20 Southern Writers

ne night, avid romance reader Penny Richards dreamed a story and decided to write it. “I called it The Caravelli Women and sent it to Little Brown. This was in 1970. They actually kept it and were ‘considering’ it, but it was ultimately rejected. I still have the letter. I like to delude myself into thinking that had they taken it, I’d have been Kathleen Woodiwiss.” Today, Penny Richards is an award-winning best-selling author with 40 books for Harlequin, Silhouette, Harper Paperbacks and, most recently, Kensington Publishing. Penny is a plotter, and though she never formally studied writing, she knows her craft well. “I’ve actually studied screenwriting pretty extensively and use the three-act structure when I’m laying things out, including plot points and pinches.” When Penny faces the blank page, the most difficult thing for her is that first sentence. “After that, it’s trying not to dump the whole backstory on the reader at once. I have a tendency to do that, since I think backstory is so very critical to who the characters are and how it affects them at any given moment.” She also has to be careful about historical information “dumps” because she loves research. In the early years, Penny considered herself a character-driven writer. Now that she’s writing mysteries, the plot is extremely important. “I like to think that I give equal consideration to each. Dwight Swain said ‘plot and character are developed together,’ and he’s right. It’s cause and effect over and over that brings solutions and character growth and, hopefully, emotion.” Penny took several years off from writing profession-ally (about eight years) and worked on her first Lilly Long book. “I was learning to write two new genres: mystery and historical. I had to think about so much more than what was happening between two people. They talked dif-ferently in the 1880s, and I had to be careful about using contemporary words and phrases, of putting the clues in just the right place...so many things. It was—and still is—quite a learning curve. I just finished the second book, and

it still doesn’t come easy. And I’m basically starting over with building a readership, since it’s a totally different genre for me.” In addition to writing in a new genre, Penny is also trying out new promotion tactics. “I confess to being very disappointed with signings at bookstores since I’ve ‘come back’ to writing, so I’m planning signings at different venues. I’ve been to an antique store, and an old-fashioned five and dime. I have a mini book tour scheduled in Illinois where my book takes place, and I’ll be signing

for a Historical Society, possibly at a café, and doing a signing/wine tasting at a gift shop. All of these will take place in towns that have a connection to the book in some way.” When paying bills, Penny practices a little guerilla marketing. “I add bookmarks with the check, and I send promos back to all those unsolicited credit card/insurance requests in their postage paid envelope. I stole that from another writer!” Her most effective marketing tool is her mini billboard. “I live on a highway that goes to a town that has 300,000 tourists a year. I had a four

by eight sign made and put it on my property. It only says Penny Richards, Lilly Long Mysteries, Solving Crime is Not a Dress Rehearsal, so it’s good for all the books, no matter how long the series lasts. It’s probably the most cost effective thing I’ve done and will last years.” Penny also tossed candy in a Christmas parade, sitting on the back of a convertible. “Being the published writer in a town of less than 300 makes me a big fish. Well, they think so, at least.” Despite her awards and bestsellers, Penny Richards doesn’t let writing or success consume her. She has it all in perspective. She just wants to keep selling her stories and to touch her readers in some way. “After reading one of my Love Inspired books, a lady from my son’s church came up to me with tears in her eyes. She hugged me and said, ‘Thank you. I needed to hear that.’ I’m not even sure what ‘that’ was. But ‘that’s’ what it’s all about.” n

Oby Jessica Ferguson

Penny WisePenny Richards masters Romance, Mystery and Guerilla Marketing

Penny Wise

anymore, because he always beat her, no matter how hard she tried. Next, the dance room, a room she sometimes hated when Mama made her come in from playing outside to practice. It didn’t look so different. It had always been sparse. Yet, it felt so much emptier now. How could she already miss a room she’d always resented? She watched Mama scurry from room to room, the tap, tap, tap of her heels on the wood floors echoing. Mama had tried to pretend she was checking to be sure they’d packed everything, but somehow Sachi knew that Mama, too, had been gathering memories to carry with her. Memories were all that remained in the house that had once been their home.

3) Combine Step 1 and Step 2 into a single scene. You may or may not use everything from both steps.

My house is emptyBut memories will remain

Echoes in my heart. It was time to go. Sachi listened to Mama’s heels tapping on the floor as she rushed around the house for a final check before they’d leave for good. Tap, tap, tap. Silence. What did Mama think about as she walked into the kitchen? The living room? The bedrooms? Sachi wandered around, too, drifting from empty room, to empty room, trying to gather memories to hold. Each footstep echoed on the hardwood floor, and she, too, stopped walking to remember: get-ting mad at Taro because he kept winning at jacks, watching Papa build a fire in the fireplace. Even practicing her dreaded dance lessons in front of the mirror was a good memory now. The government might be able to limit the num-ber of suitcases they could carry, but they couldn’t make her leave her memories behind. Mama called from the hallway. “It’s time to go.”

“Accessing” your character’s internalization will give the reader a peek into what’s going on behind the mask she wears for the rest of the world, without giving away too much information or becoming overly sentimental. It may also provide elements to use in other parts of your story. Best of all, showing the reader both sides will make your character more real, and therefore, more relatable. n

ave you heard of the concept, “saving face?” In other words, the lengths a person will go to preserve dignity? My favorite books show the dis-parity between the “face” a character displays to the world and what that character feels inside. They are relatable, per-haps because to some extent, we all have a similar disparity. Though it’s easier for me to write about who my characters are on the outside, I so much more enjoy creating who they are inside. That, to me, is the art of writing. That adds color to the canvas of my character and story. To create my characters’ internal personas, I use a three-step method I call “Accessing Internalization.” I’ll demonstrate each step, using a scene from my historical fiction, The Red Kimono:

1) Write a scene, adhering only to what the outside world would see. Use statements that describe the scene in a manner similar to a newspaper article. (I call this the “sketch” of a scene, before color is added.)

Sachi stood in the middle of the empty living room and waited for her mother. All of their belongings had been sold or given to neighbors for safekeeping. Soon, they would leave for the bus station. From there, they’d be taken to where they would live next. Mama told her it was called an assembly center. The government said Japanese Americans were being relocated, for their own protection.

2) Choose a character from your scene. Write what he/she experiences internally.

• What does she think about what she sees?• What memories does it trigger?• Use as many of the five senses as possible in describing.• Don’t edit. The purpose of this step is to brainstorm and write as much internalization as you can. It was almost time to leave the only home Sachi had known. She wandered into each room, paused and tried to remember something to take with her. In the living room, she imagined Papa’s leather chair in the corner, where every evening after work, he’d sit while Mama cooked dinner. She remembered smelling sukiyaki cooking, the scent of onions, cabbage and beef filling the house. Many times, she’d scoot beside Papa and tell him about her day, and he’d patiently close his newspaper to listen. She remembered playing jacks by the fireplace with Taro. She’d decided she didn’t like the game

Southern Writers 21

Hby Jan Morrill

Removing Your Character’s Masks

28 Southern Writers

T wo days after graduating early from the University of Michigan, Debra H. Goldstein went to the Big Apple with two goals: obtain a job in publishing and get on Jeopardy. “In case things didn’t work out while I pursued these goals, I spent each evening during the first few weeks typing applications to enter law school in the fall. I was lucky and achieved my goals during the next eight months, but I realized being at the entry level in publishing wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I entered law school a week after appearing on Jeopardy.” After getting her law degree, Debra worked as aninternational tax attorney analyst for General Motors prior to accepting a labor and employment law position with the Office of the Solicitor, Department of Labor. One landmark case against the higher education system in Georgia resulted in her being one of the youngest individuals appointed as a federal Administrative Law Judge. She sat on the bench in Birmingham, Alabama until she decided to write fulltime. Careers in law and lit were natural choices for Debra. “Erle Stanley Gardner hooked me on law-related books and made the idea of being in a courtroom fascinating to me. I credit him and Raymond Burr’s portrayal of Perry Mason as being the influence that led me to become a lawyer and a judge.” It was much earlier when she developed her passion for writing. “In first grade, it seemed to me that the stories in my reading book were too short. Consequently, I took the characters from a story I liked and made up a new adventure for them. The story I ‘borrowed’ from dealt with a little girl and her magic pencil. Whatever she drew came to life. I had a field day bringing things to life until my teacher explained that authors are supposed to come up with original stories.” These days, her legal expertise lends added authenticity to her mysteries, particularly in courtroom settings and law-oriented situations. “My years of judging credibility also enable me to weave red herrings into my storylines and make them and the characters seem plausible. “The escapism of the mystery genre is what appeals to me. During my legal career, I dealt with serious subjects and traveled a lot. Whether on the road or reading before

bed, I find good mysteries are fast,fun, and engaging.” Those are among the very adjectives readers use to describe Debra’s first two novels, Maze in Blue (a mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus in the 1970s) and Should have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery. The characters for the latter had their origin in “Legal Magic”, the first short story she ever had published. “When I was thinking about a comic foil for Carrie’s young attorney character, I realized the Sunshine Village Mah Jongg players would be perfect. Based upon the feedback I’ve received, people want to read more about Carrie and the Maj players.” Debra does indeed intend to feature them in future novels. Ironically, finding time to write came easier before leaving the bench to become a full-time writer. “When I

worked, I structured my writing so I would do it in spurts somewhere between midnight and four a.m., on weekends, and during vacations. Now, when I should be writing, I’m doing PR, playing solitaire, watching a television show, having lunch with friends, going to the gym, or finding some excuse not to be disciplined.” The whole truth is that she is also

busy with her extensive volunteer work, which reads like a Who’s Who of charities, from the YMCA to the American Heart Association. She also serves on the national boards of Sisters in Crime, the Guppies, and Alabama Writers Conclave, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Atlanta chapter of Sisters in Crime. Debra also makes herself available to speak to writers groups and other organizations at www.DebraHGoldstein.com. “The first advice I would give other writers is to write with an integrity that demonstrates your respect for the intelligence of your readers. In the mystery genre, that means clues must be honest and laid out so that even if the reader can’t figure out ‘who done it,’ they can go back and see that the clues were there. Secondly, I would urge other writers to make their end product enjoyable. To do this, a writer must be willing to write and revise—even if it means cutting pages that don’t work. n

by Gary Fearon

Case ClosedDebra H. Goldsteinand her leap from litigation to literature