Breaking Away from the Crowd

By Courtney Pierce

Today I have the opportunity to expand beyond my regular post as a Genre-ista to guest blog about this crazy writing biz. As I tap away on the draft of my seventh book, Big Sky Talk, I'm pleased to say that the hefty word count in my literary backpack has earned me the “write” to impart some wisdom. It's a tough business that I now take quite seriously. It didn't start out that way when I wrote my first book, Stitches.

Wisdom lesson #1: No two stories are alike, but chasing a lucrative trend means that you're too late. (As Rocky used to say to Bullwinkle, “That trick never works!”)  Since there are only seven basic story structures in all of literature (according to author Christopher Booker), a fresh take on those plots needs to be unique and loaded with personal style. An example is Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series fitting squarely within the framework of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

My first series, the Stitches Trilogy, unpacked my imagination with wild abandon. It's structure fits squarely into a "Voyage and Return". Stitches, Brushes, and Riffs became the books I desperately wanted to read and couldn’t find. These books contain everything I love: mystery, crime, heart, humor, naughty pets, and magical realism. I even re-invented ancient Egyptian history to solve the mystery of a supernatural artifact. My baby boomer characters embark on a trek to England, tracked by an FBI agent, and then I plunge them into a tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Queens to solve the mystery of immortality. I didn’t give a hoot if the series became a bestseller or not, because I was having way too much fun with the research and story composition.

While I wrote my first three books, I sharpened my craft in the Hawthorne Fellows literary program at the Attic Institute. I was inspired to make the impossible possible The most important lesson I learned, though, was to shed my fear of actually finishing the books and sending them out into the world.

Photo: Script Magazine

When I met with several literary agents about that first series, I was forced to squeeze the Stitches Trilogy into a genre box. Heck! I wasn’t Romance, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Sci-Fi, Young Adult, LBGT, Erotica, Steampunk, or Dystopian. My stories were clean, poignant, humorous, and written for the over-fifty crowd, specifically baby boomers like me. Our behavior is driven by Peter Pan Syndrome and adventure. We also have emotional shrapnel stuck under our aging skin, which even the sharpest of tweezers can't extract. I vividly remember being sixteen and turning sixty this year. The decades in between were a blur of a career and responsibility.

Wisdom lesson #2: A story without serious conflict is boring. It takes courage for an author to reduce their beloved characters to tears and push them to their limits. But redemption is oh-so-sweet when I have the power to fix it all in unexpected ways.

I didn’t feel like a bona fide writer until I started my second trilogy about the wacky Dushane Sisters: The Executrix, Indigo Lake, and Indigo Legacy. That series revealed a lot of  personal stuff, and I had to muster up the courage to dig deep within myself. The big difference from the first series was that I wrote the Dushane Sisters Trilogy with readers in mind. As a result, my humor got edgier. My story line got tighter. And the conflict got more uncomfortable. I heaped so much trouble on the three sisters that digging them out became downright hilarious.

Wisdom lesson #3: Release a reader’s imagination. Characters are best developed through what they say and do, not through their backstories or intense physical description. If a novel isn’t made up of 80% dialogue—characters talking—then the book slows to a crawl. A simple three-word comment can say much more than a whole paragraph of explanation about what’s behind it.

I must do a good job with this particular wisdom lesson, because the first book of each trilogy started out as a standalone story. My readers' insisted that I keep the characters going. So buoyed by confidence, I expanded each story to a trilogy. And I’m glad I did. Telling a story in three full-length novels—a complete beginning, middle, and end—allowed me to challenge myself and my craft. Each series became a much bigger story than what I could create in one novel of eighty-thousand words.

Wisdom lesson #4: Behind every successful novel is the author’s truth. The story and characters may be purely fictional, but readers know when the emotions and actions aren’t genuine.

This last wisdom lesson is one I’d go to the mat for. As an author, I must have a real-life reference for the emotions I project on my characters. Otherwise, their credibility—and mine—suffers, and they cease to be believable. How can I possibly know what my character feels about losing a parent if I haven’t personally experienced that devastation? I would also find it difficult to write about a character’s crumbling marriage had I not suffered through a divorce myself.

My intention with Big Sky Talk is to create a tight, intense story that engages readers and makes them think. Set in Kalispell, Montana, a ghost story unfolds among the magic of wildlife, mountains, lakes, and nature's dangers. Themes of aging, losing parents, and taking emotional risks will fill the pages. The cast includes an orphaned retiree, an about-to-retire sheriff, an injured grizzly bear . . . and a rifle. That's certainly a combo I can have fun with!

Now, it's back to work to employ my own advice. True to my words, I am a pretty good shot with a hunting rifle, have lost a parent, been alone after decades of marriage, and am about to retire. I'm planning for Big Sky Talk to be a standalone novel. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Unless my readers tell me otherwise.

Photo: Micah Brooks

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer splitting her time between Milwaukie, Oregon, and Kalispell, Montana with her husband. stepdaughter, and their brainiac cat, Princeton. Courtney writes for the baby boomer audience. She spent 28 years as an executive in the entertainment industry and used her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. She studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, Courtney is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.

Audiobook now Available!

Check out all of Courtney's books: 

courtney-pierce.com and

windtreepress.com 

Print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com.

Available Now!
Book 3 of the
Dushane Sisters
Trilogy

The Dushane Sisters Trilogy concludes with Indigo Legacy, available now. There's love in the air for Olivia and Woody, but will family intrigue get in the way? Ride along for the wild trip that starts in a New York auction house and peaks in a mansion on Boston's Beacon Hill. 

The Dushane sisters finally get to the truth about their mother.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Shout Out for Charity

June 2015

by Courtney Pierce

As a baby boomer, I’ve maintained my idealistic view of the world and the belief that one person can initiate change for the good. It must be my combination of dogged determination and Peter Pan Syndrome. I blink, wide-eyed like a child, when we humans make bonehead moves that benefit the few and devastate the many. That makes no sense! What are we thinking?

Beneath the humorous and emotional prose in every one of my books lurks a theme of charity. Serious adult problems are met with an adolescent response and humor. My characters charge ahead, creating no end of trouble for themselves to reach a goal that benefits someone else. In my first trilogy series, Stitches, Brushes, and Riffs, a boomer couple unravels the question “What would you do today if you had the chance to be immortal at the end of natural life?” My characters make that decision over three books and – no spoilers – become inspired to make their mark on the world with a touch of magic. They accomplish their mission through what they love: art, music, and animals.

David Castillo Dominici

In my current series, The Executrix, three middle-age sisters stumble into their charitable aspirations after their mother dies. Each sister makes a mess of their benevolent path in their own way, but when they come together they’re unstoppable at honoring their mother’s memory, transforming an unruly poodle into a service dog, and helping an elderly mobster reconcile his life by writing his memoir. The fun continues in the sequel Indigo Lake, which if I can stop laughing will be out by the end of the year.

None of us wants to fade away. We want to leave something behind to say “I was here.” Through the gift of story, my goal is to make readers laugh, cry, and to whip up endorphins that inspire. Charity starts with empathy, whether for a character, a cause, or a connection to something bigger than ourselves. Then it must become tangible. For some, a donation of money or a trip to Goodwill completes the circle. For others, charity can be as simple as holding the door open for a stranger or taking a second trip around the block to search for a neighbor’s missing tabby cat.

I wrote a short story last year called The Nest for the Windree Press Christrmas anthology A Gift of Christmas, which was based on my husband’s and my deep love of animals. The inspiration for the story came from a true incident of our finding a baby owl temporarily blinded from hitting a window. While I fictionalized the tale with magical realism and characters from my Stitches series, the real process of nursing the bird back to health was magical truth. After leaving a healthy donation to the kind vets who helped us, we walked on air for weeks. The bird was finally released back into the wild with our hearts lifting its wings.

Small gestures can generate big returns.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Oregon with her husband of thirty-six years and bossy cat. She enjoys writing for baby boomers. Her novels are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. Courtney has studied craft and storytelling with best-selling author Jennifer Lauck at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. She is also a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association.

In Courtney's latest novel, The Executrix, three middle-aged sisters come together after the death of their mother, and the manuscript they find in her safe will test the thickness of sibling blood. While Mom’s prose makes her larger in death than in life, it is the elderly neighbor and his unruly standard poodle who inspire the story that will change the sisters' future. 

Visit Courtney's website at www.courtney-pierce.com. Her books can be purchased at Windtree Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, and at several independent bookstores in the Portland area.

A Culinary Secret in Switzerland by Courtney Pierce

A Note from Courtney Pierce

Today I’m thrilled to join you as a regular Genre-ista on Romancing the Genres. With so many stellar writers on one blog, I’m honored at the invitation to make a contribution to the team. My novels and short stories tend to bend genres, but nest under what is now called Baby Boomer Fiction. My characters are products of the sixties, like me, and always include a trickster animal or two that steals the show. Some of my books have an element of magical realism; others are filled with humor and family drama. While I've just released my fourth novel, The Executrix, I pause and breathe to dash off a short story when a moment of inspiration strikes. I look forward to sharing some of them with you! Now, off to Switzerland for a bit of nosh . . .

A Culinary Secret in Switzerland

Switzerland holds wonders beyond soaring mountains, sheep bells on the hills, and waterfalls that appear to drop into infinity. For me, the wonder was cheese. Local cheese. Huge wheels of cheese. Take an extra cholesterol pill and plunge into a world of churned milk that holds a secret. 

Photo: Franky242

In 2001, my husband and I headed to Kanderstag, about two hours southwest of Zurich by speedy train, for a ten-day stay at a seventeenth-century chalet called Landgasthof Ruedihus. The bustling cityscape gave way to rolling hills surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The owners of the hotel met us at the station for the two-minute ride to a paradise that hadn't changed for over three hundred years.

Photo: Reudihus

After the required jet-lag nap, we stirred from our down comforters to the aroma of baking cheese. The invisible waft drew us down the creaky staircase to a low-ceilinged pub on the ground floor, filled with guests and locals exchanging tall stories. As we slipped into a booth, we spotted an enormous wheel of golden cheese under a heating element.

Ah-ha! The source of the delectable scent. My stomach growled, as if reaching out to the gooey scrape of the knife. After an inquiry―a beg, really―we found out the dish was called raclette: browned cheese melted under high heat and served with homemade bread. Oh my! I didn't need the menu. A point of the finger and a smile did the trick. We stared as our cheese bubbled and, with an expert sweep, pooled on the plate. 

Nutty. Smooth. A close-your-eyes experience to savor the flavor before swallowing. Now, I've had cheese. And I've had bread. But this combination awakened dormant taste buds.  

“Where did this cheese come from?” I asked the ruddy-cheeked server with a permanent smile. Of course she was happy. She called a quaint village in Switzerland home!

“Our neighbor makes it,” she said in perfect English. “His cows come down from the hill every day and line up to be petted at the fence along the main street.” She winked. “They love the attention. We make the bread here, fresh every day.”

I wanted to hug these cows. Could I buy cow toys in town as an offering of thanks? Maybe cud-flavored chews or a new bell? I became cheese obsessed.

The next morning, we hiked the hills for several miles around Lake Oeschinen to work off the dairy hangover and get ourselves moving, so to speak. As we came back into town, deep-throated clangs drew us forward―cow bells. Right on cue, several perfect bovine specimens lined the fence, a roadside attraction surrounded by locals and tourists with outstretched hands. These lovely beasts, patched jet-black and cream-white, were considered working pets that supported a farmer’s healthy living. Heads held high with doughy eyes, the cows stood proud of their heavy physique. Living cheese, udders full to make a contribution to the family.

The farmer gave three high-pitched whistles and a tap, tap, tap of his walking stick on the road. On cue, the herd lumbered in formation toward the barn. My cheese on the move.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to my husband and slipped through an opening in the fence. Enchanted, I followed the cows to their barn to catch up with their owner.  

Photo: JonathanTurley.org

“They’re beautiful,” I said in German, stroking my hand over one’s pristine hide. I offered my own pat, pat, pat of the ’ole gal’s hefty haunches. I believe her owner trusted me because I appeared to be Swiss: blue eyes, blonde hair, and fair skin.

“Ja, glüchlich Kuh. Gut Käse,” he said. Happy cow. Good cheese.
 

The barn was a timbered factory of cheese-making. Gigantic wheels of dairy gold lined four shelves on one side, aging and decadent, raclette-ready for the local restaurants. The prizes sat only steps away from their straw-bedded source. Farm to table at the highest level. 

I bought a raclette maker when we came home to Houston to stretch the experience. The flavor couldn't compare. Only in Kanderstag could I appreciate the treat. Cookers were universal, but only cows petted by hundreds of admiring hands held the secret of fabulous cheese. I think love seeps into the milk. 

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband of thirty-six years and bossy cat. After a twenty-year career as an executive in the Broadway entertainment industry, she used her time in a theater seat to create vivid stories that are both humorous and poignant. Her fourth novel, The Executrix, brings together three middle-aged sisters after the death of their mother . . . and sparks fly with the baggage. But if you like estate sales, follow her boomer couple who find a magical artifact in an old trunk in the Stitches Trilogy series: Stitches, Brushes, and Riffs. An immortal legacy never had it so good. Follow Courtney on her website: www.courtney-pierce.com

Courtney's books are available at Windtree Press, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobobooks.com, and local independent bookstores in the Portland area.

Heroes and Heroines, Fictional or Real?

by Diana McCollum

There are so many heroes and heroines it’s hard for me to choose just one. 

On that note, I’m picking my little sister

We were not “girlfriend close” when we were young, because of a seven year age difference.  We always shared a bedroom  and by the time I was fourteen years old, she was seven years old and in my “stuff”.

After we grew up, married, and had children we became friends.  Over the years we sometimes lived close to each other, and sometimes thousands of miles apart.  No internet or cell phones back then so communication was letters and Christmas cards

What I admire her for are the things she’s overcome in her life.  I’m not going to touch on all those things as they are personal and medical diagnosis etc. 

I will tell you she is legally blind in one eye a complication of one of the medical conditions she has experienced.  In spite of that she is a dedicated writer.  I admire that.

Now my sister and I are pursuing the same dream, becoming published authors.  She and our friend, Judith, and I are collaborating on an Anthology to be published in January 2014. 

Sister dearest is one of my critique partners.  Believe me she doesn’t sugar coat anything!  We brainstorm well together, we bolster each other up when we’re down, and we listen to each other.

In my personal life she is my savior, my sounding board, and my shoulder to unload on.  Her advice is always sound and on spot.  My life would be so empty if she wasn’t in it.  She is my best friend, and I love her dearly.

I am popping a virtual bottle of Champagne and toasting you, little sister, for all you are and all you do.  

Oh, yeah, here’s some virtual chocolate too!!  There’s enough for everyone!!

Here’s to you Sister extraordinaire, confidant, best friend, and one of our Blog Queens, Sarah Raplee(McDermed)