Betsy Fitzgerald

Rolling Thunder Review

Jul 032014

Lightning strikes again and again and again. In my life, anyway. In the midst of a three-day run of thunderstorms, I can’t help think of the close calls. The house where I grew up was set on a pocket of cornfield next to my grandparents’ small farm. Connecticut River Valley rich soil, gentle rolling landscape, it was beautiful. It was apparently also some ind of geo-hot spot. I’ve got no scientific back-up, just the facts. In my relatively short time living there, I left when I was 18, here’s a rundown of strikes that I remember:

Dog – typically my father kept a dog outside, with a dog house, on a long chain. Dogs running loose were potential chicken-chasers or worse, chicken-killers. In one thunder-storm, lightning struck the metal pole securing the chain, traveled the links and killed the dog.

Grandparents – lighting struck their house next door to us, followed the antenna wires (pre-cable) and exploded the TV set in a burst of flames

House – lightning strike to the roof blew shingles and burned a patch.

Brother – lighting hit a wrench he was holding as he stood in the open door of the garage. He survived with a minor burn

As a kid, I saw these as interesting occurrences but they didn’t change the fact that I loved to run barefoot through thunder storms, cooling off as the cooling downpour soaked my cotton shirt and shorts. Then you grow up. You learn about lightning. You see trees cleaved in two and worry that you might be driving on a road when one explodes in front of you.

Then you, if you is me, read Alice Hoffman’s brilliant story of life ripped about by forces of nature. In the surreal The Ice Queen, Hoffman paints word pictures of fireballs of electricity spinning through a house, bodies forever tattooed by burns. Yes, it’s fiction, but she dances that fine line that makes you a believer.

And then just a couple of years ago, feeling smug because I now live nestled in a small wooded hollow, not an open cornfield, I was enjoying a summer storm as I sat on our screened porch. I’ve decided that any lightning worth it’s salt — or electrons — would hit one of the tall trees first, not our house. Thunder rumbled, rain fell. It was the perfect summer storm until the strike.

A spear of white light shot to the ground, slicing between trees. I saw it before I reacted. Saw the white, saw the tip touch the ground ten feet from where I sat. Saw my own fear as every hair on my arms stood and a soft buzz of electricity ran through me. By the time I bolted from my chair towards the French doors and safety of the house, it was too late. I’d been found.

A friend who is a lifelong Boy Scout, had a poster on his office door with lightning information … if there is 30 seconds between the rumble and the flash, take cover in a building. I am forever prepared now

and .. a nod to THE Rolling Thunder Review, Bob Dylan … which I was blessed to see in New Haven in 1975.

all best wishes,

Betsy

Sun of the Solstice

life No Responses »

Jun 212014

The Summer Solstice arrived at 6:51 this morning. Unlike Christmas when children wake before dark to rush out to their stocking treats or Easter when those same children scamper to find their chocolate bunnies, many of us were still asleep. What a shame. Mother Nature threw us a big party and we lazed. Maybe we need a place to properly mark the day, as the Brits have their stone circles.

A while back I visited Avebury in Wiltshire, England. On that same day I also visited Stonehenge. Stonehenge, if you’ve not visited lately, requires tickets and reservations. Those who arrive without planning are left to gaze from behind fencing. Both sites enjoy a tide of visitors for the Summer Solstice.

Of the two, I was most smitten by Avebury. The stone circle, the largest in the world, encompasses an area of miles; it runs through the middle of the village, past fields of grazing sheep, across roads. Except for modest signage, a museum that does charge admission, and a book shop catering to things pagan, there is no hype. The day I visited, a gray sky held back rain as we wandered through the stones that have stood for some 3,000 years. I placed both hands on the lichen-covered surfaces, hoping the stone would speak to me in some way. Through my fingertips, I felt an ancient language that is never lost. I am sure I heard a murmur.

I won’t be visiting any pagan sites today. I am marking the hours as the sun parades across a sky so blue that even I can imagine flying with the birds. And maybe because I’m no longer 20, or 30 years old, the day is precious.

I’m aware of my breathing, aware that today is a gift of exceptional sunlight that only comes once this year.

Like other things we take for granted, the longest day will speed by unless we stop and savor the sunlight.

Blessed be,

Betsy

Avebury photo by Art Campbell

Getting Comfortable With Creative

Neelie's Truth, promoting writing, writing 1 Response »

Jun 172014

You wrote the book. That may seem like the easy part as you begin to face scores of decisions. Front matter and back matter. Author photo. Editors, overall and copy. Proofreader. Promo team. Perhaps the biggest…book cover design.

My decision for NEELIE’S TRUTH cover design was made early. A graphic designer I’ve known for many years said he’d like to work on the cover. For me it was a non-decision. I trusted him. I knew I could work with him. I also knew I wanted a cover that honored the story with a clean, strong design.

For many indie authors, cover designs come from firms that specialize in books. Or sometimes, from a packaged deal they buy from the book producer. I had decided to go indie all the way, so I said “yes” to Paul Kazmercyk.

Here’s the steps Paul and I followed:

I provided a synopsis with notes on key themes
Paul mulled on it all for a bit and then came back with about a dozen directions, but two main themes. One cover was a riff on the image I’d used for my Kickstarter campaign, a photo I shot of a steer on a hillside. Paul proposed a similar photo but with a young girl added. The second theme used a kite in the sky, a key element from the story.
I considered the girl/photo but was instantly pulled to the kite. Bold, red and created as a graphic rather than a photo, it felt right.
We went through about another half-dozen rounds, tinkering with positioning, font and background.
In the end, we landed close to the beginning but with a finished look that I’m thrilled with.

Neelie’s kite flies high against a perfect blue sky, tilted into the wind, broken but still flying.

This is Paul’s first book cover. NEELIE’S TRUTH is my debut literary novel. I’m not sure I’d recommend this process for everyone. My life has included marketing consulting and directing creative teams. I was up for it and excited to take charge of this important part of my book. And most importantly, I trusted Paul to have the conversations necessary to respond to my vision; and I trusted his design skills to make NEELIE’S TRUTH stand out on the shelf. From hard cover jacket to Kindle, the cover carries my story to you.

I’m so pleased with the design that I took it a step farther and set up a store at Cafe Press. Check it out.

Betsy

Chipmunk Walks Into a Room

Country living, life 1 Response »

Jun 142014

Country life means that sometimes the country comes inside. We’ve been visited by field mice (no big surprise), voles, birds, frogs, chipmunks, neighbors’ dogs who discover the dog door, likewise cats, and of course creepy crawlies. Chipmunk #1 – discovered when I stumbled out of the bedroom at 5:30, with our dogs, Waffles and Chickie. Eyes barely open, I caught a tiny brown blur racing ahead of us. In a nanosecond, the dogs pursued. Through the family room, kitchen and into what we call the music room (really our library with overstuffed chairs, books, and the complex-beyond-words music system my husband has [...]

The Truth is Out

family, fiction, life No Responses »

Jun 092014

The best writing comes from that place deep inside, unknown until it is set free. So it is with my new novel, NEELIE’S TRUTH. I did not plan to write a book that was controversial. I met Neelie James sitting on the back step of her family home. I stood behind her and followed her gaze. Her father, who trapped to earn extra money, was skinning muskrats. He’d sell the dried pelts. There was nothing new for Neelie–she lived in rural Connecticut at the cusp of change, the late 1950s. And so the story began. I wrote around 270 pages. [...]

Hallelujah, Praise Cohen

life, Love, storytelling 8 Responses »

May 302014

The wonder of Twitter is that I find myself spending moments in splendid reflection. Truth is, I also find myself wondering why I have a follower that promises non-surgical face lifts; and why does one click go through to porn? But, back to splendid. A new follower from Ontario. On his profile, a link to Leonard Cohen. And here I sit on a far too chilly May day, listening to Hallelujah. Leonard Cohen, with his bottomless voice that reads between a purr and a growl, is giving me the best moments of my day. I can’t remember ever seeing him [...]

Chickie and Waffles Make Perfect Combo

dogs, life, pets 13 Responses »

May 282014

I met her at the MSPCA Nevins Farm in a quiet one-on-one before the doors officially opened for the day. She would be our fourth rescue pet–one dog and two cats had made their home with us in prior years. I’d officially graduated from the “must have a AKC registered dog” to “must do the right thing.” In some cases, that means a registered dog that has been abandoned. But it’s the animal, not the papers, I care about. She was named Penelope, a small snip of a dog of cocker-spaniel mix. Her fur had been shaved and clipped to [...]

Who’s Mom Now?

children, family 8 Responses »

May 112014

Once again, I found myself walking through my local CVS’s card section with that old tug. I should buy a Mother’s Day card. But I lost my mother many years ago and I’m the one who gets the cards. And then in the bakery section of Market Basket, I felt the pull toward the cakes decorated with pink flowers — maybe a special cake? No. And no flowerpot of geraniums and petunias, always a favorite with my mother. Or at least I thought they were favorites. It was hard to know. Harriet Elizabeth Fitzgerald Percoski, my mother, said little about [...]

Inspiration: Open the Door

family, fiction, Neelie's Truth, writing 2 Responses »

May 042014

Joe Hansen taught at the Wesleyan Writers Conference and I was sitting in a college classroom, deserted for the summer, left to us aspiring novelists. I was writing regularly for The New York Times, but that was journalism. Fiction, I figured, had to be very different so I signed up for my one, and only, writer’s conference. Joe, a no-nonsense presenter, who told us “do not put people in cars, on buses or on the telephone because it’s boring” appealed to my writing sensibilities. Tell the story, keep it clean and non-cluttered. Slay your adverbs and be wary of your adjectives. [...]

When Kick Comes to Start

fiction, Neelie's Truth, promoting writing 7 Responses »

Apr 232014

I remember when I decided to launch a Kickstarter project: a June day washed with sun and optimism. Then there were weeks of figuring out the logistics. Building the site. Trying to guess which rewards would appeal to backers. Planning an impromptu launch party to gather friends, and my nerve. When I hit the GO button on NEELIE’S TRUTH Kickstarter project, I went into a month of crazy ups and downs. It was like pregnancy. You know that something great is coming your way but the process can be fraught with doubts as much as dreams. Kickstarter warns you not [...]

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