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Phoebe Sinclair Writes

Phoebe Sinclair Writes

Category Archives: Writing Life

Fanfictions I Have Loved

14 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Learnin', Writing Life

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

art-attack, book-love, cat-love, fandom, writing

Here’s where we start. As Julie Andrews states: the very beginning.

Fangirl-book-lucky-day

Actually, that’s not the beginning. Because the very beginning, for me, was the Fellowship of the Ring. Penny of Inspector Gadget. Martin of Redwall. Batman the Animated Series. Robotech. McGyver. Ember of Elfquest. Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Creations not-mine which I absorbed, which became part of how I move in the world, how I view it.

Enter Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Book I spotted top-shelf in the Portland Oregon’s Multnomah Public Library, which I didn’t read until I checked it out during a visit to the East Boston Library. I fell into that book in a big way and this prompted me to notice the chasm of fanfiction. I leaned over the edge to peer into sparkling depths, tripped . . . and the rest is millions and millions of words read, thoughts expressed rabidly enthusiastically to whatever poor fool whomever wandered near, and ruminations as to whether I should give up all my other aspirations and go back to college to study this shocking, new (to me, but not to the world) art form.

Reading as a writer is always an interesting experience, and I’m sure I’ll have more to say on the subject, but through the lens of fanfiction, I can say I’ve discovered:

  • It’s fascinating (to me) to read what other writers like to read, and the brevity of story and excessive ample access allows for rapid exposure
  • I edit/proofread in my head as I read. Until recently, I did not realize how much I do this
  • The idea that people are going ‘home’ after work/school/child rearing/etc. to write their hearts out brings me BIG HOPE for the world. Artists are out there! My type of artists to boot (re: writers)
  • Clearly, the low bar of having someone else’s characters, concepts, and ideas to give you a boost inspires so, so many people to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard. I’m one of those writers who feels, if you read, you can write, at least for personal enjoyment and I’ve long wondered ‘where does it all go?’ when I meet voracious readers who don’t write. I mean, words go in; gotta reappear somewhere, right (nature ≠ vacuum)? As visual art, as movement, as craft, in the business meeting, in a song sung to a child, as movies inspired-by-the-true-story. As fanfic.

Reading fanfic has prompted me to go back and revisit my younger artist-self. I learned young that, for art to have validity or be of note, it had to be original. Conversely, as I grew older, I learned nothing is original. What’s an art-maker to do, squished beneath this smothering contradiction?

I believe people embracing “transformative works” via consumption and encouragement allows legitimacy to bloom. Thus, for all of my selves – kid, teen, adult – a gate lifted, one I hadn’t realized I was living behind. I see in these works a conversational reflection: I see you/I see what you’re making/I respond/you respond. Echoing rings of ideas connecting the originator, the receptive enthusiast, and the audiences of both.

Now, I understand copyright exists for a reason. We grew it to place protections around intellectual and artistic property. I don’t have quarrel with that. This is what first shocked me about fanfiction -all that writing, all those words, for FREE, because they must be (otherwise, illegal.) And, as with much of life, when money is pulled from the equation, the outcome morphs -not necessarily into something better, but into something different, creative, interesting. Such as Captain American falling in love with Ironman. Apparently. But that’s a curiosity for another blog post.

For now, I’ll share a few of the stories that so opened my mind (all are safe-for-work, some have swearing and violence)(also, there’s intense stuff in many fics out there; be cautious/take care of yourself when reading):

What have you got against Denny’s? (Cap and Thor lured by America’s cheap eats)

Brother-friends stuck in a cabin with a sock-stealing cat (Legolas and Aragorn struggle to survive a mishap, incomplete)

Don’t hang out with Deadpool, ’cause whoa (Poor Hawkeye; yikes)

My Venn diagram will EAT yours (!!! & Ironman)

So! More to say on this subject later, particularly about gender (such as: why do the stories Phoebe spotlights here center around white male protagonists? hmmm), sexuality, voice, and themes I’ve noticed that seem to span what I’ve read. Meantime, happy reading, and watch out for the edge of that cliff. It’s a doozy.

The Reading Life – Favorite Begs & Ends

01 Friday May 2015

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Learnin', Writing Life

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book-love

In a recent assignment I created for my writer’s group, I asked members to identify their favorite beginnings and endings. Readymade blogpost, what-what?! 

The Assignment
Select/identify three to five of your favorite beginning and/or ending sentences from books, articles, poems, what have you. What moves you about each?

Phoebe’s Favs

BEGS
“I can’t believe you’ve come back
Like the train I missed so badly, barely
Which stopped and returned for me. It scared me
Humming backwards along the track.” – sonnet by Brenda Shaughnessy, “Rise” –love the imagery & sensuality, the “meet-cute” of the mundane & the shocking

“Tyger, Tyger burning bright” –sonnet by William Blake “The Tyger” – intrigue, danger, fire, tigers, wow!

EQ This cover alone brought me careening into the world of comics, of which I’m now a lifetime Reader (cap intended)

ENDS
“She was not someone’s sister, she was not someone’s child. She was Dolores, and Dolores was the good guys.” – Bruce Brooks – Dolores: Seven Stories About Her –I think this is the best summarization of a character; the tone of these two lines has inspired several characters in my own novels

“Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgan’s heart.” –Patricia McKillip – Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy –This quote appears, unbidden, in my thoughts on a regular basis and has deeply influenced what I think an ending should be

“It was only then that Burl noticed that someone found him a real pair of shoes. They seemed quite new, and they fit him well.” –Tim Wynne-Jones – The Maestro – says so little, says so much, I ♥ the practical

YOU
So how about you, my friend? Begs & Ends?

Whole Heart (Accidental) Hiatus

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Community, Learnin', With Friends, Writing Life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

as-we're-living-it, community

This accidental Whole Heart vacation, where energies led away from updating this blog, I took part in the following:

Waved so-long, but never goodbye, to good friends Patricia and Yutian, who are continuing their adventures in congressional fellowship-ness (sounds fancy) and law down in DC.

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Bid a final goodbye to my Cousin/Uncle Bubby who, through his teasing, fun-loving nature, taught me how to show up for life. And show up well.

Bubby and Phoebe

Took part in two retreats – one up in Concord, MA with Our Commonwealth, one in Rockport, MA with a group of writer friends.

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P1010287

PA050253

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Completed a draft of my middle grade novel that I feel, finally, has something of value and uniqueness to tempt the market. Connected to this, got to engage in some really great research via zines.

IMG_0402

Fell in obsession love with fan fiction in a big way. That’s a post for another day.

Practiced standing up . . .

(c) Agassiz Baldwin Community 2014

(c) Agassiz Baldwin Community 2014

. . . learned about surrender with OnBeing podcast.

What will the next season bring?

IMG_0578

Novel Summer

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Writing Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bike-love, writing

Dear Wholeheart friends,

I’ve been remiss! This summer, June to September, was spent winding my novel down to a close. Ten years of running towards it/running away/running-in-circles finally culminating in my typing the final words of a strange, difficult, fun, inspiring adventure. Can’t tell you more yet, but soon, I hope.

In the meantime, please enjoy this little snapshot of autumn moving in.

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Librocubicularist

14 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Writing Life

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book-love

IMG_7209

A good friend sent me this word from her word-of-the-day email: librocubicularist: person who reads in bed. (This word ultimately comes from the Latin ‘libro,’ book, plus ‘cubare,’ to lie down.)

Yup, that’s me. Never happier than when I’ve got a pile of books (and maybe a cat) wrapped up somewhere on my bed. Nothing says satisfaction like waking up with a book-print on your cheek. :^)

Whole Heart 200

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Bloggin Noggin, Writing Life

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

contests, goals, gratitude, writing

IMG_6941

My internal writing critic, like most, is full of doom and gloom. It declares things like: you’ll never be a prodigious writer. Authors don’t make enough cash to live on. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

This kind of inner talk has a dangerous dampening effect on, say, novels, poems, plays. But blogs, and more specifically Whole Heart Local? Meh.

When my critic says scornfully, with unsurprising frequency: nobody reads your blog. They don’t care what you have to say.

I reply, currently: beh.

I read WHL. And love it! And so appreciate the opportunity to plan for, dream about, and write it, still, 200 posts later. And to celebrate, we’re hosting a giveaway, WHL and me.

Lauren Murphy, herbalist, strong-lady (rumor has it she can lift 600 lbs with her LEGS,) master cheese-maker (no kidding), and good friend, will be debuting her new herbal line Lala Earth this September. Through her enormous generosity, WHL is giving away loose-leaf tea with the theme of love. And if THAT weren’t enough, I plan to pair it with a small treat from one of JP’s wonderful, local businesses.

Lala Earth

Lala Earth herbal tea: evidence of tastiness. Add sun and water. Kapow!

On to the giveaway. All you gotta do is leave a comment. That’s it! One comment, about any such subject as your heart desires. Or “hi!” That’s nice, too. The winner will be chosen by random on Wednesday, August 21.

Luck, friends.

Retreat Redux

25 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Community, Writing Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tall yellow flowers

I feel grateful for another round of retreating at Earthdance, a community and dance-space for artists and community-builders of many stripes, nestled on a hillside in Western Mass.

Manuscript

Trying to bring love to the manuscript

That familiar, welcoming wood-smell of the Gratitude dorm, new and same heartful, generous people, same novel manuscript for me to wrestle.

The books I bring with me

Kitty guest

The young Rumi was a guest for a few days at Earthdance

Out with kitty

National Poetry Month Lament

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Writing Life

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

community, events, poetry

graffiti: In a second

I am not a farmer. Barely a keeper of house plants, but I’ve heard some things and I’ve read other things about letting a field go fallow. Or planting a cover crop of rye or clover. Whatever the process and the terms, the analogy of letting lay to inspire a future season of fertility -if one is feeling generous- is a suitable fit for what happened to the postcards I send out annually in celebration of National Poetry Month.

They are in a fallow field. That field being my mind.

You see, for possibly a decade, I’ve mailed poem postcards to family, friends, and folks I’m cultivating for friendship. I call them poemcards. I started small -a few poemcards in the month of April, containing a short poem and the inscription: Happy Nat’l Poetry Month! xoxPhoebe. Every year I added more addresses, scoured anthologies, until finally I was stretching to send out nearly forty postcards in a month. Handwritten or cut-n-paste, it took a lot of effort.

This year: nada. The desire was more a soft wind; every time I turned my head, it was gone. Between the busyness of work and life, Ladies Rock Camp Boston, and a slow recovery from winter, the seeds of my annual celebration drowned.

So. A lament, then a hope for next year. In the meantime:

Whole Heart Resolute 2013

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Bloggin Noggin, Learnin', Writing Life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

goals

A great idea

It’s like someone took hold of 2012 and shook it hard. Catapulted right through that year. There were some beautiful moments, and some hard moments.

Looking back at my 2012 Resolutions and Goals

Resolutions

  1. Practice trust (instead of worry) -this mantra helped enormously with my propensity to worry, it was a bit like a prayer -putting trust out into the great unknown
  2. Understand that everyone is doing the best they are able -another good one, ruminating on this aided in forgiving others, forgiving myself, and more desire to understand instead of judge

Goals

  1. Discover timing and space that works for “Confessions,” and the other books to come -still in progress, but I did get that sabbatical to happen :^)
  2. Get some shelves up -kitchen, litter box room, office -completely missed the mark, I’m not the best at manual tasks and should probably hire help for this goal (anyone, anyone? interested?)
  3. Cull my clothing, keeping only what I love, and keep clothes picked up -I’m happy with my results from this
  4. Eat honey early (for allergies) –I was all over that one, natural sweets = heck yeah!
  5. Develop a “family creed” with my partner -there’s a working draft on our kitchen blackboard right now

Goal for this blog

  1. Grow to 10 views per day –close, I think; 2013 will be even better as I’m making new friends in the blogosphere

Secret resolutions

  1. Visit as many new-to-me local libraries as I’m able –well, I did visit a few non-local libraries, and one very local
  2. Attend a writing residency –I’ll be re-applying to the residency I was wait-listed from last summer

Lets go forward.

Three with sparklers
2013 Resolutions

  1. Learn positive intention statement to combat negativity (and keep myself sane)
  2. Discover what it means to “give back” in a way that fits my current station in life

Goals

  1. When I wake up, get up! (Instead of forcing myself to go back to sleep and then emerging groggy/grumpy/exhausted)
  2. Reintroduce long-hand writing (letter! blog? novel?)

Goals for this blog

  1. Post at least twice per week (sights towards 3x)
  2. Get a new set of blog business cards printed

And while we’re on the topic, I’d like to introduce you my friend Josie Bray of Simple Steps to Wellness blog, who shared a terrific idea about feeling our way through a successful year.

So what are you working on?

Wedding sparkler

Summer Goals

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Writing Life

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

goals, writing

Many notes on numerous drafts of my novel

Seven year’s notes

It wasn’t until college that I became a goal-setting animal. Before then, I tended to follow the wandering path –noticing neither hits nor misses other than traditional milestones like going to prom and graduating from high school. Meeting my college roommate, still a dear friend to this day, changed all that. Other than my mother, never before had I spent time with such a deliberate planner and fastidiously organized person!

<semi-related tangent>When Deba’s cat Jack came to live with me “temporarily” while she relocated to Germany for adventure, first I received letters in the mail “from the cat”, then the cat showed up with all his necessary items – including complete medical records, labeled medications, favorite toys, and litter box! That’s my Deba!</tangent>

Fast-forward a decade. After an epiphany wherein I finally asked myself the right questions about what to do with my life, I was granted leave from work to finish the novel I started writing in 2005. Like any good goal-setter, I hastened to the list making. Below is an overview of what I’m attempting to accomplish, and how I’m faring thus far:

  • Finish 3rd draft of my work-in-progress by July 31: I’m not sure whether I’m ashamed or relieved that I didn’t think to define what I meant by “draft.” What I ended up with on July 31 didn’t look quite draft (hodgepodge of sparklingly revised chapters, other chapters barely begun, whole themes missing, and how about that character arch?), but it’s something, so I’ll take it!
  • Go on retreat to write a large portion of the novel: Done!
  • Draft of query letter to publishers, agents, whoever: Upcoming – I hope.
  • Write initial ten pages of next novel: I’m looking forward to this! Nice to meet some new characters.
  • Redistribute the items I own but don’t use: With this, I’m really succeeding. Probably because moving my stuff around is a deliciously satisfying way to procrastinate, like a squirrel burying nuts –so good, even if you don’t remember it later. So far, I’ve gone through and redistributed a good portion of my clothing and this past weekend, consolidated my books to just one shelf. Hotchacha!
  • Decide on new bike to purchase: On-going. I haven’t gotten very far with this because it’s a struggle for me to balance creating and consuming. If I do one, I tend not to have time for the other. In the meantime, my current bike is cheerfully rotting away into flaky paint and dirt.

In a recent email to a friend, I explained that working on the novel this summer has been a lesson in managing trust and letting go of perfection. Until I typed those words, I hadn’t considered this truth so succinctly. One item I left off the list, however, was hope.

2 Macs

Left: Orange Julius, my old Macbook warrior
Right: Ghost of Julius’s future splitting time between emails and writing

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