Glenna Fairbanks's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T16:00:45ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbankshttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/88161774?profile=original&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=0irf0s5exkzug&xn_auth=noNEW RESOURCE FOR CRIME WRITERStag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-12-03:537324:BlogPost:2575962010-12-03T20:55:38.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
<p>For those writers who do not receive the daily email from QueryTracker, I want to share news of a new book just released and available at Borders and Amazon.com - <strong>THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior</strong>.</p>
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<p>The author, Carolyn Kaufman, whose doctorate is in clinical psychology, is a former psychotherapist and currently a full-time psychology professor at Columbus State…</p>
<p>For those writers who do not receive the daily email from QueryTracker, I want to share news of a new book just released and available at Borders and Amazon.com - <strong>THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior</strong>.</p>
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<p>The author, Carolyn Kaufman, whose doctorate is in clinical psychology, is a former psychotherapist and currently a full-time psychology professor at Columbus State Community College. She is considered an expert source in her areas of specializations of clinical/abnormal psychology and media psychology.</p>
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<p>This book, released December 1, 2010, will help writers get the psychology right for their characters whether it be behavioral or motivational or the treatment or medication. Personally, there's nothing that causes a story (writer) to lose credibility quite so much as when the story's "facts" just fly in the face of reality - unless perhaps the writer is writing sci-fi or fantasy. But saying a character has schizophrenia and then giving him symptoms that really fit bipolar disorder only shows the writer didn't do his/her homework. A book such as THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY will enable the writer to write it right.</p>
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<p>This book belongs on the desk of any mystery/thriller/police procedural writer - right next to their dictionary and thesaurus. I've already ordered mine.</p>
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<p>Carolyn is no stranger to me. I read her column regularly on QueryTracker and find a lot of valuable information. I expect this book, her first for writers, will be well worth the investment. I expect it will be a gold mine for developing both villians and vixens.</p>STARTING WITH A "BANG"tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-10-07:537324:BlogPost:2522882010-10-07T15:22:15.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
Today I have to be in a "killing" mood. Sorry. That's just the way it is. <br></br><br></br>Good thing it's rainy and windy outside. Don't think a bird would have a chance holding its own. Even the squirrels and chipmunks have gone to ground. <br></br><br></br>The water is churning on the lake. Not a duck or loon in sight. <br></br><br></br>Perfect day to write a thriller scene - an entire chapter if I can stay in that place I have to go - see and feel that must be seen and felt. It may take days. For sure, there is…
Today I have to be in a "killing" mood. Sorry. That's just the way it is. <br/><br/>Good thing it's rainy and windy outside. Don't think a bird would have a chance holding its own. Even the squirrels and chipmunks have gone to ground. <br/><br/>The water is churning on the lake. Not a duck or loon in sight. <br/><br/>Perfect day to write a thriller scene - an entire chapter if I can stay in that place I have to go - see and feel that must be seen and felt. It may take days. For sure, there is no music playing in the background, not even the soft jazz I usually have muted to keep me company. No. Murder needs no company.<br/><br/>The opening of the book was never planned to be this way. But it seems the logical way. Even though, to be honest, it gives me the creeps. <br/><br/>I know the method. I know the killer. I know his motive. And I know the victim. I know them all too well. And because I know this killer, I admit he scares me. Even though I am the writer. Even though he is "fictionalized", he's based on others who are/were real. And I do not know for sure they are now dead. Murderers don't always see a court room, and even when they do they're not always sentenced to death row, and even then...Well, you know the reality of death row. Don't we all. Except in Texas maybe.<br/><br/>Remember, I just came back from the Writers Retreat where I read from the opening chapter of my novel-in-progress. The entire chapter was read in the workshop I attended. Got fairly good reviews actually. But then the workshop leader, Patrick Quinlan, published writer of thrillers, said words to the effect, "You need to capture the reader, the publisher, with a bang. Grab them by the throat. Show your victim being killed in the first chapter." <br/><br/>Then during a break, in a one-on-one, once I had the opportunity to outline the entire plot and characters in the book, he was even more emphatic.<br/><br/>And he was right! <br/><br/>It has now been four days and a long drive home that I have danced around this. Danced up close to it and then backed away. Do all mystery/police procedural writers dance this way when they have to go back into Hell? I don't know. I just know I have. Because I know that is where I have to go. Again. <br/><br/>Today is a killing day.SEASONS CAN BRING A CHANGEtag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-09-06:537324:BlogPost:2490612010-09-06T20:18:40.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
This past week has been a challenge with temperatures in the very high 90s. I will admit, 96, 97 degree days with or without humidity drains everything out of me, creativity, happiness, the ability to even sleep or desire to eat. (And that's a hard one to whip.) <br></br><br></br>Nights don't seem to bring any respite and so, upon rising I am even more tired, if possible, than I was when falling on the bed the night before. In truth, I can not imagine living in the deep south. Just watching old film…
This past week has been a challenge with temperatures in the very high 90s. I will admit, 96, 97 degree days with or without humidity drains everything out of me, creativity, happiness, the ability to even sleep or desire to eat. (And that's a hard one to whip.) <br/><br/>Nights don't seem to bring any respite and so, upon rising I am even more tired, if possible, than I was when falling on the bed the night before. In truth, I can not imagine living in the deep south. Just watching old film noir stories like "To Kill a Mockingbird," where everyone is wiping his or her face with a handkerchief to remove the beads of perspiration, leaves me sticky and irritable. I don't know how they all managed to survive without killing off half the population during those hot, humid days that seemed to last forever. And yet, that is just what it has been like here for the last week. And we had other weeks like that earlier this summer. During such days, I find it impossible to write or work on the current manuscript. One can hardly conjure up a good murder when one just wants to kill any and every thing that moves.<br/><br/>And so along came "Earl." I know, people down along North and South Carolina had a totally different perspective than I about Earl - and rightly so. Down there, Earl was a down right unpleasant and unruly, not to mention unwelcome caller. But, by the time he came visiting up here in Maine, he'd run out of steam and he'd been pushed aside, so to speak, by some cold air giving him a good thumping from Canada. And so, when Earl arrived around 4AM Saturday morning, he had no wind left in his sails. Literally. No enough to blow out a match. Certainly nothing compared to Sunday morning. For truth.<br/><br/>But Earl did bring more than five inches of sorely needed rain to the area where I live. (Thank goodness. I can barely think what my water bill will be the next billing cycle since I have been watering the lawn and gardens for hours at a time every morning starting at 6AM until the heat said the water would be working upward instead of the other way and thereby a total waste of money.) In the process, the temperature has dropped at least twenty degrees, there's a good stiff breeze, and I can write again. I can sleep. I can fix a decent meal which will, in turn provide the energy to work on the next stage of this mystery with all of its twists and turns.<br/><br/>There is a nip in the air that smells like fall - not that I look forward to the season that follows. But fall has energy whereas hot summer days have none for me. It takes energy to plan a mystery. Energy to plan a murder. And energy to catch a killer. A good season is upon us. Now all I have to do is entice some good neighbor to bring in the dock before the water gets too cold. No place in this manuscript for a frigid body, or a dock dragged offshore by the ice that is yet to come.YESTERDAY WAS A BOUNTIFUL DAYtag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-08-21:537324:BlogPost:2472512010-08-21T22:49:07.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
Ever have the phone ring right when you're in the middle of writing an inspired passage? Me, too. The benefits of caller ID helps decide if you're going to pick up the phone or let it go to voicemail. Telemarketers usually hang up when the voicemail starts up. (I really do not like telemarketing and in spite of registering with the "NationalDoNotCall List", they still call - usually during the dinner and national news hours.)<br></br><br></br>So yesterday, when in the middle of the current novel…
Ever have the phone ring right when you're in the middle of writing an inspired passage? Me, too. The benefits of caller ID helps decide if you're going to pick up the phone or let it go to voicemail. Telemarketers usually hang up when the voicemail starts up. (I really do not like telemarketing and in spite of registering with the "NationalDoNotCall List", they still call - usually during the dinner and national news hours.)<br/><br/>So yesterday, when in the middle of the current novel (editing and polishing and wondering "What was I thinking!), the phone on the desk rings. "Caller Unknown. Location Unknown." Forget it, would be my normal reaction, but for some reason, I picked up the receiver and said, "Hello."<br/><br/>Good news sometimes arrives from "Caller Unknown" I have decided. Because that one caller was the new President of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. He was calling to let me know I have been named the recipient of the 2010 Writers Retreat Scholarship - and there is only one. YabaDabaDo!<br/><br/>Needless to say, no more work on the novel. I just wasn't in a "killer mode."<br/><br/>Maybe I should answer "Caller Unknown" calls more often. No, I think yesterday was just an exceptional day. We all need them every once in a while.MYSTERY WRITERS of AMERICA (MWA) UNIVERSITY IN BETHESDA, MD HELD AUGUST 14, 2010tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-08-17:537324:BlogPost:2467592010-08-17T22:55:44.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
The pilot program for <strong>MWA University</strong> (otherwise known as MWAU) was held at The Writers' Center on Walsh Street Saturday, August 14. Co-sponsored by MWA's national Board of Directors and the Mid-Atlantic MWA Chapter, I'm so pleased I was at the First MWAU. <strong>THIS</strong> was a learning experience unlike typical writers' conferences.<br></br><br></br>The presenters (and teachers) were <strong>Jess Lourey</strong> (author of Murder-by-the Month mysteries and a tenured professor of…
The pilot program for <strong>MWA University</strong> (otherwise known as MWAU) was held at The Writers' Center on Walsh Street Saturday, August 14. Co-sponsored by MWA's national Board of Directors and the Mid-Atlantic MWA Chapter, I'm so pleased I was at the First MWAU. <strong>THIS</strong> was a learning experience unlike typical writers' conferences.<br/><br/>The presenters (and teachers) were <strong>Jess Lourey</strong> (author of Murder-by-the Month mysteries and a tenured professor of English and sociology at a two-year Minnesota college) who spoke on <strong>After The Idea</strong>. Great handouts, too.<br/><br/>Next was <strong>Hallie Ephron</strong> (author of psychologoical suspense <em>Never Tell a Lie</em>, crime fiction book reviewer for the <u>Boston Globe</u>, and author of the Edgar-nominated <em>Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel</em>), spoke on <strong>Dramatic Structure & Plot</strong>.<br/><br/>The final morning presenter was <strong>Daniel Stashower</strong> who is a two-time Edgar award winner, and recipient of the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing. Dan's presentation on <strong>Setting & Description</strong> was not only beneficial, but his humor and comparative examples kept everyone involved.<br/><br/>After a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon session began with <strong>Donna Andrews</strong> talking about <strong>Character & Dialogue</strong>. Donna is the award-winning NYT bestselling author of sixteen novels and founding member of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of MWA.<br/><br/><strong>Reed Farrel Coleman</strong> got everyone involved with his topic of <strong>Writing as Re-Writing</strong>. It was nice to hear Reed discuss his personal process of dealing with writing and editing as a continuing process. Reed has been twice nominated for the Edgar (MWA's top annual honor) and three-time winner of the Shamus Award. Reed is an adjunct professor of English at Hofstra University.<br/><br/>The last presenter was <strong>Hank Phillippi Ryan</strong>, a Boston TV reporter who has won 26 Emmys for her investigative jurnalism. She has also been the winner of two Agatha Awards in addition to being nominated for the Anthony, Agatha and Macavity. Hank (a woman for those unfamiliar with her work) spoke on <strong>The Writing Life</strong> - a perfect closing for the day's program. One might think it difficult to be the last speaker at such an event, but Hank got everyone's attention from the "get-go" by passing out miniature chocolate candies. Her presentation was just as encouraging and energizing.<br/><br/>Anyone who hears of a MWAU being held in their area should plan to attend. At $50. for MWA members and non-members alike, it was a bargain.NOVELS CAN BE BASED ON THE IRONIES OF LABELS, IDEAS & PHRASEStag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-08-09:537324:BlogPost:2456862010-08-09T22:41:37.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">This writer has often wondered at the irony of the conflict inherent in certain pat phrases we become accustomed to over time. Phrases like "Law and Order", "Peace Officers/Keeping the Peace and Law Enforcement", "Corrections and Rehabilitation" just for a few. Think about it.<br></br><br></br>The LAW is constant changing. ORDER is rather static. Maintaining Law <em>and</em> Order is not always compatible. It is somewhat like the age-old story of "the haves and the…</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">This writer has often wondered at the irony of the conflict inherent in certain pat phrases we become accustomed to over time. Phrases like "Law and Order", "Peace Officers/Keeping the Peace and Law Enforcement", "Corrections and Rehabilitation" just for a few. Think about it.<br/><br/>The LAW is constant changing. ORDER is rather static. Maintaining Law <em>and</em> Order is not always compatible. It is somewhat like the age-old story of "the haves and the have-nots". Those who "have" will certainly want their version of <em>order</em> preserved. Those who considered themselves dis-enfranchised will be more inclined to want their version of order changed. The process of maintaining or changing is through both the evolution of the law and whatever other factors will generate more (goods, money, power, etc.) to the "have-nots", which by its very nature means less will be in the hands of the "haves." Sometimes that change is achieved peacefully through negotiation and compromise. Other times it is through rebellion and revolution. Somewhere, in the midst of that change (by whichever means) is that group of people charged with enforcing the law (and which law is often the question), - maintaining order (and whose order is the often question), - keeping the peace (among all of the people or only some is also the question) without any consideration as to where they, as individuals, stand on the issue(s). And what if they, as individuals, feel conflict with their assigned <em>duty</em>?<br/><br/>As to the phrase "Corrections and Rehabilitation" - now there is an interesting idea. I did not say reality because there is little rehabilitation in the idea of corrections. As expensive as "corrections" is ($40,000+/annually per inmate in many state institutions), rehabilitation in the short-term is more. Inmates who would be eligible for rehabilitation programs are usually working in the institution, thereby reducing the cost of running the institution. If these same inmates were in rehab programs, that work might well have to be done by paid labor. On the other hand, rehabilitation is less expensive in the long-term because these individuals stand a better chance of not re-offending, of not coming back to prison. <br/><br/>Unfortunately, rehabilitation is not considered punishment in the minds of most voters. So while the title and label and department names may include the <em>idea</em> of changing behavior through rehabilitation, budgets are not paid with ideas. They are paid with voters' tax dollars. And political campaigns are often waged on Law and Order promises. From such irony are interesting (and sometimes great) novels written.</h3>ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGStag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-24:537324:BlogPost:2433802010-07-24T16:45:02.000ZGlenna Fairbankshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GlennaFairbanks
<p>The last several months I have been submitting large sections (50+ pages, double spaced) of the first of my Susan Edmonds series for review and critique to the Writers Group. This is quite an assignment for the group since those who don't write novels usually submit short memoirs or articles of no more than six pages double spaced. Writer #2 who also writes novels used to submit thirty or so pages but she now submits 50 or so pages. No one seems to object to the size of the weekly…</p>
<p>The last several months I have been submitting large sections (50+ pages, double spaced) of the first of my Susan Edmonds series for review and critique to the Writers Group. This is quite an assignment for the group since those who don't write novels usually submit short memoirs or articles of no more than six pages double spaced. Writer #2 who also writes novels used to submit thirty or so pages but she now submits 50 or so pages. No one seems to object to the size of the weekly assignments (from us). It's a complement to our writing, I think, since the group usually says they find the reading easy and are anxious for the next section.<br/><br/>It's interesting that both she and I are within the same cycle of submitting the concluding section of our novels. My last reviewed section came back last week. Hers will be submitted this coming week and returned the following Tuesday. I'm anxious to see how she will bring hers to an end. And then there was the feedback I received this past Tuesday.<br/><br/>Since then I have been reviewing the complete manuscript (MS), making sure all the threads are complete, tying up all the ends without making the conclusion obvious before the last chapter where Susan drops the hammer in a most unexpected, but effective way. Will she finally be able to go forward to achieving her dream after everything that has happened or will the obstacles force her to take a different path? Can she forge her path without losing the support of the reader? Can I bring in surprises that the reader will say, "Aha, never saw that coming but of course - it makes sense."<br/><br/>Writing police procedurals is not so different from being a detective - finding the clues that were there all along. And connecting them when there didn't seem to be a connection when first presented. Love it. Maybe that's why I so enjoyed working in the field for all those years.<br/><br/>And then there is the other novel in the series that I've already started to prepare for the group's review while getting ready for the MWA University in mid-August. There's hardly time to make the bed these days....</p>
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