Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 23

Day 23. The Letter W.

Today is a grab bag of things that I’m thankful for that begin with the letter “W”, and at the end of the post, a special surprise for you.

Words: No secret here – I’m in love with words. I’m in love with Writing words. I love it when I think about it for two days and find the exact perfect word for a scene that I’m working on. I know it’s a quirk, but it does give rise to another thing for which I’m thankful – the community of Writers. Thankfully, people in this weird tribe understand what I’m talking about.

One of my writing pals – who is a doll and not weird at all – is Alice Wisler, a two-time Christy award nominee. She writes tender love stories with fun, quirky characters who have a touch of southern sass AND Alice always includes recipes in her books. I love that about her, and I think you’ll like her latest release:

A Wedding Invitation.

After returning home from teaching English at a refugee camp in the Philippines, Samantha Bravencourt enjoys her quiet life working at her mother's clothing boutique in Falls Church, Virginia. When she receives an invitation to a wedding in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she looks forward to reconnecting with her college friend. Instead her life collides with Carson, a fellow teacher and the man who broke her heart, and a young Amerasian refugee named Lien who needs Samantha and Carson's help to find her mother before Lien's own wedding. When the search for Lien's mother reveals surprising secrets from the past, Samantha must reevaluate her own memories and decide whether to continue to play it safe or take a risk that could change her life.



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Wedding Invitation, go HERE.

Now, the fun for you. I’ll be giving away a copy of A Wedding Invitation on Saturday, Dec. 3. To get your name in the hat for the drawing, please leave a comment WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO on this post and tell me what you are most grateful for this Thanksgiving. I’ve done enough talking this month, it’s your turn!  

Disclosure: This book was provided by Bethany House. Contest void where prohibited. Chances of winning dependent on number of entries.

Don't Fence Me In

Okay. What did you first think when you read the title of this post? Roy Rogers? If that was a yes, you’re absolutely correct! Roy sang this song while Trigger danced in the 1944 movie, Hollywood Canteen. Many other singers also recorded it over the years – Gene Autry, Kate Smith, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (together), Ella Fitzgerald, and Harry Connick, Jr. (more recently). Did you know it’s a Cole Porter song adapted from a poem by Robert Fletcher? Me neither. But by now, I know the words are rolling around in your head, so if it’s driving you nuts, you can click over here to watch the clip.

And the purpose of this post is not to send you into some time warp. It’s the word fence I want to talk about. Some words just trigger (sorry . . . couldn’t resist with the dancing horse still in my head) immediate reactions. I don’t necessarily think of “fence” being a powerful word . . . at least I didn’t until a couple of weeks ago. I received two books in the mail on the same day: White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner and The Fence My Father Built by Linda S. Clare.

Distinct, but totally different images came to mind before I even had time to study the covers and wonder what stories might be inside. White Picket Fences, of course brought the image of a comfortable cottage with Cape Cod curtains at the window. I could see in my mind’s eye a cheerful yellow kitchen and people who laughed and lived satisfying lives. Perhaps even perfect lives. That’s exactly what the title and cover were meant to convey, but with this being a novel, I knew much more lurked beneath the surface. Wow. Did it ever. Lovely writing from one of my favorite authors.

The Fence My Father Built brought images of another sort – heritage, a solid foundation, perhaps a bit of mystery as to why this particular fence had significance. Again, an idea that hooked me and kept me turning the pages. It was indeed about heritage – Native American roots – but also one filled with action, regret over never knowing the father who built the fence, and ultimately about guarding the things we hold sacred.

Both of these books are terrific reads and well worth your time. The publishers did a fantastic job of conveying the hearts of the stories through the cover art and just the right titles. Well done.

So, books aside, and songs that are skipping through your head, what other thoughts does the word “fence” conjure up? And how might it be used in a story? A “fence” of course can take on a criminal element with regard to stolen property and the middleman. Sports-minded? How about the Green Monster – the enormous 37-foot, 2-inch wall fence at Fenway Park? To make a ball sail over it is a moment of victory, of personal accomplishment. Rivaling paramours “fence” in duels to win the love of a fair maiden. Stockades and razor wire fences are meant to contain people. Barbed wire fences keep cattle in and gated community fences keep people out.

And what about a chat over the backyard fence? Do people do that anymore? When our twins were babies, I’d sometimes hand one over the fence to our neighbor on the south and the other one over to the north-side neighbor so I could have thirty minutes to read a book to my toddler. Those were the days.

Are you convinced yet that fence is a strong, evocative word? I’m sure you can come up with even more creative examples, and may even have a few power words of your own you’d like to share. Just don’t straddle the fence about joining the conversation.

And don’t forget to check out these two new books. You’ll be glad you did!

COLLOQUIALISMS, EUPHEMISMS, & MALAPROPRISMS

Language is a peculiar and yet magical way that we communicate ideas, tell stories, persuade others, and learn vast amounts of both trivial and essential knowledge. Since the first grade when I mispronounced “Nancy” in my reader—I said Nancky—I’ve been on a mission to conquer this world of words. I love finding a new word or phrase that dances off the page in perfect resonance to what’s happening in a story. I even have a few pet phrases I use from time to time in my own writing.

Recently my critique partner commented on a couple of them that were unfamiliar to her. Both were things I’ve heard all my life and wrote them without thinking, but it got me thinking about whether I had used them in the precise manner I intended. So I did a quick Google search for their origin and meanings.

She didn’t know up from sic ‘em.

Variations:

She doesn’t know sic ‘em

She doesn’t know sic ‘em twice

. . .here from sic ‘em

. . . sic ‘em from come here

. . . sic ‘em from go get ‘em.

The term is more common in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, thus falling in to the colloquial category. The meanings vary slightly—some derogatory, some just a casual description of a person who knows nothing, has diminished capacity, is a dunderhead or ignorant, sometimes used to describe an unresponsive or shiftless person. The term probably originated from people who owned dogs that wouldn’t follow commands, hence the ignorant connotation. Similar to saying a person doesn’t know beans or is dumber than a box of hammers.

Since the person I referred to in my manuscript is mentally incapacitated due to Alzheimer’s and I don’t want to assign a derogatory quality to her, I will probably choose another term that evokes a more sympathetic tone.

Vim and Vinegar—another phrase I used that gave my critique buddy pause. This is a common malapropism which is the combination of two different phrases that result in unintentional humor or the wrong context. The term comes from mixing the phrases vim and vigor and pi$$ and vinegar. Vim was a cleaning powder created in Liverpool, England; vigor, of course, means vitality or energy. The pi$$ and vinegar denotes some sort of extra kick. Combined into vim and vinegar, it means spirited, vigorous, maybe a bit of contrast. Which is the meaning I was going for in my recent manuscript as I describe two characters who are quite different, but are married and give off an adventurous energy. They are spunky and endearing, so I will probably keep the description.

Fine as frog hair. A term my dad is fond of saying when asked how he is. I like the irony of this phrase which means “I’m in good health and all is well.” It just has a more colorful ring than the usual Just fine, don’t you think?

I swan. During the edit phase of my upcoming novel, Chasing Lilacs, my editor asked what this term meant. Some people use it as a euphemism for I swear and is commonly heard in the South, where perhaps a genteel person wouldn’t swear, so they use a more accepted word. It also is used to denote surprise as is goodness gracious! or oh my Gosh! Another variation is I swanee or Swanee River, again seeming to be a euphemism.

These phrases flit about in my head, and I want to use them to give color and verisimilitude to my prose. I owe it to my characters to be true to them, and I owe it to my readers to transport them into the fictitious world I’ve created. But with that, I have a responsibility as an author to use colloquialisms, etc. correctly. I don’t take it lightly.

Oh! I just thought of another one. When I was a teenager and someone asked a question to which the obvious answer was yes, we would say Does a chicken have lips? We thought this was hilarious. Nowadays, the equivalent is the annoying, unoriginal Duh??

So that’s my language lesson for today. Have you heard any of these phrases before? Or used them? What colloquialisms, euphemisms, or malapropisms have you encountered or used to spice up your writing?