Candice Hughes

It felt a bit like peeking at my horoscope, which I admit I do once in awhile for a lark. I’m talking in this case about a writer’s mysterious black box- “I Write Like”. Everyone’s doing it, I thought, why not me?

So who do I write like (according to “I Write Like”)? Drum roll- envelope please. The answer is….JD Salinger.

Since he passed away, perhaps he won’t mind that I write like him. Particularly that I’m a woman who writes like a man who writes about what it’s like being a boy growing up to become a man. If that makes any sense at all.

Now I’d better go and begin scouting remote towns in New Hampshire for a cottage.

Because the frightening thing is that both JD Salinger and I have lived/worked in New York and Connecticut. But then he fled deep into New England to Cornish, New Hampshire. And I wonder if that is what “I Write Like” noticed- something in the Yankee words spiced with New York attitude. Then again maybe it’s just a mysterious black box like whatever generates the fortunes in Chinese fortune cookies.

Summer is traditionally a time when people think of kicking back on warm sand under a blue sky with a great book. The Wall Street Journal (this past Friday) published the largest print runs of the season (which clearly indicate what the publishing industry believes large numbers of people will be reading).

Janet Evanovich’s upcoming novel, Sizzling Sixteen, came out on top with a print run of 2.5 million. When you consider that a successful book sells 5,000 copies, the print run for Sizzling Sixteen is astounding. Of course, the article goes on to mention that Janet’s summer 2009 novel in her Stephanie Plum series sold nearly a million copies. Clearly her track records suggests outstanding sales this summer.

I had the pleasure of hearing Janet speak at last year’s RWA National conference. She gave the audience snippets of her journey as a writer that were both witty and touching. She was passionate about writing, thrilled to have many fans, yet humbled by her view from the top. All this as she hobbled around the stage on a broken foot. Imagine what she’s like when not weighed down by an appendage encased in a cement-like block.

Janet’s new book comes out later this month.

As part of my current summer reading, I’ve finally gotten my hands on the third and last Stieg Larrson book. I will be happily devouring it, while despairing all the while that there will never be another one.

Spring has been bursting out over the past few weeks. Every year it reminds me of one of my favorite poems by a favorite poet, Robert Frost, a fellow New Englander.

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

In this photo I tried to capture in colors what Frost describes.

Spring has been here for several weeks now, with the usual crazy New England weather- shorts and tee-shirts one week then back to sweaters and coats the next.

Besides the changing but consistently wacky weather, the publishing industry continues as well, changing but expectedly so.  Publisher’s Weekly reported that e-books were up 177% for 2009 while sales of most other books were flat or slightly lower than the year before. All forms of entertainment have been moving digital for a number of years. Yet things rarely move entirely digital or, if they do, convert in their original form. I still listen to the radio periodically. I often listen to the radio online. It’s still the radio, just a different delivery system. I envision paper-based books sharing the world with digital books- reaching an even larger audience.

Spring is a great time for writing- full of energy and bursting with ideas! So now it’s back to a writer’s main job…writing.

Bookmarked: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

In New England, we’ve had several spectacular snow storms this year. It makes up for several years running where we were barely dusted by an inch or two the whole season. Those years I heard many complaints about the cold, the snow, shoveling, grumble, grumble. I assumed those were all transplants from parts south or the extreme south west. I feared they might not survive the system shock when we had a real New England winter with a foot of snow whipped into a frenzy by howling winds.

If you get up early enough after one of these bruisers, you will be treated to a fairyland of sugar frosted trees against a bright blue sky. A perfect scene for a novel. I’ll have to think on that….

For now, here’s a photo- New England in winter.

The past week or two have been peak foliage colors here in New England. Fall is a magic time of year when tonal greens explode into gold, ruby and pumpkin. It always reminds me of Tolkein and the two trees of Valinor.

Although heavy rains have been washing away the leaves, leaving us to tidy up the faded brown husks that litter the lawn, some color remains.

So all my readers can get a taste of New England fall, I’ve attached a photo.

Frosts Turn New England Foliage to Gold

It’s October and that cool snap to the air means fall is here. Leaf season is just starting. I’m looking forward to some beautiful reds and golds. Hopefully, I can get outside on a clear blue day and shoot some photos.

In my last blog entry on OTHER blogs for writers, I highlighted several great blogs. But, there are two more that I want to add to the blogroll as I believe any writer or publishing industry maven could find some gems in them.

Romance University is a wonderful craft blog aimed mainly toward writers and written by writers. There are also editor and agent guest bloggers, which really enriches the content. Today’s post falls under their series on understanding the male mind. If you haven’t visited, try it and I’m sure you’ll be pleased by the breadth of content. Here is the link: http://romanceuniversity.org/

Another excellent blog is literary agent Nathan Bransford’s  blog. Today’s post is about Banned Book Week. (I must confess, I didn’t realize it was Banned Book Week until I read the post, so it was worth it right there logging on). I have a great fondness for banned books because often books are banned for not fitting into someone’s agenda. This makes me want to read them all the more to find out why someone else doesn’t want me to read them. I’m a firm believer in freedom of speech so long as the content is not inciting racial hatred or violence against others. Here’s Nathan’s link:  http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

Both of these sites will be added to the blogroll.

Enjoy the lovely weather!

Bookmarked: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris and Exit Music by Ian Rankin

Over the past few weeks I’ve conducting a self-guided tutorial on villains. The first villain that came immediately to mind to be included in my tutorial was Hannibal Lecter. The first response I got when I asked people what they thought of Dr. Lecter was that he was “fascinating.” Even though he is a serial killer who has committed numerous heinous crimes, he is still likeable because of his intelligence and dry wit. Both of these are characteristics thought of as making any character likable. I believe people also enjoy reading about him because he is unpredictable, which makes him interesting. Also, he has his own (albeit twisted) code of honor or if not honor at least a highly developed sense of politeness- a characteristic one wouldn’t expect in a killer.

The other villain in the novel, Buffalo Bill, is kind to animals. This is also a characteristic that according to literary experts makes a character likable. There’s not a lot else likable about him, which probably explains why the ending of the book (won’t spoil it) is satisfactory.

It’s interesting to compare Silence of the Lambs to Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot. In ‘Salem’s Lot, the main villain, Kurt Barlow, is in only a few scenes in the book. We learn what he is, but don’t learn a lot about him. He is not a sympathetic character. He has none of the sympathetic character traits (no little dogs, no jokes, no limp, etc). So, why is this novel so successful? My theory is that King developed so many other characters so well, with some being “good” people and others being, well let’s be generous and say not so good, that it doesn’t matter that the villian is not sympathetic. There are plenty of other characters to cheer for or boo.

Back to my study of villians….

This summer has gone by at light speed. The past couple months have included frenzied activity editing and polishing novel 2. This week, I released novel 2, hoping that it is ready to take flight. Waiting to see how reviewers will react is always a nail biting moment.

In between bouts of  motherly concern for novel 2, I’ll take some time to decompress from the intense activity. Maybe even take some walks and start thinking about what a novel 3 might look like. I love this time. It’s a time of free fall when almost anything can happen. A time when there are many doors waiting to be opened and it’s so hard to decide which door should be opened because everything is interesting, fresh and exciting.

The end of summer is a perfect time for free fall. Life starts gathering inward to protect itself from the snow and ice of winter. But winter hasn’t come yet. For now, I can still walk outside without a coat and sit on my porch to read. But the days are numbered. That’s alright though because every ending is a beginning.

Bookmarked: Watchman by Ian Rankin

Almost without my noticing, we’ve slipped into the final haze of summer.  August saps motivation. Still, I believe we need August. August is the month when the world slips into a torpor.  Only the insects make sounds, repetitive chirring sounds that mix with the heat and sun. When the air starts turning colder, we wake up refreshed and ready to go.

Of course, if you live in Southern California, you can dismiss all this as ranting New England blather. Seasons are part of what I love about New England. Seasons mark off the passing of time. And it’s hard without seasons to pay attention to something you’d rather ignore, like time. Unless you’re under the age of twenty when time goes too slowly.

Today I’ll sit back in my chair with a cold ice tea, a cloudless blue sky, and crack open a book.  Ah, and it occurred to me that in my conference frenzy I’d stopped listing my reading books. So today I added back “Bookmarked.”

When I’m done reading, it’s back to writing.  What else is there for a writer to do?