The Ambler Warning

Video of a reading of Motherless Soul.

I was at an art opening about a month ago, talking to someone about books we've read and enjoyed. She mentioned that she was a fan of Robert Ludlum. I haven't read any of his books, so I thought I might try him. I searched for an audio version to fill my commuting time and found The Ambler Warning. I was a couple of chapters into it before I discovered online that Robert Ludlum had not completed the manuscript for this book when he died in 2001. His estate hired a ghost writer to complete the work then published it as a novel by the well known author.

I'm not sure what credits are on the book jacket. I downloaded it from the NC Digital Library and only saw an image of the front. But my understanding is that the hired writer is not allowed to publicize his connection to this project. I see two problems with that. First of all there are readers, such as me, who are receiving something that's different from what they expect. Secondly, the ghost writer isn't going to take the same level of pride in the final work that he would take if his name was on it.

The other question that came to mind when I discovered the way this book was written was What would I like done with my manuscripts if I were to die? It's an interesting question. The idea of a ghost writer sounds horrible to me, but I would like whatever ideas I was working on to find a life of their own. There are excellent writers in my writers group and I've met some great ones through my publisher, All Things That Matter Press. I wonder how many writers leave instructions for their work in their wills.

I am about halfway through The Ambler Warning now and so far the beginning of the book is its strongest part. But it still has been an interesting read (listen) and well worth finishing. I intend to wait awhile then try another Ludlum book. Next time it will be one he actually wrote.

Motherless Soul and the subject of Loss

Last Sunday my book, Motherless Soul, was a topic of a discussion at Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. I was to lead that talk, which was held after the Sunday service in the fellowship room. It's a group that meets once a week to talk about subjects as varied as astronomy, local politics or art. So there was no trouble having a book that covers reincarnation fit in, even if it isn't normally considered a Christian subject. Almost anything of interest suits the group.

I knew I would read from the book, then lead a discussion about it. But I was a little concerned because I would be talking to a group that contained people who had read my book and people who had not. So I decided to focus on the subject of loss. The book is about an elderly woman who lost her mother when she was two. She approaches a hypnotist to help her pull out memories from those early years, so she can get to know the woman who gave her life.

I read a section from Chapter Two where the woman, Emily Vinson, is reflecting back on her life as a young child. I showed how she dealt with her loss by throwing herself into her chores and by rejecting relationships with friends. Then I talked about the qualities that made her believable. Her father had thrown himself into his work after her mother had died. Emily both resented and copied those actions. She also had dolls whom she had made into friends. She spent long periods of time talking to those dolls, mostly about how wonderful her mother was.

After the reading, the talk turned the way I had hoped it would. Loss is something we all go through, so the subject became about both my book and their real life experiences. There were a number of suggestions about how I can get more people to read Motherless Soul. There was one that struck a chord with me. We had talked about how I had discovered that people who are going through very hard times seem to find comfort in its theme. This friend suggested that I donate a copy to our local hospice. I've contacted them and I plan to mail it this week. Perhaps my book has found a new purpose.

Accuracy in the little things

Video of a reading of Motherless Soul.

An article in a writers' magazine made a point that stuck with me over many years of putting words on paper. The author had started reading a short story in which the protagonist, who was driving through Manhattan, turned onto Fifth Ave and drove uptown. That author tossed the story down and never bothered to finish it, because people who know New York know that Fifth Ave is one way downtown. In truth, a story can be about a man being chased by space aliens and giant fish people, but if that same man drives uptown on Fifth Ave. readers will think the writer is not writing realistically.

I just finished The Good Guy by Dean Koontz and I had a similar problem with that book. It is the story of man who, while sitting alone in a bar, gets caught in the middle of a contract between a hit man and an envoy from a group paying for that killer's services. This type of book almost demands that it be unrealistic. There are shoot outs and escape scenes and times when both the hit man and the people running from him take wild guesses that always turn out to keep the conflict going. I can live with all that. Characters that are almost super heroes (or super villains) are part of what makes that genre interesting.

But one scene in the book bothered me too much. A character was home alone with his dog, Zoe. The dog reacted as if something was wrong. She was pacing around and sniffing at both the front and back doors, but she wouldn't go out into the yard. She was clearly scared. So the man took his dog to his car, drove down the block, and watched his own house. After some time, about ten or fifteen minutes, a car of suspicious men arrived and broke into his home.

Dogs can hear things that we don't hear and through their sense of smell they are aware of an entire world of information that we can't know. They pick up signs from our actions that allow them to determine if we're planning to leave a house soon or if when we go up a set of stairs we plan to come right back down or stay up there for awhile. They can tell if there is a stray dog or deer running around in back of their homes. And some can even tell if a person has cancer, when that person doesn't know it. But, unless they have some odd form of animal ESP, they cannot know the future. They cannot tell their owners, "Watch out! Someone is going to be here within the next half hour and you don't want to be here when that happens."

A good story can be ruined if the writer isn't careful about the little details.

Sunday in the gallery with Toni

Last Sunday was Valentine's Day. It was also the opening for a show of pastels by the Pastel Society of North Carolina. So Toni and I celebrated the holiday with wine and cheese and a chance to enjoy some spectacular art. The show is in the Ambleside Gallery on Elm Street in Greensboro and will be there through March 14. It is a lovely gallery in a wonderful section of town that is filled with other galleries, coffee shops, clubs and a few theaters.

Toni had two pieces in the show this year. The picture I've posted above is one of those. It's part of her Orchard Apples series, number 8 to be specific. There were landscapes (Toni's second piece was one of those) and still lifes as well as a picture of a sea turtle and one of a blue heron. All the work was executed wonderfully.

I always have such a great time at these openings. I love to talk with the artists and hear descriptions of what they went through to produce their work. Every piece seems to have a story and all the members of PSNC are remarkably talented.

After the opening some of us went out for dinner and shared a few more stories. It was great way to spend a Sunday and a Valentine's Day.

The Authors Show

Video of a reading of Motherless Soul


There were times when I heard commentators talking about "living in cyberspace" that I felt they were over hyping the technology. After all isn't email just a quicker way to write a letter? That was before I had Motherless Soul accepted for publication by All Things That Matter Press and I began the process of marketing a book in the internet age. I am amazed by the amount of resources that are available for people interested in writing or reading the works of new writers. There are also social networks that are more than a group of people telling each other what they are planning for dinner that night. And there are different types of media that allow people to focus on what they want to hear. The Authors Show is one of those. I'm scheduled to interview with
Don McCauley next week (Saturday Feb 20). Our talk will be recorded and be available for my friends and readers to listen to whenever they choose.

These cyber groups of writers and readers are people who share my interest, but everyone has a place out there. Art is my wife's main interest. She can share critiques over the web and visit the websites for most of her friends. My brother had some health issues a few years back and needed a stem cell transplant. He and his wife use the internet to locate others in similar situations and provide support. It goes on and on.

I guess there is a down side to the ability to meet others who are similar to ourselve, since we may limit our exposure to new ideas. But in my opinion the up side of sharing our work and our dreams greatly outweighs that.

The birds at our feeder

Video of a reading of Motherless Soul.

The last couple of weekends have been cold and snowy. They were great days for writing and painting. But Toni and I took some time off from our work to enjoy the birds at our feeder. I love the way they look against the white. The black you see in some of these shots is a half sheet of plywood covered with sunflower seeds. In the cold weather we put out more seed than we can fit in the feeders, so we leave it on a board.




Jays and cardinals are our most common guests, but we get a few smaller birds as well, wrens and chickadees I believe.




Of course, birds aren't the only ones that show up at the feeder. We enjoy the squirrels and rabbits just as much. Sometimes the squirrels will feed from the feeders instead of the ground. It's amazing to watch them eating while hanging by their toes.





Even though we're behind a window in a house that's about thirty yards away, the birds still take off if we move a little too quickly.








But they come back.










I guess that's enough action from our yard. I've got to get back to writing.

Publishing and J. D. Salinger

Video of a reading of Motherless Soul.


In the movie Field of Dreams Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner's character) was instructed by the voices he heard to seek out Terence Mann (a reclusive author) and take the writer to a baseball game. The book the film was based on, Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella, didn't pull punches. In the novel the author's name was J. D. Salinger.

The reclusive nature of this great writer is fascinating to me. Salinger was quoted in the NY Times in 1974 as saying, "Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."

I can identify with beauty of the relationship between a writer and his or her words, but if that's where it stops then a great deal is missing. Although most of my writing is fiction, it is always an expression of my thoughts and emotions. I want my words heard and contemplated. A friend of my is halfway through my book (Motherless Soul published by All Things That Matter Press) and everyday she comes to me to talk about one of my characters, Michael. Novels should be for the readers more than they are for the writer. It's as if I am a cook and my readers are the diners. I work hard to make my words as perfect as possible, but the readers are the ones who consume them.

Hopefully they appreciate the flavor of my thoughts.