Lisa Manterfield

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September 18, 2017 - Lisa Manterfield Leave a Comment

When Tragedy Strikes, Supporting Characters Suffer Too

When Tragedy Strikes, Supporting Characters Suffer Too by Lisa Manterfield -lisamanterfield.com

Over the past couple of weeks, the threat of tragedy has set many people on edge. First Harvey swept into Texas, then Irma battered the Caribbean and headed for Florida. Meanwhile, Jose and Katia built, bringing more uncertainty of what they would become or where they would go.

People in the direct path of the storm faced the very real possibility of tragedy. They stood to lose their homes, livelihoods, pets, and even their lives. Many were called upon to tap into reserves of strength and courage to get through a situation for which they had little time to prepare.

Meanwhile, many of us outside the danger zone could only watch and wait. Although I didn’t have anyone close to me directly affected by the storms, my social media feeds were full of posts from friends who did have loved ones in danger. Lots of people were afraid of what might happen, but felt powerless to do anything about it. That kind of stress can have a huge emotional toll.

I thought a lot about the effects of powerlessness while writing The Smallest Thing. On the pages of the main story, Em finds herself stuck in the middle of an unimaginable tragedy that she is completely unprepared to handle. She does what any of us would do, which is to figure out how to survive. She doesn’t always make the best choices, especially at first. She has no role models or experience to call upon, but she does what she has to, and then she does what she needs to do. She finds her inner strength and a side of herself she never knew existed. And while she thinks she is powerless, she finds ways to take action.

Meanwhile, in the fictional world beyond the book, Em’s mother and little sister Alice experience the powerlessness that many of us felt last week as Hurricane Irma barreled towards our loved ones. Although their story isn’t told in the book, I’ve imagined them watching helplessly as Em and her father fought for survival.

I imagined that Em’s mother, like many us last week, would carry enormous guilt that she had gone to visit her sister and so had avoided being swept up in the quarantine. She’d feel helpless because there would be nothing she could do to protect her loved ones. She’d be terrified and probably frustrated that she didn’t know, at every second of the day, what was happening to them. She’d have moments of fury when others judged her actions or those of her loved ones, without full knowledge of the situation (hello, social media haters) and perhaps relief when one kind person asked how her family was doing and how she was holding up.

In fiction, and in our real-world tragedies, the stories of the supporting characters aren’t generally the ones that keep us riveted. But if you were a supporting character in the recent news headlines, you know, like Em’s mother, that you have your own story, too.

Filed Under: The Story Behind the Story Tagged With: Author, book, death, Eyam, fiction, grief, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, loss, love, parent, plague, story, The Smallest Thing, YA, young adult Leave a Comment

March 13, 2017 - Lisa Manterfield 4 Comments

Remembering to Savor the Moments

Remembering to Savor the Moments by Lisa Manterfield -lisamanterfield.com

Things are suddenly getting very real around here. After months (okay, years) of writing and revising A Strange Companion, it’s suddenly a real book.

I know it’s a real book because:

  1. It’s available for pre-order on the major bookseller sites.
  2. A printed proof arrived and I have held it in my hand.
  3. I’m throwing a Publication Party, and I couldn’t do that without a real, published book.

It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind these past few weeks and I’ve been living or dying by the task list. I’ve eaten meals but, more than once, I’ve looked at my empty plate with no recollection of cutting, chewing, or swallowing food. My husband has asked me questions and I’ve found myself staring at him as if he’s speaking an alien language, while my brain spins to catch up. If someone asked me my plans for the weekend, I’d say, “Oh, nothing special,” but I’d be thinking, Duh. I’m working on my book!

I think it’s supposed to be this way. A book launch is supposed to be a crazy time of preparation, of dotting i’s and crossing t’s, of smoothing the way for the shiny new book to burst out into the world.

As insane as it’s been, it’s also been a lot of fun. I’ve had some incredible moments, such as:

  • The moment I finished inputting the proofreader’s final edits and realized I’d never have to read this book again. (I still love it; I just don’t want to read it again for a very long time. Plus, I know what happens at the end!)
  • The day I arrived home to find the printer’s first proof copy sitting on my doorstep.
  • When I read the first review and realized that someone other than me and the people who care about me loved my book.

So, in all the swirling madness, it’s these moments that I’m trying to remember and savor.

Now for some details:

If you’d like to pre-order the book, grab it by April 3rd for a special bonus gift. All that information is here.

Here’s the wonderful first review I received from The Reading Wolf.

Here’s my video of the unboxing of the proof.

And, if you happen to be in the L.A. area, I would love for you to join me at my Publication Party. It’s at {pages} a bookstore in Manhattan Beach. 7 pm, Friday, April 7th. There’ll be drinks and hors d’oeuvres. And of course, there’ll be the closest thing I can find to Owen’s legendary chocolate cake. (And if you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, you’d better take a look at the sneak peek of the book here.)

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Author, book, fiction, grief, love, paranormal, story 4 Comments

January 30, 2017 - Lisa Manterfield 4 Comments

The Strange Course of Grief

The Strange Course of Grief by Lisa Manterfield - lisamanterfield.com

My dad passed away more than 30 years ago and there was a time I thought I would never get over losing him. It seemed as if everything I did and everything that happened to me was filtered through that loss. I felt, at 15, that people looked at me differently and that it was obvious to everyone that I was different.

For a long time, I couldn’t talk about what had happened without my voice catching in my throat and my face burning. In fact, I think it was close to a decade before I could talk about my dad at all without having to forcibly keep my emotions under control.

Even now, after all this time has passed, I often find that my grief for other losses is amplified. On several occasions, I’ve been to funerals for distant relatives or acquaintances, people whose passing shouldn’t leave a significant hole in my life, and found myself disproportionately upset.

Sometimes people ask how long it takes to recover from a loss and I always think it’s like asking, “How long is a piece of string?” It takes as long as it takes and, even though our society seems to have an unspoken timeline for grief, nobody else can dictate when it’s time to be “over it.”

When Life Hands You Lemons…

I’m a firm believer that no experience is ever wasted, so I’ve lent some of my experiences with grief to my fictional characters. Although Kat’s story in A Strange Companion is very different to mine, I have borrowed a lot from my own emotional journey for her. I’ve also written parts of my story as essays or melded them into short stories. I recently published a story about my dad that I first wrote for the spoken word event, Spark Off Rose. You can read Lost and Found on Wattpad.

I hope to share more of these stories with you soon. Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Love, Loss, and Grief Tagged With: death, getting over, grief, loss, parent, stories, story 4 Comments

July 15, 2016 - Lisa Manterfield Leave a Comment

A Campfire Story for Your Younger Self

CampfireSince we humans first began gathering into social and familial groups, we’ve used stories to create a sense of community. Early hunter-gatherers shared tales to pass along information, traditions, and important lessons.

In this fascinating Life Science article, Campfire Tales Served as Early Human Social Media, researchers noticed a big difference between daytime and nighttime campfire stories told among a tribe of Kalahari Bushmen. While the daytime conversations were made up of only 6 percent stories, the rest being complaints, gossip, hunting plans, and jokes, once the tribe gathered around the nighttime campfires, 81 percent of conversations were stories.

The stories passed along information about tribal customs and ceremonies, as well as warnings of dangers, such as the story of three bushmen killed in a fire. The tribe also used stories to pass information to younger generations.

Modern Stories

Even today, we find our way around in the world and understand who we are through handed down stories. I heard stories about my aunt who emigrated to Australia by boat in the 1940s, which helped me understand why I seemed to be the only person in my family to move far from home. I recently learned that my habit of dragging my husband on long, under-prepared hikes comes not from my dad, as I’d always believed, but from my mum, who had the same habit.

As a child, I learned about the dangers of electrocution, of hot cooking oil, of crossing the street, not from formal lessons, but from stories told by others. More recently, my social media feed has bombarded me with a million things to worry about, everything from terrorist attacks to falling off a cliff while playing Pokémon Go.

From my own writing, I’ve discovered I am not alone in my experiences and I’ve come to a deeper understand of myself. Even when I make up stories in my fiction, I often find myself digging into into my own past and learning about myself from the way my characters behave. It’s one of the many wonders and pleasures of telling stories.

As you think about the stories in your life, what important wisdom would you pass along if you had the chance to sit around the campfire with your younger self?

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: experience, fiction, Kalahari, story, young adult Leave a Comment

May 20, 2016 - Lisa Manterfield 3 Comments

Jump-Start Your Writing With Prompts

TypewriterIn the corner of my bedroom is a large bag of journals. At first glance you’d mistake me for one of those people who fills book after book with profound thoughts, but that’s not who I am. Each journal has a handful of entries for each time I decided to dedicate myself to journaling. I’d write for a few days, then skip, then quit. Even when I knew that journaling would help me through difficult patches in my life, I never managed to keep it up for long enough to dig down into the good stuff. Turns out I’m not much of a navel gazer.

Under the desk in my office is another pile of journals. Every page of these books is filled with my writing. So what’s the difference?

The stories in the second stack of journals were almost all generated from writing prompts. These prompts might have been lines pulled from books, prompts given to me in a class, or verbal or visual prompts that set me off in a particular direction.

The thing about prompts is that they force you into the writing. There’s no room to ponder what to write. They take away the pressure of trying to find something profound or important to write about. You just pick a prompt and jump right in.

If you're thinking about writing but don't know where to start, considering trying a prompt. Click To Tweet

I like first-line prompts because they force you into a starting point. Take a look at the prompts below and find one that speaks to you. Begin writing with that line and see where it takes you.

If you tend to ponder or find yourself trying to come up with the perfect story, don’t overthink. Set a timer for five or ten minutes, pick a prompt that resonates with you, and dive in.

Here are a few first-line prompts to get you started:

This was a matter of life and death

It takes more than inspiration to become great

Don’t put on a brave face

There is something wrong in this house

I take a deep breath when I read this

Weekdays revolved on a sameness wheel

We have something bigger in common

Let me know in the comments how you did and if anything interesting came up for you.

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: journal, prompt, story, write 3 Comments

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