5 Tips for Including Holidays in Fiction

Holidays are an important part of every culture, and as such, can play a meaningful role in your fiction. There are several issues to examine when incorporating holiday traditions into your plot. 

1. Does the holiday function as setting or an essential plot element?

This helps determine how much weight to give the holiday in your descriptions. Does it paint a background for more important characters and events, adding richness to the story? Or is the holiday almost a character itself, perhaps returning with a vengeance throughout the years of an epic novel.

Of course, some holidays are central to the story. Think of Frosty the Snowman or The Polar Express. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a great example of a holiday representing more than simple background to the story.

On the other hand, in The Harry Potter Series, while Halloween and Christmas both appear in almost every book, they add richness, rather than being essential to the plot.

2. Does everyone in your novel celebrate this holiday? 

Is this holiday a local celebration like the Grand Lake Pelican Festival?  Particularly if you are writing a regional tale, including local festivities can add flavor to the novel. Researching them can also spark ideas. 

Keep in mind that not everyone takes part in holidays that are celebrated on a much larger scale, particularly if they originate from a specific religion. Consider how individuals or families might react to the upcoming holiday in your novel. This could be a source of tension or a spur for greater understanding among people who differ in many ways.

3. Is this holiday unique to a culture you are unfamiliar with?

If so, do as much research as possible. Read books that feature that holiday within its native culture. Study up on it through online searches. 

Perhaps most importantly, ask people who regularly celebrate that holiday for details about foods, traditions, and the meaning of the holiday within their family and larger group. This will lend authenticity to the holiday and prevent errors or assumptions that could be offensive.

If you don't know anyone who celebrates the holiday, try searching the name of the holiday on facebook or other social media. You'll likely find groups who'd be happy to answer your questions! 

I tested this with National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Turns out in the USA, it's celebrated on the last Monday of January every year. Who knew? I can think of a few kids who would love to celebrate that!

4. How can you apply holidays to fantasy novels?

With fantasy novels, you have one major question to consider before incorporating holidays. Is this novel set in the real world? If so, then it's logical to include real world holidays, provided the fantasy subculture isn't too isolated. 

If it's set in a totally different world, you still need traditions, including holidays and other commemorations. But it will be up to you to invent them. Consider what types of celebrations would likely emerge within each culture and religion in your fantasy novel. This is a very useful exercise as it will provide greater depth to your cultures. 

Are there celebrations that conflict with each other? What foods, decorations, and other traditions are linked to each holiday? Are they widely celebrated or more regional? Is it difficult to obtain the items needed to celebrate? Are the holidays illegal in some places? If so, why?

Tolkien created many holidays and a full calendar for his Middle Earth novels.

5. Questions to ask yourself about holidays you've invented: 

How often is this holiday celebrated? What are its origins? Does this holiday originate in a faith tradition or is it commemorating something else, such as seasons changing, the discovery of light speed travel, the end of a war or freedom from dragon oppression?

It's your holiday. Make it as big, small, serious, or goofy as you like. But also consider the role it plays in your novel. 

Happy Writing and for those who celebrate it - a very Merry Christmas!

Interview with Angie Smibert, author of The Truce

Today, I'm thrilled to welcome author Angie Smibert to the blog!!! She's the author of the Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series. The third book in the series, The Truce, comes out May 26th, 2020.

First things first, can you tell us more about The Truce?

In the third book of the Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series, it’s December 1942 in the small coal mining community of Big Vein, Virginia. By now, Bone Phillips (12) is growing accustomed to her a Gift, a family Gift, as her Mamaw calls it, and maybe even begun to embrace it. Bone can see the stories or ghosts inside ordinary objects. But there’s one object her beloved Uncle Ash has forbidden her to touch: his dog tags from the first World War. He came back from that war a changed man, and every year about this time, he needs to escape for a while. He packs up the truck and his dogs and asks Bone to declare a truce with her dreaded Aunt Mattie while he’s gone. Reluctantly, Bone does. However, the truce is soon threatened by a discovery in the mine:  a body—wearing Uncle Ash’s dog tags. Bone has to use her Gift to solve the mystery. And that’s all I’ll say for now…except there is a ghost dog involved.

Ooh, a ghost dog!! Love it! Bone is such an interesting character. How was she born?

The story started with a sense memory of swimming in the New River as a kid, much like Bone does in the beginning of Bone’s Gift, the first book in the series. I remembered the feeling of being that kid who didn’t want summer to end or to particularly grow up and be the ‘little lady’ that other people expected. Bone was born out of that feeling.

This is the third novel in the series. Will there be more?

That’s it for now! I’m playing around with a short story, though.

These three novels are set in rural Virginia, where you live. How do you feel about the connection to place in your writing?

Actually, I live in a city—Roanoke—in Southwest, Virginia. However, I grew up in Blacksburg, a small college town west of here. And my mother’s family is from McCoy, a rural area outside Blacksburg along the New River, where there were coal mines until the 1950s. One of them was called Big Vein. My grandfather and his brothers were miners there—until he got hurt. Then he took over his father’s store. In fact, I kept that store in the books. In many ways, writing these stories has been an exploration of this place that I came from. And as Eudora Welty wrote, “One place understood helps us understand all places better.”

You weave folklore into the story. Tell us more about that.

Appalachian folklore is part of the place, the characters, and even the plots of the books. Bone loves stories, from folktales and legends to movies and books. However, she doesn’t like real-life stories—so, of course, that’s why I gave her the Gift of being able to see those.

In each of the books, Bone or one of the other characters—like Uncle Ash—is always telling a folktale or ghost story from the region. Plus I also used a particular story as the “spine” (for lack of a better word) of the plot. For instance, in Bone’s Gift, Bone’s life mirrors a story she’s telling called “Ashpet”—the Appalachian version of Cinderella. In Lingering Echoes—which is set at Halloween—the ‘spine’ tale is Stingy Jack, the origin story of Jack O’Lanterns. At the heart of The Truce, there’s a ghost dog story.

Ghost or spirit dog stories are popular in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. (And also found in many other folklores.) A ghost dog might come to warn someone about an impending death. Or the big black dog might actually be there to claim a wicked person’s soul. However, in a few stories, the dog is protecting someone or some thing, such as a fabled silver mine. And as I said, in the Truce, there is a ghost dog and he/she might be near a mine.

For more on folklore and history in the series, please see my resource page: https://www.angiesmibert.com/blog/?page_id=1861#ghostsresources

Wow! So many folklore connections! Now for the big question: what can we expect next from Angie Smibert?

I’m working (slowly) on a spooky magical realism-type story set in the early 1970s in Appalachia that involves (so far) an old resort turned into an artist commune and a ghost or two. I’m also still teaching writing. That takes up a lot of my time lately. ;)

Yup, I'm going to need that book ASAP! Sounds awesome!

Now it's time for the dreaded Lightning Round...muahahahaha!!!

Hogwarts house:  Ravenclaw

Favorite spooky book or movie: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (tho, as you'll see below, I'm also a Harry Potter fan.)

One fact most people wouldn’t know about you: I'm on level 38 of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. ;) (I'm a level 14 magizoologist, btw. Anyone want to ride the Knight Bus to come battle foes with me at Hogwarts Castle?) And, of course, I'm in Ravenclaw.

Best Halloween costume from your past: boxing aliens. This was in the late 90s. My friend had given me a boxing alien puppet. (Do they still make these? There were others, including a boxing nun.) So we decided to make matching boxing alien costumes. This involved making paper mache heads, complete with glowing neon eyes, and duct tape-foam boxing gloves. We got graduation gowns from a thrift store. The costumes were a hit at the party--but very hot! Did I mention this was in Florida?

Favorite board game: If you'd asked me this a few months ago, I would've said Pandemic. And I was thrilled when its designer, Matt Leacok, blurbed my board game book last year. Right now, though, I'd say my fave board game is either Code Names or Exploding Kittens (which is a card game). 

What are you reading now?: Actually, since I'm teaching an MFA thesis course right now, I'm reading A LOT of student manuscripts.  I have also been listening to short stories from a few recent volumes of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year (edited by Jonathan Strahan) on Scribd. One of my favorite these  is "Red Dirt Witch" by NK Jemisin. Love her stuff and have the latest on order!

Angie Smibert was born in Blacksburg, a once sleepy college town in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. She grew up thinking she wanted to be a veterinarian; organic chemistry had other ideas. But she always had stories in her head. Eventually, after a few degrees and few cool jobs - including a 10-year stint at NASA's Kennedy Space Center - she wrote some of those stories down. Visit her online at: https://www.angiesmibert.com/blog/

12 Literary Quotes to Motivate and Inspire

At the start of a new year, we are all looking for a little inspiration, setting new goals, and hoping for the motivation to carry them past January. One of my favorite places to find inspiration (and get a metaphorical kick in the pants) is in literature. And sometimes movies. Or TV. But someone's writing those, too, so we'll count that as lit for now!

I used to keep manila folders stuffed with my favorite quotes. Now I save them to pinterest, post on social media, or tuck them away in my Evernote files for later reference. Sometimes I just highlight them on kindle or iBooks with the intent of going back to reference them later.

A few years back, I reclaimed my kids' toy room (they're teenagers and beyond!) and converted it to a writing room with the intent of filling the space with inspiration, mementos that represent my personality, and intriguing, motivating or inspiring quotes. I'm lagging a little behind on putting up the quotes. My hope is to eventually carve out enough time to plaster them on my slightly unfinished and more than slightly cluttered writing area. In the meantime, I'll share a bunch of them here. Maybe you'll scribble one or two on a sticky note. Or better yet, post them in your own writing space!

Feel free to pin or post these! What are some of your favorite quotes?

Successful Critique Groups

As a writer, it can be difficult to gauge how your words will impact readers. This is where critique groups come in. Critique groups can be a great way to get reader feedback before sending your manuscript out into the big, bad world. Here are some tips to make your critique group great.

When you’re the one providing the critique:

1. Focus on first impressions. Put yourself in the shoes of a reader, encountering this manuscript for the first time.

·       How do the words on the page impact you?

·       Do you feel grounded in the character and setting?

·       Do you connect with the character enough to want to keep reading?

·       What emotions are you experiencing as you read?

These first impressions are so important, because, especially starting out, it’s hard for writers to know how their words will affect readers. You may have intended your latest scene to be a tearjerker, but does it fall flat or come off cheesy? As a critique partner, you are the test group, and your honest emotional responses have value to the author.

2. Avoid playing doctor. Your job is to serve as a test subject, not a doctor. Share when and how the story isn’t working for you as a reader, but avoid phrases like, “Here’s how I would have written that.” Remember, this isn’t your story, and the purpose of the exercise isn’t to reshape everyone else’s stories into your own. You can certainly pass along strategies that have worked for you in the past or share tips, if solicited, but the best gift you can give are your first impressions.

3. Sandwich maker. Be honest, but kind and constructive. Sandwich your discussion of what’s not working for you inside truthful, positive feedback.

4. Read widely. The best way to become better at critiquing is to read widely. You’ll get a sense of what works and why. Bonus: this will make you a better writer too!

When you’re the one receiving the critique:

1. Listen. In my critique groups, we have a rule that, when you’re receiving feedback, you can listen, but not respond or defend. Remember, we’re aiming for first impressions. If someone completely misunderstands your story, that doesn’t automatically make them an idiot. In fact, they are providing you with valuable insight, i.e. your words are not translating to readers in the way you intended. Rather than arguing, absorb their feedback and see how you can revise so that your words successfully convey the story that’s trapped in your head.

2. Possibilities, not requirements. Over time, you will learn how to identify and apply only feedback that is useful to you. In the early days, you may feel the urge to incorporate every piece of feedback you receive, even when it conflicts with other feedback or your gut feeling. Learn from this mistake. The purpose of a critique group is to show you how well, or poorly, your story translates to readers and to help you become better at conveying meaning as you learn and grow. Feedback should open your eyes to new story possibilities, but never be seen as a requirement.

Middle Grade Favorites

This week, I thought I would put together a list of some of my middle grade favorites. So many choices, so little time!

1. Favorite Book with a Unique Format
Goblin Secrets by William Alexander. Told in the format of a play, this ingenious fantasy tells the story of Rownie, a boy trying to rescue his brother in a land where plays have been outlawed. You've got goblins, a creepy Baba Yaga character and plenty of adventure.

2. Favorite Book Told from a Unique Perspective
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. So many ugly tears! Need I say more? Told from the perspective of Ivan, a captive gorilla, you cannot help but be touched by his struggle for freedom.

3. Favorite Frame Story
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Each of the layered stories in this novel is fantastic, and more than one will bring you to tears. Pick it up immediately if you are interested in writing middle grade literature.

4. Favorite Sneaky Sci-fi
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Yes, it's a friendship story, but it's so much more. Prepare to be dazzled by Stead’s effortless interweaving of the fantastic and the everyday.

5. Favorite Family Secret
Tangerine by Edward Bloor. Do you love the kind of suspense that bubbles up slowly page by page, seeping in through the crevices and turning everything you thought you knew on its head? Cool, then you will love this book. If you haven't done so already, check it out now.

Interview with Author Patricia Bailey

Patricia Bailey stopped by to answer some of my burning questions about her new book, the writing process and more! Patricia is the author of THE TRAGICALLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF KIT DONOVAN, an historical middle grade novel coming out with Albert Whitman & Company on April 25, 2017. Kit is a plucky thirteen-year-old heroine who takes on an evil mine owner and his cronies. Welcome Patricia!

KIT is set in 1905 in the real gold rush town of Goldfield, Nevada. What attracted you to this wild setting?

I’ve always loved stories set in the old west, and when I discovered Goldfield, Nevada I just knew I had to set a story there. The fact that Goldfield was booming at the turn of the century made it even better. I did a lot of research and was amazed at how it almost seemed like it was two towns at times. It was both this rough-and-tumble boomtown with tent houses, horse-drawn stagecoaches, and gunfights in the street and this fancy, modern place with fine hotels, automobiles, and gourmet restaurants. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be a kid in the middle of all that change and possibility.

What do you hope readers will take away from KIT?

First off, I hope they are entertained. After that I hope they see a bit of themselves in Kit and in her struggle to do the right thing when everyone around her is just looking out for themselves. There’s a line in the book spoken by one of my favorite supporting characters. He says, “It’s amazing what can be done when folks pull together.” I hope that idea sticks with people – the way lines in books I read as a child have stuck with me.

Why write for middle grade?

For the same reason I love middle-grade kids. They’re the best. Wild and funny, heartfelt and serious. Plus there’s so much growth – physical, emotional, social. The middle-grade years are all about stepping up to new challenges – challenges that take you just beyond what you know to be safe and secure and sure. New schools, new friendships, new insights on parents and the world – it’s all there in middle-grade stories. The voices are always clear and rich; the struggles are real and meaningful; and in the end there is always a glimmer of hope. Triumph and tears. Heartbreak and hope. How can you not love all of that?

What part of the publishing process has surprised you most?

I went into this thing pretty unaware of how the whole process works, so it’s pretty much been one surprise after another. I think the most pleasant surprise has been just how kind and generous the writing and publishing community is. I’ve met so many great and talented people this year – and everyone is so open with advice and encouragement. It’s been a real treat.

KIT comes out tomorrow (April 25th)!!! How will you celebrate? What are you most excited about?

I still can’t believe it’s really going to be out in the world! I live in a town with no bookstores (tragic, right?) so my plan is to take a drive over the hill and visit some bookstores, have a nice lunch – with cake! – and generally just take the day to appreciate the fact that something I have written has been published. I think I’m most excited about seeing my book on a store shelf right now. After that, I think it’s going to be getting that first piece of feedback from a kid who read it and loved it.

What can readers expect next from Patricia Bailey?

Right now, I’m working on a middle grade contemporary (with a touch of fantasy) and researching a new middle grade historical.

Thanks Patricia! Great interview! I love Kit for her courage, grit and determination, and I know readers all over the world will fall in love with her, too!