The Time has Come

by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73

The Youghiogheny River

By george, I think I've got it.

If you've been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you know that I've had random, episodic scenes coming to me for, oh, the last month or so. The story has, I think, finally come to together.

It is time to move Jim Duncan and Sally Castle from the world of short fiction to the novel. My main project for October will be plotting and writing the synopsis/summary for the first Laurel Highlands Mysteries novel, tentatively titled Every Other Monday is Murder.

I've been reading a lot of Don Maass as the lead-in to this project. Honestly, I feel a little intimidated. Who am I to think I can actually pull this off? But when you wake up with scenes for a story running through your head, well, it's a story begging to be written, right? And I get the feeling that this one is bigger than a short story.

So, here I go. Wish me luck. And check in at the end of October to ask if I'm done (if nothing else, knowing people will be checking up on me will keep me honest).

Being a Stereotype Doesn't Make it Untrue

by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73

One of the reviews for Power Play: Hero's Sword Vol. 1 mentioned that the conflict between the main character, Jaycee, and the "popular" cheerleaders was a bit stereotypical. When I read that, I kind of stepped back. Was I stereotyping? Maybe. Perhaps I was relying on my own memories of middle school a little too much. Maybe it's become sort of an overused trope of writing.

For the non-writers, a trope is technically using words in anything other than their literal sense, such as metaphors. But Wikipedia says, "Since the 1970s, the word has also come to mean a commonly recurring literary device, motif, or cliche." (emphasis mine)

So, using tropes is not necessarily bad, but using cliches isn't the best writing. I mean, who wants to have worn out, uninspiring prose based on overused, trite ideas?

So I began thinking: Maybe I need to backtrack here a little. Maybe things have changed since I was mocked for not wearing Jordache jeans (you children of the 80s will understand that).

Remember that saying? The more things change...

My daughter is almost Jaycee's age. Normally a strong, independent child, this week was, well, not pretty. See, the girls at school are taunting, dare I say bullying her. And whereas boys are bad enough, at least they are physical. You can hit the bully back. Girls are sneaky. It's all verbal. "Those jeans look dorky," or "you're so ugly," or "you're so lame because you don't have an iPhone" (I am not making that last one up - seriously).

And I'm right back to Jaycee and her cheerleader adversaries.

What I realized is that it may be a trope, and maybe it's a little stereotypical and cliched. But it's still true. This garbage still goes on. Kids, boys and girls, still find themselves outside the sphere of "cool" for the stupidest of reasons.

Which tells me that Hero's Sword is real and it sends a message that is still relevant. Even if you aren't "cool," you're all right. It's okay not to be like the "cool" kids. Find your identity. Claim your space. And don't be ashamed of it.

That's Jaycee's journey. That's the journey that my daughter, and the thousands of kids like her, are taking right now (okay, across the US it's summer vacation, but you get my point).

They say that for your writing to be good, you have to feel passionately about it. After this week, I'm feeling rather passionate about Jaycee. I've got the final scene of the series written already. I know where I want Jaycee to go. I hope I can get her there in (relatively) one piece, especially emotionally.

To quote Donald Maass, I'm not sure Hero's Sword is going to change the world. but if it makes one kid feel better about standing his or her ground and saying, "Hey, you can't make me feel bad about myself, bully," well, I'll consider it a job well done.

Photo courtesy of nist6ss; used under Creative Commons.

Pennwriters 2013 in Review

by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73

Last weekend I attended my first ever Pennwriters conference (first for me, that is). Sorry, I don't have a lot of pictures. I was too busy having my mind blown.

There were definitely things I was looking forward too. For one, I was going to get to (finally!) meet Twitter friend Jenna Bennett. And I would be able to (finally!) meet one of my remote Sisters in Crime friends and a fabulous editor, Ramona DeFelice Long. And, of course, I'd be able to hang with all of my local SinC friends as well.

And learn stuff. Don't forget learning stuff.

And boy, did I learn stuff! Lots of panels on branding and marketing. A fun session on bladed weapons to start things off (I picked the right sword for my Hero's Sword series - yes!). An in-character panel, where I learned I really do understand Jim Duncan, my PSP trooper hero of the Laurel Highlands series (and yes, pretending to be a 35-year old man is a challenge).

I really wanted to attend the Thursday pre-conference session with Donald Maass. But there's, you know, that money thing. But I did buy his books - and got them autographed. He's a charming, funny guy.

I had a fabulous dinner Saturday, talking to all my SinC sibs and visiting with the always lovely Hank Phillippi Ryan - and Hank, we're all right about that title business.

And I met people - oh boy, did I meet people! I won't even bother to try and list them by name, because I will forget someone and feel horrible. That's just the way it is. But I met two wonderful ladies from the Buffalo area, where I grew up (finally - people who understand that snowfall in "Buffalo" is all too often actually in the suburbs!). Had breakfast on Sunday with some fine folks from eastern PA. Shuttled two agents from the Amtrak station Thursday, before the conference, to the Marriott. I did behave myself - I didn't meet them at the station with manuscript in hand. I do think I scared them a little bit merging from Liberty Ave. onto the Ft. Pitt Bridge. But hey, that's Pittsburgh, right? Talked with Jason Jack Miller and wife, Heidi Ruby Miller, who are funny and friendly. (And, thank you again, Jason for talking me off the ledge when I thought I was going to have to start my digital footprint all over again!)

I learned that writers, of all types and genres, are fabulous people. But you knew that, right?

But I suppose the most powerful moment of the conference was Friday night's keynote by Donald Maass. Two things he said:

1. In the 21st century, life changing books will be written.
2. This is our (writers) century - because we're going to write it.

Oh. My.

I suppose Friday and Saturday could have, and maybe should have, been spent mingling and schmoozing. But I couldn't. I went back to my room and finished my current round of revisions on Wedding Bells: Hero's Sword Vol. 3. On Sunday, I finished reading Revision & Self-editing. And then on Tuesday, I plotted a new Laurel Highlands story. I was so fired up and ready to write, I just couldn't do anything else.

Will any of these stories change the world? I don't know. I hope I at least entertain, if nothing else. But you can't change the world with a blank page. You can't entertain unless you tell the story. Learning is important - critical, even - but unless you put pen to paper (or pixel to screen) what's the point?

Will people be inspired, entertained, changed by what I write? I don't know. But doggone it, after last weekend, I'm going to try.

Because if I don't try, really, what's the point?