Unusual Research Method for Authors

Unlike this guy...

we can’t go back in time.

But, thanks to Ebay, we can buy a piece of history and then have it delivered right to our front door.

I’ve found Ebay to be a valuable research tool. In recent weeks I’ve sought out pictures using the search terms, “Handwritten letters, handwritten journals/diary, vintage diary,” and all sorts of other terms because ebay is nice enough to suggest related search terms for you.

Try it. You might be surprised at the time you’ll waste looking at the cost of your toys you had while growing up how much you’ll learn about the past.

Do you have any unusual research methods? And, even more importantly, PLEASE tell me you know the name of the movie in the above picture?

*FYI: I watched this movie LOTS of times growing up. My favorite part was watching the fashions change via the mannequin.

New Release from Christi Corbett

Today I'm thrilled to announce the release of my latest book, Bound by his Word!

Here's a little detail about the book...

As he held his dying best friend in his arms, Luke Higgins made a promise—to return a locket to the man’s wife.

He arrives to find a proud yet exhausted woman, struggling to run the town’s sole restaurant while raising her young son. Luke hires on as her cook, figuring he’ll stick around long enough to help her regain her footing, then hand over the locket and leave. Months later, with guilt gnawing on him worse than any of the injuries he sustained in battle, Luke finds himself falling for his best friend’s widow.

Molly Fulton is intrigued by the handsome stranger whose willingness to work brings her much-needed funds, and something more precious than money—time with her son. She ponders a life with him as more than just her cook, until her son stumbles across a long-lost treasure hidden in Luke’s coat pocket.

Can Molly forgive the man who entered her life because of a promise, but stayed because of a lie?

Available from:

Amazon     Barnes and Noble     AppleBooks     Kobo     Scribd     24Symbols     

This has been a HECTIC week, and I'm about to head out the door with my twins for a four-hour drive (and doctor appointment). I won't be back until late tonight, but I'd love to hear from you, lovely reader. What's new in your life? Leave a comment and let's chat, 

It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Today I'm sharing a little about the "business side" of being an author... 

I belong to a writing critique group, and during a meeting one of the members said something that got me thinking.

 

“Christi, all you’ve done lately is revise chapter after chapter of your novel and work on your synopsis, proposal, and loglines. You’re putting so much effort into making everything absolutely perfect that it doesn’t seem you get to have fun with your writing anymore.”

 

He’s right. It is hard work doing all the things needed to get published. Writing and polishing my novel was only the beginning. Creating the synopsis was tedious at best, the pitch sentence took days, and the book proposal, though finished, is still woefully inadequate and will need additional revisions. Don’t even get me started on the query letter.

 

The path to publication is also expensive. Writing conferences, reams of paper, printer cartridges, “how to write” books, membership dues to various writing clubs—all these costs add up quick.

 

Then there’s the social networking aspect to make sure you can actually sell your book once a publisher takes you on. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, building a platform, writing your bio, maintaining an email database and sending out newsletters to every person that expressed any interest whatsoever about your writing, and finally reading, and commenting on, fellow author blogs.

 

Don’t forget about the staggering amount of time it takes for a successful career in writing. First there’s hours, days, years spent in front of the computer researching, writing and revising your own work. Then you’ve got to find and read comparable works for reference and to make sure your own measures up, critique partner manuscripts, and somewhere in there you’ve got to read for pleasure.

 

After all that, when you’ve honed every last word of your manuscript/query letter/synopsis/book proposal/logline/pitch to shining perfection you send your work out. Then comes the crushing blows of all the various stages of rejection. And fighting back the self-doubt. And the fear in the back of your mind of “Am I good enough?”

 

Publishing is not for the weak, and even the most determined writer needs to take a break and regroup from time to time. I am no exception.

 

Over the summer I decided to relax for a bit since I’ve been working so hard lately. But, during my time off, my WIP (work-in-progress) continued to wait, patiently beckoning, knowing I can’t resist. Soon, my self-imposed “writing rest” found me thumbing through the pages longingly and I found myself filling the margins with notes and ideas.

 

It was during this moment when I realized, to an extent, my writing critique partner is right. This is the part that I love the most. As I flipped through page after page of my “already written but needing a serious revision sequel” ideas come forth and make their way to the paper with no worries of storyline, word choice, grammar–all the things that slow the flow of ideas.

 

However, my ultimate goal is seeing my book published. And since the “business” part of writing is how they’ll get on those shelves, consider me a businesswoman!

Crochet, Back in the Day

I learned how to do a single crochet stitch as a kid and recently took it up again a few months ago. 

Since then, I learned a few more stitches (double crochet, half-double crochet, slip stitch, magic circle) and figured out how to crochet in a round, so I bought some random bags of yarn at Goodwill and made a bunch of baskets.

I am going to sell them at a store in our town that sells handmade items by locals. It’s been a fun way to relax from the day job of writing, and the all-consuming job of being a mom to twins. If they sell, it will also bring in a little spending money.

All this crafting got me thinking of how 19^th century women had very little time to themselves. From all my research for my books it seems that women had to focus on running their households from sunup to long past sundown. And if anything extra or fun got done, it was usually late into the night.

One of my favorite scenes in the TV show, Little House on the Prairie, was when Ma stays up all night to sew dresses for the girls, out of fabric she’d picked to make herself a new dress.

(quick sidenote: I have the boxed set of all the Little House books, and I’m not kidding when I say that I read the entire series at least 15 times as a kid, and 3 as an adult.)

I then wondered how old the art of crochet is, and where it began. 

I found an interesting history of crochet (CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK) that pointed out how some feel the Irish potato famine is what brought the art of crochet to many American households.

The article linked above also gives a detailed history of how crochet patterns and styles have changed throughout history. 

Another change is how we get our supplies. Instead of going to town, browsing a store or a book, we can simply go online and purchase everything we need. Even items from the past!

Check out this pattern for a crocheted hair net I found on Amazon (CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK)

I’d love to hear from you! Are you interested in crafting? Do you crochet or knit? Let’s chat in the comments.

Getting Ready for School, Now vs Then

Summer is winding down and the Corbett twins are gearing up for another school year. It’s been a bit more frantic than usual because they’re moving on to a different school…high school!

(Girl Twin and Boy Twin at the rodeo)

The past few days have been a whirlwind of trying to figure out schedules, lockers, who has classes with who, which lunch do they have and are their friends in that lunch too, and the big concern, (at least for Girl Twin), is where are her seven different classrooms located on campus.

All this activity and worries got me to thinking how different the “starting the school year” process is now compared to the way it was in the era of the one room schoolhouse. Not only one room, but one teacher, one building, and one area for little learner’s desks and one area for the bigger ones.

100 years ago the school system was quite different!

My husband’s father grew up in rural northern Minnesota, and he and his siblings did the one room schoolhouse until they entered high school. They brought their lunch in a pail, rode in on a horse-drawn sleigh during the hardest parts of winter, and walked the four mile round trip journey during the spring and fall seasons.

The school was heated by a stove, the outhouse was just up the hill a ways, and air conditioning hadn't even been thought of yet.  

A fun side note: There was no electricity at their house until he and his twin brother returned from WW11, and it was quite a celebration when they got a water pump in the kitchen. My husband has thoroughly enjoyed regaling our twins with stories of visiting his grandma's house during his childhood, complete with trips to the outhouse at night, and how the meanest rooster in the world would fight him the entire way there and back.

Question for you…What do you think the school system will look like 100 years from now?

Movie Deal News for My Book!!!!

A little break from my normal posts here to make a fun and exciting announcement...

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve signed a contract with Higher Purpose Entertainment to turn A Mountain Man’s Redemption into a movie!!!!!

And I’m the screenwriter on the project!!!! (I wrote the script, adapting my book into a feature film)

I’m thrilled to work with two fantastic producers, Brad Wilson and Casey Bond, and am excited to see my words come to life!

CLICK HERE to go to the Stage 32 blog, where I’m sharing the “behind the scenes” of how I went from the idea of writing a script, to signing the contract with Higher Purpose Entertainment.

CLICK HERE to check out the book on Amazon.

And now I'm headed back into my writing cave, where I'm hard at work making slight changes to the script based upon suggestions made by the actor considering the lead role!

How Props Help My Writing Process

By Christi Corbett

Lately I’ve been thinking about how I write.  Not style, word choice, or my writing schedule, but the actual “how” of sitting down and writing a novel.

I have an active imagination for storylines, but need inspiration to get the thoughts flowing. Here’s how I do that…

For starters, I listen to music.

Anything from classical to Joe Cocker gets me thinking. Right now, my personal favorites are the soundtrack to the movie All the Pretty Horses, and a cassette tape (I know, I have to drag out a tape player every time I want that one playing) filled with songs about The Oregon Trail from National Geographic.

I also surround myself with various props.

I write historicals so when I need inspiration for what my characters look like I go to an antique store and browse through the collections of photos of people. I have about seven such photos right now for my WIP in a pile right next to my desk.

Also, a silver jewel case is very significant to the storyline of my debut novel, Along the Way Home. I found one I liked via Craigslist, complete with red velvet interior, and bought it---taking great safety precautions during the purchase process of course. It resides right next to my desk. And, you can see it in the opening shots of my book trailer.

*Fun fact: I produced the trailer so I took most of the pictures, including the one with the potatoes. My husband was hungry at the time, so right after I took the picture he knocked off the growths and ate all those potatoes!

I often dress in “period pieces”.

Dressing in clothes/styles from the past allows me to get into the heads of my characters and gives me a sense of what it must have been like for the character to wear such clothes. This includes bonnets, floor-length skirts, frilly things, various styles of cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and a leather holster complete with the fake gun. (I included several of these in my book trailer)

What about you? How do you inspire yourself to complete a task?

Huckleberry or Bearer?

By Christi Corbett

I got my first Smartphone several years ago, and promptly changed the text and email alert notification sound to the epic line from the movie Tombstone, “I’m your Huckleberry.”

But is it really Hucklebearer?

I get a lot of texts each day, and though I’m a writer (which is an amazing job and I love every minute) my family still wants things like food, so I do have to mingle with others on occasion. Invariably I’ll get a text or an email when I’m standing close to someone, and oftentimes a flicker of curiosity will cross their face, a flicker which rapidly turns to recognition.

Most can’t resist speaking up, usually along the lines of “Hey, I know that line! Isn’t that from that one movie? You know, the one that starred the guy from that other movie? Overboard I think it was called. And that guy with the voice was in it too. It also had that one guy from Top Gun in it, and he was super sick. He was the one who said that line actually. Wait, I know. It was Tombstone!”

I smile and nod, and invariably a discussion begins of the finer points of the movie, which character had the best mustache, was it Dana Delany riding down that hill sidesaddle or a stunt double, did you love or hate Jason Priestly in it, and our favorite lines and scenes.

One day, a bystander argued that the line was commonly thought of as Huckleberry, but it was really Hucklebearer.

I've since learned there are two definite schools of thought on the subject, and each has plenty of facts and history to back their word up. 

Check out a clip from the movie here and decide for yourself which team you're on, Huckleberry or Hucklebearer? 

So, did you get a good listen? Perhaps a few times to be sure?

Now, I reveal to you an angle that most don't consider...what word did the script call for Val Kilmer to use?

Sorry to disappoint anyone in the "Team Hucklebearer" category. In this article it's revealed the script definitely states "Huckleberry".

CLICK HERE for 10 Tombstone Facts you Never Knew Until Now.

Let's have some fun in the comments section...what’s your favorite scene from the movie?

Historical Items as Inspiration

Lately I’ve been thinking about how I write.  Not style, word choice, or my writing schedule, but the actual “how” of sitting down and writing a novel.

I have an active imagination for storylines, but need inspiration to get the thoughts flowing. Here’s how I do that…

For starters, I listen to music.

Right now, my personal favorites are the soundtrack to the movie All the Pretty Horses, and a cassette tape (I know, I have to drag out a tape player every time I want that one playing) filled with songs about The Oregon Trail from National Geographic.

I also surround myself with various props.

I write historicals so when I need inspiration for what my characters look like I go to an antique store and browse through the collections of photos of people. I have about seven such photos right now for my WIP (work in progress) in a pile right next to my desk.

Also, a silver jewel case is very significant to the storyline of my WIP. I found one I liked, complete with red velvet interior, and bought it. It resides right next to my desk. And, you can see it in the opening shots of my book trailer.

I often dress in “period pieces”.

Dressing in clothes/styles from the past allows me to get into the heads of my characters and gives me a sense of what it must have been like for the character to wear such clothes. This includes bonnets, floor-length skirts, frilly things, various styles of cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and a leather holster complete with the fake gun. (I included several of these in my book trailer)

And finally, this is what I tell myself when I think my writing is really, really bad, or really, really good.

What in particular inspires you while you’re completing a task?

Writing Space...Ideal vs. Reality

Hello everyone! I'm Christi Corbett, one of the contributing authors to this blog. Because I'm still new to this site and figuring out all the buttons to push I'm going to share an oldie but a goodie...a blog post I wrote when my twins were four-years-old. (They're now thirteen and have new ways to distract me, but that's another post entirely)

************************

When I was young, I pictured the location where authors/writers did their work. It was always some variation of the following:

The recently showered and fully dressed author/writer pads down a long hallway and opens a door to their own private writing space. Clutching a mug of tea/coffee, the writer sits down at a comfortable chair located behind a highly polished, very organized mahogany desk. There is a wall of books on one wall and a window with a completely astounding view of a lake, a mountain, or a field of wildflowers.

Selecting a full pen from a drawer, the author/writer thinks for a long moment and at the precise moment inspiration hits, leans over a clean piece of paper and the words begin to flow.

Then I became a writer. Here is the reality.

On a typical day, when I’ve begged and pleaded for time to write, I can count on a minimum of five interruptions per hour. Last time I reserved a block of time to write I kept track of said interruptions for my own amusement.

6:30 AM Hubby wants to know where the flea powder is—dog is scratching

6:41 AM Hubby comes in room for some clothes 7:01 AM Hubby brings me breakfast (OK—this one is great! Love him!) 7:09 AM Powdered, yet still scratching, dog is let into the room 7:25 AM Kids come in to see if I have any bacon left and can they have it 7:36 AM Boy twin comes in for a hug 7:42 AM Hubby needs toilet paper, where are extra rolls kept? 8:08 AM Girl twin needs me to fix her hair 8:25 AM Knock at window reveals family showing ripened tomatoes 8:26 AM Boy twin can’t find toy army men… do I know where they are? 8:50 AM Girl twin wants to weigh herself 9:01 AM Hubby needs jersey to watch upcoming football game 9:17 AM Hubby wants to know if he can pull bread from freezer

And so on.

So, that is a typical block of “writing time” for me. Now, let’s move on to the instruments for said writing.

My computer is ten years old, shuts off at will (usually when I haven’t saved in a while or I’m in the middle of a fantastic run of words), and is located in a peeling wood veneer cabinet that is shoved in the corner of my bedroom. My kids find everything in the cabinet fascinating and things disappear at will. (4-year-old twins find calculators, screen cleaners, coasters, my drafts, and note cards to be much fun to play with).

Sometimes I don’t use the computer. When inspiration strikes I use anything that is at hand. Some examples:

• Sticky notes (they paste so nicely to the computer monitor, don’t they?) • Backs of envelopes • Any kind of paper with a blank space on it anywhere • You get the drift

As for writing utensils… our pens never have ink in them (my fault since I leave them clicked open all the time), so I’ve had to improvise at times:

• Crayons
• Lipstick
• Dry erase markers
• And my personal favorite—using the tip of an empty pen to gouge the words into the paper. Trust me, if you’ve got a great flow of words coming to you this will work!

It is during these times that I try to remember it all comes down to this: How you write doesn’t matter, as long as you’re writing!

What about you? What is something that turned out to be different in reality?

HOW WIRE WON THE WEST

By Christi Corbett

When it comes to settling the American west, many images come to mind: teams of oxen pulling overloaded Conestoga wagons across dusty plains. Tattered wagon covers flapping in the wind. Horses—ridden by rough men barking out orders—trotting alongside wagon trains. Weary travelers depending on a seasoned trail guide who used landmarks and stars in the sky to lead his charges to a new life. The bravest of men, women, and children traveling thousands of miles across the country, and then spreading out across a new land.

Cowboy hats and log cabins. Gunslingers and outlaws. Campfires, canteens, and coffee. Buffalos and barbed wire.

Wait, barbed wire?

Yes, barbed wire. It’s not as well-known as everything I listed above, but as I learned a few years ago, barbed wire was vital to the settling of the American west.

My interest in the subject started during a visit to the Applegate Pioneer Museum in my small town of Veneta, Oregon. The place is crammed with all sorts of displays from pioneer days, so I made my way slowly through them all, happily inspecting artifacts from years gone by.

Then, in a dark room at the back of the building, crowded between other bits of pioneer memorabilia, I discovered a dusty picture frame. Inside was a display of several lengths and types of barbed wire.

A few of the many types
of barbed wire

At first, I wondered what sharp pieces of wire had to do with taming the west. Then, I went home and did some research.

*Settlers in the prairie areas needed a cheap, reliable way to keep their animals in, and predators out. Fences made of barbed wire solved the problem of lack of local wood. 

*Barbed wire outraged both cowboys and Native Americans, earning it the nickname the “Devil’s Rope”.

*Gunfights, and even deaths, resulted from large gangs of masked men participating in “fence-cutting wars”.

*In 1880, one barbed wire factory produced enough wire to surround the earth ten times.

Nowadays, inventive repurposing of barbed wire is happening. A glance through Etsy or Pinterest can give plenty of ideas and examples of “artsy” ways to use or display barbed wire.

Thanks for reading!

More about Christi

Christi Corbett had an early love for the written word. As a child she could often be seen leaving the library with a stack of books so tall she used her chin to balance them in her arms.

Over the years she’s put her love of writing to good use; in addition to writing over three hundred television commercials, she earned the position as head writer for a weekly television show. She left her television career when she and her husband found out they were expecting twins, but she couldn’t leave writing altogether.

She’s now an award-winning author, writing stories of brave men and spirited women settling the American west. 

Connect with Christi:

Email at christicorbett@gmail.com

Facebook at Christi Corbett-Author

Twitter at @ChristiCorbett

Instagram at @ChristiCorbett

Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/christicorbett/

Website at https://christicorbett.wordpress.com/