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When Anything Goes

More Ammunition, Ad for Western Pulp from Art.com

Last night, Ryan and I watched 3:10 To Yuma because as I’ve admitted in the past, we don’t get out much anymore. (And when we do, we’d rather talk than sit in a movie theatre.)

If you want to learn how to create tension throughout an entire story, then I suggest you watch this movie. It’s based on an Elmore Leonard short and he is the master of “anything goes.” Mr. Leonard has no sentimental attachments to his characters and as such, when you start one of his books you get the sneaking suspension that someone important might not make it to the end. His characters – heroes and heavies, equally – are capable of anything. Anyone could buy it at any moment and when they do, it’s just like death in real life – unrelenting and final.

One of my favorite death scenes in literature is at the end of Out of Sight – the book, not the movie – when a lovable secondary character dies. My second is when Jay Gatsby is shot in his pool. And when I say favorite, I don’t mean that I have a thing for death scenes. I mean that they’re so effective, they make you gasp and then at random moments, long after you’ve finished the book, you can still remember how you flinched and then reread the scene to make sure the author really killed that guy off.

The key to this idea of “anything goes” – for me – is to think of my readers as the other character riding along with the story. I’m usually into the third or fourth draft when I invite them in because at that point I know my characters and what they’re capable of doing. So when I let the reader in, I think of that person sitting there with the book in her hands and then ask myself, “how do I get a reaction out of her?” What does she expect and what can I do to turn that expectation around on her?

Donald Maas has a chapter in his book, Writing the Breakout Novel in which you take your character and then think of a bad thing that you could inflict on them. And then something slightly worse. And then something even worse than that until you bring them to the impassable obstacle that would make then turn around and give up the goal.

It is exhausting, frustrating work. When I did it with Switchcraft, the process nearly made me give up. But when I think of what I did to my girls, Aggie and Nely and the emails I got from readers reacting to those final scenes, it was worth it.

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The Relationship Between Crap and Writing


“Woman Writing a Letter” by Pierre Duval-lecamus from Art.com

Lately, I’ve been freelancing for Rise Up and Tu Ciudad magazines. In the space of two weeks, I’ve learned about custom motorcycles and cars, HIV/AIDS, libraries, city government, Hindu weddings and World of Warcraft. Not only does the diversity of subjects take me out in the world (as opposed to staying in the one in my head), the money’s good as I write my 8th book.

Anyway, I realized this morning while the Little Dude and I were watching cartoons that it’s earth day or earth week or something like that. A few years ago, I became a green writer by recycling my ink cartridges, using the “track changes” feature in Word as opposed to printing an entire 400-page manuscript and proofing it. Although I still do that occasionally, I make up for it by recycling the paper by printing on both sides of the page.

But all this green stuff got me thinking about the seemingly waste of words that happens when you write like I do, which means that you go through six, seven and eight drafts of a book until it’s ready to go. But when I was interviewing Jose Aponte, the director of the San Diego County Library, he gave me a great quote: “Power is like manure. The more you spread it around, the more successful you’ll be.”

Words are the same way. Crappy drafts invariably lead me to the good stuff, which is why I write as fast as humanly possible when I start the first draft. As I’m writing, I know it’s crap. The sentences are stilted and the pages are usually lines and lines of dialogue. But I’ve learned to accept it and just keep going because eventually, I’ll get it right by discovering a character’s motivation or stumbling on an action or thought that makes a scene come to life. There are passages of my books that survive from draft one to the final book (the first scene of Hot Tamara was just wordsmithed from the first draft to final copyedit). There are also passages that I lift from my earlier, will-be-destroyed-upon-my-death books that I like to call my organ donors.

But every “wrong” word and dead-end scene or subplot are the manure for a more colorful, resonant story. In short, when you stall out and have to start again, please don’t think you’ve wasted time and energy. You, in the words of Thomas Edison “…have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Oh and I should tell you that this Saturday, Margo Candela, Jamie Martinez and I will be at the California Comadrazo. Check it out.

But if you can’t make it, spend the day before Mother’s Day with us at ChimMaya Gallery on Saturday, May 10th.

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Into the Past

Growing up in National City, we always drove by Cafe La Maze but never went inside. Back then it had a dive feel to it, which made it all the more intriguing. But still, I never went inside.

I’ve been researching my hometown for The Guy Upstairs, learning about places that now exist in the pages of crumbling newspapers from the 1920’s and hearing the voices of residents who are now long gone about their lives on the west side of National City. I even found Maria Duran, my great great great grandmother listed in the city directory for 1929. In writing this particular book, it feels as if my past is catching up with me.

You can imagine my delight when my friend, Jen Mahal investigated the history of Cafe Lamaze and wrote about its reopening in today’s San Diego Union Tribune.

Jen, you now get to wear the cool beans crown!

Cheers,
Mary C.

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When You Think You Know Everything


“Ask Newmann, He Knows” from Art.com

This happened to me when I wrote In Between Men … I went through two full drafts and with each draft something died inside me when I hit Act II. But I was persistent back then and thought I could force the story to go exactly the way I wanted it to. Finally, I realized two things: stories must change and evolve (for me, anyway) and Act II is the place where bad ideas go to die.

Last week, the same thing happened with The Guy Upstairs. I finished the first draft, spent a lot of time fleshing out a revision plan and then got to work. I was cruising along through Act I, but with that dragging feeling in my gut that I ignored because I was convinced that I had the story down. But as I neared Act II, the threads unraveled and it became more and more apparent that the story wasn’t working. Sure enough, it died at page 100.

But I’m glad it happened now as opposed at the end of a tepid second draft. With In Between Men, I had to go back into a third draft where I discovered that I wasn’t telling the right story. (Originally, it was about Isa fighting for custody of her son.) The story that needed to be told was about a woman who falls victim to her own recklessness and yet, without that recklessness she would never have changed her life. This discovery made the writing more difficult, not to mention longer.

When The Guy Upstairs ran aground, I realized that I had better do a writer’s version of stop, drop and roll. I stopped writing and went outside to work on my garden (we planted four types of tomatoes, squash and herbs). Within two hours of refusing to think about the book, I realized what The Guy Upstairs is really about. But I wouldn’t take notes for two days because the other thing I’ve learned is that once you start writing it down, the committee upstairs starts hacking away at your babies.

I’ve been writing the new story since Sunday and the idea has been gaining momentum. The committee grumbles when I sit down to write (which it always does), but my gut tingles with excitement and the heroine’s voice becomes much more distinct and alive. I’ve written about twenty pages of new material and I think this is it.

Or, I’m full of it and still have no idea what the hell I’m doing.

I guess I’ll know for certain when I reach page 100.

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Today on ConnectingMoms.com


I’m one of the featured moms! If you’re interested, check it out.

Not much else to blog about. We watched Gone Baby Gone the other night and it was a very unsettling movie. If you’ve seen it, I wouldn’t have called the cops in the end. That’s all I’ll say.

Last night I finished A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock. She had me so wrapped up in the end that I gave the Little Dude a lollipop so he’d leave me alone till the ending. If you love characters like Maisie Dobbs and Mrs. Jeffries, then you’ll really dig this book.

That’s it for now. I’m on deadline with three articles and the book is whispering in my ears.

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Storyland, pop. ???

When I’m deep into a story – novella or novel – I go to a place in my dreams that I call “Storyland.”

It’s a town like Monterey, California with homes that crawl up from the bay to the hills. There’s no set time period in this town. Sometimes when I visit, I’m in the 1840’s when the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, led by John C. Fremont, came into Alta California, liked what they saw and decided to take it from Mexico. Other times when I visit, it is present day.

I meet my characters in coffee shops, their homes or pass them on the street – once I saw Will and Tamara at a farmer’s market but I think I was writing “Till Death Do Us Part” at the time. Sometimes they talk directly to me about what needs to happen in the story; other times I have to chase them down just to see what they eat for lunch.

Strange, yes, but when I realize I’m having a dream in Storyland, I feel like I’ve come home after a long voyage abroad. Even better, I feel like I’ve tapped into the vein of the story I’m writing. I realize not everyone has a Storyland, but then I was always a strange kid.

But here’s what I’m wondering: where do you think your characters come from? When do you know they and your story have come to life?

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It’s One of THOSE Days…

…when your number is called and your first thought is, “is this really happening to me because this sort of thing only happens in the movies”. But then you realize it really is happening and everything in you seems to go silent except the pulse pounding in your ears.

Well, today my husband, Ryan walked into my office and told me with a shaking voice that he was accepted into the MFA Screenwriting program at UCLA!

Me screaming: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back when we learned the Little Dude was a little bean, Ryan has worked for this. He’s had a lot of career ups and downs; the downs outnumbering the ups, which in my opinion as his wife and unofficial adviser, was Fate telling him he had no business becoming a police officer or attorney. Until he decided to go for the impossible dream of writing screen plays, the scales have tipped in his favor. With the second screenplay he’d ever written, Ryan won the prestigious UCLA Screenwriting Contest. In his recent horror writing class, a visiting director and producer pointed to Ryan’s screenplay as the kind he’d produce. Now, he’s taking the next step and as his wife and cheerleader, I couldn’t be prouder.

(But don’t worry, we will always sit on the USC side of the stadium … unless the Little Dude plays for UCLA.)

I may have AWESOME news but I can’t say anything yet and I’m superstitious about these things.

So with my lips sealed, I’ll post this picture:

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Next week on PBS: Compañeras

Photo courtesy of PBS

If you regularly read this blog, you’ve heard me talk about a Mariachi book that I’ve been working on. (If this doesn’t sound familiar, check out the sneak peek that was part of the Chica Lit Valentine’s Day Tour.)

I just about fell out of my chair when I heard about Compañeras, the upcoming PBS series Independent Lens documentary about Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, America’s first all-female mariachi, founded in 1994. Hosted by Terrence Howard, the show will air at 10 p.m. on April 1, 2008.

The most prominent of Mexican mariachi – Mariachi del Sol and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan – are presently and historically all male. Female mariachi are still frowned upon or considered a joke in Mexico. When I wrote The Ballad of Aracely Calderon, my challenge was to help the readers understand what an uproar it would be if a woman – in Aracely’s case, an American-born daughter of a family of mariachi – took the lead of such a prestigious mariachi group … even in 2008. But when I saw Linda Ronstadt ride a train on-stage during her performance in Canciones de Mi Padre, she was like a queen and I kept that image in my head as I wrote Aracely. To me, female mariachi are regal. The fact that they persist in spite of the misogynist attitude of their male counterparts makes them heroes in my eyes.

As for my book, The Ballad of Aracely Calderon, I’ve decided to dress up like a mariachi for my new author photo!

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Some Things Never Change


PW Daily and Shelf Awareness reported this morning that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a new law requiring mainstream bookstores to register with the government if they sell “sexually explicit materials.”

Here’s what was reported in Shelf Awareness:

One of the bill’s sponsors told the Indianapolis Star that the law is aimed at “helping counties that do not have zoning ordinances track businesses selling sexually explicit material, including videos, magazines and books,” especially adult stores that open along interstates in the southern part of the state. And a spokesperson for the governor told the Star that the law applies only to new businesses, those that relocate or businesses that begin offering “sexually explicit” material after the law goes into effect.

So if a Borders sells Switchcraft or any of my other books that have steamy love scenes (I think I may have used language like – don’t look! – cock), does that essentially make that store a porn peddler in the eyes of Indiana law? Gasp! Does that make me a pornographer? I don’t know if I should be aghast or strangely flattered …

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has vowed to fight the law. But check this out:

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association, 15 independent bookstores and Borders Group sent a letter to the governor before he signed the bill. But a statement from the governor’s office indicated that he had not received the letter and that “no complaints were brought to our attention.”

Uh huh. Sure.

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This weekend: La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jCZgUiPixE&hl=en]

Mea culpa. I’m one of those people who complain that there are never any good movies out there. Maybe it’s that they now cost $10 to see in my area and I’m just cheap. Or really, really picky. But this weekend, I’m determined to see La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon) that released yesterday on 275 screens. Opening weekends can make or break a film (unless you’re incredibly, indecently fortunate like Diablo Cody of Juno fame).

When I hear people complain that minorities are not represented in entertainment, I tell them to put their money where their hearts are. In other words, go see the movies and watch the shows and buy the books created by the people you want to see more of.

La Misma Luna has been getting great reviews and was the prize of a bidding war between distributors at Sundance. So unless you want to see more crap like Drillbit Taylor, I highly suggest that we take a stand against stupidity and support intelligent, emotionally resonant cinema like La Misma Luna.