Tale Magazine December/January 2013-14 by Tale Magazine

December/January 2013-14

MAGAZINE

Tale Magazine Editor MJ Contributors MJ Catsi Eceer C.M. Davidson Em Josephine Paige Art & Graphic Design MJ Josephine Paige Proofreader MJ

Letter from the Editor Wow. This is our second issue. That sounds like such a small number, but it means so much! The first is important, of course, but the second means that we’re continuing; we’ve made it. And that’s thanks to all you readers and my amazing team of staff. So. Now on to the magazine! This is our Holiday issue! We have an entire new design (goodbye, white space!), a new column by a young lady named Catsi Eceer, and a revamped “Write Life” section. In my opinion, this magazine has come leaps and bounds from our debut issue. Not only has the design improved and our staff enlarged, but we are also beyond pleased to have an interview of novelist Regina Doman. I would like to give a special thank you to Mrs. Doman for doing this. Thanks so much for giving us your time! Well, I guess that’s all I need to say for now. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas, MJ

Visit us online. Find back issues, news, profiles, and more at www.talemagazine.wordpress.com!

CONTENTS 4

Paperclips

Poetry Corner

10 Writing, Catsi-Style 14 Regina Doman (Interview) 18 Movie Review: The Hunger Games - Catching Fire 19 Book Review: Frankenstein 20 The Tanglewood Times 24 The Write Life 26 Inspire Me (Writing Prompts) 27 Merry Christmas from the Staff

PAPERCLIP PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAIGE JOSEPHINE We’ve all been there. Hit by a brilliant story idea, we race to the nearest keyboard or notebook and start frantically scribbling our story. Usually we end up with something like this. Beep , beep , beep ! I bolted out of bed . Oh , no ! I was going to be late to school -- Again ! I rushed to the bathroom , pulling on my clothes as I went . As I brushed my teeth , I regarded myself in the mirror . Same old stick brown hair and blue eyes . Too many freckles . I sighed . Passing over the obvious flaw in this beginning--That of how the heck would you be late if you got up when your alarm went off-Can we please talk about mirrors? In the beginning of your story, you usually know what your main character looks like. You want other people to know, too. But let’s be painfully honest: Your reader does not need to know five sentences in. And if you have to force it like this, your readers are going to sigh, throw down the book, and go back to perusing the library shelves. “But...” you pause. “How do I tell them what my character looks like? If I’m writing from first person, aren’t mirrors useful?” I have definitely fallen prey to the introduce-yourself-with-amirror thing. And any cliché you think is bad, does not hold a candle to this one. How many times do you go up to the mirror and meticulously sound off all your features? Let’s be completely honest here. When I look in the mirror, I’m not usually gazing into my “stormy eyes, the color of the sea,” or whatever color they’d be. I’m usually surveying my nose to make sure my face-wash is doing it’s duty, or trying to decide how much hair product I will need to sedate my hair. If you use a mirror to introduce the looks of your character, your readers will feel like you don’t trust their

PAPERCLIP PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S imaginations enough to wait a bit before touching on appearances. If your story revolves around appearance--Say you’re writing about a dystopian society where people with blue eyes are hunted to extinction--Then bingo, my friend, it’s just going to come up naturally. But say you’re writing about the average Jane. What then? I’ve been compiling good ways to introduce characters for a while now, so I’ll share some of my treasure with you. We’ll start with what I think is kind of natural. Jealousy. Okay, so there’s this girl I know with the most gorgeous red hair I have ever seen. I mean, it’s beautiful. I have that rather boring haircolor that sits right between blonde and brown, and I’ve always wanted red or black hair. Most people aren’t perfectly satisfied with their looks--If you are, good for you--So chances are your character might not either. So, your charrie could have that one friend who is just beautiful, and hence they find themselves comparing their friends curls to their own hair. This doesn’t have to be obvious, and it usually only works for a feature or two before it looks cheap. But something like, “Cammie’s hair was a constant reminder that I was the only one in my family who wasn’t blonde. It was like all the bleach drained from my mother’s system by the time she got around to having me.” At this point we get the idea that Cammie is blonde and our dear narrator is not. And that she is also a tad bitter about it. Another similar device you could use is not direct jealousy, but discontent. Things like wondering if your mom would let you get colored contacts lets you know that someone does not like her eyes very much. It’s fairly easy to drop a color in there. Dying hair is an alternative, though it depends on the personality of your character, since not everyone is into that. Even wanting to dye one’s hair because they hate strawberry blonde--Anything goes. Looking at published books for inspiration is also a good idea. In Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games, we find out that Katniss has darker hair and looks, just like most of the people who

THOUGHTS OF A TEENAGE

PAPERCLIP PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S PAPERCLIP S live in the Seam. In case we missed that memo, Collins has a recurring theme in Katniss’ braid. Normally calling attention to a braid is a little strange, but this is a unique braid, a signature, and can therefore become important enough to talk about. I think the main thing that you want to avoid when introducing your characters’ looks is insulting your readers. Writing is a bit like playing with your audience. We, as authors, want to tell them details without them realizing they’re being told. It’s a bit like a game, where subtlety is the best strategy. Once the reader realizes that a sentence is constructed a certain way in order to convey a detail, they are jolted from being immersed in the story. They realize it’s just a book, and, if they’re like me, they start reading like a writer, watching for plot devices. So. What are some ways that you can introduce your characters?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I’m Josie, a Catholic homeschooling teenager with a love of reading, writing, and art. I am a pint-sized fangirl with a mop of flyaway curls. A mop of them. They take forever to grow out, as is my daily lament. My personality type is ENFP, which means that I'm a people person. I get excited about things, especially British television, and excited usually means obsessed. I'm a bit of a nerd, complete with glasses which I actually do need. No, I'm not one of those people who wear glasses because they are "cool." I have pretty awful vision and absolutely loathe wearing them. We clear? That being said, I like Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Merlin, (No spoilers, I haven't finished it.) I'm a huge bookworm--That includes the classics. I believe Pride and Prejudice is right next to the Hunger Games on my bookshelf. I'm a hopeless romantic, and while I can simulate maturity, I still haven't grown out of wanting to be a princess.

JOSEPHINE PAIGE |

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Our Hearts Have Wings Josephine Paige

I’ve been told that all mankind, Is lucky just because, We feel it most acutely, When we jump and fall in love.

To feel the bitter sting of pain, Rejection always brings, To feel when our hearts soar above, On fragile gliding wings. I’d always found it rather strange, That people find this good, For feelings make us hurt the way, Indifference never could.

It took a while for me to see, (Longer to understand), That when we love we’re in the clouds, Detachment makes us land. It’s not that we are lucky, Or that loving's not a sting, But God made humans earthbound, And He gave our hearts the wings. People risk the heartache, To fly above the clouds, Even falling’s just like flying, Up until you hit the ground.

THOUGHTS OF A TEENAGE

Winter is a simple thing, a simple, homely thing Unfeigned is it's grace, unadorned it's face And silence makes the stars to sing. All the pomp and pageantry the winsome summer brings The joy and the haste, the snow has erased For winter is a simple thing, a simple, homely thing. In silence and in sorrow, the small sad songbird wings From place to place, in search of grace The silence makes the stars to sing. For winter is an honest thing, a brutal honest king Our own cold we taste, our shadows must face Winter is a simple thing, a simple, homely thing. Nothing can hide now, no shelter it brings Lonely the place, where hidden is grace For silence makes the stars to sing. It's stark light will banish the shades where we cling; Our eyes they will trace what our sins have effaced For winter is a simple thing, a simple, homely thing And silence makes the stars to sing.

Advent, Advent, the light burns on, First one, then two, then three, then four And then the Christ Child at the door Advent, Advent, the light burns on The darkness cannot it comprehend Advent, Advent, the light burns on At His command the night shall end First one, then two, then three, then four Blessed is he who keeps watch at His door First one then two, then three, then four His word's a lamp that kings adore And then the Christ Child at the door And with him dawn the Sons of Morn And then the Christ Child at the door Unto us a savior born Advent, Advent, the light burns on First one then two, then three, then four And then the Christ Child at the door.

WRITIN CATSIG STYLE by catsi eceer

So, you get a new column, and I’m writing it! Aren’t you excited?

I don’t know about you, but when I come up with a new story idea, the first thing I come up with is typically the main character. Sometimes it’s just a voice in my head that I don’t recognize as one of my alreadycreated characters (such as my one character Natalie; I’ll discuss her more in a second), or maybe it’s a picture of someone I get in my mind, or an idea of what someone’s back story is. Then I keep listening to them until they fully develop. But sometimes I come up with a story first. Then, I have to throw together a Hero for the story. This is difficult. I came up with Mya in this fashion, trying to sew her together so that she meshed with my story. After a while of trying to figure out everything about her, she suddenly took a turn and changed her mind (or, more accurately, my mind) about who she wanted to be. Once a quiet, motherly type, Mya is now a fiery-tempered, freedom-loving thrill seeker. She’s definitely not the sort of character I was trying for, but she’s wonderful in her own way. So there’s my first point – don’t try to force a character to be something they aren’t. If they’re going one way, let them. If they just keep going so they don’t fit your story anymore, then you can either a) Adapt your story to fit them, or B) Make them an entirely new story and get a

WRITING, CATSI-STYLE | CATSI ECEER different MC to star in the original story. Really. Change the story, not the character. Maybe now you’re saying, “But Catsi, my characters aren’t going anywhere. I have a picture of them, and I know the story, but they don’t do anything!” In this case, it sounds like your character has a case of “underdevelopitis” (Yep, just made that up myself). Here is what I suggest: • Develop his or her wants. A character interview works well for this. Basically, just ask your MC question after question after question. They can be anything from “What’s your favorite animal?” to “Why do you want to stop Mr. SuperVillain so badly?” (Speaking of Mr. SuperVillain, I think I should mention this. Of all my characters, I always have the most trouble getting the truth out of my villains. They’re always so dark and shadowy and vague. Figuring out what’s up with them, though, can help develop your entire cast of characters.) I always find it most helpful to have a friend interview your character, but you can do it yourself if you prefer. • Develop his or her personality, what he or she does under pressure. Try to figure out what your Hero would do if he or she were in a random, stressful, and/or dangerous situation. For example, “Sam, if you were at the library and these guys came in a started shooting, what would you do?” And then just follow the scene in your head (or on paper, if you prefer it that way) to see what s/he does. Actually, the scene starter I just mentioned is really good for developing a character’s personality. Sam is a character of mine that went through this in a character development session with some of my writer friends. She is way more developed now than she was before thanks to that exercise. • Take your characters’ places. When you’re at the museum, see which exhibit they like best. At the amusement park, find out if they’re a rollercoaster person, too. See how they react to real life situations that you’re in.

WRITING, CATSI-STYLE | CATSI ECEER (Beware: Particularly annoying characters of mine have taken to laughing at me when I say or do something ridiculous. They also talk. A lot. This is a result of very developed characters. So, if you don’t like the idea of having voices in your head, well, maybe you’d better stick with underdeveloped “charries.”) Some notes on personality, now. This is probably the most helpful thing I have ever learned about developing your MC’s personality: Your MC is not you!!! Years and years ago (When I was, like, twelve; long time ago, right?), I liked to write. (Still do, believe it or not.) However, my stories always seemed kind of flat. No matter how rich the world I had created was, how interesting the situations that the characters got themselves into were, the stories were still boring, flat, shallow. This can be blamed on many things, I suppose (lack of conflict, lack of interest, bad detail, etc.), but the main thing, I think, was that my characters were always me. Comet was me, but with red hair. Shelleen was me, but older. Lizzy was me, but with awesome demigod powers. Finally, getting bored of being boring, I decided to completely flip around my personality and write about someone completely different: thus Caden was born. Caden was bold, outspoken, had plenty of attitude, and was a guy to complete the reversal of my typical characters. He received very little notice from his busy father, and reverted to troublemaking to get attention. I wrote about him for about a page and a half, and then abandoned it. I may not have learned discipline with that story, but I did learn that characters with problems are awesome, that it’s way more fun to write about someone who does things you never would then someone who’s just like you in every aspect, and that I can write from a guy’s point of view pretty well - for a girl, anyway. Ever since Caden, I have never written about “myself.” Yeah, little pieces of me can be found in every one of my characters, but I think that helps me identify better with them. I share Jay’s love of animals; I understand Destiny’s irritation with her annoying hair color; and Pierre’s

WRITING, CATSI-STYLE | CATSI ECEER clumsiness I totally get. I can write better about them because of their little things that I relate to, and I enjoy writing about them because of the little things that I don’t. So there ya go, and we still haven’t gone over Natalie. It’s story time! One day, I’m sitting outside, drawing, enjoying the last of the September sun, and arguing with Jay. I finish the face of my sketch, and the name Natalie jumps into my head, right at the same time as the girl in my sketch barges into my mind, interrupting our argument. She’s acting like an “I’m-gonna-get-my-way-or-else” kind of girl, doesn’t take nothin’ from no one, and SO does not look like she acts. The picture I drew is of a sweet looking sixteen-year-old, a gentle smile on her face and caramel colored hair. THEY DON’T MATCH. So, I ignore Natalie and move on with my life. Natalie continues to hang out in my head and randomly offer her input on whatever I’m doing. I continue to ignore and frustrate her in turns. All the while, she gives me no story of hers. Not that I’m complaining, as I already have, like, twenty stories to write. But then, several weeks later, after I have resigned myself to the fact that I am going to have an obnoxious, story-less girl sitting in my head for the rest of my life, Natalie smacks me with her back story… and future story and current story and some Allies and a Villain. May I just say, “Wow.” There is always a reason why someone is the way they are. Natalie’s history is way too long and complicated to put here in full, but it will suffice to say that she has not had an easy time of it. I understand why she is the way she is, and why she looks different in the picture then she acts in my head. To paraphrase: Your character is not always what s/he looks like, and there is always a reason why s/he acts the way that s/he does. (I think I’ve rambled enough now. Hopefully you’ve gotten something out of this article, and it wasn’t a total waste of your last ten minutes and a good space of e-paper.)

Happy developing!

CatsiEceer Catsi Eceer, signing off.

INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST

REGINA DOMAN INTERVIEW BY C.M. DAVIDSON

You state in the biography on your website that you have been working to become a writer for as long as you can remember: What do you consider to be your "big break", either in your writing or in your quest to become published, that confirmed for you that, yes, you WERE a writer?

My “big break” was definitely getting published by Bethlehem Books in 1997. Looking back, I really almost can’t believe it happened! I remember what a hard time I had even explaining my manuscript, including the concept of a fairy tale retold in modern times to most people. That someone liked it enough to publish it still amazes me. Furthermore, Bethlehem Books wasn’t doing any new books, let alone accepting outside submissions when they read my manuscript in 1994-95. And the only reason they read it was because they liked an article I had written for a little magazine about really good books for kids and thought I might share their vision. Which to me underscores that publishing really is about relationships and shared visions – and that can be so frustrating to so many authors, since most of the footwork is done through the mail and email, and for most of it, you never get to talk to a real person! (Publishers WILL NOT accept phone calls or visits from submitting authors – don’t even try!) Which is why I encourage new writers to get out and network face-toface by attending conferences and meet-and-greets with agents and publishers and other writers. It can be encouraging, and to give you a window into what sort of people work in publishing. Even though your “break” might come eventually just through someone reading your manuscript, it helps to be able to imagine, somewhat, the people who are considering your work, even if you really have to imagine them because you’ve never met them!

You say in one of your interviews that the best advice you can give to young aspiring authors is to be persistent, because this is a job that reacquires lots of disappointment, and not to be discouraged by failure, because God has a plan for everything ( very true, by the way!). But can you offer us some more specific advice, particularly on the writing itself? What do you suggest that young authors should be doing to improve their writing, before they even think about being published?

Wow, that is a big question! But let me highlight one thing that seems boring and obvious--but it's not. It’s important to be technically good at writing, mastering things such as spelling and grammar rules and acquiring as large a vocabulary as possible. Think of vocabulary as tools at your disposal. You want to master spelling and grammar rules because if you are able to spell things correctly and put together grammatically-correct sentences quickly and naturally, you won’t have to spend time thinking about them, and that means more brain cells available to devote to creating your story. It will save you hours and hours of time later on, and perhaps money too, because you shouldn’t dare to submit anything for publication with possible typos in it, and, after a while you will run out of friends and relatives willing to correct your errors, and will have to pay someone else to do it for you. So, as much as possible, master grammar and spelling. You want it to be effortless. I say this only because one telltale sign of the novice or amateur writer is poor spelling and grammar: it really does make a huge difference in how potential buyers (editors and agents)

INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST REGINA DOMAN perceive your story. When I worked as an acquisitions editor for Sophia Institute Press, the number of times I took a manuscript which was brilliant but which had typos in it was exactly zero. I suspect that finding typos is a good excuse for most manuscript readers to say, "Next!" and toss the submission onto the trash pile. Presentation counts! Beyond that, make a lot of friends with a wide variety of people and learn to understand them. Fiction is the study of human nature and in order to do it well, you must know (and love!) many, many people. (Or a few people very deeply—take your pick!) Listen to people. Try to understand how people who are different from you think. Don’t just study people from the outside. Learn about people from the inside—through sympathy, understanding, and love. This will help you better understand the human condition and help you to begin to grasp the struggles that most people have. Suffering is an important part of this, though not a pleasant part. Understanding the suffering that other people carry is sometimes easier than understanding your own suffering, and it can help you deal with your own (even just by giving you perspective!). It will also help you avoid cliches in plots such as, "Happy Christian loses faith in God when a beloved spouse/child dies." Although that's a conventional trope in so much modern fiction, I haven't found that to be true in my life or in the lives of others. Write from reality, not from fictional perceptions of reality.

Can you give us a brief description of your writing process? When you get a raw idea, do you have a method for developing it and transcribing it into a story?

I do, and it’s a method I outline in my writing course (which hopefully will be on sale in 2014!). It’s a rather complex process that is tricky to summarize. Let me just recommend the book that I learned from, The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, and a companion volume by my friend Dr. Stan Williams, The Moral Premise. Egri’s method is the one I use, though I have put my own spin on it. Every writer develops their own way of working a story out, and I’m no exception, but Egri’s method helped me understand the deeper level of storytelling. If my stories seem deep, it’s partly because of his method, which has the writer laying a metaphysical foundation before getting into the mechanics of the plot. It’s a very organic process.

But here's the summary, inspired by Egri, refined by me. Regina's 5 point plot method 1. Figure out what the story is really about (premise) 2. Discover the character who will carry out the premise (protagonist) 3. What is the worst possible thing that can happen to the character as defined by the parameters of your plot? (plot and climax) 4. Who is the person who will push your protagonist towards that Worst Possible Thing? (villain/antagonist) 5. Remember your contract with the audience. (What the specific and targeted audience you are trying to reach expects from the genre) For more, read Lajos Egri. And buy my writing class. (Write to me at regina@reginadoman.com for details).

What do you consider to be the biggest pitfall that young writers often tumble into ( the temptation to be trite, didactic, cliché, etc.) and how should they work to avoid it? I think it varies from writer to writer! I am not sure what the biggest problem is in terms of ultimate importance. But one problem which I know is endemic to young writers who watch movies and television more than they read books is that they never really master the concept of viewpoint. And that can make for sloppy and confusing first novels. As an editor, I believe I have spent more time trying to explain and correct viewpoint problems in manuscripts than anything else. It's interesting that you said "young" writers, because in my experience, older writers have other problems, but not this particular one, which leads me to suspect it's a problem that comes from technology. So what is viewpoint? Viewpoint is something found mainly in novels (television and movie scripts do have viewpoint, but it’s much more subtle). Typically, most YA novels are in the 1st or 3rd person limited, which means that we have access to only one person’s thoughts and we see the story through their eyes. This person is usually the main character or the protagonist (But not always! Sherlock never gets a viewpoint in the Sherlock Holmes stories: Watson is both viewpoint character and narrator. The Great Gatsby and Wuthering Heights are told in a similar manner. But these stories all come from an era where that way of

INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST REGINA DOMAN telling stories was more accepted.) So, typically, the viewpoint character in a YA novel is also the main character. Sometimes the viewpoint will change to another character’s between chapters or between section breaks. Occasionally you will have a more omniscient viewpoint (where “God” is telling the story and can see into everyone’s head), but these tend to be stories about a group of people who are all important to the plot and who sometimes function as a single character (I’m thinking of The Westing Game by the masterful Ellen Raskin, where each of the sixteen heirs of Sam Westing get a viewpoint. But each of these characters is important, and figuring out the “real” main character is part of the mystery in the book). But usually, a YA novel will have one or two viewpoints, maybe as many as four (a story about a small group of friends, for instance). Adult novels typically have larger casts of characters and hence more viewpoints. So, the problem for young writers? Too many of them jump from one set of eyes to another set of eyes throughout their novel, without any rhyme or reason, so that the reader has a hard time figuring out who the main character is and what the story is actually about. As I said, I suspect this is because most young writers spend more time watching movies than reading books, and so they don’t pick up the concept so easily. As far as I know, schools rarely teach viewpoint in any depth, so it's a concept that I suspect writers intuit rather than learn through reading many, many stories. If you aren't reading a lot, you might just miss the concept. But it’s a crucial one. Typically, the reader will bond the most with the viewpoint character, because the reader is sharing in so many of their thoughts and feelings. But if the viewpoint keeps changing, the reader can’t bond. Too many young writers seem to think that variety is more important than depth, and so they swap viewpoints so that the reader won’t get bored. I think that’s a mistake. See, some viewpoints are just not very interesting. How many of us really care about the feelings and problems of, say, a prison guard who’s only in half of one chapter? But many young writers will make us spend time with uninteresting minor characters by giving them viewpoints, when what the reader really wants is to get further into the head of the hero, or the love interest, or the person trying to escape from prison. Being stuck in a boring viewpoint can be frustrating to readers, and as I said, I don’t think many young writers have a good instinct for what their readers want.

One reason I know that young writers often switch viewpoints is because they simply can’t figure out how to get across plot information that the main viewpoint character doesn’t know. For instance, because the viewpoint heroine becomes unconscious after a fight and a capture, the author decides that to write a scene from the viewpoint of the (boring) prison guard to let the reader know what’s going on. But that’s kind of an easy out. It also prevents a good sense of mystery from building up. Readers like to figure things out, and a certain amount of mystery builds suspense. Too many viewpoints can literally give the reader too much information, and the plot becomes flat and predictable. So I always encourage writers to pick the most interesting and likable character, make him or her the viewpoint character, and stick with them! As for the problems that will always arise regarding giving the readers information that the viewpoint character can't know, figure them out! The readers might not need to know as much as you think they need to know. Maybe you can alter your plot or introduce another character to get that information across. Maybe the viewpoint character can regain consciousness in time to hear part of what the prison guards are saying. Maybe she can fashion a tool from something she finds in her cell, snag a security camera, break into the security system with some clever hidden gizmo she still has in her pocket, and replay the film of what happened when she was unconscious! The possibilities of how to get reader access to hidden information are endless, and solving those problems can be among the most fun and rewarding parts of writing your story. I always encourage young writers to do this instead of switching viewpoints.

Do you have any advice for developing plots (and plot twists) ?

Ah, I could spend a lot of time on this, since plot is my favorite. Well, plot must come out of character (see Lajos Egri again) and character comes from the premise of your story. (I’ll let Egri tell you more: get his book! It’s cheap!). According to Aristotle, plot comes from what is necessary and what follows. You have to see all the possibilities in your story and account for them, at least in your own head. If a character could die and doesn’t, there should be a reason why. If he should have gotten sued or imprisoned and doesn’t, you as the

INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST REGINA DOMAN author should know why. Sometimes we miss the obvious things inherent in a situation. That’s where feedback from your family and friends can be helpful. You can ask them things like, “Did the story turn out as you expected? Why or why not? If not, what did you think was going to happen? What did you expect?” For me, the best twists are created, not when the author has something really unexpected happen, but when the author deliberately and carefully hides a crucial component of the plot, and then suddenly reveals it and brings it into play when the reader isn’t expecting it. Hiding information can change the reader’s perception of everything. For instance, in my second book, Black as Night, the entire plot turns on my hiding the actual relationship between two of the main characters, which makes everything confusing and mysterious until it’s revealed. Of course, sometimes you can have a lot of fun by having unexpected things occur, and most of the time when I’ve gone out on a limb and tried writing a twist that seemed really, really bizarre, it worked out. For instance, the moment when the heroine has a sudden prophetic experience in our comic novel, Catholic Philosopher Chick, which I wrote with Rebecca Bratten Weiss, leads to a hilarious Thomistic dialogue, and no one has ever complained about it being unrealistic, although it totally could be. Another plot twist that I helped engineer with my fellow writers was when the first All Saint’s Day party at John Paul 2 High turns into an evangelistic outing to the public high school dance in Catholic Reluctantly (John Paul 2 High Book 1). It turned out to be one of the strongest scenes in the novel. But generally, the best plot twists come from hiding something that’s been there all the time, as opposed to inserting something afterwards.

How do you balance writing with your everyday life?

Um, it’s hard. It requires a lot of discipline, and it’s usually sacrificial. For instance, I am not sewing a new dress right now because I am supposedly working on my new novel (although technically I am currently distracting myself from the novel by answering these questions!). I always tell young writers: you will not write during summer vacation or over Christmas break.

You will not write during a three-day weekend or when you have two weeks off. If you are not writing now, in the midst of your hectic, everyday schedule, when you have projects due and household chores, and a long todo list, you will never be a writer. So when do you write? When most normal people relax in front of the TV, or check Facebook, or spend time hanging out with their friends, or shopping at the mall. In other words, you have to sacrifice your leisure time to writing, because you don’t want to be sacrificing your family time, your prayer time, or your duties. The one exception to this is when you are a full-time student in college. Then you usually have so much other writing to do that I can understand if you don’t write fiction in your spare time. When I was a college student, I couldn’t! But I did jot down ideas and work on scraps on things from time to time, and I did write over the summers and on breaks. After college, I recommend that young writers get back into the habit of writing as soon as they possibly can. It’s got to be part of your daily, weekly life if it’s going to happen at all.

You stated in a previous interview that most of your inspiration comes from the books, stories, and quotations that you have read. Which book ( or story, or quotation ) do you consider to have had the biggest impact on you and on your writing? Dietrich von Hildebrand’s paraphrased quote which I use in my talks: “When you sever the connection between goodness and beauty, goodness is in danger of becoming abstract and merely moral, and evil will become fascinating.” That quote, whose source I cannot find, changed my life when I read it back in 1993. It changed the way I saw good and evil, and it underscored for me the importance of beauty as the incarnation of goodness, as the thing that makes goodness attractive and enables the average person to love and desire goodness. It has everything to do with my art, and with why I'm a writer, and why I continue to do what I do.

THE HUNGER GAMES:

CATCHING FIRE BY EM

Movie Released: November 2013

I think it’s a universal rule in fandoms that if you read the book, you should go and see the movie. You just have to. I’ve seen some really terrible movies that were based on fabulous books. Books so great the movies should never have even been thought about being made (read: Percy Jackson and the 2 Terrible Movies That We Didn’t Need). Catching Fire is not one of these movies. It. Was. Fantastic. I saw it 2 days ago and my brain still hasn’t fully processed the epicness that is that movie. Okay, okay. Actual sane review time. The story was amazing. I loved the way that Katniss’ emotional trauma from the Games was portrayed. She and Peeta were great together, especially in that movie. We saw a lot of the previous victors, which was a lot of fun. Finnick Odair was absolutely perfectly cast. One of my favorite scenes in the movie and the book was with the Jabberjays. In that scene, Finnick and Katniss are trapped in a part of the arena filled with Jabberjays that sound like their loved ones screaming for help. Everything about that scene was perfect. The emotion, the Jabberjays, the glass barrier between Katniss and Peeta… perfect. For all the book fans out there, don’t worry, they did a great job with it. Some scenes that were in the book were left out, and a few things were added in, but it was still really good. The casting was flawless. The emotion was amazing. The Arena was fantastic. I really love this movie, in case you hadn’t picked that up by now. Now onto ratings… Catching Fire is rated PG13, and for good reason. It’s violent, and there’s some language in it that wasn’t in the book. If you’ve seen or read Harry Potter… it’s not any worse than that, and they bleeped some stuff out. But still. This movies deserves all the awards.

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FRANKENSTEIN

BY JOSEPHINE PAIGE

Author: Mary Shelley

So this summer, we took a few days off with the grandparents and went down to a beach house. Sun, sand, the lull of the ocean... In short, I was bored. It was stunningly beautiful, but it does not change the fact that it was just a bit boring. To my great relief, I had uploaded a few classics onto my Kindle for summer reading -- One of these books was Frankenstein. I had never read Frankenstein before. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew I was in for some good literature --It is a classic, after all. But it was a horror novel, right? Would I be up all night, heart thumping, jumping at shadows on the walls? Determined to find out, I settled into the patio chair, donned my sunglasses like a true Californian, and started the book. I was soon sucked headlong into the incredible story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant scientist who tried to play God and reaped the consequences, which were far greater than he had ever fathomed. In his quest for uncovering the secret to creating life, he made a monster, a creature, horrendous to behold -- Pardon me... whenever I start talking about the classics I resort to rather eccentric language... Well, he basically creates a monster, and after he does it, realizes what a blasphemous attempt he has made. The creature escapes, and Frankenstein tries to forget what he has done. We are thrown now into a tragedy. See, Frankenstein is basically a retelling of Prometheus, the Greek dude who stole fire from Olympus, playing god for the humans below. Prometheus was punished--Something about being chained up and getting eaten every day or something, I can’t remember the details. But Frankenstein’s punishment was different, because... Now I have to decide whether or not to do spoilers. I’m thinking maybe not. Well then. I’ll just say that Frankenstein’s punishment is almost worse. I went into this book expecting a horror story --Things that go bump in the night, terrifying and bone-chilling. I was expecting to be revolted or terrified at least a little. But what I found wasn’t exactly a horror story at all--It was a study in human nature. It was incredible. It made me think about things that had never even occurred to me. It was one of those books that you feel you need a second opinion on — one that you want your friends to read, so that they can talk about it with you. I cried reading this book. I cried for Frankenstein, but I also cried for the creature itself. Because it wasn’t something that I felt horrified by, really. I felt... Pity, I think it was. My heart went out to the monster. It saw humanity. It was created by pride, by a human wanting to be more, but rejection and hatred made it into a monster. One passage that really went home to me reading the book was the when the creature said that he didn’t understand why humans were not always good, for surely to be good and kind was the best thing one could be. And I wanted to cry, because this monster, this thing that should never have existed, had pointed out the very thing that should be obvious to the very dullest and least intelligent people. It was ugly, deformed, terrifying, and it could tell that inner beauty was what really mattered. I know you hear lots of people say that, you’ve probably heard it so many times that it’s ceased to ring for you--But this book brings it home again. I originally picked up this book because it was a classic. But in reading it, I found out why it was a classic. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is tired of vapid, uninspiring literature. While many books are great fun and good reads, this one is truly food for the soul.

| C.M. DAVIDSON |

Greetings, minions!

“Fable is m than fact, b ore historical tells us abo ecause fact and fable te ut one man, lls us about a million m en.”

Welcome, my devoted fans, to second issue of THE TANGLEWOOD TIMES. Above is a quote from G. K. Chesterton, because I can't think of a better way to begin a column than with a quote by G. K. Chesterton. Chesterton is one of the greatest authors of all time, one of my biggest inspirations and role models as a writer, and just general one pretty awesome dude. If you haven't read much of his work DEFINITELY look him up. I’m serious. Go to the library. Right now. Find one of his books. You can probably find most of them online in pdf or free download form, but I won't suggest that because I'm one of those snobs who believes that books should be kept on paper as much as possible. Anyway, leaving Chesterton himself aside, regretfully, I wanted to use that quote to introduce the main topic of this article, which is fairy tales. This is partly inspired by the author who I interviewed for this issue of the magazine, Regina Doman, who has some really fascinating modern retellings of fairy tales. Fairy tales are not a scarcity in our culture today—between Disney and movies and books and television shows we are practically flooded with them. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I do take issue with the way some of them are presented, but that's more a quarrel with the general decline of the entertainment industry in general than I probably should have posted this in the last issue, but I completely forgot about it and so I'll add it now. Hello, and welcome to The Tanglewood Times! I'm C.M. Davidson, and this is my column—I hope you enjoy it! This is basically a haven for aspiring authors like me, where we can discuss all things Writing; ramble and think Deep Thoughts and discuss different books and kinds of writing and trends in literature and things like that. As for me, you can call me C.M. Davidson. Or just C for short; a lot of people call me that, actually. Some of my brothers call me B, but that's a long story. Like Josie, I'm a Catholic homeschooled teenager, and I love books and reading and playing soccer and all that good stuff. I have a love for fantasy and adventure and romance—not the cheap stuff, mind you, but Tolkien and Lewis and Chesterton and the classics. I like books that have some depth to them—none of this eye candy stuff, but well and artfully crafted stories with meaning and purpose behind them. That's the main drive behind this column, learning how to write "good literature." Yes, I am quite the nerd—kind of goes with the territory really. I enjoy being a nerd quite a lot, thank you very much! Anyway, I hope you all have as much fun reading this column as I had writing it!

THE TANGLEWOOD TIMES | C.M. DAVIDSON with the idea itself. As writers, we have a lot to learn from fairy tales. They are the like text books of the writing world. Not only are they exciting stories and an handy idea mine, your average fairy tale has all the essential elements of a good story (both structural and emotional) and all laid out neatly for your perusal. Reading fairy tales helps to reinforce the basic structure of a our stories, and can also lead us to deeper our perception of what goes into a story that makes it great, and makes people want to read it. Fairy tales speak to people on a very deep level, and it's helpful to us, as writers, to read them as much and as often as we can, because the more we bring those elements into ourselves, the more we can project them into our writing. Fairy tales are the ultimate archetypes. Archetypes, in case you didn't already know, are the common figures in all stories; to use the Jungian definition, they are the collectively unconscious ideas present in all psyches. (Yes, I can quote Jung at you. Be afraid! ) All that really boils to say is that archetypes are embodiments of ideas that every person has in them, right from the day they were born. For instance, everyone knows, before they are even aware of it, that every story should have a Hero, and that the hero has certain roles (like growth and self-sacrifice) that he should fulfill. The Hero and the Mentor are character archetypes, but the fairy tale itself is a kind of archetype, a raw and undeveloped treasure-trove of ideas.Everyone loves the story of the prince who saves the princess from the dragon, even if they're not really sure why-- because it is an Archetype. Archetypes are the building blocks of other stories; and because of this, almost all stories, under close examination, turn out to have some one or more of the major elements of a fairy tale. See where I'm going with this? Okay. But what are the major elements of a fairy tale? Let's have a look: Well, obviously, we first have the Hero, who can be anything from a prince to a peasant to an honest fool, a disgraced knight, or—you guessed it—the young man setting out to look for his fortune. The Hero may be a boy or a girl (and lots of modern stories have fun switching the gender roles in stories anyway). What is important about the Hero, is that, whoever he is, he is, for the most part, kind and good, honest and sane. According to Chesterton, he is an ordinary man, who ends up walking into an extraordinary world. There may or may not be a Heroine to compliment the Hero, and vice versa, depending on the story. The Hero of the story is always fighting for or searching for some good—in some cases it is the Heroine, in others a magic sword or the Elixir of Life, doesn't matter which. The only important point is that the Hero has to be searching for something, something good, and it cannot be an easy quest. That's where the obstacles come in.

THE TANGLEWOOD TIMES | C.M. DAVIDSON The Hero will have to face at least one, usually more, obstacles on his quest. This may be a dragon or a genie or a deep river or a dark forest or a horde of bandits. There is usually a physical test involved, but often there is also an element that tests the Hero spiritually, either his intellect or his honesty or his generosity or any of his virtues. The Hero has to prove himself worthy in mind and body to proceed on toward his goal. That becomes important when we talk about character development. The Challenges the Hero faces help him to grow as an individual, body and soul. Then there are the two opposing forces, the Villain and the Fairy Godmother. These two are basically opposites—the Villain is the source of all the obstacles and evil that befall the Hero, while the Fairy Godmother is the source of all the help and protection that the Hero is given. The Fairy Godmother's help usually comes in the form of knowledge and gifts, imparted to the Hero at the beginning of his quest. The Villain of a fairy tale is usually portrayed as jealous and greedy, resentful of every good thing that does the Hero's way, and desperate to do him evil. (Interestingly, I find that in most traditional fairy tales, the most despicable and powerful villain is usually less scary than petty and foolish. Isn't that odd—and kind of scary, too?). I put these two in the same paragraph because I see them as being juxtaposed over the story: the force of good and the force evil. Interestingly enough, the Fairy Godmother rarely intercedes once the quest has begun. She prepares the Hero, gives him all the tools and knowledge, and then departs, leaving him to complete the quest on his own. That's another thoughtful detail that it might be useful to remember. So, the main ideas: An ordinary, mostly virtuous Hero, a quest, possibly a princess, a series of mental and physical obstacles, a Villain and a Fairy Godmother. Super basic, super important. These elements are commonly referred to as " The Hero's Journey", and , as you may already know, it is the foundation for every story ever told. In it's complete version,the Hero's Journey has a lot more elements than that ( and most come under slightly different name than the ones I've given here, for simplicity's sake) but I consider these to be the most basic, the most likely to appear in a fairy tale, and the met important. Fairy tales are filled with archetypes within archetypes, and that's why they speak to people so deeply. They speak to the deepest unconscious yearnings of our souls, because that's where they come from. There are a lot of fairy tale adaptations and distortions out there, and authors have lots of fun playing with these elements (making the Hero a dragon, making the Villain actually a misunderstood Hero), but the elements themselves are always there, if you look for them. Reading fairy tales is a great way for an author to internalize the Hero's Journey. Repetition and redundancy are the surest

THE TANGLEWOOD TIMES | C.M. DAVIDSON way to learn (YES, I admitted it, Mom!) and the more we learn the Hero's Journey, the more we can learn to structure and enrich our writing with it. So we all know what that means…..book recommendations!!!! Because reading makes everything a hundred percent better. If at all possible, read the original Fairy Tales. Read Grimm. Read Lang. Read the Greek myths (they're not exactly fairy tales, but they share many of the same elements). There's nothing quite like a primary source! Signing off!

A few good adaptations to try: The Fairy Tale Novels, a series by Regina Doman ( as I mentioned earlier, she has some really fascinating retellings—they do contain some mature elements, but they're definitely worth a read) The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale Ella Enchanted, by Gaile Carson Levine Fairest, by Gaile Carson Levine The Rumplestilskin Problem, by Vivian Vande Velde (aimed at a slightly younger audience, but still worth a look). This book is a really good example of a looking at the story from all different points of view. The author gets really creative with her ideas, it's very clever. And for extra credit, here are some resources for learning more abut the Hero's Journey and fairy tales in general: The Hero's Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers, by Chris Vogler (this is an excellent textbook that really goes into detail about the Hero's journey— very useful for aspiring authors) "The Red Angel", and " The Dragon's Grandmother", are two essays by G. K. Chesterton, both printed in his book Tremendous Trifles (no, I am not going to shut up about him!). He goes a lot deeper into the importance of fairy tales than I possibly could. Read them. I mean it.

D . C.M

n o s d i v a

Life T

NOTE: In this article, I’m discussing “THE story”. So while I discourage diving in head first to your ma in work, I don’t mean you shouldn’t write at all! Keep writing stuff for fun ! It’ll not only keep you in practice, but improve your writing as well for when you DO start your “big project” in earnest.

By MJ

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THE PERFECT STORY?

I think a lot of young writers have a tendency to jump right on a story as soon as they get the idea for a storyline. You’re so eager to start that you jump in head first, and then end up getting bored of the story and/or characters. This should never happen. I believe that when you write, you should write about a address. It can also count as your back-up database story you absolutely love, with characters you adore. If you’re not head over heels about the story or characters, don’t start writing. Keep it in the “idea” stage for a while. Just mess around with it. And if it comes to the point where it’s not “clicking” anymore, you can throw it out the window with little to no regrets, since you didn’t put a lot of writing time into it anyway.

THE WRITE LIFE | MJ

I think, especially with our age, our outlook on life an experiences are changing rapidly (Suddenly, that story you’ve been working on for a year seems incredibly immature). If you keep working out a story before ever putting pen to paper, you’ll be able to perfect it. As you mature more and more, you can edit your idea, putting in different aspects, sometimes even changing huge things like setting and story goal. I have actually had a story in my head for a while, and using this method has helped me so much. It just keeps getting more and more detailed; more and more address. It can also count as your back-up database intricate. So how do you know when you have the perfect story? When you can see practically no flaws. When it is jampacked with events and there are no “empty space” moments. When you’ve switched about a million ideas in and out of you story until you found the perfect matches. When you wouldn’t give up your story for the world. THE END

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A F

Eve s a m t Chris who has a l u f ate ter as

tm rac Chris ng a cha t n u o o ab hi une somet ly Write sfort i e m b t to al can great ing h t t I e m r so Eve. ic o t s i l rea l! stica ou. :) fanta y up to It’s ~ MJ

Merry Christ W m

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rite a Chr past self… istmas ca rd to words That at mo your means st! What only would 100 give you say? warni ngs would Would a it ju you st be nd advice ? Or fun a nd ga ~ MJ mes?

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C.M. Davids

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r e e c E i s t Ca

e g i a P J.

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