Author Archives: P.S. Broaddus

Whenever we as a group talk about books we love, I pull my favorites out of my stack of recently read. (Check out the whole list on Goodreads!) Sometimes I have a hard time deciding which story to write about, but this time, it was easy.

But before I wax eloquent about a big fish, let me point you toward Robin and Trish, who both have excellent stories to recommend…

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

I really love chatting with my readers, and in a recent email exchange someone recommended a book for my Flinch-Free Fantasy list: The Dragon and the George, by Gordon R. Dickson.

Hey! I’ve read that!

About a million years ago…

I recall liking it, and the foggy memory tickled my brain until I had to go pick up a copy and read it again. It didn’t disappoint. True, the style is dated and it took a little too long for the real action to start, but what a fun read.

A modern couple is transported into another version of our world. The kicker? Our hero ends up in the body of…

Patricia Reding

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia’s Website

Recently, I read Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders Trilogy, consisting of Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, and Ship of Destiny. While I wouldn’t say I “love” these books, exactly, there are parts of this series that I very much enjoyed—so much so that I quickly read them one after the next.

I liked the set-up of the Bingtown’s oldest families and I loved the concept of the liveships. As for . . .

Parker Broaddus

Author of  A Hero’s Curse

Parker’s Website…oh wait. You’re already here.

The Hardy Boys series is formulaic and simple, and often plods into the cliche. But it’s fun. And I couldn’t help thinking how well they build their mysteries through the story. While bland, they get the formula right. I just finished a second one in as many weeks, and it was a good study in the structure of the genre. While I may not want to copy The Hardy Boys series when writing my own mystery, there’s value in internalizing the genre, the beats, and the structure on display. You’ve got to know the rules before you break them and I love that the series feels like a set of training wheels for writers. Fun, whimsical, dated training wheels.

But I didn’t come here to talk about The Hardy Boys. I’ve actually been ruminating on a story I just finished that involved an old man and a big fish. I’m talking about Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. It’s a fascinating tale that has differing interpretations. Is it the battle to land a big fish, or a parable of simple faith?

For me, it’s a vivid story. One that captures the imagination and the soul. I can feel the heat of the line and taste the salt of the sea. I think Hemingway captured, for us all, the battle to land a big fish.

But then it’s also otherworldly. Foreign. Strange. I think this is where it is a parable of simple faith. And faith can be a strange and otherworldly thing.

Why did the old man go out that far? Why didn’t he take the boy? Why didn’t he let the fish go? Those questions make me think of that simple faith. It makes me think of the way faith makes the disciples scratch their heads as Jesus points to kids as being an example to emulate, or sleeps during a storm, or says a couple of fish will feed a crowd. It doesn’t seem to make sense.

What did Hemingway’s story make you think of? Is it the battle to land a big fish, or a parable of simple faith?

Imagine a busy journalist’s bullpen, with phones ringing, reporters talking, laughing and yelling, screens flashing, and papers occasionally flying. I can write there. A busy mall, with the flurry of shopping and eating. I can write there. A quiet office, with nothing but the occasional hum of the air conditioner or the click of the printer. I can write there. So long as the environment doesn’t demand my personal attention and intervention, I can write. (It’s harder to write at home with the boys running around my desk – they aren’t just noise. They necessitate intervention).

So when it comes to music, I can write to a lot of things. Pandora Radio might be tuned to a Mumford & Sons or Lumineers station, or country, or Christian radio. Like many writers, I do enjoy instrumental music. Something with a cello is sure to be listened to with favor.

Then there are a few select songs that I turn on, not as background noise, but as a part of my writing process. Songs that run through my blood and sometimes even shape the story as I go. Here they are, for your perusal and dissection, in no particular order, and with only minimal, if any, explanation. (And here’s the list on Spotify).

“The White Whale Chant” by Roque Baños

From the end credits of In the Heart of the Sea, this song has a sublime element to it. It evokes a longing, perhaps for something we’ve never even tasted, and I love that in either song or story. I think it would be a beautiful thing if some element of my own stories captured or provoked that longing in my readers.

“Now We Are Free” by Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard

This song from Gladiator has this theme of longing combined with homecoming. You can feel both the end as well as a beginning in the music, and I love that it is tied to Elysium.

“Into the West” by Annie Lennox

From the end credits of the Return of the King this song is similar to “Now We Are Free,” in that it is a song of comfort for leaving this world. I love the lyrics here – the images and poetry is beautiful, and just listening to it I want my own writing to capture that beauty in the images I paint through word.

“Bethany’s Wave” by Marco Beltrami

From Soul Surfer, this captures that hope and longing I’ve been going on about above, but it includes hints of the cello, a choir and an incredible South Pacific vibe. What’s not to like?

“Moana” Soundtrack

So, we were supposed to name individual songs…but yeah. I had to throw this whole thing in there because I usually just play the whole thing. Disney did a great job with the Moana soundtrack, capturing the South Pacific chant, (those vocals, that harmony!) with an epic quality that is infused with the excitement and hope that we usually find in anything done by the Disney team. My stories often have some element of the epic, (particularly A Hero’s Curse), and the Moana soundtrack weaves that grandiose story through their music, but manage to keep it personal and close at the same time. 

“Minstrel Boy” by Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros

This song is a ballad really – a story. I can’t do it justice here. I’ll note this: the first two lines introduce the minstrel boy’s ultimate demise—by introducing the minstrel’s death at the beginning, Moore (the song’s writer) immediately communicates this story is about more than one minstrel’s (or hero’s) death. The climax, (found in second stanza), will not be the death of our hero. As the audience we are set up to look for something greater even than the sacrifice of a hero.

I’ve written about this one extensively, so if you’re interested in more, leave a comment and I’ll link or post on Facebook!

“Storms In Africa” by Enya

Enya did such a good job painting a picture through music of the rain coming in on the desert with this one. The image stuck with me and shaped A Hero’s Curse. Ever since I’ve saved this one as the one to bring me back to that original world I created. 

“Adiemus” by Adiemus

This one has a fun mix vocals, instrumental, epic and intimate. I enjoy the roller coaster it takes you on thematically – I can almost feel the story running through my veins. 

I could go on. I love music and how it tells story, shapes other stories, and fills our own story. But let me step aside and point you toward the other esteemed writers of our group, who have some fun thoughts on the subject of writing to music.

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

I write better when there is music playing.

I dream better.

Music is powerful stuff. Thanks to my mom and older sisters, I grew up listening to a wonderful variety of music. Sadly, not a one of us can play any instrument but the stereo. But just like with my reading and writing, I gravitated to certain genres of music.

When I’m writing, that selection narrows even further.

I need music with no words—unless the words are…

Patricia Reding

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia’s Website

I thoroughly enjoy having music playing while I write. It can create such an emotional environment. Sometimes it’s presence makes for the difference between my simply feeling something internally as I write it—and actually laughing out loud—or perhaps even weeping. I find that my tastes tend . . .

Stories inspired by or incorporating a person, news story or current event can be fascinating. Of course there is the historical fiction category, but there’s also the plain good fun of fiction or fantasy that incorporates timely and relevant news. Godzilla, (2014), as a B-film example, references and borrows from the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.

I have some thoughts on the subject, but first let’s hear from the other writers in the group.

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

Use people? And places? And stories?? I’m innocent!

Well… mostly innocent.

Maybe “unconscious” would be a better word, because while I don’t (usually) intend to put current happenings and humans in my stories, I’ve had people point out that this is like that, or this person is just like that person.

One of the most frequent questions I get as an author is…

Patricia Reding

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia’s Website

An author writes what she knows—whether she knows it or not. By that I mean that when she writes, her knowledge, awareness, and/or understanding of the things she writes about shows. So, if she tries to write on a topic of which she knows little, that lack of knowledge will shine through just as clearly as if she writes about a field in which she is an expert. But as to her use of specifics from the world around her . . . now that makes for an interesting topic.

Of course, I use information from the real world in my stories. I also—quite intentionally—create “faith” or “belief system” allegories between the fantasy world I’ve created in The Oathtaker Series and the real world. When I do so, I use real life issues not in the micro-sense so much as in the macro-sense . . .

Parker Broaddus

Author of  A Hero’s Curse

Parker’s Website…oh wait. You’re already here.

I’m sure you have a favorite cultural or newsy reference in story. (Comment below, or share your favorite). Alas. I don’t usually write that way. A quick review of my short stories, screenplays, and novels reference nothing about today’s trending topics. But my stories may have something to say about today’s topics, without mentioning them directly.

I wasn’t thinking about Carrie Fisher when I wrote “Two Weeks is a Lifetime,” (Lodestone Journal, 2014). I was thinking about my Papa. But the themes of loss and regret are universal.

I feel the best stories aren’t those that borrow from current headlines, but instead grapple with themes that apply to current issues. Orwell’s themes of privacy, government intrusion and Big Brother are timeless, yet aspects of 1984 feels ripped from today’s headlines.

My new novel, coming soon, (are you listening, you A Hero’s Curse sequel seekers?), touches on poverty and lack of equality among those allowed to access magic. Because magical equality is a huge news item these days. 🙂

I write about heroes, loss, and sacrifice. The situations and characters are specific, but the themes are universal. They resonate.

And that’s how I want my stories to apply. To be remembered.

What’s your favorite way to catalog your reading? I love being able to look back over what I’ve read. Seeing the titles bring the stories up fresh in my mind, and they might even help me recall the time and place I was reading, and the events surrounding.

Before I tell you more about my chronicling habits, let’s hear from the rest of the crew…

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

When it comes to talking about social cataloguing for books, I think Goodreads is the *800 pound gorilla in the room. Nearly everyone knows what it is and how to use it. Nearly everyone uses it as their go-to option.

I do.

It’s easy to keep track of my books, including the correct covers and editions if you’re particular about that. I can put all the candy—er, books onto shelves I can name however I please, thus creating lists of…

Parker Broaddus

Author of  A Hero’s Curse

Parker’s Website…oh wait. You’re already here.

Goodreads. Pinterest. Facebook. Google+. I’m a relative newcomer to cataloging my reading socially. I saw the option on Facebook years ago, but felt like it was too much work to go through and name all the books I love and like – and then I felt like Facebook itself was too broad – I could detail my favorite books, my favorite movies, my causes, my hobbies – it was all too much, and too invasive!

Only recently, (within the past couple of years), did I discover how I could use and enjoy Goodreads. There were no distractors. Nothing about movies or hobbies – even the socializing is focused to books. If I was going to talk about and chronicle my reading online, this was the place to do it.

Now I really enjoy Goodreads. I appreciate their rating and review system, and how easy it is to recommend a book, see other’s recommendations based on my reading preferences, shelve a story for later, or add to my “currently reading” list. I still don’t spend much time socializing. My time is too full of reading and writing! But every once in a while I’ll participate in a thread, or start a new discussion.

And what about those giveaway contests, right? They are easy to access and fun to participate in, and there is always one running in a category I enjoy. Though, truth be told, I haven’t won a book yet…what about you? Have you ever won a Goodreads giveaway contest?

Where do you like to catalog your reading adventures? Where do you look for story recommendations?

Today our writing group asked about favorite writing tools. I puzzled over the question while I cleaned out my pockets for the day. Old notes, a to-do list, a pen, a tattered emergency twenty, and there–a tiny thumb drive.

That is probably my favorite tool as a writer.

But before I explain why, let’s hear from the other writers in our group as to their favorite storytelling tools:

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

There are so incredibly many tools for a writer to use today. (Not like in the Old Days, when it was pen and paper, a set of encyclopedias if you were lucky, and the library!) What a wonderfully rich age we live in!

What are a few of my favorite things? Er… tools?

A computer revolutionized my writing, so…

Patricia Reding

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia’s Website

As I’m sure my fellow Quills have regaled you with their ready wit and humor, I will, for my part, dig in with the mundane. 🙂

Unlike some authors, I actually can imagine what it would have been like to write a piece of any length before the day of word processing programs, and the ability to find information through the Internet with a few simple keystrokes. You see, I did something of that nature when I wrote a law review article in my second year of law school . . . a while back . . . As I recall, it ran about 60 pages, to which was added another 25 or so in citations. Following the rules set out in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, every comma, every semicolon, every space, had to be “just so.” (It takes a second book just to figure out how The Bluebook works.)

Read the rest here.

Parker Broaddus

Author of  A Hero’s Curse

Parker’s Website…oh wait. You’re already here.

I carry my stories around in my pocket. On that miniature thumb drive in fact. I don’t always know where I’ll be, or what computer I’ll be using, and I can’t stand working in different documents on different computers. So I keep my “active” or “current” document with me, always. Wherever I am, I can plug in my zip drive, open my manuscript, and dive in. No wondering which document has the latest edit or merging or losing bits due to multiple files.

I may scratch notes on the back of bulletins or scraps of paper when I’m away from my desk, in meetings, or on the road, but all of it finds its way to that little zip drive. Every few days I back up my manuscript to a permanent hard drive, but if you’re looking for the latest story fluff floating around the old noggin, it’s in my pocket.

I think I like keeping it close–the proximity. Maybe it’s a Gollum-like trait…

What about you? Do you have a favorite tool as a writer? A pen that simply sings, or a scratch pad that bleeds magic?

Comment below!

Today our group is writing about books we love. I had to wrestle with what to recommend. I just finished Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt and the ever phenomenal Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. But today I’m especially excited to get to recommend Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner.

But first, let me point you toward my fellow writers, who have excellent reads to share.

Patricia Reding

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia’s Website

In truth, posts about “books we love” are a bit difficult for me. This is due to two oddly co-existing—yet seemingly entirely contrary—truths: (1) there are so many I love; and (2) it is so difficult to find one that I love. How is this possible?

There are numerous changes going on in the publication world, which means that one cannot always have a sense of certainty in advance as to whether a book will be worth the time and expense. Still, there is so much out there to read! So, I’m going to step back in time . . .

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

I so enjoy doing our regular “Books We Love” posts! Do I pull one of the (usually older) books off my library shelves? Or do I choose something (usually newer) from my e-reader? I love revisiting my favorite books—and I love exploring new ones! Decisions, decisions…

You’ll be happy to know I made one.

I am delighted to spotlight A Hero’s Curse by our very own P.S. Broaddus. The book is a wonderful middle-grade/young adult fantasy-adventure about a twelve-year-old blind girl and her talking cat.

I have a confession to make…

“Of making many books there is no end,” the wise have said. And we forget the gems of the past, buried in a mountain of fluff n’ stuff. Stone Fox is one of those gems. It’s an incredibly short children’s novel, written in a plain, simple prose, (similar to Sarah Plain and Tall, which just goes to remind us writers, we don’t have to wax eloquent for hundreds of pages to pack a punch).

Little Willy, our protagonist, is facing an ailing grandfather and the loss of their farm. To save all, he enters the National Dog Sled race held in Jackson, Wyoming with his faithful dog, Searchlight, and…well, you’ll just have to read the rest.

Stone Fox is about drama, in the best possible way. It’s exciting, it’s emotional and it’s unexpected. And it isn’t just the story that’s unexpected–every event turns us on our heads and pulls on our hearts–it makes us laugh and cry, just as the best writing should.

It’s a fun one to read aloud, a gold mine for writers looking to learn more about packing drama in their own writing, and just good literature.

So comment below! Have you already read Stone Fox? If so, how did you find it? Do you think this story speaks to an older generation, or can today’s kids fall in love with Searchlight as well?

Characters are great fun. Don’t we all have our favorites? Maybe we love their wit, or clueless misadventures–I’m looking at you Bertie Wooster. Sometimes it’s a character we relate to: I’m fond of Monk, the tightly wound, obsessive-compulsive detective.

Many of my stories are character driven–which means I’m constantly surrounded by…you guessed, it…characters.

So the question comes up regarding how these personalities come to life. Do I plan them in advance? Do they spring into being in the moment? How do you keep track of them?

Take Essie Brightsday, a young blind girl and the protagonist of A Hero’s Curse. How did she get here?

That makes me chuckle. I don’t know how she got here, really. But when she did show up, it was important that I know a bit about her strengths and weaknesses. For me, that’s more important than eye color and shoe size. If I know a character’s weakness, suddenly I have a character arc. I know what’s going to be hard for them through the story and I know what they are going to need to overcome to be victorious in the end. Or, if I’m writing a tragedy, the weakness revealed at the beginning will spell the character’s doom by the end.

If I’m really stuck, John Truby wrote The Anatomy of Story and detailed seven “key steps of story structure.” I enjoy using those story structure points by applying them to a character.

1. WEAKNESS

2. DESIRE

3. OPPONENT

4. PLAN

5. BATTLE

6. SELF-REVELATION

7. NEW-EQUILIBRIUM

“The seven steps are not arbitrarily imposed from without the way three-act structure is. They exist in the story. These seven steps are the nucleus – the DNA – of your story and the foundation of your success as a storyteller because they are based on human action.They are the steps that any human being must work through to solve a life problem.”

I’ll spend some time thinking through the points with my character, to ensure I have a good arc. When I’m satisfied with my new creation, I’ll let it go. This is where that character really develops a life of its own. New themes emerge, subtleties and quirks and hidden qualities that I couldn’t have planned. But that arc that was laid out–perhaps by working through Truby’s seven steps–that’s what allows this character to live and breathe and come into its own.

What about you? What are some of your favorite characters, and why? Comment below! And while you’re at it, check out the interviews from Patricia Reding and Robin Lythgoe ~ because they deal with characters too.

Robin Lythgoe

Author of As the Crow Flies

Robin’s Website

The answers are… Yes. And it depends! (Oops, my questionable sense of humor is showing!)

I tend to flesh out a few key characters briefly, but they grow from that organically. Every now and then random characters stroll into the story uninvited. I am not a fan of those “Get to Know Your Character” worksheets with a bazillion trivial questions, but I occasionally find them helpful when a necessary character refuses to take shape.

I do not have a shortage of inspiration. There are just so many interesting real people and characters from stories and movies from which I can pick little details! For example…

Oh, the fun of writing! When it comes to character creation: there are no rules! Sometimes, a character comes to mind, nearly fully formed. This might happen in particular, for those key parties who engage in the most important activities in a story. But even then, they can surprise me. The character may turn out to be an unexpected whiner, or to have an unusual sense of humor, or to manage success in the face of unexpected odds. Those things tend to happen quite by chance! For example, I have one minor character in my first story who I realized near the end, almost never said anything, although he was present for a goodly portion of the tale. Rather than go back and put words in his mouth, I . . .