Saturday, August 10, 2019

#70 Inside The Emotion of Fiction: "BIRDIE & JUDE" by Phyllis H. Moore



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****Phyllis H. Moore’s BIRDIE & JUDE is #70 in the never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction writer wrote that specific excerpt.  All INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece.  


Name of fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like to share with us? Birdie & Jude is the only title I ever considered for this novel. I’m not sure why I never considered any other. I think it might be because the story is about the relationship between these two women, past and present. I wanted them to be the focus.

Has this been published? If yes, what publisher and what publication date? Birdie & Jude
was self-published on March 19, 2018.















What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I began writing this story in early August, 2017 when Hurricane Harvey was headed toward the Gulf of Mexico. I was inspired by the stories following the hurricane and wondered what might happen if someone was stranded on Galveston Island. I finished the story in late January, 2018, but it was early March, 2018 before it was edited and the rewrites were completed.


Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail.  Most of my writing is done at the end of the sofa in our den. I prefer to write on a laptop and I like to use a lapboard because I can change the height and relieve the repetitive typing that gives my shoulders and neck an ache. When I do formatting and editing it’s especially helpful to be able to change the height of the typing surface. I tried a desk, but I couldn’t stay in one position for long periods of time. Sometimes I move to the other end of the couch for variety.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I write directly on my laptop. I sit down to write about 8:30 a.m. almost every day, including weekends. I don’t write on Mondays because I spend time with girlfriends playing Mah Jonng and going to lunch. I have an insulated tumbler full of cold water beside me at all times. My daily exercise is getting up to fill my cup. I stop briefly for lunch, which is usually a smoothie, and resume writing until 3:00 p.m. That’s down time for me to run errands, take the clothes out of the dryer, and think about dinner. If I feel like I have something to say, I start writing again at 9:00 p.m. when the rest of the house gets quiet. I don’t listen to music. I like it quiet.

What is the summary of this specific fiction work? Birdie & Jude is a character driven novel about two women who become friends as a hurricane is approaching Galveston Island. Jude, a young woman, is the only survivor of a fatal automobile accident. A former foster child, she has no one left to come to her aid. She leaves the hospital emergency room in shock and walks to the beach. Birdie, an older woman, finds Jude on the beach as she is taking her dog for a walk before the storm. Birdie insists Jude shelter with her. Jude, still in shock, hesitates, but agrees and is led to Birdie’s comfortable Victorian mansion in the Silk Stocking Historical District. (Above Right)
    
There’s something about Jude that’s familiar to Birdie and she begins to reminisce about her turbulent youth and her best friend, Henry. She recalls high school in the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement (Left), the Vietnam War (Below), and her own reluctance to participate in the debutante season her parents had planned for her since birth. Jude’s recollections center around frequent moves in foster care and never living in a home she could call her own. As their relationship grows, Jude eventually agrees to house sit for Birdie while she goes on a cruise with her friends. Birdie’s nephew, Barry, is concerned. He considers Birdie fragile and worries about her taking in a stranger. However, in Birdie’s absence, he discovers Jude struggles with a terminal illness and steps in to care for her during what might be her last days. This is the story of two souls meeting each other again and their spirits having a second chance to heal old wounds.

Can you give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? This story is about two souls being reunited in the present and recognizing each other from their pasts. Jude has come back to Birdie to remind her not to deny who she is, to live authentically, and share herself. Birdie would deny it’s religious experience, but she recognizes it’s a spiritual experience.

Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. Page 15, near the end of Chapter One: “
As she and Ollie walked toward the street, Birdie turned and glanced back at the house. There was a fleeting movement, a blurred image at the edge of her vision. She could have sworn she saw a boy on a bicycle riding down the street; he was looking at her house. It could have been Henry. It looked just like him. He stood on the pedals just like Henry would do. She had seen the outline of the boy clearly, riding with no hands gripping the handlebars, guiding the bike with his balance, and swerving quickly to avoid the roots of old oaks heaving sections of the sidewalk up in large chunks. Birdie turned and looked again, pushing her sunglasses up to get a better look. There was no bicycle, but more disappointing, there was no boy.
Was the vision a distant memory, or was the boy riding so fast he was out of sight by the time she turned her head? Surely boys could still ride down her street. The live oaks towered above, casting shadows on the pavement. Some of their branches reached across the street and formed a tunnel with the trees on the opposite side. Birdie stared at them, remembering riding her own bike down the middle of the street, daring any vehicle to approach her and ruin her moment.”

Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? In this excerpt, Birdie is thinking about a childhood friend, someone she sought out daily to make sense of her own life. He was a black boy, Henry, someone her parents wouldn’t approve of. However, for Birdie, he helped her accept her own differences even though he couldn’t get her accept herself. A friend of mine from high school told me about an incident that happened to him when we were juniors in 1968. I dedicated this novel to him and another friend. They were victims of racists, just as Henry was. They served in Vietnam, just as Henry did. When I visualize them, I see them as strong, athletic boys, proud, kind, and humble, just as Henry was. I see them like Birdie saw Henry, riding a bike with no hands, never faltering on the jagged path. It’s emotional because the sureness of the bodies is gone, but the sureness of the soul remains. What was right then, is right now. What was true then, is still true.

Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. I have no rough drafts of anything I write. I polish and delete. The reason is because I’m terrible at technology and can never locate something if I have more than one copy. It’s naming and renaming files and folders that gets me discombobulated. I have to streamline, or I pull my hair out. I probably took a few sentences out of these paragraphs, because it seems I always write too much and it becomes redundant.
Other works you have published? I have published in online journals and in an anthology called Brewed Awakenings. I have also published other novels and an anthology of short stories. This is a link to my author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-H.-Moore/e/B017GH05T0

Anything you would like to add? I’m currently working on a series of Cozy Mysteries, the Meg Miller Cozy Mystery Series. It’s not the typical cozies. Meg is a widow, retired librarian, who has been inspired by the MeToo movement. She had sexual harassment in her past and recognizes it can change who people are. There is no blood or trauma, however these stories are more socially aware and realistic than most cozies. I’ve completed and published two so far, A Dickens of a Crime, Book One, and Pelican Beach Murder, Book Two. I’m currently working on the third book in the series, Mystery on Inheritance Ranch.

Phyllis H. Moore wants to live life experiences more than once: doing it, writing about it, and reading about it. The atmosphere of the south draws her in and repels her. The characters are rich with dysfunction and redemption, real. She’s had two careers and two retirements. Both careers gave her inspiration for her novels: The Sabine Series, Sabine, Billy’s Story,  Josephine’s Journals and Secrets of Dunn House, Opal’s Story, Tangled, a Southern Gothic Yarn, and The Bright Shawl, Colors of Tender Whispers, The Ember Months, Birdie & Jude, and an anthology of spooky short stories inspired by real places and events, The Bridge on Jackson Road. In 2018 she also released a new genre for her, A Dickens of a Crime, a Meg Miller Cozy Mystery. She has authored one nonfiction book, Retirement, Now What? Phyllis has been published by Caffeinated Press in the anthology, Brewed Awakenings 2, Fifteen Tales to Jolt Your Mind Awake. She blogs on her web site http://www.phyllishmoore.com. Follow her on Pinterest and Facebook.
Phyllis is a retired social worker and former owner and operator of a small bed and breakfast. She’s lived in the rural areas and cities of south Texas. She currently lives on Galveston Island with her husband, Richard.




INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links

001   11 15 2018 Nathaniel Kaine’s
Thriller Novel
John Hunter – The Veteran

002   11 18 2018 Ed Protzzel’s
Futuristic/Mystery/Thriller
The Antiquities Dealer 

003   11 23 2018 Janice Seagraves’s
Science Fiction Romance
Exodus Arcon

004   11 29 2018 Christian Fennell’s
Literary Fiction Novel
The Fiddler in the Night

005  12 02 2018 Jessica Mathews’s
Adult Paranormal Romance
Death Adjacent

006  12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s
Literary Fiction Novel
Ruby the Indomitable

007  12 12 2018  Adair Valerez’s
Literary Fiction Novel
Scrim

008  12 17 218 Kit Frazier’s
Mystery Novel
Dead Copy

009 12 21 2019 Robert Craven’s
Noir/Spy Novel
The Road of a Thousand Tigers

010 01 13 2019 Kristine Goodfellow’s
Contemporary Romantic Fiction
The Other Twin

011 01 17 2019 Nancy J Cohen’s
Cozy Mystery
Trimmed To Death

012 01 20 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
Crime Novel
Second Story Man

013 01 23 2019 Alexis Fancher’s
Flash Fiction
His Full Attention

014 01 27 2019 Brian L Tucker’s
Young Adult/Historical
POKEWEED:  AN ILLUSTRATED NOVELLA

015 01 31 2019 Robin Tidwell’s
Dystopian
Reduced

016 02 07 2019 J.D. Trafford’s
Legal Fiction/Mystery
Little Boy Lost

017 02 08 2019 Paula Shene’s
Young Adult ScieFi/Fantasy/Romance/Adventure
My Quest Begins 

018 02 13 2019 Talia Carner’s
Mainstream Fiction/ Suspense/ Historical
Hotel Moscow

019 02 15 2019 Rick Robinson’s
Multidimensional Fiction
Alligator Alley

020 02 21 2019 LaVerne Thompson’s
Urban Fantasy
The Soul Collectors

021 02 27 2019 Marlon L Fick’s
Post-Colonialist Novel
The Nowhere Man

022 03 02 2019 Carol Johnson’s
Mainstream Novel
Silk And Ashes

023 03 06 2019 Samuel Snoek-Brown’s
Short Story Collection
There Is No Other Way to Worship Them

024 03 08 2019 Marlin Barton’s
Short Story Collection
Pasture Art

025 03 18 2019 Laura Hunter’s
Historical Fiction
Beloved Mother

026 03 21 2019 Maggie Rivers’s
Romance
Magical Mistletoe

027  03 25 2019 Faith Gibson’s
Paranormal Romance
Rafael

028 03 27 2019 Valerie Nieman’s
Tall Tale
To The Bones

029 04 04 2019 Betty Bolte’s
Paranormal Romance
Veiled Visions of Love

030 04 05 2019  Marianne Maili’s
Tragicomedy
Lucy, go see

031 04 10 2019 Gregory Erich Phillips’s
Mainstream Fiction
The Exile


032 04 15 2019 Jason Ament’s
Speculative Fiction
Rabid Dogs

033 04 24 2019 Stephen P. Keirnan’s
Historical Novel
The Baker’s Secret

034 05 01 2019 George Kramer’s
Fantasy
Arcadis: Prophecy Book

035 05 05 2019 Erika Sams’s
Adventure/Fantasy/Romance
Rose of Dance

036 05 07 2019 Mark Wisniewski’s
Literary Fiction
Watch Me Go

037 05 08 2019 Marci Baun’s
Science Fiction/Horror
The Whispering House

038 05 10 2019 Suzanne M. Wolfe’s
Historical Fiction
Murder By Any Name

039 05 12 2019 Edward DeVito’s
Historical/Fantasy
The Woodstock Paradox

040 05 14 2019 Gytha Lodge’s
Literary/Crime
She Lies In Wait

041 05 16 2019 Kari Bovee’s
Historical Fiction/Mystery
Peccadillo At The Palace:  An Annie Oakley Mystery

042 05 20 2019 Annie Seaton’s
Time Travel Romance
Follow Me

043 05 22 2019 Paula Rose Michelson’s
Inspirational Christian Romance
Rosa & Miguel – Love’s Legacy: Prequel to The Naomi
Chronicles

044 05 24 2019 Gracie C McKeever’s
BDMS/Interracial Romance
On The Edge

045 06 03 2019 Micheal Maxwell’s
Mystery
The Soul of Cole

046 06 04 2019 Jeanne Mackin’s
Historical
The Last Collection:  A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and
Coco Chanel

047 06 07 2019 Philip Shirley’s
Suspense/Thriller
The Graceland Conspiracy


048 06 08 2019 Bonnie Kistler’s
Domestic Suspense
The House on Fire

049 06 13 2019 Barbara Taylor Sissel’s
Domestic Suspense/Family Drama
Tell No One

050 06 18 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
Short Story/ Crime Fiction
“No Good Deed” from Down to the River

051 06 19 2019 Rita Dragonette’s
Historical Fiction
The Fourteenth of September

052  06 20 2019 Nona Caspers’s
Literary Novel/Collage
The Fifth Woman


053 06 26 2019 Jeri Westerson’s
Paranormal Romance
Shadows in the Mist

054 06 28 2019 Brian Moreland’s
Horror
The Devil’s Woods

055 06 29 2019
Epic Fantasy
Wings Unseen

056 07 02 2019 Randee Green’s
Mystery Novel
Criminal Misdeeds

057 07 03 2019 Saralyn Ricahrd’s
Mystery Novel
Murder In The One Percent

#058 07 04 2019 Hannah Mary McKinnon’s
Domestic Suspense
Her Secret Son

#059 07 05 2019 Sonia Saikaley’s
Contemporary Women’s Literature
The Allspice Bath

#060 07 09 2019 Olivia Gaines’s
Romance Suspense Serial
Blind Luck

#061 07 11 2019 Anne Raeff’s
Literary Fiction
Winter Kept Us Warm

#062 07 12 2918 Vic Sizemore’s
Literary Fiction-Short Stories
I Love You I’m Leaving

#063 07 13 2019 Deborah Riley Magnus’s
Dark Paranormal Urban Fantasy
THE ORPHANS BOOK ONE:  THE LOST RACE
TRILOGY

#064 07 14 2019 Elizabeth Bell’s
Historical Fiction
NECESSARY SINS

#065 07 15 2019 Lori Baker Martin’s
Literary Novel
BITTER WATER

#066 08 01 2019 Sabine Chennault’s
Historical Novel
THE CORPSMAN’S WIFE

#067 08 02 2019 Margaret Porter’s
Historical Biographical Fiction

BEAUTIFUL INVENTION:  A NOVEL OF HEDY LAMARR

#068 08 04 2019 Hank Phillippi Ryan’s
Suspense
THE MURDER LIST

069 08 08 2019 Diana Y. Paul’s
Literary Mainstream Fiction
THINGS UNSAID

070 08 10 2019 Phyllis H. Moore’s
Women’s Historical Fiction
BIRDIE & JUDE