This little guy and his brother appear to be orphans about 8 weeks old. After several attempts he took an almond out of my hand. We found the two of them tottering around our tree crying pitifully–maybe there will be a squirrel in my next book. What would Beatrix Potter do?

If you’re writing fiction you will hear, sooner rather than later, a lot of advice about beginnings.  It will make you tremble. It is enough to keep even the bravest writer from every touching  finger to key.  You will read features like Poets and Writers “Page One” with anxiety rather than delight as the worry worm niggles its way into your mind. You will be told that agents and editors read only the first page, maybe only the first papragraph. The balance of your writing career hangs on those first few lines.

Michael Stearns at Upstart Crow Literary   has posted a netcast on Great Beginnings that Break Rules. Maybe it will kill the worm. Beginnings are important, but there is no one right beginning for every book.  Authors have led me into great stories in many different ways.

Let me nominate an old favorite, Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle. “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea-cosy…”

Feel free to share some others.

is goodYou will read

With all the hubbub about beginnings

When I told members of my writing group that the new novel I’m writing, the one they’ll be commenting on,  is Steampunk, I was met with blank stares. So what is Steampunk?

Think The League of Extraordinainry Gentlemen, think Golden Compass, Victorian Industrial Revolution or Dystopian with a touch of steam, craftsmanship, fantastical machines and wonder. A visual is always helpful. I think of Sherlock Holmes’s cape swirling  into the London fog. Check out  the CGSociety’s lovely art challenge Steampunk Myths and Legends . Click on the winners link to soak up some steampunk atmosphere.

And if you find yourself needing more, there’s Steampunk Magazine.

Off to polish my brass goggles.

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