Lot of things go bump, bump, bump in the night. They howl, they growl, and bang against the house. Squirrels scamper across our tile roof. One night, something caused me to look out the bedroom window. Lo and behold a family of raccoons! I knew they’d been in the area because my neighbor saw them climbing out of the gutter at the corner. They go for water (don’t we all in CA) and chewed the neighbor’s hose.

Here are a few related quotes that caught my eye:

So says the immortal Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, scene 1:

Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
–Marcellus.

‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.
~William Shakespeare

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
~Scottish Saying

Where there is no imagination there is no horror. ~Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.

The Funnies was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing, the first a precursor of the comic book in the 1920s and the standard 1930s comic book. I loved reading comic books as a kid and paid ten cents for each one. Today they would be worth a lot of money, if only I’d had the sense to keep them. Comics had a lowbrow reputation for much of its history, but towards the end of the 20th century, they began to find a greater acceptance with the public and even within academia.

In 1940, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories featured the popular Walt Disney characters, followed by Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Comics. By 1942, there was the Our Gang Comics. Four Color Comics highlighted one character, Donald Duck or Popeye. A few of my favorites were Krazy Kat, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. My husband reads newspaper cartoons every day and cuts some of them out to share with me, most I don’t understand, like the political ones.

And then there’s monkey business, you know, the illegal, shady, or questionable activity, like selling drugs. But I prefer the kind of monkey business where kids can have fun on colorful play structures where they can climb, swing, and bounce around, and go bananas.

Our dreams are unique to us. No one else has had our personal experiences or background, so we should keep that in mind as you attempt to interpret our dreams. Some of mine have been so bizarre that I decided it was time to look deeper into them. One particular dream returned often enough for me to attend a class to learn what it meant.

In my dream, it was always nighttime, I was alone on a street, and someone was chasing me. I couldn’t run because I froze, my legs wouldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. That’s it. The same dream/nightmare again and again for years. What did it mean? It’s a mystery. It’s been years since I’ve had that dream, but some little inkling in my head tells me that experience had something to do with why I love mysteries— reading them and writing them.

And then there are pipe dreams, dreams that are impossible to achieve or not practical. There was a time when I thought about becoming a professional ice skater, but without the money or skills to achieve that dream it wouldn’t happen.

I believe in dreams. Sometimes I dream about my work in progress. I’ve solved problems where I’d written myself into a corner and hadn’t been able to find my way out. Which is why I keep a notebook and pen on the table beside my bed. Sometimes after I go to bed, in the dark and still night, I’ll call up a particular problem I’ve had finding a logical motive for why one of my character’s acted the way he/she did. I’ll visualize the situation and then reach deep into my head for a solution. Without TV and ringing phones, my mind is free to roam, to create. This has worked for me a number of times. Usually, the solution is simple, where I had tried to complicate it, something I have a tendency to do.

Can our dreams solve problems while we sleep? I think so. Why we dream is still one of the greatest unanswered questions.

Flashpoints are events that provide the writer with a story to tell. They introduce chaos where none existed. A flashpoint can occur before the story begins. Sometimes it occurs after the introduction, when the characters are introduced and the scene set. What matters is to get the reader hooked early on. In Twisted Vines, the first book in my Shakespeare in the Vineyard series, the critical moment comes in paragraph one of chapter one when my protagonist receives a phone call that changes her life—she inherits a vineyard and two Shakespearean theaters from someone she’d never heard of. If she accepts her inheritance, it means she has to move cross-country and give up a job she loves.

Without conflict, there wouldn’t be a story. It’s what drives the plot, what makes us sympathize with the characters, and what compels us to keep reading because we want to know how it will be resolved. When characters have opposite goals or desires there’s bound to be reaction. Tempers flare, violence/anger follow, and provoke action. Flashpoints, moments of truth, hours of indecision, or that frightening zero hour will create suspense and intrigue to keep readers turning the pages.

These examples of “points of no return” will be familiar to most readers:

The Wizard of Oz: the flashpoint is the tornado that transports Dorothy from Kansas to Oz

Star Wars: Darth Vader attacks Princess Leia’s spaceship

I think all authors struggle where best to place flashpoints, where they’ll have the most impact on the story and the reader. I couldn’t resist this cartoon. I wonder what they’re writing, suspense or romantic suspense.

Whether you’re a beginning writer or just starting a new project, one of the first things you must do is decide which point of view to use. Readers want to connect with the main character in a story, and one of the best ways is to reveal his/her thoughts and feelings. You want to create a character they’ll want to follow through an entire novel or series.

First person POV is used when the main character is telling the story. This is the kind that uses the “I” narrator. As a reader, you can only experience the story through this person’s eyes, so you won’t know anything about the people or events that this character hasn’t personally experienced.

Third person POV is most commonly used, the one I am most comfortable with, and the one I usually prefer reading. It uses the “he/she/it” narrator and flows naturally for me. This is where the narrator only knows what the character knows and can see right inside her/his head. It’s who’s eyes we see the action through, who’s head we’re inside of, and who’s feelings we experience as that character feels them. This is why it’s so important to choose the right POV character for your story. It will determine what you tell, how you tell it, and even what the action means.

When I started my Shakespeare in the Vineyard series, I knew it would take place in Livermore, California, where I live. I wanted Cait Pepper, my protagonist, to share what she sees and how she feels living in wine country. As an outdoor enthusiast, she jogs, runs marathons, and hikes, while at the same time she’s learning about the wildflowers that cover the hills surrounding her new home. But Cait is also an ex-cop, all her senses on alert for danger. She recognizes smells and sounds the ordinary person might dismiss. For example, the sound of a gun as it’s pulled from a leather shoulder holster, a rustling noise as if something had been removed from a paperbag, or a sudden change in the air. With third person POV, the readers share Cait’s thoughts and fears and keep turning the page to learn what is going through her mind.

Third Person Multiple POV is still in the “he/she/it” category, but now the narrator can follow multiple characters in the story. The challenge is making sure that the reader knows when you are switching from one character to another. This is done with chapter or section breaks. I think it would be fun to use this POV in another series or a stand-alone. I would be interested knowing which POV the readers prefer reading.