BOOK RESEARCH—PEOPLE WATCHING by Will Zeilinger
February 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Book Research, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Book Research, People watching, writers, writers life
Researching for a book takes many forms. When it comes to finding unique characters, I love to people-watch. That activity allows me to discover interesting physical characteristics and mannerisms I can use to flesh out some of the people (and animals) who make up the cast of characters. For most of my working career, I was a visual artist, which included being a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, and cartoonist. Most of my projects involved sketching out how an ad or layout would appear. I always carried something to sketch out interesting people or places I encountered.
People-watching is especially helpful when writing a contemporary piece. Fashions (especially among teens) change quite often. Different age groups have certain “uniforms” but it’s best to avoid clichés. In the summer, for instance, older male baby boomers are fond of Hawaiian shirts or silk-screened T-shirts, cargo shorts, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and sandals. While women of the same age can be found wearing crop pants, tank tops or French-cut tees, and thin-strap sandals. Both genders are often found with a “fanny pack” strapped around their waist or slung over their shoulder. This doesn’t apply to everyone in that age group. More artistic women may gravitate to a caftan or flowing broomstick skirt and maybe a load of clunky costume jewelry.
Besides clothing, the way a person wears their hair can give clues about the character you are building in your mind. Do the men look like they get haircuts every week, once a month, or is it shaggy like they rarely ever get it cut at all? Do they get it cut as if they are still in active military service? Hairstyles can tell you if your character is one who is trying to recapture their youth, or if they go to the same salon/barber that their grandparents did.
Watching people can expose you to a multitude of variations. Don’t forget to look at their posture and stance. That can say a lot about the character’s attitude or general mood.
I live near the beach, and although it is not summer at the time of this writing, teens can still be found with a skateboard in hand, earbuds, and, of course, the ubiquitous cell phone.
If your story takes place in the Midwest or in New England, the whole scenario changes.
Some great places to watch people being people are checkout lines at big box stores, sporting events, airports, doctor/dentist waiting rooms, parks, libraries, post offices and other public places. Parents and grandparents are very interesting to watch when they are picking up kids/grandkids from school.
Wherever you choose to observe potential characters, remember to be courteous and subtle. Especially if you are researching children or young people. Don’t make it obvious you are taking notes. Of course, many writers rely on those they know to provide these character clues, but since we all belong to different socio-economic groups, using only those around us can skew your character descriptions.
Be open-minded and have fun looking for characters in the people you watch. It’s a great lunchtime activity—just, don’t stare. We’d all like to see these people in your book.
The Skylar Drake Series Co-authored by Will and His Wife Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher: Scandal
January 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Debbier Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Elizabeth Taylor, Hedda Hopper, Scandal
It’s hard to forget the 1950s scandal with Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor, leaving a furious Hedda Hopper, and heartbroken Debbie Reynolds.
Hedda Hopper, a famous newspaper gossip column writer, was a constant advocate for Taylor, but she insisted that Fisher and Taylor were just friends. When the affair went public in September 1958, everyone was shocked…except for maybe the rest of the world.
The newspapers were full of nasty comments by Hedda, Fisher, Taylor and Reynolds.
Taylor issued a statement declaring “Eddie is not in love with Debbie and never has been [. . .] You can’t break up a happy marriage. Debbie and Eddie’s never has been.”
Hopper, angry that Taylor had deceived her, wrote a blistering critique, including a misquote of Taylor that would be reprinted hundreds of times over the next decade: “Mike is dead, and I am alive.”
Then the front page of the Los Angeles Times announced that “Debbie Will Seek Divorce from Eddie.” Followed by an official statement from Fisher declaring that his marriage, “was headed for break-up long before he even knew [. . .] Taylor.”
Reynolds responded, “It seems unbelievable [. . .] to say that you can live happily with a man and not know that he doesn’t love you. That, as God is my witness, is the truth [. . .] I now realize when you are deeply in love how blind you can be. Obviously I was. I will endeavor to use all my strength to survive and understand for the benefit of my two children.”
From that point on, it was a field day for the fan magazines, gossip columns and radio/talk shows.
Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor were close friends since high school and Taylor had been married to Fisher’s best friend, producer Mike Todd, who had died in a plane crash in 1958. In fact, both couples (Reynolds and Fisher, and Taylor and Todd) were friends and double dated.
After the unexpected death of Taylor’s third husband, Mike Todd, Reynolds suggested Fisher go to Taylor to comfort her. And that was the beginning of the affair.
Fisher and Taylor got married the same day that his and Reynolds’ divorce was finalized. Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor were married from 1959 to 1964.
The fact that Fisher left Reynolds with small children for another women ruined his career. The gossip columns and magazines feasted on the breakup and the romance for months, and the adverse publicity caused NBC to cancel “The Eddie Fisher Show” for morality clauses. Though Reynolds had money problems, she managed to get by, then offers began to flow in. Taylor’s image was tarnished but didn’t stop her from continuing to get offers, and another relationship budded with Richard Burton.
Some of Janet’s and Will’s Books
The Birth of the Christmas Card
December 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Christmas cards, E.J. Williams, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Research for Writers, The history of Christmas cards, Will Zeilinger
The First Christmas Card
John Callcott Horsley designed the world’s first commercially produced Christmas card for Sir Henry Cole in 1843.
Cole was part of the elite social circle in Victorian England. During the holiday season of 1843, having too many friends caused Cole much anxiety.
The old custom in England of sending Christmas and New Year’s letters boomed with the British postal system introducing the “Penny Post.” A letter or card could then be sent anywhere in the country for the cost of a penny stamp.
Now, everybody was sending letters, but Sir Henry Cole was a busy man. He watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence and fretted over what to do. In Victorian England, it was considered impolite not to answer mail, and being the 1840s equivalent of an A-Lister, Cole had to figure out a way to respond to all of these people.
Cole asked his artist friend, John Callcott. Horsley, to design an idea he had sketched out. Cole had a thousand copies on stiff cardboard made by a London printer. On each postcard he had printed “TO:_____” so he could “personalize” the generic greeting “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You.”
Thus was born the first Christmas card.
The Modern Christmas Card
In the early 1900s, a man named Joyce Hall started a revolution that resulted in creating the modern-day Christmas card.
In 1905, he and his brothers spent $540 to buy picture postcards to sell to store owners and retailers in Norfolk, Nebraska. A few years later, they opened their own little store in Kansas City, Missouri, selling the postcards and other greeting cards, but the store sadly burned down just a little while later. After that, The Hall Brothers bought an engraving business and printed their own cards.
Their customers wanted to write more than what would fit on a postcard. This resulted in a card that was 4 x 6 inches folded once, and inserted into an envelope. By 1928, the cards were being produced under the brand we all know today as Hallmark.
Christmas cards in the twentieth century reflected the times and artistic styles of each decade.
With the advent of computers and digital photography, families could now shoot, design, and print their own customized cards right at home.
The Most Popular Christmas Card of All Time
Debuting in 1977, one particular greeting card quickly took hold as the bestselling Christmas card design of all time.
Hallmark artist Ruth Morehead designed the angelic Three Little Angels artwork that depicts a trio of adorable cherubs. Unlike seasonal cards that come and go with each passing year, ‘Three Little Angels’ was so popular that it was sent over 36 million times in its first two decades of production. According to Hallmark’s director of creative writing, Kristin Riott, “Cuteness and God together are unbeatable.”
Christmas Cards Today
Technology advancements in recent decades are making Christmas cards a little less popular. Social media platforms make it easier to stay connected with friends and family all over the world, and face-to-face video conferencing helps form meaningful connections, especially around the holidays.
Along with Mother’s Day, Christmas cards are still the most popular season for card-buying, card making, & sending, with over 1.5 billion individual & boxed cards purchased every year.
Janet and Will’s Skylar Drake Mystery Series
Vintage 1960s Books: A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
November 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger, Vintage 1960s Books tagged as A wrinkle in time, E. J. Williams, vintage 1960s Books
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
Published in 1962
Ariel Books
Genre: Fiction, Science Fantasy
The story a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother and her friend to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet.
Author Madeline L’Engle won a Newbery Medal for the novel.
You can watch the trailer for the 2018 movie here.
Books by Janet Lynn and Will Zeilinger
Micromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
October 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Editing Your Novel Together by Will Janns, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as co-writing, E.J. Williams, editing, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Will Zeilinger, writing partners
Editing Your Novel Together
Micromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
By E.J. Williams
(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)
Writing together as E. J. Williams, husband and wife, Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn author the INTER-NATIONAL CRIME FILES, a hardboiled/thriller detective series that takes the reader to 1960s southern California, then on to international locales.
Even after you’ve written the best book in the world, the pesky task of editing rears its ugly head! To those of you who love editing…our hats are off to you. We have come up with several suggestions that may help ease the editing process, whether you are editing your book for your editor, publisher, agent, or yourself.
Micromanage each chapter when you edit. Start big, the chapters, then move to scenes and last sentences. Once you get to the sentence stage, fix every tiny problem or error you find. We know, when you are done, you can probably recite your manuscript by heart, but this is necessary.
Though this mind-numbing task is necessary, it can bring about a great deal of pride when the process is complete. As a couple who write together, we have found these tips work well whether you are working alone or with someone.
And yes…we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
Some of Janet’s and Will’s Books
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