Videos will be available for replay for six months on The Narrative Project’s website,
so you can watch when you have time!
Don’t worry about starting on the fourth or the fifth or even on the seventh! Just get started!
WRITE THAT BOOK ALREADY in 2022!
You’ll get two videos a day delivered straight to your inbox. THEN, we’ll be playing the videos during LIVE watch parties in a private Facebook group so the coaches at THE NARRATIVE PROJECTcan be with you to answer your questions and cheer you on in your commitment to…Write That Book Already!
If you’ve ever thought about writing a book or keep starting to write a book, this conference will coach you to succeed in writing that book that you have always wanted to!
Why haven’t you written that book already?
If you’re like most of the would-be authors, it’s because you need some answers to some of the following questions:
How do I get myself to sit and write?
What do I do with my manuscript once I’ve got it written?
Why does MY particular story matter so much that I should write it NOW?
What are the best strategies for getting past my writing blocks?
Is it selfish to spend the time to write a book? AND how can I write this book with kids underfoot or the pressures of my job keeping me so busy?
How can I tap into MY best creative process?
How can I know if my book is relevant?
How can contests and reviews help me get my book into the hands of my ideal readers?
How can I get in the right mindset to push past my inner critic?
How can I get the support and accountability I need to keep going even on the hard days?
How can my writing be a light in the world right now?
Why should I think about my author’s platform and marketing even while I’m writing and how can building that platform encourage me to get your book done.
Write That Book Already presenters are among the most encouraging and knowledgeable BOOK PEOPLE in the world.
Kiffer Brown, Michelle Cox, Laura Davis, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, Paul Hanson, Ebony Haywood, Linda Joy Myers, Jamey Stegmaier, and others!
If you have a book in you, you don’t want to miss this!
You’ll walk away inspired, motivated, and COMMITTED to Write That Book Already!
When you sign up for the conference using this link, you will have access to the VIDEOS and Replay of VIDEOS on the Write That Book Already Virtual Conference!
Just click this link to be taken to The Narrative Project’s website to sign up for FREE! Just scroll down to the sign-up link.
And don’t forget to SAVE the DATES for the Chanticleer Authors Conference – April 7 – 10, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash!
Author Linda Gartz tells of her childhood and early adulthood amidst social upheaval in the city of Chicago in her memoir, Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured Community in 1960s Chicago.
Gartz grew up the second child of second-generation immigrants to the US. Her father’s father boldly made the trip to the land of opportunity at age 21. She spent much of her childhood in cramped quarters with her parents and her older brother, living alongside strangers. They paid this price for the “dream” – the couple bought a house in a decent neighborhood; keeping roomers, even living in the same flat with them, helped pay expenses.
Gartz’s grandmother, a talented dressmaker, helped out with childcare and other chores while her mother worked to manage all the finances, tenants, and repairs in their rooming house; she had to do this alone half the year while Gartz’s dad traveled for his job. But Grandma K suffered mental illness and abused Gartz’s mother and father, sometimes violently. Gartz’s father felt oppressed by her presence, which caused ongoing, if mostly unspoken, conflict in the home.
Chicago’s social and economic upheaval served as a microcosm for national change, and as backdrop for the Gartz family drama.
African Americans fled the dangerous and economically dead-end South for more promising prospects in places like Chicago. But majority white cities and regions resisted their incursion through restructuring and re-designating neighborhoods and school districts. All the while, the civil rights movement sought large-scale change amidst peaceful protests, riots, and violent reprisals from the law.
The influx of black workers into her own neighborhood affected Gartz’s choice of schools and friends. Civil rights struggles incited her sympathies while her parents expressed their older prejudice. They feared that all of their hard-earned investments would vanish if “the colored” came in. Still, the teen had black friends and neighbors. She felt touched by the spirit of rebellion in a new testing of societal limits: sexual freedom.
Gartz felt driven to compose this intelligent account of the changing times when she and her brother “found our gold” in the attic of their parents’ home: diaries, letters, cards, calendars and notebooks reaching back to the couple’s own youth.
The undercurrent of family tensions became clear. Grandma K’s psychosis put the house on edge. Gartz’s father struggled to balance his home and work life, needing to earn money with a job that required six months of travel across each year, and also supporting his over-burdened wife with the demands of their rooming house with as many as eleven tenants. Her mother saw her behavior in the sexual revolution as shocking. Gartz includes details of the subtleties of “redlining” that allowed cities and regions to keep African Americans down and poor by limiting their ability to own property. Family photos pepper her book, lending emotive touches. The result is a vibrant look at the coming of age of a nation through the eyes of a frank, freethinking woman.
“If you’re going to have a character appear in a story long enough to sell a newspaper, he’d better be real enough that you can smell his breath.” ~ Ford Madox Ford
She might has well been talking to three empty chairs…
You see, it’s impossible to write fiction without understanding its underpinnings such as conflict, scene structure, and character development. Without this understanding , you might write two or three or four hundred pages, but you won’t end up with a story; instead you’ll produce a lot of words on a lot of pages or a haphazard pile of scenes loosely clustered around characters who never quite come to life.
The best fiction touches the deep layers in us. A writer achieves this effect by embedding dozens of techniques into his or her story.
Do your characters sound like this?
We hope that you have found these encore posts to be useful reminders and prompts for your work-in-progress!
And in cased you missed it, here is the link to our New Year’s Eve post with the first five articles. Click here.
NOW for Kiffer’s Number One Tip for Writers in 2022!
RULE # 1
WRITE FAST! EDIT SLOW!
Don’t edit your first draft as you write it!
Writing your first draft should be a mad dash to get your story out of your brain. Don’t hinder it by worrying about each little detail. There will be time for that later.
Try to unspool the “mind-film” in your brain before reworking every sentence. Get your story out. Let the characters introduce themselves to you. Create the Atmosphere.
There will be plenty of time to craft and hone sentences later. Meanwhile, fall in love with your story. Experience the rush and the thrill of creativity!
We wish you joy and peace in the New Year from all of us at Chanticleer!
We hope to see you at the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2021 CIBA Banquet and Ceremony
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Secondary Characters. They can drive their co-stars crazy and they can also drive the plot. They can star in their own subplots and often support the protagonist’s goals. Or thwart the protagonist’s goals.
Benny, the unforgettable secondary character in “The Queen’s Gambit” by Walter Tevis
Using characters’ eyes to reveal emotion and meaning. If you’re serious about writing, you must notice subtext and how to convey it. And that often begins with the eyes.
Beth Harmon knows she will win several moves out in this scene of Queen’s Gambit
A look at more advanced ways of considering writing from some of the best craft books to come out in the last decade. Consider the narrator in your story, structure, proportion, and, most importantly, the heart of your work.
How-To tips and examples for adding fuel your characters’ fires. Your character should always have a lot to prove and master, so he or she can get off on the wrong foot and things can go downhill from there. Naturally.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy protagonist, the last known Earthling – Arthur Dent
Learn how to edit ruthlessly with these top tips with handy links! Make sure you get the most out of your next round of editing for your work-in-progress.
The Editor – going over the ms with an MOV.
We hope that you have found these encore posts to be useful reminders and prompts for your work-in-progress!
We wish you joy and peace in the New Year from all of us at Chanticleer!
January 1st, 2022, we will post five more of the The Top Ten Writing Posts for 2021 along with Kiffer’s Number One Tip for Writers in 2022!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be June 23-26, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
There is a beautiful Icelander holiday tradition that we are growing quite fond of here at Chanticleer.
The small Nordic island, with a population of only 329,000 people, is extraordinarily literary. They love to read and write. According to Rosie Goldsmith of the BBC, “The country has more writers, more books published and more books read, per head, than anywhere else in the world.”
Many Icelanders give books as Christmas gifts as part of Jolabokaflod, and from Christmas Eve until New Years there is an unspoken reading frenzy.
Iceland’s National Treasures And High Literacy Rate
Icelanders are obsessed with preserving their language. You will find that the bestselling teen novels –Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc. – have all been translated to Icelandic.
Books and literacy are huge in Icelandic culture. To properly understand it, you have to realize that our national treasures are not really beautiful buildings or famous art pieces or collections like so many other countries have. They are manuscripts, preserved on sheepskin, for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Reading is very important for us, both in schools and in society in general. The literacy rate is somewhere around 99%. I don’t believe there is anyone in Iceland that doesn’t know how to read unless there are some specific challenges or disabilities involved. – The Uncorked Librarian .com
And, of course, knitting also goes along with this beloved tradition and so does hot chocolate!
Jolabokaflod or Yule Book Flood happens once a year on Christmas Eve in Iceland. The flood begins with the release of a catalog of new publications from the Icelandic Publishers Association. And it is distributed FREE to each and every Icelandic home. The majority of books sold in Iceland are sold from September to early November. Of course, these books are in print. E-pubs are not given. This tradition started in 1944.
The Icelanders even have a popular TV show,Kiljan,that is entirely devoted to books. Authors appear on prime TV shows.Book readings and author events are treated like rock star events.
“In Iceland book lives matter in every sense of that phrase: The shelf-life of the book, the lives in the book, the life of the writer and the life of the reader. God bless the Jolabokaflod.”~Hallgrimur Helgason
To an Icelander, the very best Christmas present is a book! This tradition hails from WWII when many items and food were rationed. These sentiments may always have existed, in one way or another, since Icelanders have been saga-nerds for thousand of years.
Loved ones gather – perhaps virtually this year – and gift one another books. What happens next? They spend the night reading together. What a delightful holiday tradition!
Jolabokaflod – Christmas is the time where you snuggle up and read your presents.
We thought you might like to see some of our top holiday-themed books – just in case you would like to have your own Jolabokaflod…
So, snuggle in and preview some of our favorite books for the season. Let’s share some book love!
From the riveting opening that takes place in NYC’s Lower East Side’s sweatshops until its gripping conclusion, this enthralling novel vividly portrays the desperate times of German immigrants landing at Ellis Island in 1905 in search of a better life. Love of Finished Years by Gregory Erich Phillips is one of Kiffer Brown’s favorites for the holidays. She cites the novel’s heartwarming WWI Christmas Eve scene that takes place in the trenches in the heat of battle as unforgettable.
Since it’s Christmas time, clever Oscar decides to write a letter to Santa and ask for the spots he so desperately wants. Fearing his request won’t reach the North Pole in time, Oscar decides to take it there himself. He meets many a character en route and learns some new lessons. A beautifully illustrated and wonderfully told children’s Christmas story of the importance of being yourself. Highly recommended.
With the loveliest prose and sharp humor, Slade offers the best Christmas gift for her readers with this gem of a book. Whether it’s 1390, 1543, 1825, or the present day, there’s a mystical sisterhood at Ladywell that bridges time, a linking of strong women who tend home and hearth and pass on the secrets of the land. The past re-emerges into the blissful bustle of Freya’s current life as she learns of a family connection with King Richard III. Is this connection tied to a future event? Will the secrets of the past travel to the future?
An exquisitely written English tale set for Yuletide cheer. A book to curl up with during the holidays. Highly recommended.
For anyone who’s ever fought a battle and held onto the promise of hope, here is a heartfelt story of a boy whose endless desire for Christmas changes not only him but his entire world. This story has the makings to be a seasonal classic! Plausible fantasy with a clear connection to our national past composed by a practiced wordsmith, My Christmas Attic can be appreciated as a classic seasonal saga with a cinematic quality that speaks of broader possibilities.
Cleopatra’s lustful affair with young Jake Regan becomes more complex as she discovers his presence in Hawaii is due to a Christmas holiday vacation with his (Norman Rockwellesque) family. Mother and his two brothers have arrived. Jake’s dad is expected to arrive at any moment from yet another far-flung business trip. But the coup d’état is that Jake’s longtime girlfriend, who also is en route, is expecting wedding bells to be announced at the gathering. It becomes obvious that Cleo and Jake’s unrelenting passion will have an impact on the Regan family.
A steamy, fast-paced suspense novel that will take you on a get-away armchair vacation to Hawai’i!
Combining a romance novel with a thriller is not easy, but Chasing Cleopatradelivers the goods with plotting as intricate as a silver spider’s web.
Merry Christmas and a Happy PTSD by Chris Oelerich is highly recommended for those who suffer from PTSD, for the family members and friends of those who suffer, and for those who are simply interested in having a greater understanding beyond what is reported in the popular press about this debilitating disorder. Oelerich’s methods to overcome PTSD are plain-spoken and practical, with an overall message of optimism for those with PTSD.
This is a very personal, no-holds-barred, yet ultimately, empowering discussion of PTSD and its effects on those who suffer from it. The author hopes thatMerry Christmas and a Happy PTSDwill be used as a tool to reduce PTSD symptoms in others who suffer from it so that they, too, can live healthier and happier lives.
We wish you a very merry and warm Holiday Season!
If you would like to read more book reviews to discern the perfect selections for your own Jolabokaflod click here to read more Chanticleer Book Reviews!
If you think we should include your book (must have been reviewed by Chanticleer Reviews) in this article, please email us with the title, your pen name, and the pages that have the holiday scenes and email us at AuthorOutreach@ChantiReviews.com
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction entries to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Somerset Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Ben Sharpton – The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
Adrian Spratt – Caroline
Linda Stewart Henley – Waterbury Winter
Daniel Pare – No Matter The Price
Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One
M. J. Simms-Maddox – The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Anne Pfeffer – Binge
Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said
C. A. Price – Allison’s Gambit
E. A. Coe – The Other Side Of Good
Margaret Ann Spence – Joyous Lies
Suzanne Kamata – The Baseball Widow
Vicki Volden – All the After
Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
Susan Speranza – Ice Out
Gary Lee Miller – Finding Grace
Ruthie Stevens – You Can’t Blame the Flower
V.N. Writer – Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Mekiya Walters – Ashes, Ashes
Teng Rong – Brilliant White Peaks
Natalie Symons – Lies in Bone
Ruth Hull Chatlien – Katie, Bar the Door
Patrick Garry – Through the Waves a Steady Path
Ariane Torres – We are the Kings
Dan Schorr – Final Table: A Novel
Karen S. Bennett – Beautiful Horseflesh
Dawn Newton – The Remnants of Summer
Douglas Green – A Dog of Many Names
Jeff Richards – Everyone Worth Knowing
Robert Gwaltney – The Cicada Tree
Sarah E Zilkowski – Beasts of War
Vanessa Carlisle – Take Me With You
J.B. Liquorish – The Prophecy
Bob Siqveland – Lines Through a Prism
Richard C. Brusca – In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
Natalie Symons – Lies in Bone
Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
Joanne Kukanza Easley – Just One Look
Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
Tom Glenn – Secretocracy
Sandra Vasoli – The Masterpiece Pursuit
Suzanne Simonetti – The Sound of Wings
John Hansen – Old Water
Richard Jespers – Wakedale: A Novel
Robert Steven Goldstein – Cat’s Whisker
Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
John Hansen – Badger Creek
Eric Lotke – Union Made
Pamela Hamilton – Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
Sue Phillips – You Oughta Know
Chera Thompson & NF Johnson – A Time to Wander
Cara Sue Achterberg – Blind Turn
K. – Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories
Susan Lynn Solomon – Dancing Backwards
Debra Whiting Alexander – A River for Gemma
Anne Moose – House of Fragile Dreams
Jane Ward – In the Aftermath
Linda Rosen – Sisters of the Vine
Drema Drudge – Victorine
Kathy Sechrist – Success Is The Best Revenge
Rick Lenz – Hello, Rest of My Life
Malcolm Spicer – Freedom From Privilege
Cinda K. Swalley – The Golden Hearts Club
Shan Leah – Thieves, Beasts & Men
Gene Helfman – Beyond the Human Realm
Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
Sarahlyn Bruck – Daytime Drama
Roberta Seret – Love Odyssey
Barbara Linn Probst – The Sound Between the Notes
Lynn McLaughlin – Jackson
Michael R. Frontani – Dante’s Forge
Jenn Bouchard – First Course
Florence Reiss Kraut – How to Make a Life: a novel
Michelle Lynn – Silver Heels
Susannah Marren – A Palm Beach Scandal
C. Victorya Grace – Julip Lullabies and Silent Cries
Jordan Stanford – My Dream
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
I want to talk about the thresholds and milestones that happen in storytelling, including films. These milestones are given different names by various experts. Most commonly they’re called turning points or plot points.
Turning Point or Plot Point Development
Crucial Scenes
I was recently working on a client’s manuscript and an important scene was taking place in an early chapter creating the first major turning point. It features two main characters about to make love for the first time. It’s a crucial scenebecause everything in the story will change after this, the stakes will rise, serious repercussions will shape their futures. It’s an especially important scene because it’s the tale of forbidden love and once they’ve crossed this line they’ve admitted censure and danger into their lives. My job is to help the writer make the scene more momentous and intense, making sure the scenes contain enough emotional clout. Because these essential moments need to create major ramifications.
Turning points are irrevocable changes staged as events or scenes, and are where the story shifts in a new direction. They’re also thresholds so characters pass through into a new situation. These moments, always shown via action, usually have an emotional change that comes with them. –Jessica Morrell
Before this event, things might return back to normal; afterward, it’s a whole new game.
One Way Gates
As I’ve mentioned here before, effective fiction takes your main characters into new physical and emotional territory. Turning points are the thresholds to the other side. They signal the reader that danger and shifting tides lie ahead. I like to think of them as one way gates.
The new territory can also be new spiritual territory, where principles, beliefs, and hearts are tested. Also, they are often tests and reveal what your protagonist is made of.
And while turning points shift the direction of the story, keep in mind is that they’re also emotional turning points. I was thinking about them yesterday and how they snatch a protagonist from his or her comfort zone and thrust him or her into a threatening situation.
Let’s look at The Hunger Games to help identify these crucial moments. It’s the first book in Suzanne Collins dystopian series that takes place in Panem, a country that’s formed after the collapse of North American governments.
Inciting Incidents
The inciting incident or catalyst happens on Reaping Day, an annual lottery where each of Panem’s 12 Districts must send two ‘tributes’ to participate in the state-sponsored, fight-to-the-death Hunger Games while the whole country watches the gruesome contest. Because the underlying brutality of the governing regime is an omnipresent threat. The winning district receives food.
Reaping Day in The Hunger Games – Gale and Prim (Katniss’ little sister).
The story reprises the virgin sacrifices that existed in many cultures along with nods to mythical happenings. But then Collins has borrowed liberally from mythology and gory human history including a mashup of Dust Bowl imagery, a Nazi-like regime including the architecture, symbolism, and vicious stormtroopers, along with a hideous disparity between the classes.
Complications
At the Reaping, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to replace her 12-year-old sister Primrose in the deadly Games.
Central Dramatic Question
This creates the central dramatic question: Will Katniss survive? Then Peeta Mellark is chosen from District 12 too, and wouldn’t you know it, they have some history together because one of the rules of storytelling is Complicate, Complicate, Complicate.
Katniss and Peeta leave home for the Capital (a threshold) and that’s when readers and movie-goers find out just how twisted and corrupt the Panem leadership is.
Katniss and Peeta see just how wealthy the governing body is and how poor they are on the deluxe train ride.
Plot Points Pushing Ahead the Plot’s Trajectory
It turns out that Peeta is secretly in love with Katniss. Because Katniss needs to win to save her family, this is another complication in an already ghastly competition. Does she care about him too? Will she be forced to turn into a soulless killer to survive? The turning points that follow keep changing and pushing ahead the plot’s trajectory, but all affect her goal to survive.
Katniss and Peeta decide to become allies and feign love in order to increase their chances of survival. Because the heartless denizens of the Capital love a love story in the midst of their killing field. Back in District 12 Katniss had learned to hunt to feed her family since her father had died in a mining accident. During the exhibition before the Games she gains notice for her archery skills.
Atmosphere and Landscape
Another turning point happens when the tributes enter the Arena – a nightmarish landscape where the rules keep changing, monsters and walls of flames appear out of nowhere. And can we just reiterate that these are children and teens operating in this whole blood-soaked nightmare?
The children and teens from the 12 districts that must fight to the death until there is one survivor. Then, his or her district will receive food. The Hunger Games.
Secondary Characters: Reflections of the Protagonist and Antagonist
The youngest tribute from District 11 is Rue and she represents innocence and all that’s wrong with the government and Games. Though agile and wily, she seems doomed or at least underestimated.
Once the Games begin in the mad scramble to secure weapons and supplies Peeta and Katniss become separated.
Katniss has been chased up a tree for safety and that’s when she hears a bird-like call. Rue is nearby in a tree. She warns Katniss of a nearby nest of deadly tracker-jackers (genetically-modified bee monsters). Katniss saws off the branch and the tracker jackers swarm on their adversaries. The girls become allies and readers, and viewers recognize that Rue is surrogate for her sister Prim.
Rue warning Katniss about the deadly nest of robot yellowjackets.
As allies they concoct a plan to destroy the Cornucopia, a huge stash of weapons and supplies.
Reversals and Ramifications
Returning to Rue after Katniss succeeds, she witnesses her being murdered by another tribute. It is a major turning point in the story.
The fallout cannot be overstated:
Katniss changes from a hunter to a killer, first taking out Rue’s murderer.
The story slows down briefly so Katniss can process her grief and feelings.
The slave-like conditions the citizens of Pandem live under is emphasized by Rue’s senseless death.
It reinforces Katniss’ desire to survive – she will win for Rue.
Katniss openly defies the Capital when she rings flowers around Rue’s corpse, showing her affection and respect.
Katniss uses her weapon for good when cutting flowers to honor Rue.
Then with the Games’ cameras rolling, and honor and respect has been shown to Rue’s corpse, Katniss stands and salutes (as tribute) the other district’s people who are watching via he Games’ cameras, marking her defiance and the beginning of a rebellion. We’re talking major ramifications.
Katniss’ symbol of defiance and respect is televised to all the districts in the Hunger Games. This simple gesture starts a movement.
Later, Katniss’ compassion toward Rue saves her own life because Rue’s district sends her food – once again breaking the rules of the Games.
Before:Rue and Katniss are allies and sisters in the struggle for survival.
After: Katniss would rather die than let the government regime win or steal her humanity.
Question for Writers: What are the before and after statuses in your turning points for your work-in-progress?
Another excellent example of plot points and turning points is The Toy Story series. It has terrific examples of thresholds that are easily identified because the characters often land in a new setting as they pass through each threshold.
*Still photos copyright Lion’s Gate Entertainment
Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart. Jessica
Jessica Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor and a contributor to Chanticleer Reviews Media and to the Writer’s Digest magazine. She teaches Master Writing Craft Classes at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that is held annually along with teaching at Chanticleer writing workshops that are held throughout the year. We suggest visiting her website for more articles on writing and the writing life.
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Robert Dugoni is one of our most popular speakers at the Chanticleer Author Conference.
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Writer’s Toolbox article.
Today we wanted to honor and recognize Toni Ann Johnson, actress and novelist, for receiving the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, University of Georgia Press.
“Toni Ann Johnson’s Light Skin Gone to Waste is one of the most engrossing short story collections I’ve read in recent memory. These interconnected stories about a black family living in a predominantly white suburb of New York City are impeccably written, incisive, often infuriating and unforgettable. At the center of many of these stories is Philip Arrington, a psychologist who tries to reshape the world to his liking as he moves through it, regardless of the ways his actions affect the people in his intimate orbit. With a deft eye for detail, crisp writing, and an uncanny understanding of human frailties, Toni Ann Johnson has created an endlessly interesting American family portrait.”
Ms. Johnson recently contacted us (2015) about the nomination and credited Chanticleer’s review for its helpful role in getting the work noticed and nominated. We are proud and honored to play a small part in her nomination for this coveted award.
Here’s what Chanticleer had to say about Johnson’s book:
Remedy for a Broken Angel by Toni Ann Johnson is an intense examination of the troubled personal histories of two beautiful and talented women of color.
Their stories are told in alternating chapters which reveal the mother’s and her daughter’s attempts to reclaim and understand their broken pasts. Each chapter is a revelation into the pain and damage caused by unknown family secrets. Both women struggle with a legacy of shame and self-blame for the price they’re paying for never hearing the truth. Each must learn the lessons found in past years of failure to communicate.
Have a Book that deserves to be discovered? See our 24 Chanticleer Intl’l Book Awards Divisions here and Editorial Book Reviews here!
The 2020 Overall Grand Prize Winner was Rebecca Dwight Bruff for her book Trouble the Water
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be June 23-26, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Congratulations to Elizabeth on the grant she received from the City Artist Corps, a New York City group sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Elizabeth used the proceeds of the grant to publish NEW YORK: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst. The grant recognize the contributions of New York based artists. We couldn’t be happier for her!
You can see some of her Award Winning photography in her book Give Me Your Best or Your Worst: an Anthology and Celebration of the Big Apple, which is currently entered for competition in the Shorts Award (deadline 12/31/21).
Give Me Your Best or Your Worst features photos of and stories and writing from people such as Reed Farrel Coleman, Richie Narvaez, Barbara Krasnoff, Tom Straw, Steven Van Patten, Charles Salzberg, Marco Conelli, Randee Dawn, R.J. Koreto, Triss Stein, and, of course, Elizabeth Crowens. It’s a truly incredible portrait of Crowens’ vision of New York told in photos, fiction, and the perfect amount of poetry. You can find it here.
Crowens with Chanticleer
When not working on art photography books, Crowens writes Hollywood suspense and speculative Fiction, and her book, Silent Meridian, won first place in the Chanticleer Goethe Awards.
You can see her books reviewed by Chanticleer right here:
In addition to being a First Place Winner for the Goethe Awards, Crowens also took home a First Place Blue Ribbon for the 2020 Mark Twain Awards for her book Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead.
Currently, she’s on the following Long Lists for the 2021 CIBAs:
Join our Newsletter and keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter as all authors continue to advance, and stay tuned to hear more about our Shorts Awards!
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article on Elizabeth Crowens.
Have a Book that deserves to be discovered? See our 24 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Divisions here and Editorial Book Reviews here!
The 2020 Overall Grand Prize Winner was Rebecca Dwight Bruff for her book Trouble the Water
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be June 23-26, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Remedy for a Broken Angel by Toni Ann Johnson is an intense examination of the troubled personal histories of two beautiful and talented women of color.
Their stories are told in alternating chapters which reveal the mother’s and her daughter’s attempts to reclaim and understand their broken pasts. Each chapter is a revelation into the pain and damage caused by unknown family secrets. Both women struggle with a legacy of shame and self-blame for the price they’re paying for never hearing the truth. Each must learn the lessons found in past years of failure to communicate.
The beautiful mother, Serena, is a successful Bermudian jazz singer and songwriter who is consumed by anger over feeling unloved as a child. Years later, her hurt and confusion over being abandoned by her family cause her to repeat the past by leaving her own marriage and abandoning her twelve-year-old daughter.
Artie, Serena’s lovely daughter, is an excellent photographer who constantly battles with the same destructive demons of abandonment, loss, shame, and betrayal as does her mother. She finds herself at age twenty-six in a psychiatric hospital in Malibu, California. There, she receives caring support from her psychiatrist, Dr. Phoebe Ligon, in trying to understand her rage and need for revenge against Serena.
Serena’s and Artie’s struggles through the years are a deep, painful journey as they each must try to learn to forgive the other. Somehow, they must bridge the chasm of mutual feelings of betrayal caused by misconceptions, falsehoods, and many lost years with no communication.
Remedy for a Broken Angel is an extraordinary novel about digging out from years of suppression to find forgiveness and to forgive. Johnson writes with authority about the world in which the characters in her novel live as they endure an endless struggle for the truth. She deftly exposes the many faces of patterns of abuse and how the “unseen hand” perpetuates and feeds the demons within in this literary work of contemporary women’s fiction from Nortia Press.
Remedy for a Broken Angel by Toni Ann Johnson was nominated for a 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. She won the 2015 International Latino Book Award for Most Inspirational Fiction and is a winner of a Humanitas Prize for promoting human dignity for her screenplay, Ruby Bridges. Johnson’s professional experience in dance, music, film and stage production lends authenticity to the sonorous background and subtext of the work. As you read Remedy for a Broken Angel, you might just hear the strains of jazz composer Charles Mingus’ music seeping throughout Johnson’s novel in its refrains and riffs of the complications of relationships.
Author Linda Gartz tells of her childhood and early adulthood amidst social upheaval in the city of Chicago in her memoir, Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured Community in 1960s Chicago.
