Starting Over ~ Solving the Mystery

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Linda Barrett

When cancer hit the first time, I chalked it up to randomness. I was that one in eight statistic we all hear about: one in eight American women will get breast cancer at some time in their lives. That’s 12.5%. Doesn’t that number seem large? Random or not, after receiving the diagnosis, I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Somehow that random statistic became personal when it applied to me.

Was it the food I ate? The water I drank? The air I breathed? In every general way, I was healthy-not overweight, exercising several times a week at the gym, I ate mostly healthy foods. I had nursed my youngest child, and at the same time appreciated that nursing was one of those factors that lowers the risk for breast cancer.

Accepting this new fact in my life took time. Several months into treatment (lumpectomy, chemo, radiation), I was still trying to make sense out of what can’t be explained. We, humans, like order in our world. We like to solve mysteries and puzzles. We’re uneasy with open endings and dangling threads–we’re itchy about unfinished books! We want to make rational those situations that have no reason, to understand what we don’t know. One plus one must equal two in our ordered world.

Acceptance of my situation did happen in time. Soon I was able to say, “I guess I was just that one-in-eight statistic.” I’d shrug, then chuckle. “Somebody has to be unlucky.” I certainly wouldn’t wish this on anyone else.

Nine years later, when breast cancer hit the second time, no one in my orbit accepted that this was a random act of unkindness. How unlucky can one gal get? I certainly wanted to solve this mystery. Without any fanfare, my blood was drawn to be tested for the BRCA gene mutations.

BINGO! My mystery was solved. The culprit was the deleterious BRCA 1 gene. Shedding this light certainly brought closure, but also brought up a new set of issues. Facing a bi-lateral mastectomy would seem to top the list. But figuring out what, where and how to tell the children…ah-h, that broke my heart. Genetic mutations are inherited, so my kids might be affected too.

No one in a family with this gene escapes the stress of waiting for the test results. No one escapes the fear or sadness, that terrible bellyache, that comes after being diagnosed as a gene carrier. I took comfort not in the diagnosis, but in the prognosis. A great prognosis…if I took action. If? If? Did I not want to live? With children, grandchildren and a wonderful, loving husband, the answer was easy. I had everything to live for!

So here I am, celebrating every day with Mike, my kids, and wonderful friends in a lovely place for “55 and better” I call the day camp. I will admit, however, that it’s great being on the other side of the diagnosis and treatment. I like living hopefully ever after.

If cancer seems to “run in your family” or if you have any questions about inherited breast or ovarian cancer, I highly recommend the only non-profit in American totally focused on inherited cancer: FORCE – Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered. Log onto their website for all kinds of information about this subject:

www.facingourrisk.org

FORCE LOGO

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to see your for the next edition of Starting Over.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY JULY CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of two books, written by the award-winning authors of On Fire Fiction, plus a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Remember, some of these are hot, hot, hot, while others…not so much. Your choice!

Starting Over ~ Family Stories, Part II

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Linda Barrett

WORDS AND PICTURES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION –

As promised, today I’m giving you concrete examples to help you write stories about your family. Whether you have a large family or a small one, you’ve got stories to share. Funny stories. Poignant stories. Life-changing events. Family traditions. And characters. Oh, yes, we can’t forget the characters. And one of them is you! I think writing family stories is not only fun, but important. How else will your children and grandchildren know who they are?

Last time at Starting Over, I suggested a number of topics for you to consider writing about. Of course, a dozen of your own ideas might have sprung to mind, and that’s wonderful. For those of you needing suggestions, however, I offered the gamut from family recipes, to holidays, to life cycle events, to particular family members. Everything is fodder. Just reach in and grab an idea.

Today we’re going to figure out some specific ways to start your story. Even for professional writers, choosing the right opening is very challenging if not the hardest part of the work. I’m here to make life easy for you! Here are three different ways to begin your tale–examples from my own stories are included:

SETTING — Using this option, you start by revealing such items as time, place and weather. The goal here is for your children to see and feel what you saw and felt at the time the real event took place. Use the real dates and places. After all, these stories are not fiction. If this is a story about your parents or grandparents, gather the information now.

Example: “Houston’s so flat,” I protested, “and the houses have no basements.” Too disappointed to hide my feelings, I looked at my husband with dismay and wondered if my friends up north were right. “Too hot and humid,” they’d warned. “Don’t go.” But I hadn’t cared, In fact, I’d looked forward to getting away from New England winters…until now.

Home of the Houston Astros! Beautiful park.

Minute Maid Park — Home of the Houston Astros! I always think of it as a happy
place.

ACTION — Using this option, you start with an event, then go back in time to explain how and why this event happened.

Example: I often tell people that Michael and I met by accident, but that’s not quite true. My uncle Sid introduced us. On our very first date, however, we did hit a telephone pole head on. The car was totally wrecked. Fortunately, we weren’t. (I then explained where we were, why we were out so late and what my dad’s reaction was–oh, yes, that made for a story 🙂

CHARACTERS — these are your family members, Using this option, it’s fun to describe how the personality affected you and others. The person you choose to write about can be quiet or larger- than-life or somewhere in between. Everyone is unique and worthy.

Something wrong, sweetie? Find Aunt Ethel.

Example: Aunt Ethel had a reputation among the kids. She was the doctor. In deference to the medical profession, however, we called her “half-a-doctor.” She could make “it” better, whatever “it” was, but her specialties were splinters and specs-in-the-eyes. The combination of her infinite patience and excellent eyesight earned her the reward of fixing us.

I hope you’ll make a stab at writing your family stories. If you have any questions, just ask them in the comment section. And if you want to share something you’ve written, you can do that in the comment section, too. I’ll post your efforts in a later blog as a “follow-up” if you’d like. You don’t have to be Mark Twain or Hemmingway or Dostoyevsky to write for yourself. You just have to pick up a pencil and get started.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY JULY CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of two books below plus a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Remember, some of these are hot, hot hot, while others…not so much. Your choice!

Starting Over – Fingers on the Keyboard

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Linda Barrett

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE A WRITER?

I personally know or have chatted at conferences with several hundred authors during the last twenty years, long before my first novel was ever published. Among those many writers, only a small percentage—a tiny percentage—spent their childhood dreaming of a career in writing. And yet, we writers of genre and literary fiction, while not as numerous as the stars in the heavens, check in at quite a hefty number. Some would say there are too many of us! So how did membership in this club grow when almost no one seemed to yearn for admittance? When did the itch to become a professional writer reveal itself? Each personal story is unique to be sure, but I believe there are some common threads:

You know you’re a writer…if your town library was important to you from the get-go. As an eight or nine year old girl, I remember visiting the public library every single week. I was gloriously happy strolling down the aisles, checking the shelf space of my favorite authors, excited to find either a brand new book or one new to me. I also remember feeling sorry for these authors, however, and glad not to be one of them. Why would I want to spend my time all alone in a room writing books? I’d have to give up playing with my friends, give up watching television. That life wasn’t for me! Poor writers. So lonely. It must have been a terrible life, but I was glad they’d chosen it because I loved to read.

Hear that? Writers love to read. We started out that way, maybe from birth. Every one of us with no exceptions. During my conversations with other authors, someone usually brought up her trips to the library as a kid. At that moment, every face would light up, every expression one of remembrance. When we were children, visiting the library or the bookmobile was the common denominator. In my case, the dentist’s waiting room was a hot spot for magazines. That’s where I discovered Good Housekeeping and Ladies’ Home Journal. I was twelve by then, reading everything and anything.

You know you’re a writer…when your high school English teacher hangs your essays on the classroom bulletin board. No fuss about it though. She simply returns the essays of other students to them while you sit empty-handed. Until you realize your epic poem about Odysseus and his band of men/Who thought they’d never see home again or the comical piece, A Musical Instrument? which depicts your adventures playing the taller-than-you, low toned bassoon with the school orchestra, are decorating the walls of the room. Oh, there they are. She hung them up. But did I get an A?

You know you’re a writer…when in college, you’d rather handle a term paper than take an exam. You enjoy exploring plays and investigating a “comedy of manners.” You love reading the romantic poets—Keats, Byron, Wordsworth’s Lucy poems. On the other hand, you also remember dark powerful lines: That’s my last duchess painted on the wall/Looking as though she were alive…Robert Browning. As soon as I read that, I got shivers. I still get shivers. Most of my friends moaned and groaned, but I liked this stuff.

You know you’re a writer…when as a young adult, you start making up poems for your own amusement. About your kids. About life. About nature. Some funny. Some serious. And you send a few verses to Hallmark Cards, not realizing they employ their own staff of writers. You know nothing about the business of writing because to you, writing is fun! Just like I did, you reach for your thick pad and a pen every night after the kids are in bed. Creative writing is becoming a hobby we really and truly like.

You know you’re a writer…when you try your hand at family stories. Three or four page personal essays. About what makes a “real” grandma. About meeting your husband. About your parents’ wedding. Whoa! Your parent’s wedding? You weren’t even there, but you asked a lot of questions and filled in the blanks. A story emerged called A Fine Romance. Everyone loved it. More important, however, you realize you loved writing it.

You know you’re a writer…when you voluntarily enroll in creative writing courses. You even shell out some cash for them! The writing bug is biting and won’t let you go. Your family stories evolve into short fiction pieces. You start learning about the craft—the structure and elements of fiction. You begin to realize how character, plot and setting are put together to create a whole work. Little by little, you learn to braid these threads yourself, and the craft begins to make sense.

You know you’re a writer…when you grab every drop of courage you possess, put your best short story in an envelope and enter it into a national contest. Just to test the water. Just to see if you’ve “got it.” Or not. Or not yet.

When the results come in, and you’ve placed in the top ten out of almost 2000 entries, you cry. Maybe, just maybe you start to believe…

You know you’re a writer… when you realize that The Wizard of Oz is a masterpiece. Baum had it right: Goal, Motivation and Conflict. It’s all there—the foundation of fiction which has endured to this day. Aristotle explained it as the hero’s journey. Lucas illustrated it in Star Wars. Want something more sophisticated? Think about The Shawshank Redemption. Journeys well traveled; endings well deserved. Or sometimes not, but that’s not my way.

The original cover, circa 1900.

The promise of these well crafted elements is why the words, “Once upon a time…” brings everyone to the campfire. The request to “Tell me a story…” echoes through every generation of children. Our kids become the heroes; they live the adventure–within the safety of a book.

You know you’re a writer…when you look into those children’s faces and reply, “Of course, I’ll tell you a story. I’ve got lots of stories tucked away.” When the time comes, you sink into your chair, all alone in your office, and close the door. You noodle around with a few ideas. Your fingers start itching. They begin tapping the keyboard and a book emerges. Down the road, another one comes to fruition. You’re not a one-book wonder, and the relief is grand.

Whether your story is aimed at children or adults doesn’t matter. The genre doesn’t matter either. But good stories do. Good stories matter! When you believe they matter as much as I do, then you’ll know you’re a writer.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope both authors and readers took away a little insight about one writer’s development which is not too unusual among others in the field. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY JULY CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of two books below, written by the award winning authors of On Fire Fiction plus a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Remember, some of these are hot, hot, hot while others…not so much. Your choice!