Mothers and Daughters
Mother's Day is around the corner. So is the release of INVISIBLE GIRL under my pen name, Tess Hudson, for MIRA. And what does one have to do with the other, you ask?
Well, for me, most of my books are about the motley assortment of criminal types inhabiting the world of my heroine. Father-daughter relationships are complex. Brother-sister relationships are so close as to be mildly creepy (or VERY creepy, as in THE ROOFER). But I've never written about moms and daughters.
I know overbearing mothers are a stock character in chick lit, but I never went there, maybe because my own mom is nothing like said stock character. In my darker works, nine times out of ten, I "off" the mom before the book even opens. I know, an analyst would have a friggin' field day.
But in Invisible Girl, my editor . . . my brilliant editor . . . gently suggested I "try" just this once, to add a mother into the fabric of the story. I had already offed the mother, you see. I thought the idea was preposterous. But she's my editor and I trust her, so I gave it a shot.
Now, again, I have to say (and this is not a case of she doth protest too much), I really, really like my mom. She's my best friend, we talk every day, we laugh together, she's a very smart, honest woman with common sense and a down-to-earth way of looking at life. But I suppose in each writer are twists and turns and pathways we don't always turn down. Why? I don't know. Maybe the archetypes we choose are the "easy" ones for us. I love my father, but he's definitely more difficult for me to understand than mom. So maybe the archetype of the complex father was just a crutch for me.
All I can say is it was an adventure to turn down this OTHER path, this one loaded with vines, and dark and untrodden. Mothers and daughters? What could I write about? Turns out 300 pages worth! I adored the process. It was something new, something revelatory.
Invisible Girl is about a woman whose father has always been a ghost of sorts, a figure in the CIA (maybe . . . maybe not), a criminal . . . dark and unknowable with secrets from his time in Vietnam. Her mother and father's love story--and the tragic secret the couple share--form a mystery that could kill my heroine, Maggie. She has to piece together the story of an orphanage, Operation Babylift, corrupt politics, murder and rape and a massacre, before she and her brother both end up dead. Her mother is a Buddhist who speaks to spirits, a woman who clearly communes with something invisible. But at its heart, the book is about mothers and daughters and the absolutely unbreakable bond--even from beyond the grave--they have.
So it seems fitting I talk about the book as Mother's Day approaches. But even more, I think of the book as a lesson. Sometimes, as writers, it's the easy way out to return to themes and archetypes we use again and again. I do it because I love them, but I do it because writing about them comes effortlessly for me. Not this time. I challenged myself. My editor challenged me. And I'm a better writer for it.
How about you? Anything in your wip that is causing you to stretch your wings?
Well, for me, most of my books are about the motley assortment of criminal types inhabiting the world of my heroine. Father-daughter relationships are complex. Brother-sister relationships are so close as to be mildly creepy (or VERY creepy, as in THE ROOFER). But I've never written about moms and daughters.
I know overbearing mothers are a stock character in chick lit, but I never went there, maybe because my own mom is nothing like said stock character. In my darker works, nine times out of ten, I "off" the mom before the book even opens. I know, an analyst would have a friggin' field day.
But in Invisible Girl, my editor . . . my brilliant editor . . . gently suggested I "try" just this once, to add a mother into the fabric of the story. I had already offed the mother, you see. I thought the idea was preposterous. But she's my editor and I trust her, so I gave it a shot.
Now, again, I have to say (and this is not a case of she doth protest too much), I really, really like my mom. She's my best friend, we talk every day, we laugh together, she's a very smart, honest woman with common sense and a down-to-earth way of looking at life. But I suppose in each writer are twists and turns and pathways we don't always turn down. Why? I don't know. Maybe the archetypes we choose are the "easy" ones for us. I love my father, but he's definitely more difficult for me to understand than mom. So maybe the archetype of the complex father was just a crutch for me.
All I can say is it was an adventure to turn down this OTHER path, this one loaded with vines, and dark and untrodden. Mothers and daughters? What could I write about? Turns out 300 pages worth! I adored the process. It was something new, something revelatory.
Invisible Girl is about a woman whose father has always been a ghost of sorts, a figure in the CIA (maybe . . . maybe not), a criminal . . . dark and unknowable with secrets from his time in Vietnam. Her mother and father's love story--and the tragic secret the couple share--form a mystery that could kill my heroine, Maggie. She has to piece together the story of an orphanage, Operation Babylift, corrupt politics, murder and rape and a massacre, before she and her brother both end up dead. Her mother is a Buddhist who speaks to spirits, a woman who clearly communes with something invisible. But at its heart, the book is about mothers and daughters and the absolutely unbreakable bond--even from beyond the grave--they have.
So it seems fitting I talk about the book as Mother's Day approaches. But even more, I think of the book as a lesson. Sometimes, as writers, it's the easy way out to return to themes and archetypes we use again and again. I do it because I love them, but I do it because writing about them comes effortlessly for me. Not this time. I challenged myself. My editor challenged me. And I'm a better writer for it.
How about you? Anything in your wip that is causing you to stretch your wings?
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:33 PM
15 Comments:
Wow. Your new book sounds marvelous, Erica.
I'm neither a mother (although some of my ex wives and girlfriends might disagree) nor a daughter (although I might have one, but that's a whole nother story), but to answer your question, yes, I think in my wip I'm reaching into territory that is rather uncomfortable and frightening.
My protag is 45 and has never been successful in relationships with women. Now that he has finally met his soul mate, she is taken by a killer whose victims' bodies are never found.
Per the killer's protocol, my protag has 72 hours before she is murdered.
Is my protag motivated to find her? Hell yes.
Is the killer smarter than anyone else in the story? Will he succeed in taking my protag's soul mate from him? Hell...
We'll just have to see, won't we?
Hi Jude:
That's certainly a compelling bit of drama. To me, it's always about the stakes. They have to be HUGE.
E
The stakes in my story are largely personal ones. What will happen if Colt doesn't find the killer in time? April dies. That's it. The only world that will be destroyed is Colt's world.
So, it's my job to make the reader care about Colt. If I fail to do that, then it's just another stranger murdered, something we see in the news every day.
I think sympathy for Colt is the key. If I can get the readers on his side, then they'll care about what he cares about. For him, the race against time to find April is the most important thing in the world. The stakes are huge to him, and the stakes are raised a bit when he finds out...
Well, you'll just have to read the story. :)
Hi Jude:
One of my current wips is a global conspiracy . . . but the stakes that I think the reader will care about is one lone schizophrenic and his sister. One woman who loves her brother and will do anything to save him. If you look at the formula for any movie or book with a big conspiracy, too, it always boils down to that--save the world, BUT care most about saving this ONE child/woman/son/daughter, whatever.
E
Right, Erica. If the reader cares about the character, shares her hopes, dreams, conflicts, fears etc., shares her emotions, then it really doesn't matter what her main goal is. Her goal might be to save her pet hamster that has escaped its cage and is now outside and cornerd by the neighborhood tomcat.
In Pulp Fiction, Butch risks his life to retrieve the watch his father left him. We know how much the watch means to him, so we want to see him succeed. If the stakes are huge to the well-drawn character, then they will also be huge for the reader.
Not yet but I think it will. I don't get along with anyone in my family. I'm sort of the black sheep.
Anything in your wip that is causing you to stretch your wings?
Absolutely, and it's stressing me out completely. The heroine of my current wip, Leila, is an Egyptian/American who came to this country as a political refugee. She was raised by distant relatives who have completely assimilated into the American way of life, and so she knows nothing about being Egyptian, Middle Eastern or Islamic. She does speak Arabic tho and is her only connection to her roots. She doesn't realize this about herself but there's a little bit of self-hatred here about her ethnic heritage and she sometimes denies the fact that she's of Arabic descent. Her feelings stem from the fact that Arab/Americans get a bad rap here in the U.S. these days.
This is Leila's very simple journey: going from self-hatred to self-acceptance, and I'm having a delicate time pulling off the self-hatred part without possibly offending Arab/Americans in the process.
It all comes out fine in the end, but in the meantime...
::knocks head against wall::
Karm
I am presently outlining a new story that is causing me to do heavy research into the following:
nano technology
neuro-transmitters
synapse functionality in the brain
neuro-net theory and application
protien based synapse inhibitors
Yup, I'm definitely stretching on this one. Anatomy and physiology is so not my area of expertise.
Karm:
I had a similar experience when I wrote Invisble Girl, because I really wanted to respect the soldiers who fought in Vietnam, but at the same time the book is from the POV of a woman whose village is massacred. It's a delicate dance . . . and I think the key to doing it successfully is to really KNOW your characters. For me, if I really feel and identify with my main character, and get to that place where they're part of me, I have a much easier time of things. WHICH, I suppose is what my original post is about. USUALLY, I write about women who bear at least a passing resemblance to me (e.g., KNOCKOUT is about a boxing trainer, and I love boxing; SPANISH DISCO is about a book editor . . . well, guess who was one). It's getting to know those so different from ourselves that's a journey.
Good luck! She sounds like a GREAT character, btw.
E
Lisa:
I'm not the black sheep. But I AM consdered the "odd duck." We can have a barnyard. :-)
E
Ewoh:
But isn't it cool when you do get elbow deep in research and feel like you can understand it? My Billie Quinn books are abour forensics, and I was surprised at how well I grasped my topic.
E
Maybe I'll tackle writing about a father/son relationship some day, from the son's point of view. That would definitely be stretching my wings, since I have met my biological father exactly once, when I was 24. I had my maternal grandfather growing up, but he was pretty much emotionally unavailable. I can't remember him ever, for example, giving me a hug.
Or maybe I should write about my character's need, even in middle age, for a father figure. I would have to dig deeply into my own psyche, and there's no telling what demons might surface. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try it with Nicholas Colt, the protag in my wip. I think that's a good idea, actually.
Thanks for the spark, Erica.
Hey Jude:
I realized, keeping this blog, that what REALLY fascinates me are human relationships. As a Buddhist, you strive to lose "attachments," but I know when it comes to my kids, for instance, I live and breathe them. And as a writer, human relationships are so compelling. We're all just trying to figure it all out.
E
"The problems of the human heart in conflict with itself...alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat."
--William Faulkner
Jude:
Thank you . . . that's an awesome quote!
E
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