Wordcraft blog by Avi

Story Behind the Story #62:
Catch You Later, Traitor

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Catch You Later, TratiorIt was the hardest book I ever wrote.

Mind, it was not the writing as such.  It was because I was revisiting a world I recalled as full of fear, confusion, and danger.

I was fourteen years of age in 1951. Living in New York City (in Brooklyn) with my solid family. But this was the time of Senator Joe McCarthy, relentless anti-Communism, the Korean War, a constant fear of nuclear war, a time when you had to be careful what you said, and also careful about what you heard.

Indeed, the working title of the book was Season of Suspicion.

This was also the time when NYC had three baseball teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers, their arch-rivals the New York Giants and the New York Yankees.  To live in Brooklyn meant you were a Dodger fan. An Obligation. A requirement. But 1951 was the time of my first major teen-rebellion. I became a Giant fan. Indeed the “Traitor,” in the title, Catch You Later, Traitor, is what Pete Collison is called (by best friend Kat) because of his change of baseball allegiance.  And while the book is, in part, about that, it’s mostly about how Pete goes about trying to find the political truth about his parents—are they Reds?

The Adventures of Sam SpadeBecause Pete is a fan of pulp fiction, detective stories, (as I was and remain) with a particular passion for Sam Spade, he decides to be a tough detective, see like a tough detective, talk like a tough detective, and go wherever the truth leads him—like a tough detective. What he discovers is not just shocking, but completely unexpected—as it has been for most readers.

In the day—the 1950’s—I was taught that these subjects were not for public chatter. Taboo. Yet there I was writing a very public novel about all of this. Even though the story is a work of fiction—and Pete’s family was not my family—it all became very real to me, and therefore painful to write. As I have mentioned elsewhere, Paula Fox’s notion that “the writer’s job is to imagine the truth” didn’t apply here. I just remembered what those days were like.

The major aspect of the book that is based on something that did happen to me is that I worked for a blind man, whose name was Mr. Smith. My job was to visit him twice a week and read the newspaper to him. He also had a small coffee import business and I delivered that coffee. I learned about the job, and secured it because I was a Boy Scout, and such jobs were, from time to time, posted.

That said, my relationship with Mr. Smith was nothing like the relationship Pete had (in the book) with blind Mr. Ordson. But the metaphor of a blind person being Pete’s confidant, advisor, and friend, in this great time of crisis, was impossible to resist.

World Series

John Thorn, MLB’s Official Historian, remembers the World Series game played on October 3, 1951, between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants

Of course, 1951 was a great time to become a Giants fan. That was the year the Giants came from fourteen games behind to beat the Dodgers in the most famous (Bobby Thompson homerun) playoff game ever played.

I will admit that the ending of the book is perhaps the most satisfying I have ever written. Because I remembered it.

Story Behind the Story #61: Sophia’s War

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  1. Sophia's WarI was raised in Brooklyn Heights, the site of the biggest battle of the American Revolution. It was that battle, which brought the English to Manhattan, which they occupied for the rest of the war.
  1. The place where I lived was also not far from the Brooklyn bay where the British had prisoner ships. Fifty thousand Americans died on those ships. The beach was littered with human bones.
  1. Knowing the above led me to a youthful interest in the American Revolution.
  1. Rabble in Arms, Kenneth RobertsOne of the ways I learned about the Revolution was reading historical novels. Kenneth Roberts was a popular novelist in the forties, and wrote about those times. But, he was very much pro-British. One of the books he wrote was Rabble in Arms, which in large part was about Benedict Arnold, prior to his acts of treason. But, being a contrary teen-ager, I liked the notion that Arnold was not really so bad.  I developed an interest in him, and of course, learned much more about him.
  1. Many years later, I had begun an historical novel series. The guiding notion was I would tell a very realistic historical tale, but insert a fictional youth, as the protagonist.  Thus Iron Thunder and Hard Gold were written.
  1. The third in the series was to be about the prisons, prisoners, and spies in NYC during the revolution. It would have a girl protagonist. That was the genesis of Sophia’s War, and all of the above played into it.
The Battle of Brooklyn Heights, August 27, 1776

The Battle of Brooklyn Heights, August 27, 1776

  1. But by the time I got around to writing it the publisher of the first books in the series, did not want to carry on. I wrote it anyway, but without the illustrations that the first two books contained. It was published by a different publisher, as a stand-alone.

The marker in Brooklyn Heights, memorializing the largest battle in the Revolutionary War.

  1. At some point I went to the spot where, in the book, Sophia’s family’s 18th century home would have stood in Manhattan. Needless to say, nothing of the 18th century was left, save the paths of the old crooked streets. And where Sophia’s home would have been stood a Trump Tower.
  1. Then there was a revolution.

Story Behind the Story #60: City of Orphans

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City of OrphansLike millions of Americans, my forebears came from Europe, landed on Ellis Island, and went on to New York City, where they stayed. One of the places they stayed was New York City’s Lower East Side. This was a time when the city had some thirty daily newspapers that were not written in the English language. Amazingly enough, much of the tenement architecture, has remained in place. There is even an existing, wonderful Tenement Museum, where I saw and learned a great deal, and which helped me write my novel, City of Orphans, a novel about immigrant life in New York, at the end of the 19th Century.

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York City

Even I, when I completed university (1960’s), came to live in the area. I could not locate the actual building—one was so much like another. But it was a five floor walk-up, a tiny three-room apartment. In the small kitchen was a bath tub. By placing a wooden board over it I had my kitchen table. Then my old college room-mate arrived. Tenement life. Rent: Thirty-two dollars a month.

By all accounts—and there are many accounts and memoirs—at the end of the 19th Century, it was an intensely crowded area, full of life, to be sure, but also full of filth, fires, and disease. Poverty was extreme and rampant.

How the Other Half LivesIf you want to see what it was like, find a copy of How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis, a highly influential photojournalistic account of the city at the time—one of the first books of the kind. Be advised; it is also full of racial bigotry, another staple of the day. The photographs are stunning.

When I was doing research for the book, what caught my attention was the constant references to children, countless numbers of them who lived on the city streets. To begin, there was no room for them in the tiny tenements. Moreover, these young kids were often abandoned. Most interesting to me, these kids, being the children of immigrants, quickly became assimilated (for better and for worse) into American ways, distancing them from the ways and culture of their parents. Indeed, they are referred to as “orphans with parents.” Hence the title of the book, City of Orphans.

The Geless family, the Danish immigrant family at the center of the book, struggle to keep together, midst all the hardship, to be loving and caring to one another. And even—not at all uncommon in the day—taking in an abandoned child because that’s what one did.

When I read about those times I was struck by the vibrancy of life, just as I was moved by how difficult life—assuming one lived—was. What I tried to capture was the enormous energy of that day, and the surging emotions that must have also been part of each day.

Some books, you enjoy writing. This book I loved.

Story Behind the Story #59:
Crispin: The End of Time

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It was one of those rare moments in my writing life: When I conceptualized writing the Crispin books, I envisioned a series of four books, each with a certain story. The fourth book was very much in my head. It would take place in Iceland, and beyond. Curiously, I even knew the last line of the final book.

First however, there was the third book to write, Crispin: The End of Time.

Some things had changed. The original editor of the first two books moved from one publisher to another. But there was, at first, still a commitment from the editor to publish the next two Crispin books.

This third book was written, and in the first draft, Crispin reached Iceland.

Indeed, I went to Iceland, wanting to experience the land, and the light, when, during summer, there is light all day and night. Things changed. The editor (and I) decided not to publish the full text of the third book, but, reserve the Iceland adventure and subsequent events for a fourth volume. At least that was my understanding.

Iceland

Iceland, in the summer

The third book ends, therefore, with Crispin on the high seas, heading for Iceland.

But if you look at the jacket of Crispin: The End of Time, it reads, “The Final book in the Newbery Medal-winning Trilogy.”

Which is to say, no fourth, final book.

Not my decision.

Since that time, some Canadian film-makers have taken an option on the series, the intent being to produce a television series based on the books. In discussion with these folks, I outlined the idea for that last book. Those ideas would be incorporated in the prospective series. And, I suppose, I would write that fourth book.

I hasten to say, film-making, at best, is a dicey project, and it’s impossible to predict if that film will actually be made.

If you look at the jack illustration of Crispin, the End of Time, he is leaping. Just what he is leaping into is unknown. I know, but I haven’t told-not yet, anyway.

I would like to write it. Some day.

Story Behind the Story #58: Murder at Midnight

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Murder at MidnightIf you are going to write a series, here is my advice: Love your protagonists. Without that affection it’s hard to engage with such novels. But the characters from the previously published Midnight Magic held that affection for me. It is 1490, in Italy. On one hand you have the elderly philosopher, Mangus, who hides his radical rationalist thinking (this is the Renaissance, after all) behind the notion that he is a magician. What he really does is tricks. Then you have his youthful apprentice, Fabrizio, who is very superstitious, and wants very much to believe in magic. What he really does is get into trouble. Together they proved a pair of engaging sleuths. It was a pleasure to write about them.

Midnight MagicInto the mix, besides the plot to overthrow King Claudio, is the new invention of multiple type printing. In the day, there were those who considered printing diabolical. Indeed, the term, “Printer’s Devil,” is a holdover from those days. And what is a printer’s devil? My dictionary defines such a person as “typically a young boy, serving at or below the level of apprentice in a printing establishment.”

Fabrizio fits the bill.

Murder at Midnight, however, is a prequel to Midnight Magic. When I wrote Midnight Magic I had no idea I was going to write such a tale. The tricky part about writing a prequel is to make sure nothing contradicts what I’d already set down: age, appearance, certain relationships, etc. Going back in time is complex. Not so much set in stone, but set in print.

Naples, in Italy

Naples, in Italy

Strictly speaking these books are historical fiction, set in Italy (there was a geographic Italy then, but not a nation state). And it takes place in Pergamentio, a city which doesn’t exist at all, though it is somewhat like Naples. Nor are any of the characters based on real people.

In this sense I think of these books almost like musical comedies, with sets and costumes to create a mood, but with only a causal relationship to historical veracity. The intent was to compose something fun to write and fun to read.

I think I succeeded.

Venice, in Italy

Venice, in Italy

Indeed, I’ve liked these characters so much there are plans to bring this dynamic duo back. Last I heard, Mangus and Fabrizio were traveling to Venice to solve a crime. Now Venice is a very real place—I once lived there. And I can tell you it’s truly, well, magical.

Story Behind the Story #57: Poppy & Ereth

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Poppy & ErethThere are six Poppy books, and they are six in number because I recalled reading the six Little House books (by Laura Ingalls Wilder ) to my older kids. Thus six seemed—at the time—the right number. That said, inventing a final story was not easy. I was determined to bring a sense of closure which would allow me to bring as many elements of the books into this last volume. It also needed to provide a satisfying ending to Poppy’s loyal readers.

It needed to be true to the key characters—Poppy herself and Ereth—and, not a small point, it had to be funny. I like to think of Ereth’s response to what he assumes is Poppy’s demise (and the funeral he plans) as some of the funniest moments in the whole series. It made me grin to write how Ereth tries to teach himself to smile.

It is meaningful to me that I did not set out to write a series. It was my affection for the characters that enabled me. A writer is indeed lucky when he/she loves the characters that have been created.

It is worth looking at the art that Brian Floca created which so effectively depicted the characters. That said, over the time it took to write the series, his art evolved, progressively getting better, thereby delineating the characters with greater and greater depth.

All that said, I was always aware that there was a key gap in the series narrative. The other day, while Skyping with a class in Ohio, the teacher—who has long read the Poppy books to her classes—asked this question: “How did Ragweed meet Poppy?” I’ve been asked that any number of times.

To answer that question requires another book, which would be—in narrative sequence—the second book in the series. That—as I compose this post—is what I am now writing. Ragweed and Poppy. Brian will do the art. It will be published on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first book. Twenty-five years! The number amazes me. Here’s hoping it will please all. Including me.

Story Behind the Story #56: Hard Gold

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Hard GoldMy I Witness series concept was simple enough: Fact-driven historical fiction, illustrated like a text book. The notion, frankly, was to make history that much alive for my readers: Strong fiction, with many contemporary images, maps, diagrams, etc. Iron Thunder (the Civil War battle of the iron-clads, the Monitor and the Merrimac) was the first volume. Hard Gold was the second.

Whereas the 1849 California gold rush is fairly well established as part of our national mythology, the 1859 Colorado gold rush is not so well known, other than perhaps “Pikes Peak or Bust,” a refrain from the time. Hard Gold tells the story of young Early Wittcomb, Iowa-born, and his attempt to locate his gold-seeking Uncle Jesse in the Rocky Mountains. The novel is, in its fashion, a Western.

Early will cross the Great Plains until he reaches newly founded Denver, and then on into the mountains, to Gold Hill. Gold Hill, which once had a population of thousands, still exists, with its current population of perhaps two hundred.

My novel was written in the form of a diary, a form which many pioneers used to record their own journey west. Indeed, there is a huge library of 19th Century pioneer travel literature; diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper records—along with a multitude of pictorial records. Whereas many of us derive our understanding of the great trek west from movies, the reality is much more complex and fascinating.

To begin, many of America’s gold-rushes—and there have been many—were powered less by the desire for gold, as such, as by periodic economic hard times Back East. That is to say, the rushes were not about the romance of the west, but more about saving the farm. And the numbers of people who went west were huge. I can recall one diary entry which records how, at night, the lights from wagons on the trail, extended out in an unbroken line for as far as one could see.

There are countless tales about the people who migrated from east to west. There are as many stories about  the Indians, who were so helpful to those who traveled, until they grasped that their land was being taken away. Tales of Mormons—heading for Salt Lake City—who pushed wheelbarrows across the plains. Tragic tales about the parents who lost children when their kids wandered into the tall prairie grass, and could not be found. The children who lost their parents to illness; what became of them?

The search for gold was never easy. Hence, HARD gold. Since I live in Colorado, the research was not particularly difficult. Most interesting was to go to the lost places where the world was so different. And, yes, as the notes in the book suggest, I did pan for gold. I just might have found some. Not enough to pay the mortgage, just enough to know that getting it was very hard.

Story Behind the Story #55:
A Beginning, a Muddle, and an End

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Advice to WritersSitting on my bookshelves is Advice to Writers: A compendium of quotes, anecdotes, and writerly wisdom from…literary lights. (Compiled by Jon Winokur) I don’t look at it often, though it is fun to read. It is full of useful reminders, such as E.B. White’s: “The best writing is rewriting.” Or even, Flaubert’s “Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.” Fitzgerald: “Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke.”

In truth, any number of writers have written books about writing. My own favorite is E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel. The first chapter is particularly brilliant.

Like other writers, I have written a book about writing, A Beginning, a Muddle and an End.

A Beginning, a Muddle, and an EndUsing the characters Edward and Avon from The End of the Beginning, it is (hopefully) a funny, maybe silly, book about writing. For example:

Avon sighed. “The truth is, Edward,” he said, “I’ve read a lot of adventures. And I’ve been on my own adventures. But I’m making no progress writing about my adventures.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Edward. “Do you know anything about why?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s at the end of the alphabet,” said Avon. “Next to z.”

Aspects of the NovelThe idea was to write something about writing that would make young people, and adults laugh. We do take the subject very seriously. Perhaps too seriously. Never more so than in schools.

One of my favorite sections in my book is about punctuation. Here a paragraph is presented, which says one thing. Then, using the same words in the same order, with only the punctuation different, it says something very much the opposite. I assure you it took hours to figure that one out.

My own view, for what is it worth, is that you have to be a good reader before you become a good writer, not the least reason is because you have to read your own writing and evaluate it. That, I think, is the hardest part of writing.

That said, another favorite remark, this one by Raymond Chandler: “Technique is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.”

And, from Peter Mayle: “Best advice on writing I’ve ever received: Finish.”

Story Behind the Story #54: Ereth’s Birthday

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Ereth's BirthdayIf I had to pick my own favorite from the six Poppy books, I suppose it must be Ereth’s Birthday. The Poppy stories, which are, after all, about animals, have more autobiographical content than most of my other books. (Catch You Later, Traitor, is the most autobiographical.) In Ereth’s Birthday, however, the porcupine Ereth, takes on the role of step-father—albeit reluctantly.

At the behest of transparency, I too am a step-father. My experience has been that being a step-father was much harder than being a biological parent. There is nothing given. Everything is earned, or lost. The love you gain, is the love you earn. Indeed, there are unique rewards to being a successful step parent. A lot good. Some not so good.

Young fox are called kits. But the collective noun for fox is “leash,” which is to say, one refers to a “leash of fox.” I find this odd because if you have ever seen kits, they are absolutely not on a leash. They are playful, rambunctious, and extremely charming. Those rare times I have seen kits in the wild, they have always reminded me of human kids at joyful play-hence the book.

In this story, these are the kinds that curmudgeonly Ereth undertakes to parent.

The kits in the book are, each in their way, based on my step-kids, though from this vantage point I can’t say who is whom. It has been further suggested that Ereth is a self-portrait. Maybe.

The fun in the book is that the kits are all charming energy and emotion, even as Ereth tries to corral them into life-saving measures. Not easy for him, but, I think, very funny for the reader.

Some books are hard to write. Others, if not exactly easy, are stress free. A few books are a joy to write. Ereth’s Birthday was one of those.

But—

As you might guess, when I publish my books I always give copies to all my kids—all five of them. That said, the one book I never did distribute was Ereth’s Birthday. After all, it’s my vision—the step-father—of being a parent. I was never quite sure how my kids would receive it.

That’s the Ereth in me.

The Christmas Rat

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The Christmas RatEvery once in awhile, someone asks if I’ve written a Christmas story.

I have always had a particular fondness for Christmas. It was (and is) a big family holiday; the gifts of course, both giving and getting, the pretty tree, food, and family reunions. It takes place in the after-glow of my late December birthday, which I share with my twin sister. New York City, where I was raised, always had a special feel around Christmas. There is too, not a small aspect, my annual reading of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. I am, in fact, quite sentimental about Christmas.

At some point, in the late 1990s, writer James Howe contacted me—as he did a number of writers—concerning an anthology of short stories he was putting together: “Twelve stories about loss and hope.” (It would eventually be published as The Color of Absence.) I decided to see if I could write a Christmas story, something I had always wanted to try.

Some years prior to that moment, I met a curious man. The house I was living in became infested with fleas—cat problem. I had to call an exterminator. He came, sealed up the house, and set off an insecticide bomb. Then we had to sit outside for a couple of hours while the bomb did its thing, and it was safe to re-enter.

We talked.

“How did you get into the exterminator business?” I asked.

“I was in the Vietnam War,” he said. “A few tours. They really taught me how to kill. When I got out I knew that if I didn’t find a legit way to kill, I was going to be in trouble. I became an exterminator.”

This man became the model for Anje Gabrail, (The angel Gabriel) the exterminator in The Christmas Rat, who gives my young protagonist, Eric, a different way to experience Christmas—and rats. Moreover, what I began as a short story, became (to my own surprise) a stand-alone novella, a scary, tense, story—which I thought might appeal to those who wanted to step away from the more traditional, sentimental Yuletime tale, good as a Christmas read-aloud for a class of cynical sixth graders.

A fable? An allegory? Maybe just a creepy story about what it feels like to be alive—really alive—on Christmas.

Not exactly “Merry Christmas.”

(As for Jim Howe, I wrote another story for his anthology.)

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