A Texas literary perspective on late, crazy year of 2017

Hallowed writers thronged North Texas venues, a beloved writing haven found its forever home, and book festivals abounded during 2017. To commemorate those brighter points in a wild and crazy year, I’ve compiled excerpts of favorite posts from the first half of this year. Tomorrow -- stay tuned for the second half.

1/20/17: Writing tips from a quartet of Texas greats

Considering how many books, magazine articles, television scripts they’ve written, listeners at the recent Authors LIVE! “Four Great Texas Writers” program featuring Texas writers H.W. Brands, S.C. Gwynne, Stephen Harrigan and Lawrence Wright understandably wondered how the foursome kept track of everything. What ultra-sophisticated program did they use? And by the way, can it help the rest of us as well?

For some, the answer is something as simple as . . . notecards.

OK, Brands admitted that after decades of teaching, he knows enough about most of his subjects (presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan and Eisenhower, General Douglas McArthur, et al) to keep many of his notes in an even more low-tech system – his brain.

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2/7/17 Writer’s Garret back and better than ever 

Dallas literary institution, the Writer’s Garret, welcomed a standing-room crowd to its new quarters at Metropolitan Press, 1250 Majesty Dr., with an open house, readings, and discounts on new classes. The Garret’s new space at Metropolitan Press includes office, reception, and supply space, as well as a common room where the open house was help, and other spaces shared with Metropolitan Press’s other tenants. In addition to printing services, Metropolitan Press provides office space for a number of nonprofit organizations, and a rotating gallery of work by local artists. 

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2/21/17 Barnstorming small libraries with Texas Writes 

There were maybe a dozen of us along the sides of the long tables at Lindale’s Lillie Russell Memorial Library, with eager pens and notebooks at the ready. There were two of them on the other side of the tables – Jeramey Kraatz (author of The Cloaked Society trilogy and the upcoming Space Runners series) and Liz Garton Scanlon (author of Caldecott Honor book All the World, as well as Bob, not Bob!, A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes, and more). Make that three, counting Jo Virgil, in Lindale to represent Texas Writes, a program of The Writers’ League of Texas that brings accomplished authors to rural Texas libraries for a series of free presentations and discussions. 

Kraatz writes middle grade fiction and Scanlon writes picture books, but in many ways their discussions have broader implications for all genres. Starting with that impetus for all stories, conflict. Or as Kraatz terms it, “Trouble Talk.” 

No matter how much we try to avoid it in our lives, “trouble is interesting in story,” Kraatz told our audience. Conflict is a way to guide readers through a story. And for writers, it provides a means for working through a project when we’re stuck, and as a key to self-assessing our writing. 

“How do you look at your writing objectively? How do you tell if it’s working?” One way to answer both questions is to ask: “how is the overall conflict of the story being addressed in this particular section.”

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3/7/17 North Texas Teen Book Festival: laughing at what scares us 

It was billed as a middle-grade panel entitled Guys Read: Terrifying Tales. But the crowd packing into the auditorium at Saturday’s North Texas Teen Book Festival boasted plenty of female attendees, and plenty more obviously older than the term “middle-grade reader” (generally, 8-12 year-olds) would indicate.  

Even I, significantly past the age of middle grade readers, recognized the major-name panelist – R.L. Stine, author of the long-running Goosebumps series of kid-version horror that has been sending shivers up the spines of young readers for 25 years. He was joined by fellow horror writer Adam Gidwitz and moderator Jon Scieszka (rhymes with “Fresca). 

Gidwitz’s writings include both a Star Wars book and fractured versions of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. His latest, The Inquisitor’s Tale, features three kids on a quest, facing enemies such as a dragon whose plentiful farts are not only smelly but deadly, and aided by dog, “recently brought back from the dead,” its jaws clenched around a Newbery Honor award, one of the accolades given by the American Library Association for outstanding children’s literature.  

Stine insisted that he was too shy as a youngster to interact with others, so he dragged a typewriter into his room and spent all his time writing. “My mother stood outside the door and told me to go out and play. Good thing I didn’t listen to her.” 

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5/9/17 Tragedy + Time = Comedy: The essential Stephanie Klein 

How had I lived so long and gone to so many writing conferences without running into blogger/memoirist/TV script writer Stephanie Klein, the petite New Yorker with a head of wild copper-colored curls who was the keynote speaker at the 2017 DFW Writers Conference in Dallas.

The popularity of her original blog, Greek Tragedy, focused on life after her divorce. Its popularity gained her the title “Internet Queen of Manhattan,” and led to the publication of her first book, Straight Up and Dirty: A Memoir, about moving on after divorce. 

So, how does a magna cum laude graduate of Barnard College, who married the “mensch-next door” move on after her perfect marriage came to a bitter end? Wildly. Detailed on her blog with the bone-deep honesty that she recommends for memoirists. Well, that and what she called “the observational stuff. . . what the artist notices that makes the good story. Not the expected, not the cliché."

Wordcraft -- Treasures for writers, avoiding the trolls

Questions I’ve heard lately from writers: how can I get my work published? how do I find an agent? where can I find somebody to read my work? Even, most provocatively, Dallas Morning News online editor Robert Wilonsky’s question from last Monday: whether it’s even possible to teach creative writing.

To offer help, I’ve put together a list of resources which should help point the way to the treasures of creative writing while avoiding the trolls.

First, before you apply for that master’s program in creative writing, consider dipping a toe into the writing waters by checking out free to moderately-priced, non-degreed classes, such as:

-- Dallas Public Library creative writing classes. Free, every Friday from 2 - 4 p.m. at the Central Branch, 1515 Young Street. In the third floor conference room A, or ask at the information desk. Classes are geared for beginning writers, and explore themes, topics and techniques to help aspiring writers improve their creative writing skills.

-- Dallas Writer’s Garret Literary Center, 10809 Garland Road, Dallas. Free creative writing exercises the first Saturday of every month, noon to 1 p.m., at the Nasher Sculpture Center and Crow Collection of Asian Art. The Writer’s Garret also offers moderately-priced one-day, weekend, and three week to six week long courses, often without prerequisites. See www.writersgarret.org for classes starting this month. The Writer’s Garret also sponsors critique groups (free for first-timers, $3 thereafter).

-- Dallas County Community Colleges. Several colleges in the DCCC system offer creative writing as part of their continuing education programs. For class schedules, costs and perpetuates, see www.dcccd.edu/.

-- SMU Creative Writing Program, typically $450 for five class sessions, one per week. For details, see www.smu.edu/Simmons/Enrichment/CreativeWriting/.

Maybe you’re already immersed in writing, and you want to refine your skills, connect with other writers. Then consider attending conferences, such as:

-- DFW Writer’s Conference, Hurst Conference Center, 1601 Campus Dr., Hurst, Texas. The conference is May 3-4, $390, which includes lots of face time with both pro and aspiring writers, and a chance to pitch your manuscript to an agent. Add, or take as a stand-alone, pre-conference workshops with author Les Edgerton ($75) or agent/author Donald Maass ($100). I can speak for the value of Maass’s class. He’s amazing and this is a bargain price. For details, see
http://dfwcon.org/.

-- Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference, June 27 – 29, Hyatt Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas. Cost: $459, with agent pitches for an additional charge. For details, see www.writersleague.org/.

-- ArmadilloCon, July 25-27, Omni Southpark, 4140 Governors Row, Austin, Texas. I‘ve got a soft spot for this fantasy/sci-fi convention. It’s cheap ($35 for the conference plus $70 for its writers workshop) and Austin-weird. I sold my first story as well as my most recent one based on feedback from the workshop. No agents, but plenty of other writers to talk to. Stories are due June 15 to secure a place in the workshop. See
www.armadillocon.org/.

Or, maybe you need a support group (and who doesn’t?) to lean on, listen to your writing, give you tips, share your gripes. In addition to some options listed above, consider these:

-- Writers Guild of Texas, meetings on third Mondays, 7-8:30 p.m., Richardson Public Library, 900 Civic Dr., Richardson, Texas. Visitors welcome. Tonight’s meeting features Susannah Charleson, bestselling author of Scent of the Missing and The Possibility Dogs. See http://writersguildoftexas.org/ for programs and lists of additional critique groups.

-- Mystery Writers of America, Dallas chapter, meets first Saturdays, 9:30 -11:30 a.m., Texas Land & Cattle, 812 South Central Expressway, Richardson, Texas. Fee is $5 per meeting, cash only (correct change greatly appreciated). Even non-mystery writers can  love MWA’s programs, which recently featured Dallas Morning News book reviewer Joy Tipping and Southern vampire series author Charlaine Harris. For information, see http://dallasmysterywriters.com.

Wordcraft -- A new path to follow

Attending J. Suzanne Frank’s reading and signing of her newly-released book, Laws of Migration, was the top item on my to-do list last Friday. After all, Frank is my former writing teacher. And I knew she was teacher and mentor to many other writers through her work with Southern Methodist University’s creative writing program. What I didn’t know was just how big a fan base she has in North Texas.

The balcony section the Lincoln Park Barnes & Noble bookstore uses for most author signings was packed with listeners. 

Her new novel is the story of Elize, a woman whose lifelong disappointments have taught her not to trust human beings. Instead, she turns to birds, especially the endangered white ibis whose migration patterns she hopes to study. She hopes to head the bird refuge she’s dedicated her life to, expecting to delegate others to “do all the stuff I hated, like dealing with people.”

Instead, the refuge’s trustees pass over Elize in favor of pass her over in favor of someone she despises -- “She has a wonderful way with the public,” a trustee explains. Humiliated, Elize flees to Morocco, the breeding ground of her beloved ibises, determined to do the research that will restore her professional credibility as an ornithologist. Little does she realize, to accomplish her goal, she must learn to rely on the species she despises most -- the human one.

Frank has already published seven novels -- a time travel series under her own name and a series of mystery novel under the pseudonym Chloe Green. But Laws of Migration is her first foray into non-genre writing.

“I had to learn how to write a book that didn’t have an overlay of form,” she told her audience. “I found myself learning how to write from a character base rather than a plot base.”

Fortunately, she had plenty of experience developing fictional characters. A former journalist, Frank became involved with SMU’s continuing education program, the Writer’s Path, while writing her earlier novels. She moved on to teaching in the program, which she now directs.

For those who know her writing, the character of Elize in Laws of Migration -- a scientist journeying in search of a rare bird -- triggers images of Frank’s time travel character Chloe. Frank, however, insists Elize was written to be the opposite of Chloe. “Part of writing Elize,” she said, “is that she’s different from me and from every other character I’ve written.”

The book is also a debut for Frank in the use of in-depth multiple points of view. It’s the first of three, each following a different member of the trio introduced in the prologue.

And if Frank could be a bird, which would it be, an audience member asked. “I would totally be an ibis,” she said, the bird her character Elize seeks. “The real question is, what kind of ibis?”

Frank’s Laws of Migration is available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com/.

Suzanne Frank

For more about SMU’s Writer’s Path program and where it leads, see www.smu.edu/Simmons/CommunityEnrichment/CreativeWriting/.

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Speaking of creative writing classes, the Dallas Writer’s Garret still has places available for its one-day intensive on short fiction and creative nonfiction this Saturday, January 26, taught by Michael Mortone and Robin Hemley. For details and registration, see www.eventbrite.com/event/5196492850/.

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And an oops -- in January 11’s Totally Texas post, I implied Dallas’ Bookmarks library branch is open on Monday holidays. In fact, like all Dallas Public libraries, it will be closed today, January 21, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.