Today's guest is Bethany C. Morrow, author Cherish Farrah. Bethany joined me today to talk about the rising genre of social horror, the importance of nuance and performance in an audiobook, unreliable narrators, and those of us who operate within the social contract... as well as those of us who don't.
Len Joy on "The Half-Known World"
by Len Joy
In my first novel, American Past Time, the main character, Dancer Stonemason, is a minor league baseball player in the 1950s who pitches a perfect game that ends up costing him his chance to make it to the major leagues. The novel covers the twenty years after the cheering stops as Dancer struggles to find his way in postwar America. My third novel, Everyone Dies Famous, picks up Dancer’s story thirty years later, with Dancer a grief-stricken old man, trying to come to grips with the death of his son. In my second novel, Better Days, the main character, Darwin Burr, has coasted through life on the fading memory of high school heroics. But when his boyhood vanishes, he risks everything to save him.
My new novel, Dry Heat, is the story of Joey Blade, All-American high school football player. On the day Joey turns 18, he learns his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, is betrayed by his new girlfriend, and is arrested for the attempted murder of two police officers.
I was a good high school athlete in a small town back in the day when it was possible to play three sports. I have always been interested in the life lived after the crowds have all gone home. In my novels, Dancer struggled, Darwin coasted and Joey went to prison.
Put simply, I am following that adage, to “write what you know.” I understand athletes, the rush of having a crowd cheer for you, the wistfulness of no longer being able to do something that you loved, the challenge of moving on and growing up.
Dry Heat is set in Phoenix during the period from 1999 to 2014. Joey Blade, is an All-American high school football star, planning to attend the University of Arizona on a football scholarship in the fall. His family owns the largest engine rebuilder in the southwest.
In 1988 I bought a large engine rebuilder in Phoenix and for the next fifteen years I operated that business with my brother-in-law. On a summer evening in 1996, the son of one of my employees was riding in a car with two other boys and they were involved in a road rage incident with another vehicle. One of the boys fired a gun at the other car. It turned out that the driver of the other vehicle, who had instigated the confrontation, was an off-duty cop. They were all arrested, but the other two disappeared before their trial and my friend’s son was the only one prosecuted. He was looking at twenty years in prison if he lost at trial, so he took a plea deal for three years. One foolish mistake and his life was changed forever.
In my novel, on the day Joey Blade turns 18, he learns his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, is betrayed by his new girlfriend, and after a road rage incident where he is the innocent bystander, he is arrested for the attempted murder of two police officers.
It is not the story of my friend’s son. But that incident made me think about how easy it can be for any of us to have our lives turned upside-down in an instant. I imagined a character who had everything going for him and lost it. The challenge of the novel was not describing the incident or even the courtroom drama. The challenge was figuring out what Joey Blade does with the rest of his life.
I am a strong believer in what Robert Boswell’s describes as “The Half-Known World.” Boswell maintains that it is not necessary to know everything about your character. Let your imagine roam. Give your character the opportunity to surprise you.
It is important, of course, to get the details right. It was easy for me to recreate the setting of Phoenix circa 2000, because I lived there. I didn’t have any experience with gangs or the criminal justice system, but I had good contacts. The mother of the boy who went to prison shared with me her son’s perspective as well as her own. One of my beta readers is a criminal attorney and he helped me with the trial procedures. I found numerous articles and blogs on gang activity.
It is easy to get caught up in the research, but it is important to have a light touch. The goal is not to show the reader how much you know. The goal is to tell a good story and keep the reader turning the page to find out what happens next.
Len Joy is the author of Dry Heat(2022). He has published three previous novels, Everyone Dies Famous (2020), Better Days (2018) and American Past Time, (2014) and a collection of short fiction, Letting Go (2018). Len is an All-American triathlete and competes internationally representing Team USA. He lives in Evanston, Illinois with his wife, Suzanne Sawada. For more information, please visit https://www.lenjoybooks.com
The Saturday Slash
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My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.
Eighteen-year-old Andie Shore is finally old enough to audition for the reality TV show I Can Dance!, which she’s dreamt of competing on since she was nine. I don't know if we need quite that much detail. The word "finally" above tells us she's been waiting a long time She convinces her older sister Piper to audition too, even though Piper gave up dance two years ago for college and her controlling boyfriend. Phrasing a little awkward here - she gave up dance for college, but did the boyfriend push her to give up dance? The way the two are paired here just comes off a little awkwardly Andie needs her sister because only Piper can help with her debilitating stage fright—the kind that makes Andie nauseous, breathless, and all around a total mess. Getting Piper away from her boyfriend for a few weeks is a bonus.
But while everything is easy for Piper, Even after being away from it for so long? who doesn’t even care about winning, Andie struggles from the moment the judges say, “cue music.” Failing her first audition, injuring a fellow contestant, and that annoying voice in her head saying she’s not good enough, are just a few things Andie never planned for. Worse is getting partnered with Tae Kim—the technically perfect ballet dancer she accidentally jabbed in the nose. Andie can’t stand Tae, and Tae can’t stand Andie. Unfortunately, all of Canada can tell. Unless they find their connection, there go the votes. So she failed an audition and is still in the show? This might need clarification
As the choreography each week gets tougher, the internet haters get meaner, and her hatred Echo here with "haters / hatred" for Tae turns to something else (something definitely not allowed on the show), I'd strike this simply b/c it doesn't make a ton of sense. Romance between contestants is always a plus for a reality show, and you don't have the space to explain why that's not the case for this show in the query Andie’s stage fright only gets worse, and not even Piper’s support Is Piper still in the running? can help anymore. She’s one switch-split away from cracking under the pressure. But if Andie doesn’t win I Can Dance!, she’ll lose her only opportunity for a professional dance career. Worse, she’ll never prove to Canada, to Piper, Does she have to prove it to Piper? Her sister seemed liked nothing other than supportive until this line and more importantly to herself that even with her issues, she’s good enough after all.
A lot going on here, and for the most part you balance it well. In the first para Piper's b/f comes up twice, then is lost completely. I'd argue for striking him from the query, if he doesn't play into the plot enough to appear again later. Piper's involvement in the show isn't mentioned past a certain point either, even though you infer that P is better than A to begin with, so is she still in the running? The romance is a little lost as well, since it doesn't seem to play into the plot much more than just as an awkward sidebar. If it's inimical to the ending and climax, get that in there. Some tweaks and clarifications, but overall you're looking pretty good!