Kurt Vonnegut passed away today at the age of 84. His unique style of satire will be greatly missed. I wrote a large portion of my novel that is out with publishers under a chalkboard with Vonnegut's lecture notes on it. He visited USC-Aiken several years ago and the school shadowboxed the chalkboard in the Writing Room to commemorate the event. I don't remember what words he'd written on the board (there weren't many), but I do remember the infinity sign that took up half the board. My friend, Rhonda Jones, interview Vonnegut for her newspaper and I thought it was funny that he said she couldn't be a great writer because she had a degree in English. That always made me feel I had something in common with him. Vonnegut studied chemistry and I studied biology. I always wondered if my writing would be better if I'd studied English, but Vonnegut thought otherwise! Kurt Vonnegut suffered from depression and had attempted suicide in the past. His mother committed suicide in the 40s, and he went into a POW camp in Dresden not long after. It is obvious that his time in Dresden was the inspiration for Slaughterhouse-Five (he survived the bombing of Dresden by taking cover in a meat locker labeled Slaughterhouse-Five) but I wonder if his general view that mankind would destroy themselves came from his depression, his mother's death and war experiences. Vonnegut reminded me of Mark Twain in that respect, but I'm glad Vonnegut didn't digress into a hateful mindset (or at least it doesn't appear that way). The literary god's were looking out for Vonnegut and us when his suicide attempt was unsuccessful. If it had been we wouldn't have Galapagos (one of my favorites), Bluebeard, Hocus Pocus, Fates Worse than Death: An Autobiographical Collage of the 1980s,and Timequake.
I will leave you with a quote that Vonnegut thought we should carve into the wall of the Grand Canyon as a message for future interplanetary visitors:
"We probably could have saved ourselves, but we were too damned lazy to try very hard ... and too damn cheap."
On the novel front, my book is out with 9 independent/small presses and another editor at a large publisher that we'd previously submitted to. I know literary work is hard to sell because publishers aren't sure about the market, but I just learn that cozy mystery series are hard to sell now unless the editor came up with the series concept. As fate would have it, I am writing a cozy mystery that I'd envisioned as a series. Since I have no problem finding a cozy series on the shelf in bookstores, I will assume that cozies have gone the way of Chick Lit—everyone says it's dead, but they're still selling.
I'm posting this from AbsoluteWrite newsletter because I thought these were good tips.
PUGS* Pointers
(*Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
By Kathy Ide
In this column, freelance author, editor, and speaker Kathy Ide shares tips on punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling ("PUGS"). For more PUGS Pointers, see Kathy Ide's website: www.KathyIde.com. Or get her book Polishing the PUGS, available at www.kathyide.com.
PUNCTUATION TIP
Exclamations
Use a comma after exclamatory oh or ah if a slight pause is intended.
"Oh, what a frightening cover!" Marilyn said when she saw Jim Bell's latest novel.
"Ah, how charming!" Rachel said when she finished Deb Raney's sequel.
No comma after vocative O or Oh.
"O mighty king!"
"Oh great warrior!"
"Oh yes," "Oh yeah," and "Ah yes" are written without a comma. When spoken like a single word, "Yes sir" and "No ma'am" may be written without a comma. If "sir" is used in direct address, use the comma.
"No, sir, I disagree."
USAGE TIP
breath/breathe
breath (always a noun) refers to the inhalation/exhalation of air.
"Tamara's breath was frozen in the cold air."
breath (noun) can also mean "a slight indication or suggestion."
"The faintest breath of a scandal."
breathe (always a verb) means "to inhale or exhale air."
"If you breathe deeply you will feel better."
breathe (verb) can also mean "to feel free of restraint."
"Martha needed room to breathe."
breathe (verb) can also mean "to permit passage of air."
"This fabric really breathes."
breathe (verb) can also mean "to utter or express."
"Don't breathe a word," Kay begged.
GRAMMAR TIP
Opening with Pronouns
As a general rule, you don't want to start a new chapter or section with a pronoun. If you open with "He pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head," your reader will have no idea who these characters are. Chapter and section breaks often indicate a change in time, place, and/or point of view, so your reader cannot assume that the people referred to in the new chapter/section are the same ones talked about in the last one.
NOTE: If you're writing a suspense novel, you may want to keep the identity of a character a mystery. This is tricky, but can be done if you know what you're doing. If this is your goal, try using a first-person pronoun (I, me) for that character, or an ambiguous noun "the man" (or better yet, something more descriptive like "the handsome foreigner") instead of just "he" or "she."
Dawn's comment: I once read a novel titled "The Statement" where Israeli assassins were given initials for names and when the writer used "I" as an initial, I was confused for several paragraphs because I thought the POV (point of view) had suddenly shifted from distant 3rd to 1st person. Keep this in mind if you give people initials instead of names.
SPELLING TIP
airmail (one word)