Is There Room In a Novel for the Big Questions?

From the diary of Ingrid Durtz

found in 

Temple of Tongues

(I re-named my Work In Progress)

Eyes born of a world whose air was death to breathe studied me.

The Ningyo called Ice murmured, "Ingrid Durtz, you died and re-awakened in another's body."

I suspected where this was going.  "Yes."

Her race was long-lived.  

That very fact made the prospect of death more frightening, not less, for them.  

Death in a strange land horrified them.  

Would their spirits become lost looking for their world not of this plane?

Death is a Void.  The body a fact.  

My tenant body they could see.  But what of my spirit?  What had become of it in the ether of non-existence?

She proved my supposition right.  "What do you remember of your journey from your old body to this one you now possess?"

There was a sadly obvious answer which was much like the answer to that tired jest: 

'How many World War II veterans does it take to change a light bulb? '  

"You don't know, man.  You weren't there."

But we were friends so I answered in a word she might believe but probably would not. 

"Nothing."

Her face lengthened as the faces of her race did when angry.  

"Nothing has two faces: 'Emptiness' and 'Infinite Potential.'"

I sighed.

That duality shaped her ideas of the afterlife.  

If she couldn't quantify the difference between the medical definition of life and the spiritual concept of the soul ...

at least she knew when there was no good reason for me to hold the knowledge and personality

 of a dead woman.

When nothing becomes something, it defies death.  

It put aside somewhat her fear that all awaiting her after death was the void.

I think having the people in my novel introspective and flawed makes them come alive 

and has the reader root for them to survive or at least die with dignity.

What do you think?

How do you make your characters believable?

ALEX ROSS_Brushstrokes of Life

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401220347/

In Kingdom Come, Alex Ross breathed life in a graphic novel which

depicted an older Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman

facing a future where heroism has gone darkly, violently wrong.

It presents a world much like our own today which seems to be spinning inexorably out of control.

 Ross’ painted, hyper-realistic visuals may be the most awe-inspiring in modern comics.

Like to see more of his artwork?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375422404/

Take a look into the artist's 
mind, studio, childhood, and passions:

Alex Ross is even in 
the Norman Rockwell Museum.

In his words:

"There is always something to learn from the past if you only open your mind to look at it." 

Do you have a favorite artist, 
traditional or comic?

HOW TO HOOK YOUR READER _ IWSG post

THE TITLE:

The title TUGS the eye of the browsing would-be reader on Amazon.  

It snares and entices.  

It makes your first impression.

THE COVER:

A successful book cover makes a reader 'feel' things rather than 'tell' them something.

The cover sets the mood of the book.    

If the cover is mostly dark colored with shadows and a disturbing image, 

it shows that the story inside the book must be scary.

THE FIRST PAGE:

 How to Write a Good Hook and 

Start Your Novel with a Bang! 

1.) Startle readers with the first line. 

2.) Begin at a life-changing moment. 

3.) Create intrigue about the characters. 

4.) Use a setting as the inciting incident. 

5.) Up the stakes with the first page.

6.) Introduce something ominous right away. 

 7.) Set the mood. 

8.) Make your characters sympathetic and relatable — immediately.

EXAMPLE: 

Take the first page of my next novel:

 WITHOUT MERCY OR NAME

(Did you know that hurricanes in 1947

 had no names?)

A POLISHED LIFE OF LIES

“It was a beautiful lie that Hoover had been telling himself: that he could bend his own rules to protect his sin without becoming more monstrous than those he was sworn to arrest.”

– Diary of Ingrid Durtz, 8 March, 1947

I once thought you had to be stabbed to hurt this badly.  I have come to realize that there are some memories that cut deeper than any surgeon’s scalpel.  Though our flight through the night skies was smoother than the softest velvet, I seemed to feel the aircraft shake violently from Nazi flack exploding all around us.

My memories had me back aboard the Douglas C-47 of my last mission ... the mission in which I died.  The airplane was originally designed as a passenger airplane for TWA airlines. However, it became a vital part of the Allied fleet in World War II, particularly during D-Day and missions over "The Hump,” the India to China airlift over the Himalayan mountains. 

It served in military missions for a long list of countries.  In addition to being well suited for carrying supplies, the C-47 was ideal for dropping paratroopers, with its wide rear door located between the left wing and elevator. Hence why I and my O.S.S. team members were then aboard.

That particular C-47 had been adorned with nose art done by Captain Lucas which gave the craft its much too melodramatic name: “Devil's Darlin'.”  

 Since he was my superior officer in the O.S.S. and the man I loved, I did not object … much.

Love.

The most used and least understood word in any language whether it be my native Swedish or Lucas’ American English.   

I thought I never would find a man I could love until I met Lucas.  He thought himself incapable of love, of loving me … until I died in his arms.

Life, love, death, undeath … they are never what you expect.

HOW DO YOU
HOOK YOUR READERS?

For How To Write Your 1st Chapter:
http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-to-write-great-first-chapter.html

How to Approach the Guilt, Shame & Privilege of being a White Woman

I was scrolling down my emails 
when I spotted the above article title.

WHAT THE?

All the white women with whom I work 

are too busy making ends meet, working, and raising their families to feel guilt, shame, 

and they certainly do not feel privileged!

It turns out that the article was written by a white woman 

who directs research and leads events with indigenous women.

But in the article, she wrote:

"There are assumptions that being white is doing wrong."

We are responsible for what we DO 

not what race or gender we are.

Brie Larson stated in a speech last year 

that she had no interest in hearing an opinion of a movie from 

someone who is male, pale, and middle-aged.

It seems to me as if we as a society 

have gotten lost in labeling 

folks as THEM and US.

The author of the article also wrote:

"People of all colors can create more harm than good. 

We need to all be part of this conversation"

WHAT DO YOU THINK?