The Inside Scoop, Day 6

Dear Friend & Loyal Reader:

I cannot believe this launch week is drawing to an end already, although I’d probably be shocked if I added up the word count for this Inside Scoop Series. Here we are on Day 6, and I’m going to talk about something about which I’m very enthusiastic—literary ‘zines.

When I was first drafting Strawberry Moon Mystery and decided that the case would revolve around an accusation of literary theft (like Final Draft, Book 1), I had to figure out the parameters of the case. I had to discover who Bobbie-Ann Alcock was, what genre she wrote, how old she was, and why and how someone would even have the nerve to accuse a prolific and long-career author of plagiarism.

I decided Bobbie-Ann and her accuser, Linda Wood, grew up in the 80s, just as I did. Write what you know. It’s not bad advice. That meant they were in college the same years I was, and I had first-hand experience with a small college literary scene in the second half of that totally awesome decade. It was wonderfully easy to create the backstory that Liv would be investigating. I could almost be there in my mind.

My college, the University of Maine at Farmington, now has a good undergraduate writing degree program, but when I matriculated in 1986, that program did not exist. I took all the writing classes UMF offered: Intro to Poetry Writing, Intro to Fiction Writing, and an Intro to Theater class that wasn’t about playwriting, per se, but I did manage to write one as my big project.

There was an official literary magazine, The Sandy River Review, which came once per semester (it’s still publishing, though only in print once per year now with an online version called The River publishing on a rolling basis.) But the really cool place to see your name in print was this underground literary mag called The Blue Crow.

I wish I had access to my old college boxes, but alas they are back in Maine. I don’t recall the name of the editor who ran the thing my freshman year, but I have this picture of him in my head. I won’t even describe what I’m seeing because I can’t be sure this isn’t a false memory, but as a former Evangelical Christian schoolgirl, I remember being thrilled and a little shocked by some of the cartoons and artwork.

This was a ‘zine, a collection of photocopied pages of poetry, stories, art, photos, and hand-drawn comics, all stapled together under a colored-paper photocopied cover, hand-drawn and illustrated, usually by the editor. Somehow these ‘zines were distributed around campus. I don’t even know when or where I picked one up, but it was probably in a stack at the Student Center. All I knew was that a) I wanted to be a writer and b) this was where I could possibly get a start.

I remember submitting a poem and wondering what would happen, not knowing until the next edition came out, picking up the mag from the pile and scanning the contents page. The thrill of seeing my name in print for the first time! Wow!

Eventually I had pieces published in The Sandy River Review, as well, plus in one memorable semester, my short fiction piece was selected by my Intro to Fiction professor to appear in Thunder Eggs: The Best of Student Writing Across the Curriculum. (I suspect NOW that “The Hat” was chosen partly because it was a very short story of only a few pages. It wouldn’t take up much room, lol.)

But I also hope it showed some promise. I’m grateful to my creative writing professor, Patricia O’Donnell, for encouraging me when I was at that vulnerable beginner stage. And to my poetry professor, Marianne Baruch, who memorably wrote on my final collection project that if I didn’t keep writing poetry she’d “cloud up and rain on me.”

Dear Professor Baruch, I’m kinda’ damp, but I do write the occasional haiku.

So, when it came time for me to write about Bobbie-Ann Alcock and Linda Wood, two first-year students involved in the literary community at Barnes College, a fictional “little Ivy” in Lewiston, Maine, I drew on this experience.

I was lucky at UMF. I found another writer who lived down the hall in my dorm, and we read each others’ work and encouraged each other. Get this: WE STILL DO.

Yes, forty years later and my friend Mary Ann and I still read each others’ draft, give each other feedback, and encourage each other to continue on this writing journey.

Unlike Bobbie-Ann and Linda.

For their relationship, I basically took this friendship Mary Ann and I had in college as inspiration and, well, went in another direction. I don’t want to spoil the story, but the word “frenemies” is in the tagline.

Over the course of the story, Liv has to ferret out their history herself. Bobbie-Ann might be an unreliable client (Liv isn’t quite sure). Or maybe she’s completely sincere? She’s a smooth one, that Bobbie-Ann.

And because Liv’s conducting a background check on Linda Wood, she can’t actually contact or talk to her because P.I. rules, and in this way Linda’s and Bobbie-Ann’s story is gradually revealed from every source but their own two sets of lips!

As I wrote this story, I have to admit I fell in love with the whole concept. I also love the idea of Bobbie-Ann’s Sexy Psychopath series and wish I had the guts, time, and ability to write that first book under my fictional character’s name.

Maybe someday I’ll find a horror-writer collaborator who will write it so I don’t have to.

The cool thing about the 80s and 90s ‘zines were the hand-crafted, Xeroxed, art-and lit-student vibe of the publications. I’ve heard they are making a little bit of a comeback now. Anything that gets us off our devices deserves more attention. Some libraries have ‘zine sections/collections.

Teachers of students of all ages are likely to introduce ‘zines as a fun project in their classrooms. I really think we should bring this art form back in a big way. Folding the paper for these mini-zines is half the fun!

You’ve stuck with me this far, so what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? I’m considering creating a video newsletter as an experiment, basically wrapping up the week and reporting on how things went for me in the indie-pubbing sphere. But if the tech gets wonky on me, I’ll just talk about in writing.

Thank you to everyone who has written emails back to me and/or left nice comments here on the ‘Stack. It’s uplifting to know I’m not whispering into a void. If you’ve read the novella, I’d love to hear what you think. (Also, leave a rate/review on Amazon, if you can.)

Thank you, dear lovely readers. Have a great day/night.

If you haven’t caught your own copy of Strawberry Moon Mystery yet, click the link to Amazon below the graphic.

Buy for $1.99 on Amazon