have been perfect.

It was Miss Rose Frimerman who met Mr. Smith yesterday in a restaurant. She had never seen him before, it is said, but his manner while offering to pay her check was so irreproachable that she took him around to the house and introduced him to Mary and Joseph Yacker, Mary's fiancé.

Mr. Smith, unfortunately, did not have a bathing suit, so when the others decided to saunter over to the beach for a dip, he departed.

Before starting for the water Rose and Mary put their rings and money in a beaded bag and hid the receptacle in one of the rooms. Seventy-four dollars belonging to Yacker also was put in the bag. Then they went out.

What prompted Rose to worry about the safety of the bag is not known. But she did, and returned to find Mr. Smith in the room.

"Oh, hello," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Smith blushed modestly while he explained that he had a few pounds of unnecessary sand in his shoes and had come in to get rid of it.

That was all there was to that. Mr. Smith left once more, and when Rose looked for the bag it was gone. She was able, however, to give a good description of him to the police.

--The New-York Tribune, June 13, 1921

Couldn't find any other reference to the strike in later issues of the paper. But there was this little tidbit in August, dateline Boston:

...Frankfurter sandwiches, popular with those who patronize quick lunches, cost an average of 2 4-10 cents, including mustard, and usually sell for 10 cents, the report said.

--The New-York Tribune, August 27, 1921

Coney Island and Memorial Day - 1921

Looking back at Marie Curie:

MME. CURIE HAS RESTFUL DAY

Spends Sunday With Mrs. N.F. Brady--Returns to Town Tonight.

--The New York Times, May 30, 1921

The article mentions that Ms. Curie's daughters planned to visit Coney Island! It also denies she had radiation sickness from the radium! (She actually died in 1934.)

HEAVY STORM HITS CONEY.

300,000 Rush to Shelter--Railway Entrances Flooded.

--The New York Times, May 30, 1921

The story describes the Sunday before Memorial Day. There was a 6 PM thunderstorm/rainstorm that flooded the entrances to the elevateds at West Eight Street and the West End terminal. It was so bad they reportedly constructed footbridges to get people in! One woman was injured. (Elsewhere, a 20-year-old drowned at the Rockaways.)

300,000 at Coney Island.

Two Girls Saved from Undertow by Guards--One Dry Arrest.

--The New York Times, May 31, 1921

The sky was overcast on Monday, Memorial Day, evidently, so people came in the afternoon. (I wonder if Sunday's flooding kept people back--after that rainstorm, I'd hesitate to go out in the clouds too!) The sun came out in the afternoon, making it the biggest day thus far in the season. There were a lot of tourists, and the crowds were mostly orderly, with just one person arrested under Prohibition.

The article also notes that Gertrude Maddock, 7 years old, fell out of a car on "The Scrambler," lacerating her scalp. She was treated at the Coney Island Hospital so it sounds like she was fine.

Lots of old Coney Island articles at http://oldtymeconey.blogspot.com/!

And speaking of Memorial Day, on May 3, 1921, President Warren Harding emphasized that Memorial Day was to honor all war dead, not just Civil War veterans.

Harding, in Memorial Day Proclamation, Asks General Homage to War Dead on May 30.

--The New York Times, May 4, 1921

Looks like it wasn't formally made a rotating holiday (last Monday of May) until 1971! So this year we get the "true" Memorial Day on May 30, as people celebrated in the 1860s and beyond.

This New York Times column from May 30, 1921 describes the history of Memorial Day, claiming the holiday was originally intended to remember Civil War dead (this page collaborates). But, the author says, later generations forgot and made it into a holiday. By 1921, though, thoughts went back to the World War in Europe. The author calls for bringing back the spirit of Memorial Day--at least to "pause for gratitude and benediction" amid the recreation. Good idea.

The New York Times also has an article about a Memorial Day speech by President Warren Harding, too.

Flashback Friday - Taxes and Threatening and Annoying Letters

Taxes in 1921!

Income Tax Facts

Births, deaths and marriages during the year 1920 affect materially income tax returns for that year.

Millions of babies were added to family circles, each of whom brings an exemption of $200 in the parents' income tax returns.

Widows and widowers who lost their husbands or wives during the year are especially affected. They are single for the purposes of the income tax law and are granted only an exemption of $1000, unless the head of a family.

Persons who were divorced or separated by mutual agreement during the year must also consider themselves as single persons.

The status of the taxpayer on Dec. 31, 1920, determines the amount of the exemptions. If on that day the taxpayer was married and living with wife or husband, claim may be made for the $2000 exemption. If single, or married and not living with wife or husband on Dec. 31, the exemption is only $1000.

Persons who reached majority during the year and whose earnings for that period amounted to $1000 or more, or $2000 or more, according to their marital status, must file a return and pay a tax on their net income in excess of those amounts.

To avoid penalty, the return must be in the hands of the Collector of Internal Revenue for the district in which the taxpayer lives, or has his principal place of business, on or before midnight of March 15, 1921.

--Casa Grande Bulletin, February 12, 1921

THREATENED PRESIDENT.

Brooklyn Man Says He Wrote Mr. Harding Hoping to Get $300,000.

--The New York Times, April 19, 1921

I didn't see any record of what happened to him since then, but yes, there have been people a little touched in the head for at least 90 years... But they took him to court in Coney Island.

Speaking of Coney Island (how is that for a flimsy segueway?), this Saturday in 2011 is when the famous Cyclone and the new Luna Park open for the season.

Back in the 1840s, of course, people visited Coney Island for the fresh air and even to see nature. Now people also go for thrill rides!

Writing Wednesday - Snowflake in Phoenix

No writing this week, but some planning. I'm slowly working on that snowflake for my new (OK, rewritten) novel. The idea behind the Snowflake Method is to start with a one-sentence description of the story, and work from there. My current step 1 of the snowflake says:

Brought to a world of magic, a high school girl battles the god who wants her for his priestess.

That's subject to change (i.e. get phrased better).

I have a paragraph-long summary of the plot (Step 2) and now I'm working on Step 3, which is where you explain the characters' storylines.

The Snowflake Method itself states that you should spend 1 hour on Step 1, 1 hour on Step 2, and then 1 hour for EACH character's storyline in Step 3. I spent over an hour on Step 1 (still not satisfied), and something in the ballpark of an hour on Step 2. But for Step 3, I just can't sit down and think about one character's story for a full hour, at least not since I already know 2/3 of the story quite well (it's just the last third that I'm really fuzzy on). For myself, I think it's better to run through that stage fairly quickly, and then double back once all the characters' stories are established. After all, I'm likely to come up with some ideas as I write each storyline, and what affects Bunfa may affect Kelar, and so forth.

The novel is young adult and was called "Chosen: Bonnie of Sheshack." Now I'm wondering if "Bonnie Greenfield, Priestess of Plants" might be better? Or maybe I just like the "P" noise since it sounds like "pirates...."

I also went to the VNSA Book Sale and got a (tiny) book on trees and an (equally tiny) book on flowers. I was born and raised in the desert so I know mesquites and palo verde and saguaros agave and ocotillo...but very, very little about plants that require larger amounts of water to survive.

So I'm (slowly) working!

AND, I ordered Charles Denson's Coney Island Lost and Found. I had a Groupon for Barnes and Noble, which I bought using the referral credit I got when my mom signed up. So my out-of-pocket cost, including tax, was less than $8. Not too bad! I'm hoping to eventually plot and write another novel with Maggie, set on, you guessed it, Coney Island.

Winning Wednesday

So winning refers to something that was "luck" (or Providence), not anything to do with writing skills. Be warned!

And for my writing progress report...could be worse. I did finally finish the last full chapter of Endwood (just need to complete the epilogue). I probably should have split the ending into two pieces but I really didn't want the story to continue too terribly far after the climax. I'm SO looking forward to being done with it!

So I joined American Christian Fiction Writers a while back and sometimes people will post about when they have agents or editors on their blogs. So someone at Seekerville posted on ACFW about how they were having a costume party and invited everyone to come. I'm not sure if they mentioned a giveaway or not, but I didn't notice. I just wanted to dress my avatar up!

So the real story is that Tina James, senior editor of Love Inspired Historical and Love Inspired Suspense, was announcing they are printing four Historicals a month instead of two. Since I've never actually wrote historical romance (or any historical fiction without a major speculative element) I'm not sure if that's relevant for me or not, but squee! Historical clothes!

So I posted.

Aside from sewing the ribbon on the hat, this is all items I found at Ross and/or TJ Maxx. I do love making historical and fantasy costumes, but I suppose that's a story for another time. Anyway, I chose to dress in 1920s garb because if I WERE to write an outright historical, I reckon that's when I'd set it. And I love the Coney Island pictures, LOL.

Anyway, long story short, I was just outright SHOCKED to have won a contest that I believe was just a random draw. Really? I don't know how many entrants there were (well over 200 comments but some were from the same people). And I won four books? Shipped from the Senior Editor at the one Love Inspired line I could ever imagine writing for??? I didn't even know there were four books to win!

I used to believe in, if not luck, then things just happening randomly. But after going through Beth Moore's study of Esther, I'm not so sure. It's pretty much impossible for my mind to wrap around how every single little thing (as small as misplacing my keys and taking a minute to find them) could happen for a reason, but it certainly wouldn't be outside the range of God's power.

At any rate, winning four books is a lot bigger deal (and more unusual!) than losing my keys. A little part of me is wondering--maybe I should try a historical romance?

Another historical outfit I made (perhaps the most accurate, and completely made by me) is a 1770s dress. It would take so much work and research, but I believe people were getting into 1770s historical recreation in the 1920s...it seems to me that could be a very fun romance, with characters from a past era trying to recreate an even farther past era. And anything on Coney Island could be interesting (although I'm not so sure that would fly, given that the place used to be nicknamed "Sodom by the Sea"...).

Anyway. For now I reckon I will need to settle down and read them. I'll likely review them here, but I'm both a picky reader AND not much of a reviewer, so we'll see.

Oh right! In the comments from last week, I promised a picture of my phone, too.

If you want your Samsung Comeback to also look a bit like EVE from WALL-E, here's the photo.

I modified a page to print a paper EVE mask (of all things) I saw online, then shrunk it to a 240 height so it looks nice on the inner flip screen (I suggest you set your phone to "Black theme"--Menu, Settings, Display settings, My Theme, Black theme for the Comeback).

So, have you had anything recent happen that might be Providential?