Puzzling Out the Story

 

I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy putting jigsaw puzzles together. In fact, my love of puzzles is part of why I became a lawyer. The most interesting legal problems are the ones where you have to sift through the facts and arrange them into a cohesive story that creates a picture of the law.

Novel-writing is like that, too. Every piece must fit seamlessly into the story to create a complete picture. Red herrings have their place, but pieces that don’t fit must be set aside. Sometimes it’s as if two jigsaw puzzles have been put into the same box. I must separate the pieces before I can start either puzzle. Or maybe it’s just a few random pieces that found their way into that box. Either way, if they don’t fit, they should be discarded.

This needs to be done with caution, however, because there are also pieces that don’t seem to belong but do. I may have to wait until the puzzle is almost finished before I know where they go. Still, the story isn’t complete without them. Nobody enjoys looking at—or reading—a puzzle with gaps.

Writing isn’t easy, and the ideas don’t always flow sequentially. But when the pieces finally fall into place, they create a beautiful picture.

That’s why I love to write.

Writer's Block or Idea Overload?

 

After six years of heavy use, my primary laptop had slowed down considerably, especially when it came to starting up and loading programs. So after taking it in for service and still not being happy with the speed, I replaced it with a new one. I love my ASUS Vivobox, and, contrary to some people’s experiences, I have had no problems with Windows 11.

But even the best laptop can’t keep up with my brain.

Last Monday, June 13, The Wall Street Journal published an article about a Tokyo café for people with writer’s block. Apparently the owner helps them set writing goals, and being in the presence of other writers in the same situation provides additional incentive. It’s a fascinating concept, but not one I’ll be making use of.

Writer’s block has never been my problem. I’m more likely to be cursed with idea overload.

I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas running through my head, and I can’t go to sleep until I’ve gone into the office and written them down. And I currently have three manuscripts and a series of devotions in progress. Right now I am doing one devotion a day while writing the first draft of Across the Isthmus. But when I finish that, should I do the second draft of Around the Horn or the third draft of Lonely Rock?

If you invent a laptop that can keep up with the computer God gave me, I’ll be your first customer.

For now, my new one will have to do.

To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name: That is the Question

 

Actually, I answered the title question before I published my first middle-grade historical novel in 2017. I use my legal name, Kathryn Page Camp, for my adult nonfiction. But when I started writing for children, I wanted something a little less formal, so I use Kaye Page. That’s the name I went by when I was the same age as my middle-grade readers.

A few years back I heard a conference speaker say that a writer should use a different name for every genre he or she writes. Personally, I think that is going too far. Taken to its logical conclusion, someone who writes romance and mystery and fantasy would use three names even though the audiences might overlap. I do think pen names can be useful for distinguishing between audiences, however, which is part of the reason I chose to use one for my children’s books.

So why does this issue come up now? I’ve been listening to an audio-book called Little Souls by Sandra Dallas. It’s an excellent book, and I would recommend it to adults, who are its intended audience. But if I had read it as a child, it might have given me nightmares. Although the vilest action takes place offstage, the issue of child molestation is front and center.

Here’s the thing. I first discovered Sandra Dallas as the writer of middle-grade historical novels. I read the four she has published so far and enjoyed them immensely.[1] Although she didn’t start writing children’s books until after my daughter was grown, they are the kind that I would have encouraged Caroline to read (not that she needed encouragement). So after reading one or two myself to make sure they were suitable, I would have let her purchase them based on the author’s name alone.

The description of Little Souls makes it clear that it has adult protagonists, which is normally the mark of a book written for adults. I don’t remember what Caroline was reading when she was twelve, but some twelve-year-old girls read books with adult protagonists, such as Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice. And although Caroline was mature for her age, Little Souls would have come as a shock.

This is in no way a criticism of Sandra Dallas, who may not have even thought about it. In any event, I have no evidence or even any reason to believe that anyone has been misled. I will continue to read her books and to recommend them, with the caveat that children should make sure they are the audience before picking one up

Still, I’m glad that I chose to use a pen name for my children’s books.

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[1] The Quilt Walk; Hardscrabble; Someplace to Call Home; and Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky. All four are middle-grade fiction and suitable for those readers.

Lines of Courage

 

I don’t normally do book reviews on my blog, but I recently read a new release by one of my favorite authors of middle-grade historical fiction.

Amid a spate of World War II books, Jennifer A. Nielsen has set her latest during the previous world war, beginning with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and continuing until Germany’s surrender. It follows two boys and three girls from five different countries: Austria-Hungary, England, France, Russia, and Germany. They are preteens when the war begins, and their lives intersect in unpredictable ways during it.

This is a book about war, and it shows the horrors in a way that will grip middle-grade readers without overwhelming them. Yet there are no enemies in Lines of Courage. The protagonists and the more prominent adults are each shown with their faults, but the story makes it clear that they are simply imperfect human beings like the rest of us.

As with Nielsen’s other historical novels, this one is well-researched and stays true to the historical facts. It teaches history in a way that most textbooks do not, showing us how history affected real people.

So if you want your children to learn about World War I, get them Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen.

I highly recommend it.

Worshiping Together

 

Thursday was Ascension Day. My church united with the other LCMS churches in our district for a joint service, and I sang in the combined choir.

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (ESV) That’s exactly what happened on Thursday night. The five congregations that were represented joined together in singing the liturgy (Divine Service 3 for my LCMS friends) and six very joyful hymns, including several of my favorites.

I love to sing, and the entire service filled me with joy. But the real joy didn’t come from the music or the sermon or even from taking communion. The real joy comes from knowing that my Savior lives and will return again one day, and that I am with Him now and for all eternity.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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The image at the top of this post is Rembrandt’s “The Ascension,” painted as part of a Passion Cycle commissioned by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Oil paint darkens over the years, so I lightened the image to show the detail better. It is in the public domain because of its age.

Prejudice vs. Reality

 

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, some of the people who joined the California gold rush took a route across the Isthmus of Panama. My current work-in-progress follows that path.

Once the gold seekers reached the eastern shore of Panama, the next leg of their trip was up the Chagres River. The vast majority seem to have hired canoes with native crews, as each of the men in my collection of journals did. So it makes sense for my protagonist’s family to do the same.

But here’s the problem. The journals give the impression that the natives were untrustworthy and lazy. At first glance, it appears to be a stereotype fueled by prejudice. But maybe it isn’t. The natives’ behavior is a common theme and the narratives include concrete details. In some cases, the natives weren’t anywhere to be found at the time contracted for departure. In other cases, they left during a rest stop and had to be rounded up before proceeding. Sometimes it even took an extra payment to get them to provide the services they had promised. The native crews did eventually get the men to their destination, but it was a frustrating experience for the travelers.

So here’s my dilemma. Good historical fiction portrays reality, and the reality appears to be that the natives had a different work ethic than the American and European gold seekers. If I describe the situation the way the journals do, I open myself to a charge of prejudice. If I don’t, I open myself to a charge of altering history. I can’t win.

Or maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems. My protagonist is a twelve-year-old workaholic, and I can play into that. My current solution to the dilemma is to have her father contract for a canoe with a native crew the night before with the agreement that they will leave first thing in the morning, but they don’t show up until the afternoon. When Lizzie complains to Pa, he says the natives have a different culture than the Americans, who are always impatient and uptight. Then he tells Lizzie that she can learn something from the natives because she needs to relax more.

That solution may change with subsequent drafts, but I won’t sacrifice historical reality to sanitize my story.

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The image at the top of this post shows an 1850 oil painting by Charles Christian Nahl titled The Isthmus of Panama on the Height of the Chagres River. It is in the public domain in the United States because of its age.

Journaling Across the Isthmus

 

As I’ve mentioned before, diaries, journals, and other personal experience accounts are my favorite research materials. I’ve found a number of journals documenting the trip across the Isthmus of Panama on the way to the California gold fields in the mid-1800s, but there’s a problem.

All eight accounts were written by men who traveled without their families.

There are enough references to assure me that women took the Isthmus route, too, but if they kept diaries or wrote letters about the experience, I haven’t been able to find them. That’s not really surprising since the vast majority of gold seekers took the overland trails across the prairies and mountains of North America, and the percentage of women and children traveling that route was much higher than it was for the other two main routes, including the one across the Isthmus. But women generally have a different perspective than men, so it would be nice to hear their side of the story.

It isn’t as much of a problem for me when writing the ocean part of the trip. Ships varied, and those that carried passengers usually had separate sleeping accommodations for women and families. So privacy probably wasn’t an issue.

It was for the trip across the Isthmus, however. It’s amazing how similar the experiences of the eight men were, sleeping crowded together in crude one-room buildings—or in even more primitive conditions when the “hotels” were crowded or unbearable. As far as I can tell, the women would have had to sleep right alongside them, to turn away when the men relieved themselves, and to find their own spot in the jungle—complete with snakes and fire ants—where they wouldn’t be disturbed when they took care of their own needs. I’d love to know their thoughts, but I can only infer them.

Unfortunately, my protagonist has to live with those conditions. I can imagine how she would feel, but I’d rather have confirmation from women who were there.

Still, I’ll figure it out.

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The image at the top of this post shows a painting called Crossing the Isthmus. A.D.O. Browere painted it around 1858, and it is in the public domain in the United States because of its age.