Monday, June 30, 2014

Why I Write: Bethune Beach of Yore

Why I Write: Bethune Beach of Yore: If you remember weekends and major holidays at Bethune-Volusia please tell me your memories. I would also love to have pictures. This is suc...

Junior Prom 1960

Prom Night was a huge event in 1960! It was most teenagers' first formal outing. Months of preparation went into making that night absolutely perfect. Looking back a few years, like 54, I am sure my parents wanted to throttle me. I would not accept just anything, not even a local boy as a date. My date was a graduating senior(college), already accepted into dental school. Oh yeah, I had my eye on the prize. Ta-da! I must say my parents were much more insightful than I. They sensed something in the young man that I didn't--innocence. Or maybe my father's reputation had preceded his acceptance of the invitation. Whatever was the case, he was most respectful.

As usual, after the prom, we went to the beach. Yes, Bethune Beach. I still had on my Southern Belle long, tiered, pink gown. He parked the  beautiful borrowed T-Bird, and all four of us got out for a walk on the beach. Four? Well, he brought a classmate along to be a date for my classmate. See, all was innocent. To make it even more so, before we crossed the first sand dune to reach the hard-pack of the beach, my second oldest brother, Jimmy, drove up in Dad's white and green Olds. He didn't say much, just eyed my date real hard. So, we walked and held hands and talked about my college plans. I had already thought of several institutions that I wanted to attend after I graduated, but I really honed in on one option when I learned he would be in professional school in the same city.

So, a lot of good stuff was accomplished on Prom Night. I left with only sand in my shoes.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Bethune Beach of Yore

If you remember weekends and major holidays at Bethune-Volusia please tell me your memories. I would also love to have pictures. This is such a great place that needs to have a book written about its advent and its present status in Volusia County. For a few years, I have been pondering doing this project, but I knew it would involve a lot of digging and leg-work. Now that I have released Julian from the writing nest, I am up to the challenge. However, I really do solicit help of others. It would be fantastic to have a lot of primary source materials. Write me here at the blog or on Facebook or email: lanoche_1@msn.com. This is a story that is begging to be written. Help me do it!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Importance of Writing Cohorts

After much working and reworking of my manuscript, I definitely realize the importance of writing cohorts. They can provide invaluable information that can add to the success of a work.  I do warn against having too many "fingers in the pie" because that increases the likelihood of contradictory views being espoused. So, I suggest sampling several writing groups and find one which provides: honest critiques, not warm and fuzzy unwarranted compliments; encouragement; helpful suggestions for improvement; resource materials and for the aging, someone with good eyesight to pick up typo's and omissions.

In regard to the last characteristic, I find it so disheartening to finish a manuscript, pore over it for hours, upload it, only to see once it's gone public a N or some other str4ange character in the middle of a word. It is great some authors can make corrections to the work and repost. For the ones who don't have that option, be sure to have a one last combing through by someone with 20/20 (or better) and a mind for detail.

Well, let me go download my manuscript for the 15th time!  Happy Writing, Ethel

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Alone doesn't mean Lonely!

I listen to Public Radio and while waiting to go into the library a guest made a remark to which I could relate. He spoke of a famous writer who eschewed  public appearances; even though, perhaps, his influence could have affected change. It was reported he preferred being alone with his creativity!

Only a few days earlier, my brother and I were talking of a cousin's passing--a relative we will both sorely miss. He was an artist and a hunter. He, a mosaic of interesting facets, never married because he realized a wife would be in either third or fourth place in his heart. And for someone who would hold him in first place, that would've been unfair. Just as the unnamed author mentioned above, Old Crow enjoyed being alone with his creativity.

I am pretty much the same. I do enjoy being in the company of others, but I have no problem spending extended periods with only my laptop and my thoughts. Ethel Cook-Wilson

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Why I Write: Julian Carlton--I am not just another George! Tali...

Why I Write: Julian Carlton--I am not just another George! Tali...:      Yes! Just finished a complete rewrite of Julian Carlton--I am not just another George! Taliesin Murders. The hundredth anniversary of ...

Why I Write: Why I Write

Why I Write: Why I Write: I like to talk, but there are just some things that can be expressed better in the written word. For example, I love dialect which can serve...

Why I Write

I like to talk, but there are just some things that can be expressed better in the written word. For example, I love dialect which can serve as a great characterization tool. I fell in love the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar in junior high and ever since I have been enthralled with regional dialects.

I have looked at my latest projects and realized that I love to have a life lesson in that which I write. I like shedding light on human inequities. In some of the writing groups in which I participate it has been suggested sometimes by other members that I use unflattering epithets, and I quickly inform that my narrator doesn't talk like that. I like to entertain, but most of all I like to educate and foster understanding of other.

Julian Carlton--I am not just another George! Taliesin Murders

     Yes! Just finished a complete rewrite of Julian Carlton--I am not just another George! Taliesin Murders. The hundredth anniversary of this event is approaching rapidly and I wanted to have this project redone. I feel that this is a vast improvement. You, the reading public will let me know, I am sure.
     Since my first attempt to write this historical fiction, I made a trip to Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and into Dodgeville where Julian was taken to jail after the murders. There in Dodgeville I met a docent in the Iowa County Historical Society who got me to thinking quite differently about Julian and this event. I learned some interesting facts about Frank Lloyd Wright during my visit, too. Upon learning those bits of information, I had a different view of Julian. In addition, I moved from the West Coast to Florida. Since I've been here, I've had the great fortune to participate in several writing groups. In those situations, invaluable information regarding writing is shared. With what I've learned, my approach to the novel became different.
     If you are in the Daytona Beach area on Sunday, August 17, 2014, 2:00 P.M., there will be a book release and movie (documentary) of the life of the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright. The event is free to the public. Please come and enjoy the outing.