Getting the end right

If you're a writer (or if you've ever written), you can probably appreciate the opening scene from "Romancing the Stone" where the author cries as she composes the final lines of her book. One sure clue that you've got the end "right" is that emotional surge, usually resulting in a tear and a sniffle, that says you're finally there.
By contrast the stories with incomplete or poor resolutions leave you feeling unsatisfied, like you want to go back to the manuscript and read it again hoping it might turn out right the second time.
I don't want to give away the endings of my novels by citing samples here, but I will show the end of a scene that I particularly liked. This comes from the conclusion of Chapter 1 in AT THE RAINBOW'S END, second book in the Rainbow Rock series. Alexa was on her way to Burbank to interview for a position as a screenwriter when her car broke down. She missed her opportunity and has just learned it will be several weeks before the studio can interview her again. Kurt McAllister is speaking as this scene begins:

"I own a business and we could use some help around the place—simple things, like answering phones and such. Since you're going to be looking for a job anyway, why don't you just stick around here until it's time to head for Burbank? Mom will enjoy your company out at the farm and I can use your help around the shop. What do you think?"

"What kind of shop?" Alexa asked, still wary.

"Rainbow Productions. My sister-in-law and I make instructional videotapes and documentaries."

Alexa smiled. To Kurt, it looked like dawn rising over the desert. "Really? You make movies out of Holbrook, Arizona?"

"Well, yeah." Kurt decided to play his trump card. "You're in movies too, aren't you?" She nodded. "You're an actress?"

Alexa felt her breath catch in her throat, then let it out in a surprised giggle. "Me? Acting? I'm scared to death of cameras!"

"Then..." The unspoken question sat between his eyebrows.

"I'm a writer," she said, tipping up her chin. "With a little luck, by mid-June I'll be a screenwriter."

Kurt blessed the Fates as he smiled back at her. "Alexa," he announced, "we do have something to talk about."

AT THE RAINBOW'S END, together with the other Rainbow Rock books, is now an e-book, currently available for Kindle, Nook (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/at-the-rainbows-end-susan-aylworth/1001096240?ean=2940014532761), and every other type of e-reader or computer. Enjoy!

Susan's Adventures in Twitter-Land

When I first became a published writer, publishers did publicity. Publishers arranged for interviews, advertised books, and saw to distribution. But the world has changed.

When I reentered the publishing field after a ten-year hiatus to raise a family and grow my "day job" career, everyone told me I needed a blog, a tribe and a Twitter account. I said something like "Huh?"

But I paid attention and tried to learn. I'm learning to Tweet. I have this blog that gets something on it every now and then, weekly or occasionally or whenever, and I'm trying to learn how to use Triberr, building a "platform" and "tribe" of my own. It isn't pretty.

One thing I've learned: the Brave New World of publishing may not require any more talent than the old world (and very possibly less), but it certainly requires plenty of bravery. ;-)


A Short Excerpt for the Week:
From Book 6 of the Rainbow Rock series, THE TROUBLE WITH RAINBOWS:

Cretia breathed deeply of the rain-laden air. "You know what the trouble with rainbows is?"

"Huh?" Joe furrowed his brow.

"The trouble with rainbows," she repeated airily.

"No, I guess I don't." He waited.

"You can't predict them." Cretia's eyes watched the bow of color in the sky. "We all know what causes them, and we can see the elements coming together and guess that maybe there'll be a rainbow soon, but nobody ever knows exactly when or where we'll see it."

Joe stared at his sister, wondering when she had lost her mind. She had seemed fairly sane this morning.

"They're kind of like love, really," Cretia went on.

Joe groaned. She hadn't changed the subject at all.

"No, really. Think about it, Joe. We can see two attractive people coming together and think, 'Hmm. Maybe there'll be a match soon,' but no one ever knows for sure until it happens." This time her eyes were following Angelica, whose silvery laughter wafted toward them on the breeze. "We can never predict when love will come into our lives—either the first or the second time."

The six books in the Rainbow Rock series are all available as ebooks at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and a half-dozen other ebook sites.

Setting as Character, Part II

Last week we looked at setting as character and I included passages from the first three Rainbow Rock novels, set in a fictional town near the Painted Desert, northeastern Arizona. Welcome back for the next three books.

From Book 4:  A LITTLE NIGHT RAINBOW

It was May twenty-ninth, almost summer, yet the blue-gray thunderheads that towered above the high plateaus of the Little Colorado River basin warned of a winter storm. Looks like it might snow, Cretia thought as she entered the offices of Rainbow Productions, the independent video company that had become her second home. The thought was not the least unsettling. It had snowed on the night she graduated high school some thirteen years before—the only graduate to go through ceremonies with a husband and three-month-old daughter in the audience. There was often a maverick storm late in the year before summer settled in.

From Book 5:  A RAINBOW IN PARADISE

Eden pulled up behind the yellow school bus, waiting while it disgorged a half-dozen bedraggled teens in blue jeans, T-shirts, and plaid flannel. When it moved on, she passed ,and  then turned on the gravel driveway that led to Rainbow Rock Farms. I'd forgotten how early school starts around here, she thought, or how hot the weather still is the first week or two.

In the few weeks since her last visit, the daily high temperatures had dropped by only a few degrees, but a shift in the direction of the afternoon breeze hinted at a turn in the weather. Within another month, they'd likely have their first snowfall.

Book 6,  THE TROUBLE WITH RAINBOWS, narrows its scope to one garden in this passage:

Joe had never been in the back of the Lunsford home. He had no idea what he'd been missing. While the front yard was a wide expanse of lawn, with a few leafy trees strategically planted for shade and privacy, the back was a paradise, a large and lovely garden of Eden. Comfortable pathways wound between raised and path-level planting beds, and decorative vegetables mingled with flowering plants—bean vines on six-foot trellises standing side by side with six-foot or taller hollyhocks.

Finally, a bonus. My first book, BENEATH SIERRA SKIES, is set in Chico, California. Here's how it begins:

       A breeze as soft and warm as an embrace carried the blossoms that fell from the almond trees. A preview of spring had come to the Sacramento Valley, and Robin reveled in it, lifting her chin into the breeze and tossing her red-gold hair. She’d lived in Chico long enough to know winter would return before spring finally came, but these lovely days in February gave her patience.

In case you're thinking it: You're right. I've always liked to think of the setting as another character in the story.

BENEATH SIERRA SKIES and all six Rainbow Rock books are now available as e-books for Kindle, Nook, Apple and other devices. During the Columbus Day weekend, the six Rainbow Rock books are on sale for 99 cents each. Enjoy!

 

 

Setting as Character

Think of any great novel you've loved and you'll think immediately of the setting. Would Cathy and Heathcliff be the same without the moors? Rhett and Scarlett without the Civil War South? Often the setting is as much a part of the story--almost a character in it--as your major characters are. It was with that in mind that I set my Rainbow Rock books in a tiny, fictional town near the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona. Here are a few of the passages that hint at my setting as character:

From Book 1: RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME

"Oh!" Meg jumped as lightning crashed overhead. She swerved slightly, but fought her sports car back into her lane. July had come to the high plateau and with it, a typical afternoon thundershower. To Margaret Taylor, who hadn't seen the plateau for years, the storm was anything but typical. Lightning danced along the ridges and shimmered through the valley of the Little Colorado River, sending thunder rumbling in its wake. Giant thunderheads loomed thousands of feet above the red sandstone cliffs, pierced here and there by shafts of yellow light that brought heaven to earth.


From Book 2: AT THE RAINBOW'S END

A stiff breeze scoured the desert floor, catching powdery snowflakes and drifting them against the roots of the greasewood and creosote bushes. Kurt McAllister watched the would-be storm with tepid interest, idly reminded of the way his mother used to sift powdered sugar onto freshly baked gingerbread. 

From Book 3: DON'T PROMISE ME RAINBOWS

The farm lay quiet, fields worked and turned or hayed and mowed or resting fallow under a snowy blanket, animals anticipating their evening feed and a night's rest. High desert sunsets were almost always spectacular and now, during the dawn of the year, they came early, the sky often fully dark by five o'clock. Chris glimpsed the gathering sunset.

Next week I'll share glimpses from books 4, 5, and 6. Of course you can beat me to it. All six Rainbow Rock books are currently available for Kindle, Nook, Apple devices, other e-readers or your home computer. The first book is currently FREE.

Grow Old Along With Me

This past weekend created an interesting opportunity for the dh and me. We went to a small party, a quasi-reunion for members of his high school graduating class, at the home of one of his former classmates. It was eye-opening.

Before I continue, let me mention that I've attended ONE (and only one) reunion for my class.We raised our children a couple of states away from where I went to school and we seldom get back to the area. Not only that, but my parents had taken their family (the sibs and me) to that part of the world just as I started high school so I had only those few years in common with the other graduates. I've stayed in touch, or regained contact with a few close friends. 

For my dh, Roger, the circumstances are quite different. His parents lived in the same home in San Francisco from the time they brought him home from the hospital until well after he had graduated. And although he had I have moved around a little, we've been well settled for most of the last four decades in the same lovely town which is only a four-hour drive, depending on traffic, from his high school. We've seen these folks a few times. 

Still, it's unsettling. We walk into this group of Roger's high school pals and see . . . old people. Of course WE aren't old, but somehow, all those other people our same age have gotten to be quite ancient. 

There were four common topics where everyone seemed to find common ground: (1) The San Francisco 49ers, who were doing so well until they dropped this weekend's game to the Vikings. We're still counting on them to be championship material this season.  (2) Where is so-and-so and what have you heard of him/her lately? This topic largely left me out since I didn't know any of their high school friends. (3) How many children and grandchildren do you have? Do you see them often? Do you have pictures?  I did well here, since we have an impressively large family.

(4) The final topic was something I could reluctantly discuss with ease. Everyone seemed to be talking about aches and pains, anticipated surgeries, recent surgeries, loss of eyesight, loss of hearing, loss of friends who have already passed on too early. We limped up to one another, straightened our glasses and chatted, often loudly. 

It was enlightening. It was sad. It was a reminder that Roger and I planned to grow old together. It looks like we're doing fairly well. 

Susan's Ebooks are available for Kindle, Nook, Apple devices and for all other e-readers and computers at Kobo, OverDrive, and Smashwords. The first book in the six-book Rainbow Rock series is currently being offered FREE.