Author: Peter

Here’s a little taste of my upcoming book (which I’m planning to have ready in September!). Enjoy:

Incarnation (excerpt)

Lucy’s grandfather, Vladimir Lubczyk, was a Ukranian who had fled from ever-decaying conditions in Stalin’s USSR to nearly as bad conditions in Mussolini’s Italy. The year he spent in a small port town on the Adriatic provided him two valuable assets: a passable knowledge of Italian and connections with people who had connections in America. He made his way to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn in 1939 with two buddies who worked the docks with him; they were slipping out just before the realities of war began spreading beyond Italy’s urban areas.

Vlad’s Italian, albeit with an accent, and his paisan’ traveling buddies granted him welcome in the tightly knit Italian immigrant longshoreman community that served Brooklyn’s bustling docks. He met his boss-to-be over grappa at Francesco Trattoria the weekend he arrived in town and impressed him by drinking half the regulars under the table. That Monday, Vlad was unloading raw materials from an African freighter for nearby parts manufacturers. Continue reading “Incarnation (a sneak peak!)”

Ibsen used to say, about writing plays, that in the first draft your characters are strangers. In the second draft they are friends, and by the third they are close family.

– Charles Harris, from 9 Steps to Writing Dialogue with Rich Subtext.

Charles Harris has a lovely piece on writing dialogue that has subtext. I always liked my dialog, so I’m going to have to try his guidance on and see if I can add some more depth! The quote above really inspired me.