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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Writing humor is a natural gift: The Castle Blues Quake (The Ghost Whisperer, #1) by Linda Covella

Description:

12-year-old Pepper Connelly leaves her best friend, Chrissie, behind when her family moves from New York City to Santa Cruz, CA. Pepper discovers a boy, Corey, hiding in her backyard shed. Unknown to Pepper, Corey is a ghost trying to contact his grandfather, Boppie, before he crosses over. He tells Pepper he must locate Boppie before Social Services finds him. Pepper agrees to help.

While Pepper’s communication with Chrissie dwindles, her friendship with Corey grows. She tells Corey about her passion for writing songs, and throughout the story, she composes a song about Corey. Corey teaches Pepper to play the harmonica. Soon, she’s torn between finding Boppie and knowing when she does, Corey will certainly go back on the road with his traveling-musician grandfather.

Other characters help her on her quest: new classmate Ally Cressman, who dresses in an odd-ball, non-mall style; Sawtooth Sam, the mysterious saw-playing street musician; and Madame Mchumba, who performs her psychic readings at the Boardwalk amusement park.

Earthquakes, haunted house rides, poltergeists, and crystal ball readings propel Pepper toward the shocking conclusion of her search.

GUEST POST
We All Need a Good Laugh 

First, I want to thank the Mythical Books for having me on this blog and for being a part of my Castle Blues Quake blog tour. And thank you to the readers for stopping by! 

We all love and need a good laugh as often as possible. And writing jokes or writing humor takes creativity. Delivering a joke, doing improvisation, performing skits (a la Saturday Night Live) takes a creative personality—and in many cases, training. 

Many people may be funny at times, but it’s difficult to write humor. 

In his blog post Four Commandments to Writing Funny, Joe Bunting says, “When I write, my core goal is not to be funny; my goal is to tell the truth in an entertaining way.” 

I’ve often read that honesty is an important element to writing humor. (Of course, in all writing, an underlying truth is key.) 

Alex Shvartsman is the editor for Unidentified Funny Objects, a sci-fi and fantasy humor anthology (have to admit, I haven’t seen much of that genre!). In this blog post, he gives five tips on writing humor. The first tip is that “Voice Matters.” (If you’re a writer, I’ll bet you’ve had this pounded into your brain, and may still be trying to figure it out.) For writing humor, Shvartsman says, “You can’t rely on the premise for all of your funny. Can’t let your characters be the comedians with humor confined to dialog, either. You have to let the narrative voice do much of the heavy lifting.” 

He also discusses how humor is subjective. Like art, humor is a personal thing. What you think is funny may not tickle another’s funny bone. This one I came across made me laugh, maybe because my husband and I work in the tech industry: 

Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "And what starting salary are you looking for?" The engineer replies, "In the region of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer inquires, "Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Corvette?" The engineer sits up straight and says, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replies, "Yeah, but you started it." 

So, what makes you laugh? Do you think writing humor is a natural gift or something that can be learned?

EXCERPT



As I started to close the door, I looked down and gagged. On the doorstep lay a stiff dead rat, so big I pictured it running around the house slamming doors with its pointy nose or long tail. Its tiny black eyes stared at nothing, and its legs, stretched straight out, ended in open claws as if it had fought whoever or whatever had taken its life. The insides of my stomach were about to erupt when Dad looked over my shoulder and made me jump.

“Someone has a sick sense of humor,” he said. “The police are on their way. Now please, let’s go tell your mother and Sage everything’s okay.” He headed out of the kitchen.

Before shutting the door, I peered into the back yard. The fog had thinned a little. I could just make out the thick trunk of the tree and the swing hanging next to it. Then I froze. A face. A white face with black holes for eyes. Staring at me from behind the tree. I tried to call Dad, but my mouth and throat were dry. My voice wouldn’t work. I gripped the doorknob. Don’t run, I told myself. Don’t be afraid. Afraid, bade, fade...fade, fade, please go away whoever you are. Whatever you are. It hadn’t budged an inch. Maybe I was seeing things. Maybe it wasn’t a face. I squinted then blinked. And it was gone. Just the fog and the tree and the swing.

Then the hairs on the back of my neck prickled when I noticed the ropes and the seat swaying as if from a breeze.

The only thing was, the air was as still as could be. There was no breeze.

About the author 
Linda Covella’s varied job experience and education (associate degrees in art, business and mechanical drafting & design, a BS degree in Manufacturing Management) have led her down many paths and enriched her life experiences. But one thing she never strayed from is her love of writing.

A writer for over 30 years, her first official publication was a restaurant review column in a local newspaper, and as a freelance writer, she continued to publish numerous articles in a variety of publications. But when she published articles for children’s magazines (“Games and Toys in Ancient Rome” and “Traveling the Tokaido in 17th Century Japan,” in Learning Through History magazine, and “Barry’s Very Grown Up Day” in Zootles magazine), she realized she’d found her niche: writing for children. She wants to share with kids and teens her love of books: the worlds they open, the things they teach, the feelings they express.

Yakimali’s Gift, a historical novel for young adults published by Astraea Press, and middle grade paranormal The Castle Blues Quake published by Beau Coup Publishing are her first novels.

She’s a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

No matter what new paths she may travel down, she sees her writing as a lifelong joy and commitment.


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2 comments:

Linda Covella said...

Thank you for having me on your blog!

Maria Behar said...

This was a GREAT guest post, Linda!! I really enjoyed reading it, and agree with you that injecting some humor into fiction is a big plus!

Thanks to Mythical Books for bringing us this book, and to MythBehaving Book Tours for the tour and giveaway!!