We’ve all heard the phrase “perfect timing.” It’s when everything seems to line up correctly at the same time.

In the publishing world, I used to hear people say landing a publishing contract is about “getting the right manuscript to the right editor at the right time.” I could work endlessly to make my manuscript the best story possible, but if it didn’t line up with those other two, I was stuck still trying for perfect timing.

Those three things finally lined up for me when I was offered a contract for my first published novel. Like a River was released 3 weeks before the 150^th anniversary of the Sultana disaster. That disaster was part of the novel, which made its release date “perfect timing.” But I had worked on that novel for years in advance of that sesquicentennial event with no expectations of a contract, which made it more coincidence than timing.

Not on Fifth Street, my newest novel just released this month, seemed to have near-perfect timing. The 80^th anniversary of the record-breaking Ohio River flood, which the novel is based on, was in January of this year.

The unplanned timeliness of the novel’s content is a bit more disturbing than lucky. In a season when flood event after flood event (those resulting from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate, to name a few) fills the headlines, a story about a flood fits into the discussion. A somewhat scary coincidence.

Timing does not appear to be within my control. I don’t think about it when I write. I base my novels and short stories on interesting incidents in history that intrigue me. I will continue to write that way and leave timing to a Higher Power.

Next month, I will launch my newest novel, Not on Fifth Street. I have been through launching a new novel twice before, so this should be no big deal, right?

Not true. Each novel is different. Each novel has come from a different part of me. And each novel has been its own journey. Just as no two journeys are exactly the same, neither are two launches.

A reader will see a novel as a complete book. No one but the author knows the time that goes into percolating an idea, writing and rewriting multiple manuscripts, and struggling to try to get it right. The reader never sees the false starts, the tossed pages, or the scrutiny over tiny details.

In writing historical fiction, research is key. I might spend a month or more trying to nail down a particular fact, a fact that might end up being one short sentence in the finished product. Sometimes I spend a great deal of time researching a certain detail that doesn’t even end up in the book.

In preparing for a launch, I have more to do than order bookmarks and arrange signings, more than write blurbs and answer interview questions. I also have to prepare a short talk to give at launch events and presentations to give at school visits. To do that, I take a look back at the book’s journey. This talk is where I might use one of those interesting facts that didn’t make it into the book.

Taking this look back is more difficult than you might think. Because of the nature of traditional publishing, the time between finishing a book and launching it can span the greater part of a year. Or more. (This is a good thing because it means the publisher is taking the time to make the final book the best it can be.) However, most writers will have embarked on a new project during that time, which means my focus has moved to a new place.

The characters from Not on Fifth Street have moved to the back of my mind, and new characters have filled that space. Not on Fifth Street takes place in January, 1937. My work in progress takes place in October, 1864. One takes place in Ohio and Kentucky, the other in North Carolina. My focus has changed seasons and centuries as well as locations.

What that means is I have to remind myself about the book that is launching, and recall my feelings about writing it, yet not lose the focus of my work in progress. A juggling act, for sure.

But I love the life of a published author and I love meeting readers. I hope I can tap into the right things to say to launch the new book. While we wait for the launch, read some early reviews.

Even though writing historical fiction requires the same kind of research and accuracy as nonfiction, I have never been comfortable writing nonfiction. So for today’s blog post, I asked my friend Tracy VonderBrink, who excels at writing nonfiction, to write one for me.
Tracy’s adventures in nonfiction began as a writer for Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader in 2014. After contributing to seven Bathroom Reader books, she dived into children’s magazines. Now her nonfiction work has been published (or scheduled to be published) in Highlights, Cricket, and ASK. You can find her at:
www.tracyvonderbrink.com

NONFICTION

By Tracy Vonderbrink

Nonfiction? Ugh, boooring! At least that’s what you might think if your nonfiction experience comes from school textbooks. But nonfiction is as exciting, inspiring, heartbreaking, and weird as any novel. Don’t believe me? How about a Cold War-era proposal to warm nuclear landmines with chickens? Or cockroaches that succumb to peer pressure?

The trick to writing captivating nonfiction is to find the story. Facts and figures reveal a lot, but they don’t move readers. Some topics, especially biography and history, easily lend themselves to story-telling. Others don’t, but you still need to find the narrative hook.

Take something like the peer-pressured cockroaches. The scientific study contains stats about what percentage of cockroaches run for shelter vs. how many explore their environment and how that behavior changes when they’re in a group. Written like that, it’s (maybe) interesting, but it’s not particularly compelling. But picture “shy” cockroaches scuttling for cover, while “bold” cockroaches probe with antennae twitching, and you might have the start of a story.

Of course, finding the story doesn’t mean playing fast and loose with the facts. In nonfiction, accuracy is crucial. In the case of the cockroaches, the study itself describes the bugs as “shy” and “bold,” so it’s not over-anthropomorphizing to use those terms.

How do I find the story? The best tip came from Deborah Heiligman, an utterly amazing and award-winning writer, who was my mentor at a Highlights Foundation workshop. As I struggled to find the narrative voice, she suggested I picture a child I knew and tell that child a story. At that time, I was working on a piece for 6-to-8 year olds, so I imagined my cousin’s little boy. As I “told” Gabe the story, all the cold facts fell away and I was left with the heart.

I use that technique in everything I write, no matter the age level. Because that’s the key to nonfiction writing:

You have the facts. Now find the story.

On July 4^th, we celebrated Independence Day. It is the day we consider our nation’s birthday, and this year was its 241^st. It is actually the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, which told Britain we proclaimed ourselves to be our own country and free of their rule.

But do you know that we fought for that freedom for several more years after that 1776 declaration? It took still more years to draw up and ratify our Constitution. And George Washington did not become our first president until 1789.

Less than 25 years later, we had to fight the British yet again to retain that declared independence in what is called the War of 1812. The war earned that title because it began in 1812, but it lasted well past it. Our forefathers worked hard to build a new nation.

The history of the United States is interesting, and I think all Americans should have some knowledge of it. Does it matter if you don’t know the difference between the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Bull Run? Probably not, even though they took place during different wars and nearly 90 years apart. But we should know the wars our country has been involved in and why they were fought. And the struggles we have been through and how some of those struggles continue today.

Many people find history boring. But it depends on the way you learn it. Think about the story part of history. Don’t you love a good story? I always liked reading novels and found I could learn a bit of history from reading historical fiction novels. And sometimes that little bit made me want to learn more.

Now I write those novels. It’s a kind of writing that requires me to learn a lot more history than I ever did in school. But I love learning new things!

Being historically accurate in my books is essential. But I also believe I must show the situations I write about through the eyes and sensibilities of the people who lived back then, not through today’s long lens. Sometimes that leads to controversy, but we can’t see how far we have come unless we know where we began.

The roles of women, for example, have changed dramatically since our nation began. In the 18^th century, women weren’t allowed in many public places unless accompanied by a man, and in some places not at all. Did you know that for most of the 19^th century, married women were not allowed to teach school? And women did not get the right to vote until the 20^th century.

Learning how far we have come makes it possible to believe we can achieve so much more. We can learn from our mistakes and benefit from the things we did right. But first we need to learn a little history.

I love to write, and my favorite part of writing is revising because it’s my chance to make sure I tap into the heart of the story.

My favorite part of being published is tapping into the hearts of readers. I keep the readers in mind as I write, and try to create a story that will touch them and mean something to them. I am never sure whether I succeed at that until I hear from readers.

Last week, I received an email from Anna, a sixth-grader who told me that EMPTY PLACES is her favorite book because it taught her “not to take things for granted.” She went on to ask questions about the characters as though they are real people. If you read my last month’s blog post, you see that to me they ARE real people, even though I created them. It is gratifying to see that they came across that way to Anna.

A few months ago, I heard from a teacher who said she “quickly devoured” EMPTY PLACES and called it a “heartbreakingly lovely tale.” That told me the book is working the way I intended it to.

In October, I heard from Kassidy, who had received LIKE A RIVER for her fifteenth birthday and said, “The characters came to life through vivid description, and I was transported to a time 151 years ago.” She went on to ask if I planned a sequel, and I had to say I hadn’t. Her letter, however, led to a conversation with my daughter that made me think about a sequel possibility. And now, thanks to Kassidy’s (and others’) prodding, there might just be a sequel one day.

And ideas for one abound. Mr. M’s sixth-grade Language Arts class in Connecticut sent me suggestions for what they would like to see in a sequel. Their suggestions varied widely, and it was interesting and fun to see the direction they would like to see the story take.

I have visited Ms. L’s local seventh-grade class two years in a row to discuss LIKE A RIVER, which they read in class before I visit. Hearing the questions they ask about the book is encouraging for me. The characters mean something to them, and that tells me the story touched them in some way.

And there was a phone call after Christmas in 2015 from an 86-year-old man, who had received LIKE A RIVER from his daughter for Christmas. He told me he couldn’t put it down.

If I can write books that touch a reader, young or old, I have achieved my greatest goal. After all, it’s always about the readers. I hope my future books will be able to reach readers as well.

A big thank you to the teachers who invited me into their schools, and to Anna, Kassidy, Frank, and all readers who wrote to tell me what my books meant to them. I am sincerely grateful.

One question I am frequently asked when I do school visits is, “Are any of your characters based on real people?”

The answer isn’t as easy as yes or no. A few of my characters are inspired by real people, but that’s not the same as being based on them. They are not usually people I know, but there are exceptions. Raynelle Cutler in EMPTY PLACES was inspired a bit by my husband’s oldest sister, and in NOT ON FIFTH STREET, Pete Brinkmeyer was inspired by my father. But once I create the characters, I have to separate them from the real people who might have inspired them. When I first created Pete I had trouble writing him convincingly. It wasn’t until I let him be Pete, and not my father, that I was able to get his character on track.

I find many writers who write stories based on themselves have difficulty telling the character’s story because they tend to tell exactly what happened to them. That’s okay if you write a memoir, but if you write fiction, you have to often forget what actually happened to you and let the fictional character have his way. I find working with fictional people much easier than basing them on real people. Life seldom has a natural story arc, and a book must have one. It’s a writer’s job to create one.

In my mind, all my characters become “real people.” I have to think of them that way to make them believable to a reader. How can I convince someone a character is real if he or she is not real to me?

My historical fiction characters are usually inspired by history. They are characters based on what people went through during the time I am writing about. I research to find out what that was, and sometimes I create a character that loosely resembles a real person.

The first thing I do when I create a character is get into that character’s head. It’s a lot like playing Pretend. I need to see through the character’s eyes, hear with his ears, think with his brain, and feel with his heart. When I can feel that character living inside me, I am ready to write, ready to tell his story.