An Ode to A&E's The Glades

Another one of my favorite TV shows has ended. It joins the ranks of Firefly, Numb3rs, GCB and Murder, She Wrote. Of course there are more I could name, but fewer people may even remember them.

And I realize that a TV series can entail horrific hours. That Murder, She Wrote lasted twelve seasons with its middle-aged main characters was a wonderful tribute to our Baby Boomer generation. And while I loved the glitz and glamour of Jessica in her New York surroundings in the later seasons, my favorites remain those with Dr. Hazlitt and the other Cabot Cove residents.

But back to my current loss.

I love all the main characters. Director Manus, Carlos, Jeff, Daniel and Ray are truly so wonderful. Even Ray's mom and Jim's parents are home runs. Callie is such an animated actress, I could watch her alone. But put her together with Jim (what's not to love there?) and they electrify any scene.

I even loved to hate all the pretty girls trying to woo Jim away from Callie. Like Matt Passmore's real girlfriend at the time of Season One, Rachael Carpani, who plays Heather Thompson.

I must admit I still look at her and am reminded of her character, Jodi, from McLeod's Daughters. Once they killed off Claire in Season Three, I quit watching that show, back when I still had cable. But I dig out the DVDs and rewatch the earlier seasons every now and then.

As a mostly pantster author who is character-oriented, I found so much to learn from and admire within The Glades. Here are a few tips I garnered from this fabulous show. I'm dealing mostly with Season One here as those are the episodes I've almost memorized as I've watched them that often.

• I liked the contrast-and-compare thread going on throughout Season One when it came to "destroying a man's family" (as Jim and Callie dance around that issue) which is found in many of the episodes, like "Marriage Is Murder" (murder of divorce attorney) and "Cassadaga" (the community of psychics).
• Another continuity thread that was used well dealt with Jim's wanting to break eighty, which was there from the beginning, in the pilot. Remember his voice mail message about not being able to answer the phone because he's either trying to pursue justice or break eighty? It's in the opening spot for the series, repeated in each episode. It showed up throughout Season One as Jim carried around a putter everywhere he went. I think in "Exposed" we see a close-up of Jim's "candy" dish on his desk at work. Instead of filled with candy, it has golf balls and tees in it. Kudos to The Glades's prop manager/set designer and its writers/directors.
• I don't think Ray shot Jim; I think Ray's mom did. Remember when Jeff turns thirteen and she offers to take him shooting, stating she's a pretty good shot? Granted I'm not up-to-date on all of Season Four as I'm watching via Hulu and Netflix. But this reminds us authors to have multiple possibilities available to our readers.
• As much as I hate the fact that A&E canceled this show, there is a certain irony that the pilot intro'd us to Jim as the man shot in the butt for not sleeping with his boss's wife and in the final episode he is shot because he did sleep with another man's wife. This is called bookending for us authors.
• And Ray. I love Ray. Now on paper, his police record, I don't. But in person? Who would not love to listen to Ray's crooning voice that reminds me of Elvis Presley? And the way he treats Callie is so sweet, both in prison and out. Once he's free and she wants a divorce and he's living in the halfway house, he's being the ultimate in patient. He doesn't seem to ever get angry or mad or impatient. He's thoughtful, considerate, seems to truly love Callie and Jeff. Yet there he sits in prison. For armed robbery. Armed. That makes him pretty dangerous. I just wonder if he ever shot anyone, if he ever used that gun. Still it is pretty scary that Callie, just by signing her joint tax return with Ray, could be found legally criminal as well. Ray is a complex character, like real-life people. We may love him but hate what he does. Such a great conflict to dump into a marriage. On paper that is. Not in actuality.
• But then I get mad at Ray for what he leaves Callie with to handle on her own: Just getting together the money to pay the three years' worth of unpaid house taxes or risk losing her home is irritating enough. Add to that the rat fink agent that wants to trade sex with Callie for not reporting her as a co-criminal involved in Ray's madness. Plus raising Jeff alone. Trying to cover for Ray and not tell their son what Ray really did. Not to mention her efforts to be a doctor. That alone is stress-worthy. Like the speech Callie gives Jim in the "Booty" episode (recovering the finds of the Magdalena), a spouse should make married life easier, not harder.
• As an author, I noted that the Florida Glades serves as a very interesting character in this series. Granted some books I've read use a cheesy travelogue approach to writing. That is not what was done with The Glades series. I felt like I was being introduced to a new friend and finding out more and more intriguing elements to that person. Like the shipwreck treasure hunters, the Seminole Indian element (reflected in a lot of the names for towns in Florida), the alligators, the hurricanes, the muck, the sugar cane fields and all that their harvest entails, plus Cassadaga aka The Psychic Capital of the World really exists. But since I'm a Louisiana gal originally, I gravitate to areas with moss on the trees and swamps. It's wired into my DNA.

This is by far a truncated list of what I've loved about and learned from this fantastic series. There may be more posts on this to come. But for now I need to get to paying work.

Fellow mourners over the demise of The Glades are welcome to share their delights and insights regarding this show and its characters via comments below.

Sigh.
 

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Write Who You Are

I know sometimes the depth of who we are is even hidden from ourselves. That philosophical endeavor will have to be answered by someone greater than me. But for the other easily accessed parts, here's my proposal.

I recently read James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. I recommend it for my fellow authors. His book is dense, and I was not able to read it in one sitting as per my MO. But for those of you with no time to read the whole of it, check out Bell's Appendix A. It is a wonderful overview, especially if you are a seasoned author.

I'll condense the fifteen double-sided pages of handwritten notes I've accumulated from my reading of this text and share some shortly in another post.

In the meantime, here's enough to keep us busy. Bell opens this nonfiction offering of his stating that freshness is the key to originality which translates to writing WHO you are.

From this one thought, I have expanded it into an author's arsenal. Which has prompted me to gather many materials to be hole-punched and incorporated into a physical Brainstorming/Mindmapping notebook (or five).

For my application, this would be the ultimate go-to book. For those of you who like to create individual bibles per book, then you would be making those separately but leaving the original source intact.

So start out with the author's requisites:

1. Great Character Names List (first and last). Cull the best of the best from reading obits, baby name books, telephone books, etc. Remember to mark those you have already used (unless in a designated series). Also vary major and minor character names within each piece of fiction so you are not replicating the same first letter. Look at Firefly's cast from the master Joss Whedon: Mal, Inara, Jayne, Book, Kaylee, Zoe, Wash, River, Simon. Unless you count Serenity herself as a character (which she is), then S would be the only starting letter repeated. However, this is okay as there is no chance of confusing the doctor for the spaceship or vice versa, for those of you who speed-read the names and distill them down to the first symbol as I do.
2. Intriguing Character Pictures. Gather from magazines, online, wherever. As the old but true trope says: one picture is worth a thousand words. FYI: Don't use these pictures for your covers unless you are willing to pay their usage/royalty fees. I'm just saying to base your characters in your novels on these people who captivate you in these photos you are amassing. Also some very entertaining obits are about the lives of such unique individuals that they are calling out to be the main character in one of your next books. Do I really need to tell you to change their real names? I didn't think so.
3. Fascinating Places List. Write down the geographical locales that suck you into their vortex. Research for surprising facts or, if money abounds, go visit firsthand.
4. Titles List. Add to this as you think of them. No editing. Just go with what spurs you on.
5. What-If List. Take all those burning questions and compile them in one place.

Add in a dash of what you like:

1. What are the genres you read? Those are the ones you should write as well.
2. What do you collect? For me, it is quotations. So I find that one well-worded line can be a font of plot ideas.
3. What are your folders within email? Mine them for subjects that excite you that can be part of that novel floating around in your imagination but not yet fully formed.
4. What about key words for you? I subscribe to three different word-of-the-day subscriptions and sometimes one will sing out to me, causing images to flip across my brain. Those I sock away in my email folder entitled Brainstorming/Mindmapping for me to excavate later. Maybe for the actual binder, make separate listings where you categorize them into strong action verbs and concrete nouns.
5. What are your tells? If you were in witness protection, what could you not give up that would give you away? Assuming I would have my key family members with me, then mine would be my addiction to Cajun, French and Mexican coffees; my love of animals; my twenty-year-old Del Sol; my home-away-from-home: book stores, libraries, continuing education classes.
6. What are the main categories of books that populate your home library? Obviously those are subjects which hold your attention. Use that knowledge in creating your own books.
7. What are your favorite movies? I started that list via Pinterest and have many. But I prefer happy endings and only killing off the bad guys or someone off-the-page who we haven't bonded yet with. Think of Margo, Charlie and Don Eppes's mother, from the series Numb3rs. Which works for me as I write romsus and falls in line even for that mystery I will write someday.

Mix in with a smidgen of what you don't like:

1. What pushes your buttons? For me it is selfish people. Liars. Unsolicited solicitors. Bullies. Load your antagonist with one or more and you should have no worries about writer's block.
2. Do you have any causes that rend your heart? Saving the Wild Mustangs, fostering dogs, feeding children, clean water, stopping abuse? Use them. That is what makes you real, original, 3-D.
3. What scares you?

Combine with some:

1. Poetry. Great lines (or even just a great pairing of words) can set off a new plotline instantaneously. Capture them.
2. The Bible. The Good Book is full of stories (some good, some not). Study the parables for universalisms. Read the Old Testament tales for plot patterns. I bet no soap opera episode can top some of those. I can't even write it out here. Too gruesome. Read the Psalms for particular emotions.
3. Your Life's Philosophy. What are those sayings you repeat all the time? Maybe "life's not fair" or "you can't trust anybody." Perhaps "life's a beach" or "I'm golden." Try recording yourself while gathered with your CPs one visit and listen in on what tumbles out of your mouth. Or better yet, while attending one of those family dinners.
4. Great First Lines List. Start one now. See if any patterns arise that you can utilize (NOT PLAGIARIZE!) in your work. One of the best lines ever was written by one of my CPs. And if she doesn't hurry and publish that book, I will bust from not being able to share it!
5. Music Lyrics List. Although I understand if you quote exact lyrics in your commercialized book, you incur royalties due to the songwriter. But if you could take your favorites and create your own, even better. The one that always pops in my brain is from True Blood's theme song by Jace Everett: you came in and the air went out.

So start your own hard-copy brainstorming/mindmapping collection. Review it as needed and certain elements will draw you in. Use those for that current project of yours. The next time you peruse your list, other items will want your attention. Rinse and repeat.

As always, use what resonates, toss the rest. Have fun!

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Tony Scott

I do not understand suicide and find it such a waste of human life and talents. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and slap Tony in the face, shake him good and ask: What do you think this will do to your family? How would that make them feel that you are choosing your feelings over theirs? Not to even mention the fact that suicide is a sin.

God had more plans for Tony, personally and professionally, because He still had him here. For a reason.

And, yes, I understand he had some sort of undisclosed health problem. And, yes, I understand there are things worse than death. But really, was this the one and only solution?

I'm sure for a long while, every time I see his name, I'll remember this. Even spurred on by his brother's name, by association. With time, I hope this particular memory dulls.

I'm a huge fan of the directing/producing talents of both Tony and Ridley. And I read film credits. I'm an author with an insatiable need for great character names from real-life ones, which I truncate, merge, splice, etc. Plus there is always some actor I recognize but cannot put a name to the face. And the music. Sometimes one piece really pulls at me.

So now, as I peruse the rolling credits to one of my favorite TV shows, Numb3rs, or some of my fave movies of all time, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, or even those films of Ridley's that I adore, like A Good Year, I will be saddened to remember this awful event. Over and over again. Reliving this act of stupidity.

That could have been prevented.

That should have been prevented.

Tony, what was so bad in your world that your choice to end your life was of more importance than bringing more hurt and pain to your wife, your family, your friends?

What a hideous waste.

Suicide is the ultimate selfishness.

You'll be greatly missed, Tony. You've left a vacant spot on the earth where you should still be.

Denise Barker, mad and sad author/blogger

Random Musings re Writing Tips, Styles, Mind-sets, Attitudes

As a rabid Nora Roberts / J.D. Robb fan, I often reread my particular favorites of hers.  Two are First Impressions (1984) and The Fall of Shane MacKade (1996).  Both are shorter category romances, yet still full of life and emotions, just packed in less than 240 paperback-printed pages.  I pick these for the sheer entertainment but also with an eye out for how she makes it all work.

Well, I may have latched onto a thing or two.

Let me start off by saying these revelations doused me when I was again rereading The Fall of Shane MacKade.  Nora first gives us pages of insight into the two main characters, the love interests, so that we get acquainted with their motivations, their values.  This is the WHY behind the characters' actions.  Short interplay with either dialogue or action or both is inserted in the middle, like roast beef between bread.

If you are a Numb3rs-holic like me, you may remember the follow-up episode about the cop (played by Henry Winkler) who had embezzled money--none of which he used and only to get FBI attention on his sister's case--which was eventually solved, but at a loss of both his job and retirement benefits.

Anyway, my point is this:  Nikki labeled him a dirty cop and Colby asked her if she knew WHY he did what he did.  That's it, isn't it?  We allow some things just based on WHY.

If this light-bulb moment seems DUH to you, I find most of them are.  These "secrets" are hidden behind the most trite yet sage sayings forever before our eyes and ears.  Then, one day, there they are, revealed in all their glory.

So don't let "show vs. tell" hamper you when you are divulging your characters' internal motivation. Now, we shouldn't always tell, that would be boring.  But there is a perfect time to do just that, as Nora adeptly utilizes in her books.  Just like there are times you have to use an LY word.  Maybe not as often as I do.  Ha!

I'll need to look for it but there was this wonderful example shared within one of my online writing classes where the author inserted Who, What, When, Where, Why (maybe not How yet) into his opening paragraph.  It was fluid and artistic.  Not journalistic.  I theorize that writing this beginning not only anchors the reader in the story, but also the author.  Confirming once again how effective just getting it down into a first draft per NaNoWriMo and pushing aside all supposed writing "rules" can unleash our muse, remove our internal critic and let us "git 'er done."

My second goldmine took more digging to unearth.  Maybe it was a side effect of hearing this great dialogue while watching Numb3rs:  "Some women go for the muscles; some women go for the brains."  I am definitely a member of the latter first.  And the first second.  Which is why my covers are chosen to depict the mutual values and desires  (or sometimes embodied in a caricature) of each relationship I write about.

Plus Nora's characters all resonate a sense of knowledge (whether via books, traditional schooling, or from life) and some wisdom and some common sense.  A nice well-rounded intelligence.  As a reader, I love that.  In real life, I search for that--among friends, fellow authors I happen to meet on a regular basis, or correspond with online.

That may be why Nora's characters and her J.D. Robb cast are so wonderful to me.  They are not these two-dimensional made-up people who are focused only on muscles or money.  Such superficiality is very off-putting to me.  In reality and in fiction.  Our writing styles cannot help but be influenced by our mind-sets, giving away our philosophies and takes on life within our words.

As for writing attitudes, I often think of Janet Evanovich and John Locke.  Their stories are fun and I figure those authors had to be experiencing great joy when they wrote them, too.  While the humor in my books is more sly, and I have been known to write a scene or two that made me cry while creating them, I don't get the belly laughs from my own stories that I get while reading Evanovich.  I envy her and Locke that.

But, ahem, garnering huge laughs was not part of my genetic makeup.  I can live with that.  After all, I don't usually get that reaction while reading Nora--although a smile is apt to come up often.  One exception was the giggles Nora twisted out of me while reading a mainstream novel of hers:  The Search (July 2010, 456 pages).  Nora is a wonder with her highly tuned insight into humanity--and the animal world.

Well, as usual, take what you may from those ramblings.  Keep writing.  And happy reading!