Nickel and Dimed
In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich, a successful writer and social critic was challenged by her editor to enter the low-wage workforce, much like an undercover agent, to investigate how people survive on low-wage incomes. She was inspired in part by the talk surrounding welfare reform, which promised any job can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on minimum wage? During this social experiment, Barbara sought out work as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aid, and a Walmart clerk. She ate cheap fast foods, lived in rusty trailer homes and old motels, seeking to survive the best she could on her low wage earnings.
New York Times Bestseller, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich is a true story and one that is close to my heart because most of my past employment was in the low-wage service industry. My first real job was working for less than minimum wage as a motel maid (the underage wage). For several years following, I worked at motels, hotels, as a janitress, a cook, and later in private housekeeping. I have worked as a busgirl in a casino restaurant for less than minimum wage because of supposed tip earning, wage, which at the end of the day still amounted to less than minimum wage.
But with all of that, I can understand and empathize how hard some people work to survive as Barbara found out during her time spent in the “unskilled” labor market. Not only did she discover the real struggles that millions of low-income Americans face each day, she soon discovered that no job is truly “unskilled” and that even the lowliest occupation usually requires a great deal of mental and physical stamina.
I found this book to be an engaging read, filled with insight and understanding, grace and wit, and with the strong message as to why things need to change (better wages and working conditions).
The back cover sums it up:
Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity — a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich’s perspective and for a rare view of how “prosperity” looks from the bottom. You will never see anything — from a motel bathroom to a restaurant meal — in quite the same way again.
Liverwurst Sandwiches on Mars
Liverwurst Sandwiches on Mars?
One of my favorite science fiction novels is by author Ray Bradbury. “The Martian Chronicles” was published in 1950—his collection of stories about the first human expeditions to Mars.
In Bradbury’s book, he writes about the colonization of Mars beginning in 1999. Part of the low-tech charm of this book for me is his 1950s view into the future.
The Martian Chronicles is a story about people and their passions, and the incredible beauty and terror they face while discovering a new world. Many of the tales are timeless and familiar to the human experience, which Bradbury develops in a sometimes eerie, sometimes humorous, and in an often poetic prose.
FEBRUARY 2002: The LOCUSTS
The rockets set the bony meadows afire, turned rock to lava, turned wood to charcoal, transmitted water to steam, made sand and silica into green glass which lay like shattered mirrors reflecting the invasion, all about. The rockets came like drums, beating in the night. The rockets came like locusts, swarming and settling in blooms of rosy smoke. And from the rockets ran men with hammers in their hands to beat the strange world into a shape that was familiar to the eye, to bludgeon away all the strangeness., their mouths fringed with nails so they resembled steel-toothed carnivores, spitting them into their swift hands as they hammered up frame cottages and scuttled over roofs with shingles to blot out the eerie stars, and fit green shades to pull against the night. And when the carpenters had hurried on the women came in with flower-pots and chintz and pans and set up a kitchen clamor to cover the silence that Mars made waiting outside the door and the shaded window. . .
And Liverwurst sandwiches?
APRIL 2003: THE MUSICIANS
The boys would hike far out into the Martian country. They carried odorous bags into which from time to time upon the long walk they would insert their noses to inhale the rich smell of ham and mayonnaised pickles, and to listen to the liquid gurgle of the orange soda in the warming bottles. Swinging their grocery bags full of clean watery green onions and odorous liverwurst and red catsup and white bread, they would dare each other on past the limits set by their stern mothers . . .
At the end of my 1960s edition of “The Martian Chronicles”, Bantam Books wrote a blurb about science fiction, which I found comical and, again, dated. It reads: SCIENCE FICTION: It can be so great that it can almost drive you right out of your mind. It can be so horrifying that the memory of it will linger long into the night. It can be so nightmarishly, ghoulishly humorous that your laughter seems like a cry from hell!
On his death in 2012, The New York Times called Bradbury “the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream. So in honor of Ray Bradbury, and for the fun of it, I am throwing in a twist of sci-fi into my next cozy mystery novel (the sequel to Bon Voyage, my Love: Ticket to a Mixed Plate Paradise). Stay tuned. . .
www.zeehuxley.com
FREE Writing!
“Free writing” is a technique that helps frees up the creative writing process.
Natalie Goldberg is the author of “Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within” a book that broke open the world of creativity and started a revolution in the way we practice writing.
Many have asked where I get the ideas for my stories. Truthfully, I discover most of my stories while free-writing. Sometimes I have a rough idea of what my story will be about, but I rarely use a solid outline. I just start at the beginning and let the story flow. People, names, personalities, and places seem to magically appear and develop as the story goes on. For me, it’s like sitting back and watching a movie. My first cozy mystery novel “Bon Voyage My Love: Ticket to a Mixed Plate Paradise” began as a free write.
With the free writing technique, you are allowed to write with carefree abandon and without any worries about spelling, punctuation, or what other people might think. In other words, don’t fret, edit, or get hung up on anything until you have explored your storyline. This writing technique is usually practiced for a set period of time, anywhere from 5-30 minutes (set a timer). If you don’t have a theme to work from, write a handful of random words on scraps of paper (person, place, article of clothing, color, etc.) throw them in a hat and pick a few. Now, write a story based on those words. Or turn a page in a book or magazine and select a random group of words or a sentence to start. You can also use pictures out of books and magazines to prime your imagination.
Much, too, has been written about the therapeutic benefits of writing by keeping a personal journal. Free flowing self-expression cannot only help the creative process but also the process of working through emotional difficulties and discovering new ways to deal with problems. Your subconscious mind holds the key. So try the free writing technique and set it free!
The ESP of Writing
Books are like magic in the sense that through a group of words, sometimes even a short sentence or two, a writer can project an image and carry the reader to a different time or place.
But a meaningful character description reaches somewhere beyond the physical realm. It is a momentary glimpse into a person’s soul. Stephen King describes this type of description in his book “Stephen King on Writing” as something akin to ESP. This is the subtle art of a writer who can project an image into the reader’s mind without stating a detailed physical description of a character or place.
A good example of this type of writing is from favorite writer Eleanor Lincoln Morse. In her book “An Unexpected Forest” she describes, in a few short lines, a woman’s “soulful appearance” through the eyes of her main character, Horace.
~~~
Ripley’s campground was on the edge of a shallow river not far from Horace’s house. He and Bob drove through the gate and stopped at a log cabin. A woman in high heels came to the front porch. “I’m here to try out my new tent,” said Horace getting out of the truck. Why would she want to know this? He saw that she didn’t. She had the face like someone who’s been sitting in a laundromat too long, watching clothes tumble in a dryer.
This description speaks to me of a woman whose life has been caught up in a never-ending cycle of unhappy circumstances, and she’s grown weary to the point of losing hope.
A few paragraphs later Horace continues with his observation of the woman.
How did you end up here? He wanted to ask. This wasn’t where your life was going when it started out. It took a wrong turn somewhere. Her high heels were covered with dust.
From these few sentences, we learn much about the woman and about Horace, too.
Horace is an empath. His observations of the woman give us the sense that he feels empathy for her plight in life.
“Her high heels were covered in dust.” To me, this is a haunting statement. This woman has dust on her shoes. Who wears high heels at a campground? Maybe she has run away or is escaping from something in her past? Obviously, she is someone who is out of place in an outdoorsy environment. Does she have a job elsewhere? Are her shoes dusty with age or a dying remnant of another life that she still clings to?
Could you feel this woman’s presence or, perhaps, see a picture of her in your mind’s eye without reading her physical description? I wonder how many of us saw an image of the same woman?
An Unexpected Forest by Eleanor Lincoln Morse
A soulful, well-crafted story about a handful of mismatched (unexpected) people, who come together on a journey of discovery and change.
Me and Stephen King
Stephen King and I have little in common as far as our writing genres go. I have never been a fan of horror stories or movies—too scary! But I did become a fan of Stephen King after reading his book: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
While I’m still not a fan of horror stories, I do understand now (from a Stephen King point of view), how and why he chose the writing direction he did. I also appreciate the way his book “On Writing” describes the process of writing in a non-academic and often humorous way. This autobiography/writing and editing guide gave me an entirely different view into the Stephen King psyche. I would recommend this book to readers and writers alike, whether you are a fan of horror stories or not.
So in honor of Stephen King, I am “taking a stab” at my first horror story.
The Wrong Suitcase
The newly built townhouse complex sat in the middle of a vast sunbaked flatland, a land void of color–the buildings painted in nondescript shades of drab. The only landscaping in sight was the claustrophobic patch of lawn between our sliding glass door and the tall wooden fence behind—just enough room for a couple of lawn chairs and nothing more.
Thank goodness it was a temporary stopover, or so we were told. My parents had always been secretive about these sorts of things, and we had learned over the years that it was better not to ask. Why, pray tell, would us kids want to know anything that could possibly affect our future and well-being? But even at the young age of fourteen, I assumed it had something to do with finances.
The heat that summer, along with the embarrassing sounds coming from the adjoining neighbors, crept into my upstairs room. But what sold it for me was the view, especially at night when the shadowy light fell on the dump behind the old suitcase factory, revealing a pile of rejected suitcases with nothing inside.
Now, I ‘d like to tell you that I didn’t climb the fence that summer. That I didn’t steal that one lone suitcase from the edge of the pile. That I didn’t open it. That I didn’t find what was lurking inside.
Okay, I’m beginning to scare myself.
P.S. The above is based on a true story.
Spreading the Word
Being a newly published author, I have read volumes on how to promote my book through social media, etcetera. Some of these ideas I have put into practice—some I have not. Since I only have so much time, I try to choose the avenues that I enjoy the most.
I have just finished my third Goodreads book giveaway. This has been an exciting and productive way to promote my new novel since many people have placed my book in their “want to read” section after viewing it on my giveaway. I am also excited to see that I now have 22 followers on Goodreads!
One article mentioned Pinterest as a site to help authors promote their books. Captioning images with excerpts from my book was a fun project. Check it out. Zee Huxley’s page on PINTEREST.
By the way, my book is featured on my website www.zeehuxley.com with easy links to purchase it through Amazon. And it’s FREE if you have Kindle unlimited! (Now, how’s that for a little self-promotion?)
But truly this journey is not about making book sales. It’s about sharing stories. Most of my books, so far, have gone out as gifts to family and friends. And this has created a lot of interesting dialog between us. My biggest compliments so far have been that my storyline is easy to visualize and fun to read. Those who have read my offbeat cozy mystery novel, Bon Voyage, My Love: Ticket to a Mixed Plate Paradise, feel as if they have taken a vacation and traveled with my heroine to the remote tropical island of Katoonga.
I also read somewhere that photos of animals grab more attention than photos of humans. So to test the theory I’ve decided to use my friend Suki for my bio photo. She is currently assisting me with my new book, (the sequel to the above) and helping me with this weekly blog. So far I have found her to be a loyal audience and a great listener too. (Note the big ears.)
