A Writer's Moment: 'Great characters; great tale'

A Writer's Moment: 'Great characters; great tale':   “The characters are always the focal point of a book for me, whether I'm writing or reading. I may enjoy a book that has an intriguing...

'Great characters; great tale'

 

“The characters are always the focal point of a book for me, whether I'm writing or reading. I may enjoy a book that has an intriguing mystery or a good plot, but . . . it has to have great characters.” – Candace Camp

 

Born in Amarillo, Texas on this date in 1949, Camp is the maiden name of Candace Hopcus, who started her prolific writing career while simultaneously earning a law degree in the 1970s.  She said writing just seemed to come naturally and she wrote to relax.  The majority of her works are in the Romance genre where she’s published a remarkable 70-plus novels under the names Lisa Gregory, Kristin James, Sharon Stevens and, of course, Camp. 

 

Her first book Bonds of Love came out as Lisa Gregory and her most recent, The Marrying Season, as Camp, her author’s title of choice for most of her books.

 

The winner of a number of awards, including a Romantic Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award, Camp is the daughter of a writer (journalist Lula Mae Irons Camp) and mother to one (Young Adult novelist Anastasia Hopcus).  She lists her mother as a great role model.

 

“She had the best memory of anyone I know,”Camp said, “and she could really tell a tale.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an obvious fact'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an obvious fact':   “A man should keep his brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-roo...

'It's an obvious fact'

 

“A man should keep his brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his brain library, where he can get it if he wants it.” –Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Born in Scotland on this date in 1859, Doyle created one of the iconic figures in literary history - the detective Sherlock Holmes.   Noted for his to-the-point comments while solving mysteries, Holmes once pointed out that, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.” Doyle wrote his first Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887, the first of just four novels he wrote about Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson, but further enhanced by 58 short stories featuring the famous duo.  

 

Widely considered milestones in the field of crime fiction, the Holmes' stories spawned dozens (if not more) uses of Holmes by other writers as well as many movies and television programs.  And they brought Deerstalker hats and Meerschaum pipes into vogue.  

The prolific Doyle - in addition to the Holmes' tales - wrote more than 200 stories and articles, four volumes of poetry, and a number of works for the stage, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance.  He also wrote a number of nonfiction books and seven historical novels, led by the bestselling Sir Nigel and The White Company.   For his contributions to writing, he was knighted in 1902 becoming “Sir” Arthur Conan Doyle, a title to which he is often referred. 

 

“Once you eliminate the impossible," he had his famous detective say, "whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”  

A Writer's Moment: 'indefatigable optimism' and writing power

A Writer's Moment: 'indefatigable optimism' and writing power:   “The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.”  – Margery Allingham   Allingham was – as the old saying goes – “bo...

'indefatigable optimism' and writing power

 

“The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.” – Margery Allingham   Allingham was – as the old saying goes – “born with ink in her blood” writing everything from plays to novels to screenplays, novellas and short stories, over 100 total works in all.   Born in London on this date in 1904, she wrote steadily from age 5 until her death in 1966.  As the daughter of two well-established newspaper columnists, she learned to write early and had her first plays performed on stage before the age of 10.   Although she wrote in almost every genre Allingham ultimately focused on crime and mystery, creating one of the most well-known crime detectives of the mid-20th Century, the sleuth Albert Campion.  Ironically, Campion was put into her novel The Crime at Black Dudley almost as an afterthought, but he was such an optimistic and interesting character that her publishers demanded more stories that would focus on him.     With that encouragement and her creative and imaginative mind, Allingham wrote 18 novels and some three dozen short stories and novellas with Campion (who many thought to be her alter-ego) at the heart of the action.  Among them was one of her most famous novels, The Tiger in the Smoke.   Allingham died from breast cancer at age 62, but ever the optimist she laid out ideas for several more novels “just in case they’re wrong and I’m not really dying,” and bugging everyone around her to keep the faith and help her keep writing.  As she noted just a few days before her death, “If one cannot command attention by one’s admirable qualities, one can at least be a nuisance.”

A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart'

A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart':   “Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.” – L. Frank Baum   Born in Chittenango, N...