 | 28 Sep 09 |
Join me in welcoming Mark Arsenault to Murder She Writes! And if you get a chance, go cruise around his website, read the excerpt and you will be hooked. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy of LOOT THE MOON. And now, here’s Mark to talk about Dangerous Rainbows and Other Nighttime Disasters.
For years I’ve kept a notebook and pencil on my nightstand like a dreamcatcher for any brilliant thoughts about my writing that strike during the night.
This almost never works.
The first problem is that my handwriting is terrible even in the daylight. Sometimes I’ll wake in the morning and notice I had scribbled some unintelligible note that looks like “Thadentop um dairythee.” One of the words might be circled or underlined for emphasis.
I ponder desperately over these messages like a Bletchley Park cryptographer trying to crack the Enigma code. What was I trying to say? Was this a can’t-fail title for my new manuscript? A bit of witty dialogue? Or the Unifying Theory of the Universe that had eluded Albert Einstein? Gaaaaa!
Eventually there’s no choice but to shrug and put it aside.
There are other times that I can actually read my handwriting but can’t remember what I meant when I wrote it. I’ll find a note in the morning that’ll say something like, “The SHED!!!”
Yeah? What about the shed? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Should I set a scene in the book in a shed? Did I really wake up at 3 a.m. thinking this was brilliant? And what’s with the exclamation points? What’s so exciting about the shed?
Sigh.
Shrug and put it aside.
Then there are those rare times when I can both read my handwriting AND remember what I meant when I wrote it. Usually this ends in crushing disappointment. The most notorious true example is the time I snapped awake in the middle of the night with a brilliant and original turn-of-phrase. I carefully jotted it down and went back to sleep, imagining different ways to use this cleverness in my next novel.
In the morning I found this on the notebook: “It was as if he had been strangled with a rainbow.”
Huh?
Laugh and put it aside.
The notebook by the bed hasn’t been a total waste. I find that my final conscious thoughts after a day of writing—my chicken scratches just before I shut off the light—can serve as take-off points for the next day’s work. I assume that my subconscious mills these thoughts at night and leaves me the stoneground answers in the morning.
And I hold onto hope that some morning I’ll find something brilliant on the notebook. I may yet discover the Unifying Theory of the Universe, if I can read my handwriting.
I can’t be the only one who does stuff like this. Does anyone else have a method to capture stray thoughts that might turn into something brilliant?
Mark Arsenault is a Shamus-nominated mystery writer, a journalist, a runner, hiker, political junkie and eBay fanatic who collects memorabilia from the 1939 New York World’s Fair. His new novel is LOOT THE MOON, the second book in the Billy Povich series that began with GRAVEWRITER, a noir thriller praised for a fusion of suspense, humor and human tenderness. With 20 years of experience as a print reporter, Arsenault is one of those weird cranks who still prefers to read the news on paper. His Web site is: www.markarsenault.net
© 2009, Jennifer Lyon. All rights reserved.
Award winning author, Jennifer Lyon, always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she went onto Plan B and now she creates magic in her books. In her new series, the author of the acclaimed Samantha Shaw Mystery Series (written as Jennifer Apodaca) introduces the Witch Hunters, legendary men who must overcome a curse to team up with witches and fight evil.
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by RKCharron September 28th, 2009 at 2:26 amThank you for the great interview with Mark Arsenault and thanks to Mark for sharing.
His novel LOOT THE MOON sounds great.
Is Mark on Twitter?
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
Welcome Mark
by Jessica Scott September 28th, 2009 at 3:33 amI am almost never without either my ipod touch or, prior to owning the touch, my notebook. Ideas pop into my head at such random intervals that if I don’t keep track, it disappears into the ether, never to return and leaving me frustrated. I get ideas while working out, falling asleep, in the bathroom (TMI, I know). but at all the weird and inconvenient places, ideas pop up.
When I do think, oh I’ll remember that, I NEVER do. Ever. My notebook these days has been relegated to note taking or brainstorming but my idea box is on my touch and it has captured more good info than I’ll ever remember but I’d be lost without it.
I don’t keep a notebook by the bed, so I have to drag myself out to the desk to write down my nighttime flashes of literary brilliance. My last one was a dream I was sure would turn into a epic SF novel. Heh. When I woke up the next day to read my notes, I discovered my brain had melded Alien with Battlestar Gallactica. Go figger.
by B.E. Sanderson September 28th, 2009 at 5:22 amHmm…looks like more books for my “go get this” list. I’m dying to know–why the 1939 World’s Fair? See, my brain picks up all the oddities in waking life and wonders what the story is….
As to dreams–I have yet to be able to capture much billiance with pen and paper, no matter how high the stack of journals (to make something easy to reach, you know) or how close to the bed. I remember snippets of scenes, though. The worst? Periodically I will dream an entire novel and wake up unable to recall more than a couple of key events, although I’m perfectly aware of the story as I watch it unfold. Do you realize how many award-winning novels are just outside my (conscious) grasp? It’s sad, really….
by Lorena September 28th, 2009 at 5:43 amHey Mark! I keep a notebook by my bed, by my chair in the living room and in my purse! Inspiration strikes at the most unlikely times!
by Debra Webb September 28th, 2009 at 6:26 amLike Deb, I have notebooks strung all over the place, plus my iPhone for either jotted notes or quick voice note. My handwriting can resemble really bad Sanskrit if I’m not careful. And one word notes leave me scratching my head when I get back around to deciphering. I try really hard to write coherent sentences. The emphasis is on the word TRY! LOL.
I’ll definitely have to give this series a look. *oh great, MORE books on the TBR shelf*
by Silver James September 28th, 2009 at 7:49 amMark – Welcome! I look forward to adding your books to my TBR pile.
I’m never without a notebook. I keep a small one in my purse and have several throughout the house.
by HollyD September 28th, 2009 at 9:49 amI always have a tape recorder with me, but if you’re a mumbler in the morning that won’t help. I carry notebook everywhere too and it works for me, so can’t help you there. Good Luck!
by Amber Polk September 28th, 2009 at 9:51 amMark, thank you again for blogging with us today! The deeper I get into a book, the more notes that appear around my desk. But I don’t keep a notebook by my bed. Mainly it’s because I try to shut it off at night so I can sleep (Insomnia–so not a writer’s friend).
But now I wonder if I’m missing out on a brilliant ideas! But I suspect I’d come up with stuff like, “Need more shampoo” or something equally mundane. How disappointing would that be?
by Jen Lyon September 28th, 2009 at 10:04 amHey Mark, welcome to MSW – so great to have a man around the house, isn’t it? Love your cover! Some brilliant writer (not me) once said he/she never writes anything down because if it was forgettable, then it mustn’t have been that good of an idea in the first place.
If I write “the SHED” it means “they are going to have sex in the shed.” In fact, in my last book, they did!
Thanks for joining us!
by Roxanne St. Claire September 28th, 2009 at 10:42 amThanks so much for having me today. That writer who doesn’t write down ideas reminds me of the pro basketball player who once said he never practiced 3-point shots because he was only going to make so many of them in his lifetime, and he didn’t want to waste them in practice.
by Mark Arsenault September 28th, 2009 at 11:10 amI really have to write stuff down. I’ve probably forgotten more good ideas than I’ve remembered. (Sadly, there was nothing on the nightstand notebook this morning.)
I’m also a little afraid of a sex scene in the shed, where somebody could accidentially trigger the weed-whacker.
I tried the notebook by the bed and never once deciphered anything usable. Plus, like Jen, I battle insomnia and if my brain even *thinks* there’s an opportunity to wake up and make a note about something, it’ll do it.
But I do carry a notebook with me everywhere, have several around the house, and keep my iPhone with me pretty much all of the time. (I love the new record feature–I have used this countless of times already to make notes when I’ve met someone who’s said something really useful for a ms., or to record a bit of description of something I’ve seen or overheard.)
Welcome to MSW today, Mark — I will definitely be getting your book now. And like Lorena, I also wonder, why the 1939 World’s Fair?
by toni mcgee causey September 28th, 2009 at 11:24 amI love that so many people keep those little notebooks handy like gunslingers ready to quickdraw at the first sign of inspiration.
by Mark Arsenault September 28th, 2009 at 4:31 pmMy obsession with the 1939 New York World’s Fair began when I learned my grandparents had honeymooned there in July, 1939. I’ll be blogging about this in much more detail on Oct. 13, on Killer Hobbies.