Thursday, November 18th, 2010  Author Paul Evancoe spoke at at the Maryland Writer’s Association meeting last night. Paul’s a retired Navy SEAL with extensive combat experience as well as an former Director for Special Operations in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-terrorism at the U.S. Department of State.
(Aren’t those awesome credentials? He’s also a very nice guy.)
Much of Paul’s SEAL experience is in Vietnam.
Sound familiar?
My character Cade Owen, Navy SEAL and Selkie aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Livingstone, in Selk-Skin Deep, served his time in Vietnam, too.
Nothing was going to keep me from the meeting last night.
Paul talked about the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the rebuilding of our military after World War II, Communism, the Cold War, Terrorists… He drew maps on the white board, penciled in bombing missions, showed us how to guard territories, etc. I was fascinated by his descriptions of how the shores of Korea are guarded.
I recommend his books based solely on hearing him speak. I haven’t read anything by Paul, but if his books are anything like his presentation, I can guarantee they’re fabulous. If you like military or historical fiction…if you want to learn about Navy SEALS…check out his stuff.
(Of course, I had another moratorium #fail. I’m now the proud owner of “Own the Night.” It’s sitting right here beside me, tempting me to pick it up…)
We had little time to talk about Paul’s writing process. But he did mention two interesting things:
1) he writes his books like a Hollywood movie “treatment.” That is, he writes the entire story, beginning to end, in about 40 pages, roughing in chapter breaks, but hitting all the major scenes. Once this is done, he goes back to flesh it out. If I can make it through my current “pantsing” style novel, I might give it a try.
2) He talked about the “subliminal” plot in writing: while building your major plot and storyline, be cognizant of the underlying layer of relationships among the players which denotes a subliminal message or story. Every story should have one, he said. This bears looking into, I’m certain.
I couldn’t find any info on “subliminal plots in writing” via web search, no matter how I twisted the phrase. If you’ve got info on subliminal plots, please pass it along.
Monday, November 15th, 2010  For all of 2010, BroadUniverse has been making monthly podcasts based on our famous “Rapid Fire Readings.” An RFR is usually held at a bookstore or convention and five or six BroadUniverse members read for only a few moments each.
It’s our way of giving you a “taste” of the writings of many authors, as opposed to one author for an extended length of time.
The 10th episode is all about dragons and other magical beasts and includes readings from me, from The Dragon’s Clause, as well as Sarah Micklem, Diane Whiteside, Danielle Ackley McPhail, and Justine Graykin.
You can download the Broad Pod and listen to it from this page. The November offering is at the top of the list, but the other 9 episodes are available, too.
If you right-click the episode, you can also add it to your iTunes list.
Saturday, November 13th, 2010 Tangent posted an in-depth review of Bad Ass Fairies 3: In all Their Glory, and had some really nice things to say about my story, Selk-Skin Deep:
“Selk-Skin Deep” by Kelly A. Harmon is a very well-written, harrowing story of an accident that didn’t have to happen aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam war. The selkie uses his advantage to try and save the ship and its crew. Ms. Harmon has written an action packed, suspenseful account of a naval battle with a poignant ending.
 I’m pleased to hear it. There have been a few other reviews, and they’ve been good, but no one’s singled out my story. Of course, the Tangent reviewer mentioned all the stories, but I can’t help feeling a happy glow from what she said.
If you’re interested, I’ve got permission to post the first five pages of the story. You can read it here. Warning: it ends abruptly in the middle of the scene!
 You can read the entire story in the anthology, which just happens to be an EPIC Finalist. (Winners will be announced in March. With a little luck, I’ll be changing this “finalist” icon to a “winner” icon some time in the next few months.)
If you’re at all curious about the Bad Ass Faeries™ series, you need to check out the new Bad Ass Fairies Web site. There’s an associated blog as well.
Friday, November 12th, 2010  Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Cady Stanton! She was born on November 12, 1815, and is often cited as initiating the first organized Women’s Rights Movement in the United States.
What’s special about Ms. Stanton is that she wanted more for women beyond the right to vote. Her concerns included women’s parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce laws, the economic health of the family, and birth control.
Stanton’s outspokenness on many of these issues caused a split in the Women’s Rights Movement, especially after she and Susan B. Anthony declined to support the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. (The 14th broadened the definition of citizenship to include former slaves and the 15th provided the right to vote).
Her opposition was not a manifestation of racism, but of fairness. Despite their passage, the 14th and 15th Amendments did not give women (black, white or other) the right to vote.
Twenty years passed before the two groups were united again under the Presidency of Stanton. She fought for women’s rights her entire life, and died October 26, 1902 – nearly twenty years before women were granted the right to vote.
Here’s Your Prompt: Create a world in which there is inequality to a specific group of people and how rights are restored to all. (It’s too easy to make this schism based on race, religion or gender, so be more creative and try for something different. )
Pay more attention to the reasons why one group of people sees another group as a threat of some sort. Think about how people react to those who are different and incorporate these incidents into the theme. Who are the suffragettes in this instance? Are those looking out for the rights of others from the “normal” group or the “different” group? Or are they from both? Keep in mind this shouldn’t be a story celebrating the differences but one about the struggle to understand and embrace differences as well as to alleviate any injustices manifesting from them.
In other words, don’t write me a heart-warming story about “people with differences” with a little politics on the side… I want the story to be about the struggle.
Thursday, November 11th, 2010 
Your hard work, service, and dedication are neither forgotten, nor overlooked.
My family has a strong history of military service: grandfathers on both my mother’s and father’s side of the family and more uncles than I can count have served. Some have given their lives in service, some have dedicated their lives to serving.
Pictured is my great-uncle, Walter J. Rakowski. He held the rank of Staff Sergeant and served as an Ordnance Officer (ammunition) up until the time he died in service. He served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
I often wonder, not just on days of remembrance, what life would have been like had they not made the choice to enlist. I know it wouldn’t be as good as it is.
To all U.S. Military personnel: Thank You.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Web site, History of Veteran’s Day:
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
 Rest In Peace, Uncle Walter. Rest In Peace all who have served our country and are no longer with us.
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010  A plotter is someone who makes some sort of an outline of their story before he or she sits down to write it. Sometimes this is an exhaustive document, sometimes it’s just a list of scenes or major plot points.
A “pantser” is someone who gets an idea and runs with it: no idea where he’s going, but eventually, he’ll get to the end of the story. (This is writing by the seat of the pants, hence the name.)
I’m a plotter…usually. I like to know where I’m going. It saves me tons of re-writes and I never get writer’s block.
I say “usually” because I’ve just started a novel which I’m pantsing. And it’s killing me. I can’t stand not having an outline. (I don’t know how you pantsers do it.)
The reason I’m pantsing it this time around is because I’m writing a story which is a bit outside of my comfort zone: a contemporary urban fantasy which takes place in Baltimore. I’ve got (what I think is) a fantastic idea…and I’m running with it.
What I need to do is let the idea percolate in my mind for a while before I start to write, but I’m too excited about it. I just want to get it all down on paper…but I don’t know where it’s going to end.
And that’s the problem: if I don’t know how it’s going to end, I can’t plot it out.
I’ve recently signed up for an on-line plot class to see if that could help. Unfortunately, lesson one included writing the beginning of the story (no problem!) and the end (um, problem). The class is designed to fill in the middle.
Well, I could do that on my own…
I’m toying with S. Andrew Swann’s method right now:
A four step exercise in Plot development:
1. Create a character.
2. Give this character a problem to deal with.
3. Imagine at least three different ways this particular character might possibly deal with this particular problem.
4. Pick one (or more) of these options, and imagine at least three different ways it a) wouldn’t work, and b) would make the character’s situation worse. (Short of killing off the protagonist and ending the story.)
It’s promising, and might help me out with lesson one of my online class. With some luck, I’ll have an outline by this weekend.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Once you get an idea for a story, how do you manage the plotting through to the end? What do you do if you’re not quite sure how it will end? What are some strategies or exercises you employ to form a cohesive story?
Here are some fantastic resources on plotting I’ve found while trying to hammer out my plot:
* The Butterfly Story Plot Graphic is from Scholastic. It appears it’s no longer available for download from their sight. (Alas.) If anyone has the pdf, I’d love to have a copy!
Friday, November 5th, 2010  Have I told you I’m a genealogist? I am.
I absolutely love digging up dirt on all my relatives–the dead ones, anyway. (Who doesn’t love gossip, especially family gossip? Sadly, I think this tendency contributed to my wasted career in journalism…)
When I do my research, I want to know my ancestor’s stories more than I care about names and dates. Those things are important, of course, but I’d rather hear how someone did in school than know the dates they attended. It’s people’s actions and exploits which make them interesting.
My great-grandpa, for example, spent time in Leavenworth (a prison so infamous, I didn’t have to say “Leavenworth Penitentiary,” eh?).
He ran moonshine.
He was alerted when the revenuers were in the area and warned not to speak to them. But when the men in suits knocked on the front door, he offered to sell them some white lightning.
And then they took him away.
Here’s Your Prompt: Create a character using tales from your family history. If nothing seems “big” enough (surely, there must be at least one interesting character in your family…?) then combine the exploits of two or more to make composite. If you don’t know any stories, dig through some family papers that might be stashed somewhere. Call up an older relative who might have something to share. Go to your local library (or use a service on line) to find some archives of newspapers from the area of where your family is from. Try Google.
If all else fails: borrow someone else’s family history. There’s plenty enough to share.
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010  I love idea generators.
I get a kick out of seeing what other people make out of prompts as much as I enjoy trying them out myself. (That’s one reason I create a new writing prompt every Friday. Here’s the current list of them.)
Today I came across the Brainstormer. It’s been around for a while, but slid under my radar…probably because I tend to favor prompts with more meat.
The Brainstormer is definitely terse. And yet, I find it very appealing.
Andrew Bosley created the generator from lists he’d compiled while studying visual development and illustration. He’d choose random ideas from each list to prompt him to draw.
His original idea was to present these lists visually on his Web site and let folks cut and paste them together in a dial…but instead his friend John Michel programmed it in Flash.
(At first, I thought I would have loved to print it, cut it, paste it, etc. to have this nifty generator I could hold, but in hindsight I realize that for the cat waxing that it is…)
The flash is so much cooler. And faster.
My first spin of the wheel: Revenge Fairy Butcher
Sorry: You can’t have that idea. Get Your Own. I’m already brewing a story for that.
Monday, November 1st, 2010  It looks a little like Cindy Lou Who’s house around here tonight.
Intentionally.
The Husband of Awesome™ and I gave up our couch and loveseat a few weeks ago and have been sitting on lawn furniture ever since. Not the most comfortable arrangement.
But it had to be done.
I knew that if we didn’t get rid of the couches, it would be months — perhaps a year or more — before we actually shopped for replacements. Furniture shopping: not one of my favorite things.
By getting rid of the couches, we forced our own hands, so to speak. We had to go shopping immediately, or be resigned to sittting on lawn furniture for eternity.
But before there was lawn furniture, there was emptiness, and that space allowed us to consider all kinds of possibilities to fill it.
Inevitably, this got me to thinking about writing. (What doesn’t get me to think about writing?)
Is your writing stalled? Is there something just not working in your story?
What if you examine your work in progress for scenes which aren’t doing the best job they could be doing? Are your scenes advancing the story? Are they growing the tension? Even if they’re adding to the tale, are they written in such a way that they’re not killing the pace?
What would happen if you excised that scene entirely?
What could you fill the space with? Consider your options. If you remove a scene — or even an entire plot line — what kind of possibilities does that open up?
Saturday, October 30th, 2010 Event:
Tea With The Authors
Today at 3:00pm
Constellation Books 303 Main Street, Reisterstown, Maryland
Please join me and authors Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jean Marie Ward, Vonnie Winslow Crist, and Robert E Waters at Constellation Books, Reisterstown, MD for tea, cookies, and readings/signings from their various stories from anthologies Bad-Ass Fairies 3, Dragon’s Lure, Barbarian’s at the Jumpgate, etc. (I might even read from Blood Soup, keeping with the holiday atmosphere…)
Come to this pre-Halloween event and bring your friends, ghouls, witches, warlocks, etc.
Read the Constellation Books announcement.
http://www.constellationbooks.com/event/tea-bad-ass-fairy-authors
Author Websites:
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Jean Marie Ward
Vonnie Winslow Crist
Robert E. Waters
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