Gay Yellen: Back to the Big Easy

 

I am writing this from my hotel room in New Orleans, under the spell of memories from the past. In this city, where I spent three of my four college years, my visit has filled me with nostalgia and a sudden sharp awareness of unintended consequences.

Barely a month into my freshman year, I happened to notice a call for auditions for The Fantasticks, a musical I adored, on an obscure bulletin board. Luckily, there was still time for me to try out, so I screwed my courage to the sticking place, took my shot, and got the part. And from that moment, my future was sealed. I changed my major from English to Theater and never looked back.

I'm here today to attend the wedding of a child of a college friend, the one who had played my father in The Fantasticks those many years ago. As my friend prepares to hand over his son's welfare to the lovely bride, I hark back to that play, in which the fathers of two young lovers fret over their children's future.

After the marriage ceremony, in a toast to the bride and groom, my friend spoke about how unintended consequences had brought the young couple and all of us together for the joyous occasion. In essence, he said that, if he and I had never met, and if I had not subsequently married a man who, at his own alma mater, had wholeheartedly supported the campus club where the young couple met, their knowing one another—and thus their wedding—might never have happened.

Later, when my goosebumps subsided, as we gaily marched down the street behind the happy couple in a jazz band "second line," I harked back even further, to the what if's of the past. How do any of us end up to be the people we are, circumscribed by the mates and friends and places that define our lives? And who would we have become if the path had shifted even slightly?

As my mind slides from the sublime celebration that took place only hours ago to my everyday task at hand—finishing the third book in the Samantha Newman Mystery Series—I'm still feeling the impact of my friend's comment about unintended consequences. As an author, I face fateful choices every day for my main character. Will she? Won't she? Should she? Would she? It's a constant inner dialogue as I decide Samantha's future.

And yet, in real life, do we ever give those unintended consequences a second thought?

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning

Samantha Newman Mysteries including

The Body Business,

The Body Next Door

(available on Amazon)

Coming in 2022,

The Body in the News! 

Gay Yellen: Writing a novel is like...

How do you describe what writing a novel is like? Here's E.L. Doctorow's version:

Some say writing is similar to riding a bike: you start out slow and wobbly, but then you get the hang of it. I take issue with that one. Writing my first book was a breeze compared to my third. So for me, writing is definitely not like sailing gleefully down the street on a two-wheeler. Another author likened it to making a puzzle: you create the pieces—characters, setting, plot, etc.—then fit them together in a complete story, thus solving the puzzle, too. There's something to that, I suppose. I feel a touch of joy in simply working on a manuscript, even when my own puzzle has me stumped, until the moment when the pieces fall into place.

Here's what one of today's most popular writers says:

I agree with all of the above, except the bike analogy, because even now, on some days, it feels like I have completely forgotten how to write.

 

How about you, Gang? What's writing like for you?

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning

Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:

The Body Business,

The Body Next Door

(available on Amazon)

...and, coming soon in 2022:

Body in the News

Gay Yellen: Rubber Duckies

 Ever been to a duck race? It's fun and inspiring.

Last weekend, thousands of rubber duckies were dumped off a downtown bridge into Buffalo Bayou, the main waterway that flows eastward through the Port of Houston to the Gulf of Mexico.

...and they're off!

What's more fun on a sunny day than a family-friendly outing that's also a fundraiser for a good cause? This year, all proceeds for the event went to the Play it Forward Fund at AFAtexas.org. This marvelous group touches the lives of thousands of kids during the school year and in summer by providing music education for those who might otherwise have none, given our tight public school budgets these days.

Everyone near and far was invited to "adopt" a duck for $5, or simply come to the race and enjoy the music performed by AFA students, whose outstanding musicianship at such young ages is truly remarkable.

From the moment the ducks hit the water, the suspense built as the crowd tracked their progress downstream to the finish line. Adopters whose ducks finished ahead of the flock won great prizes that were donated by generous sponsors. The luckiest duck won $2,500 cash from a local bank. 

The Master of Ceremonies was Len Cannon, a very popular news anchor here. I had the pleasure of assisting him as he called the race, charmed the crowd, and interviewed delightful young AFA musicians.

Those who've read The Body Next Door, Book 2 in my Samantha Newman Mystery Series, may recognize AFA's Play it Forward Fund. It was the inspiration for Let the Children Play, the fictional foundation created by Carter Chapman, Samantha's mysterious love interest. It's one of several scenes in my books where fiction meets real life.

This particular real-life group inspires me beyond my writing. It's a reminder that there are infinite ways we each can help enrich the lives of children. Houston's Bayou City Duck Race is just one of them. Here's hoping you've found a worthy cause or two in your own hometown to support.

Best of wishes to each and every one of you for

a Very Ducky Thanksgiving!

       

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries, including

The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the soon to be released Body in the News.