|
|
|
|
Well, the floods are coming again. By this morning the waters have reached our driveway. My husband parked at the neighbors’ last night so he’d be able to hoof it through the fields to his car so he could get to work. The next challenge will be to see if he can find a route to the university that’s not blocked off by water.
Last week I talked about the way my blood pressure rises at the sound of high winds, bringing back my feelings from the tornado I experienced. This week I’ve been thinking about those in my hometown, Ottawa, and nearby Findlay, who lost so much in the floods this past August. They must be listening to all of this rain and dreading the possibilities of what could lie ahead.
While considering these things I thought about our job as writers. It always comes back to that for us, doesn’t it?
To be a successful writer, one must create something people want to read. And in order to make them want to read it, a book must have several essential things: interesting characters, readable prose, a believable plot (even if it’s science fiction the reader needs to feel that it could, just possibly, happen). But another important factor is to keep the reader wondering…What will happen next?
If a reader isn’t interested in turning the page to discover the protagonist’s next challenge, they’re going to put the book down. This just happened to me this week. I was reading along in this book, and suddenly realized that I really couldn’t care less what was going to happen to these people. So I stopped reading. Why should I waste time reading about people who bore me?
So I picked up the second in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. I read the first, Outlander, last month, and just now got my hands on book number two, Dragonfly in Amber. And I’m telling you…it’s a wonder anything else around the house gets done. I want to know everything that’s going to happen to these characters. There’s no way I’m going to put this book down until I’ve read every last page. And I’ve already asked the librarian to find me book number three.
I had someone just yesterday ask me when my next book is coming out because he just couldn’t wait any longer to find out what was going to happen to Stella. Could he have given me a better compliment? I think not. I was happy to assure him that her next adventure, Different Paths, will be available this fall.
So while I wait for the waters to rise and the winds to blow, and when I’m not reading Dragonfly in Amber, I work on my next book. And I try to consider on each page – what is going to keep the reader guessing? What will make them turn that page?
And I hope I get it right.
-
My trick is to have someone say at the end of every page, something like:
“Could anything worse possibly happen?”
“Gee wiz, I just know things are going to get worse!”
“So, Nickie, who do you think killed Achibald?”
“Gadzooks! Look out, Larry!”
Or my signature inticement line:
“Oh my gawd! Don’t tell me buxom girl over there is going to –”
Oh, I’ve got a million of them.
On another subject, what’s land going for out there? What with the wind and flooding and rabid prairie dogs the Mrs. and me is thinking of settlin’ over thataway.
by C.R.
on February 7th, 2008 at 7:39 am
-
CR….going west? That’s for younger men!
And….you need to know how to swim.
And….broom riding is an excellent skill for tornados, just ask the wicked witch of the west.
z
by Zorro
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:03 am
-
Good lines, CR. That’s a neat idea.
Well, for the second time in 6 months we are trapped on an island! It’s a good thing Steve parked at the neighbors’, or he would never have gotten out. (which under normal circumstances would be fine, but he has a huge soccer event happening this week) The kids are home, of course, watching PBS.
Findlay is already under water, so Ottawa folks are preparing for the onslaught. Hopefully they’re better prepared this time, but good grief! Twice in one year?
But at least we escaped the horrible tornados in Tennessee. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, or whatever you do.
by Judy
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:27 am
-
Judy, Outlander is one of my stuck-on-a-desert island books. Love it. Wish you lived closer–I’d let you borrow my whole set.
And I’ll send some prayers that water creeps no further than the driveway.
by Heather
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:27 am
-
Good luck with the flood waters, Judy. Scary stuff.
by Casey
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:42 am
-
So you have the whole Outlander set, Heather? That takes up a lot of shelf space, with how huge the books are! Glad to find someone else who enjoys them. : )
Flood update:
The Red Cross has set up evacuation centers in Ottawa, and we received a phone message from the Sheriff’s department giving us numbers to call for help or if we can go help fill sandbags. As I’m home with my two kids with no way to get out, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on volunteering, no matter how much I’d like to help!
Our well is covered now, which means the health department will have to come check it again before we can drink it anymore. I just hope either it isn’t contaminated or it only takes one treatment this time!
Other than that, we’re okay. In about another foot our mailbox will be covered, and it could happen, as the river’s not supposed to crest until midnight tonight.
So, as my husband said just a few minutes ago, “Here we go again!”
by Judy
on February 7th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
-
Judy,
It just occured to me how ironic that like your famous ancestor Sam Clemens (you’re related, right?) you live along a river. And one that gets wide as the Mississippi every now and again.
Anyway, try to stay dry, and safe, and when the water gets mark twain, head for the hills.
by C.R.
on February 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
-
The problem, C.R., is that we have no hills in NW Ohio! But our house is on enough of a rise we should be okay. Thanks for your kind thoughts.
And yes, Samuel Clemens was my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great uncle. We were very close.
by Judy
on February 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
-
Gadzooks girl, pick up and move to the city. You only have massive crime, inept governments, corruption and all that stuff to deal with. And, you could get high speed internet without having to build your own tower.
In the mean time…..stay safe, stay dry and don’t dream of any high wind storms.
RAD
Z
by Zorro
on February 7th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
-
And characters that you care about. Characters that you worry about. Characters that you wish they’d been your highschool sweetheart, your college roomate. I don’t always remember that, but somewhere in every book there has to be someone we love.
And of course, someone we HATE!
by Don
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
-
Stay dry, my friend. Stay dry. I remember the last time.
by Don
on February 7th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
-
Thanks for all of your warm (& dry!) thoughts. The water is now receding, and the kids are back in school after a two-hour delay. We had to hoof it down the road to the car Steve left out on the road by the water, so we could get them to school!
Our water in our house is now brown. Ick! I took a shower at my folks’ this morning, and Steve brought home some huge tubs of drinking water. We’ll see how long it takes to decontaminate the well this time. But we’re still much better off than a lot of folks, so I’m counting my many blessings.
The paper says while August’s flood was the 2nd worst of all time, this has finished at the 5th. Bad enough.
by Judy
on February 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Leave a Reply
|
|
|
