A DAY AT DAME AGATHA’S SUMMER HOME by Maria Hudgins

 

A few years ago, I left my guided tour of Southwest England, Devon and Cornwall, and made my way down the River Dart to visit Greenway, the home of my hero, Agatha Christie. This is the beautiful Georgian house where Dame Agatha and her family spent many summers. In the photo, you can see the house nestled in woods with the Dart nearby. Grand as it is, it was not her only house. That's what good writing can get you.

Stalking The Orient Express By Maria Hudgins

I love Murder on the Orient Express. 

I have read the book more than once, seen the 1974 movie starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, seen the 2017 movie starring Kenneth Branagh as the same character, and in my own travels I have stalked the train (or what's left of it) itself. In the early 20th century the Orient Express carried the well-heeled of Europe from Paris to Istanbul in high style. Today, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express now owned by Belmond, takes well-heeled tourists from London to Venice in nostalgic Art Deco luxury.

LEARNING FROM THE BEST WRITERS by Maria Hudgins

 There must be a thousand books on "How to Write." If you read them all you wouldn't have time to write.So what are a few really good ones? How do you know if a book on writing is good? How do you know this author's advice is right or wrong? That's easy. Read a bit of it and if you are having a hard time putting it down--the author knows what he's doing. This topic, after all, is dry as dirt. It's right up there with "How to change the duvet cover," or "How to clean a bathroom," or "Filling out your 1040 form."

The best book on writing I have ever read is Stephen King's "On Writing" which, by now, has probably gone through a dozen editions. I couldn't put it down. I've read it more than once and not because I didn't remember his advice. It's wonderfully entertaining. I can't forget his description of pretending to be a circus strong man when he was two years old.

I've been looking at a website called Master Class and I see a lot of today's top writers are contributing their best suggestions.One click gives you samples of their advice and I have clicked on a bunch of them. I would tend to favor the words of authors that are my personal favorites. If I enjoy them, I think, so would others. My taste in stories is not unusual. I'm pretty typical. It's not free, but at $120/year, it's cheap for what you can get if you really use it.

This may sound stupid, but I learn a lot from listening to a favorite author on audio. It doesn't matter if the author is doing the reading or not. Some writers are not good readers, and some are. Listening frees your mind to think only about the story. When you aren't thinking about the words on the page or how many pages are left in this chapter, you become more aware of the structure. Why is the writer giving you all these details in one chapter but not in another one? Where is the viewpoint character and what are his eyes seeing? If she parks her car, does she immediately open the door? Does she remember to pick up her purse? Why does the writer skip over all the details sometimes with a brief, "Next morning, he flew to Chicago?" Details are tedious if they don't move the story forward.

Sometimes I can just lie in bed with my eyes closed and realize that I'm working!

WHAT WE'RE READING THIS SUMMER! by the Sand In Our Shorts Gang

It’s July, it’s hot, (in the northern hemisphere at least) and it’s time to grab a good book to read at the beach, the lake, the pool, or in the front porch swing! The Sand-in-our-Shorts writers are here sharing their summer reads with you. Their picks might be your next vacation read— check it out!

Michael Rigg:

I’m not much of a beach reader. Sun and sand and sweat don’t create an inviting atmosphere for reading. (And sunscreen makes the pages stick together.)  But sitting at a beach house in Sandbridge pouring over a novel, with the roar of the ocean as background? Well, that’s a horse of a different color. Especially if there’s air conditioning involved. Next on my summer

WHAT'S IN OUR BEACH BAGS? by The Sand in our Shorts Gang

Who would have thought? It's been almost a year since we started the SAND IN OUR SHORTS blog! What fun! 

When we started out, the original group of contributing authors worked together on an article, "What's in Our Beach Bags?"  We never published it.  We'll, here we are a year into this adventure, and on the cusp of another summer. So we thought, "Why not publish it now?" And here we go! A special mid-week post! 

As we all get ready to head to the beach for a little R&R (that's Reading and Relaxation, which is what writers do), we asked each what they have in their beach bag. Here are their answers:

Michael Rigg:

My beach bag has lots of sunscreen (I like the spray-on kind)—with as many SPFs as you can get—a big-brimmed straw hat, sunglasses, binoculars, and a small cooler with cold soda and water. Maybe I’ll throw in a bag of munchies, if there’s enough room. I’ll also need to bring an umbrella because I’m not supposed to get too much sun. I don’t do well reading in the sun, but I’ll bring a copy of Virginia is for Mysteries III to impress everyone around me! The final thing in my bag is a beach towel. Oh, and my iPhone. Along with my umbrella (which probably won’t fit in my bag), I’ll have a nice folding chair. Maybe instead of a beach bag, I need one of those beach carts with the humongous wheels.

 

Jayne Ormerod:

I've got a lot of sand in the bottom of my beach bag. Lots and lots of sand. Could almost start my own private beach in my backyard. That's testament to frequent trips to the beach to watch the sailboat races, enjoyment of which is augmented while sipping a glass of wine at sunset. This requires that I also keep wine glass stakes in my beach bag. They are posts that are shoved into the sand close to my chair. They have a little knob at the top in which to slip the stem of my wine glass, holding it upright throughout the evening and thus preventing spillage. Wine spillage is a class-one felony at my beach. Cheers!

NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS by Maria Hudgins

 

I feel like some writers give their characters random names. Maybe they throw darts at a phone book or something. But this system would now be obsolete. (What's a phone book, Daddy?) But in fact one famous writer did just that. Allegedly. Somerset Maugham is said to have named a couple by the phone book method and chosen their address from a street map of London. It is said that Maugham was threatened with a lawsuit when a couple with a similar name actually lived at a similar address and took exception to Maugham's version of the shenanigans going on at their house.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! By the Sand in Our Shorts bloggers

All of the writers of the "Sand in our Shorts" blog wish all of our readers a wonderful year to come! We've put together some of our favorite poems to curl up with on a cold winter's day, so grab a blanket and a warm cup of cheer and enjoy!

Maria Hudgins: My favorite poem is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service.

"Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee . . ."

CAPTIVATING CHARACTERS by Maria Hudgins

The only thing better than discovering an epic fictional character is creating one yourself. How is that done? How did Conan Doyle think up Sherlock Holmes? Did Agatha Christie know a Miss Marple? How did Johnny Depp know that portraying Captain Jack Sparrow like Keith Richards would be more fun than the old "Arghh!" growling pirate? If only we knew the answer we would all be millionaires. but usually the act of timeless character creation is chalked up to "genius" and we assume we can't do it. Can we look at this a bit more? Who flies off the page (or the screen) and grabs you? A great story needs characters that grab you.

SITTING AND ROCKING BY THE SEASHORE by Maria Hudgins

I have recently returned from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the hands-down best way to get “Sand in our Shorts.” The waves are reasonable-not too big, not too small. The sand is fine but not too fine. Dolphins, pelicans, and trawlers swim, fly, and motor by to keep you entertained. The sun sets behind you. Popular, but nowhere near as crowded as beaches elsewhere along the eastern seaboard. I’ve been going there every summer since Roosevelt was president. (Slight exaggeration)