The Mysterious Pseudonymous Bosch – Teller of Secrets

The guest author at the most recent Writer2Writer meeting was Pseudonymous Bosch, author of the best selling “Secret” series. His talk was fun, entertaining and enlightening. His appearance as himself was a special honor to us, as fellow writers, as he usually wears disguises with his fans (who are delighted by the mysterious persona which goes with his ‘secret’ books).

Books with mysteries lend themselves to anonymous writers. He told us that for the first three years after the series began he was Google-proof—now he’s on Wikipedia. In the spirit of anonymity, however, those who photographed him at our event decided to continue the mystery—as you see in the accompanying photo.

The story of how the former screenwriter came to write his first children’s book was particularly interesting. He had volunteered to be a writing partner to a 4th grader in a Santa Monica school. The project was meant to stimulate and encourage kids to be creative. His young writing partner was very creative and sent him stories, poems and cartoons. Bosch sent his partner a series of installments which would become the first in his series of five books: The Name of this Book is Secret.

Though his publisher gave him the star treatment from the start --a website and a book tour—(book tours really do exist?) he said word of mouth is what made the books so successful. It’s important to Bosch that his books not be categorized as a ‘boy book’ or a ‘girl book’. As a child he secretly enjoyed Louisa May Alcott books and Nancy Drew as well as so-called boy books, and he didn’t want the marketing of his books to be limiting. Most of his fan mail comes from girls, but that also reflects the reading public percentages. Girls are more likely to be readers and to write to authors, but he has devoted boy fans, as well. His favorite emails are along the lines of “I didn’t like to read until I read your books.”

Bosch is very conscious of making books as much fun as possible. He also has to be careful to get the details correct as ‘kids catch discrepancies.’ They consider that he’s writing for them, and nag him to write faster.
Bosch admits he has ‘the writing habits of a neurotic poet’ and would happily spend a week worrying over a simple sentence!

Luckily for his many fans, his fifth book You Have to Stop This will be out in the fall.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

Writers are often asked the question: “Where do you get your ideas?”  My answer is -- everywhere!

I just attended a yearly genealogical conference in my area and again found not just genealogical help, but inspiration for my writing. Genealogy is, after all, made up of the stories of past families, and families’ lives are made up of many stories.

I always find the workshops of ‘Photo Detective’ Maureen Taylor compelling. She is an expert on the ‘intersection of history, genealogy and photography’, specializing in preserving, dating and identifying photographs and the subjects in them. The Smithsonian asked her to choose a photograph from their vast collection to analyze and write about. Her choice was a copy of a daguerreotype taken in 1839 or ’40 (the original had been damaged during an attempt at restoration). It shows a well dressed lovely young woman in a flower trimmed bonnet. The young woman was Dorothy Catherine Draper, who was photographed by her brother John W. Draper on the rooftop of New York University. He made the camera himself out of a cigar box within months of Louis Jacques Daguerre’s invention of that process of photography. Her face was powdered with flour in order to accentuate contrasts in the photograph. The likeness of Dorothy Catherine is now considered to be possibly the first family photo.


I found the story of the young woman in the picture to be intriguing. I had found nothing about her when I was researching my book about a female painter in the 1830s but apparently Dorothy Catherine Draper was well known in the 19th century. She was an independent and industrious woman who, in England and America, supported her mother, sisters, brother and his family by teaching art. She put her brother through medical school at a time when it was difficult for women to have careers, and she appears to have been quite successful in that career. Her brother went on to be an eminent scientist, educator and writer.

There are many such stories to be unearthed in the genealogical records of families—a treasure trove of ideas for writers.

Research at the Renaissance Faire

The 49th annual Southern California Renaissance Faire has just ended.

The amazingly talented couple who started the faire in the 1960’s were Phyllis and Ron Patterson. Phyllis was a teacher and Ron an artist (he recently passed away). Authenticity was at the top of their list of priorities for the faire all the years they were in charge, sometimes to the chagrin of the artisans and participants, but as faire-goers we always appreciated the details and choices the Pattersons had made that enabled us to feel that when we parked our cars on the chamomile-scented hillside we were stepping back into the 16th century. Such immersion in what feels so like Elizabethan England is a joy for those of us who enjoy historical fiction (or non-fiction) or just like to step away from modern life.

My sister and I have visited or worked there every year for more years than I choose to tell. It’s changed a lot since its early days in the oak covered Agoura hills. But in some ways it’s wonderfully the same, especially in the many friends we’ve made there: the crafts people and artists who really are the faire to us. It has also always been a wonderful source of inspiration for me, as a writer, an illustrator and a painter.

In such a setting there is, for an artist, an abundance of images to sketch or photograph for future reference, and this year I continued to supplement my large collection of reference views of costumes and accouterments, which in some cases are faithfully-reproduced examples of life in the 16th century. I took several photos of back views of costumes this year, as sometimes those costume references are not available. I’m currently working on illustrations for which all these years of joyful research are especially useful.

Huzzah for the Renaissance Faire!

Charlotte Bronte, Artist

I recently saw the new film version of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and enjoyed seeing Jane hard at work on her sketches throughout the movie. I was reminded that all the creative Bronte siblings—Emily, Anne, Branwell and Charlotte—drew and painted as well as writing stories and poetry. The girls would have studied drawing and painting as part of the ‘womanly virtues’ ladies of that period were expected to be competent at in order to be good wives or governesses. I researched that aspect of women’s lives when I was writing my book about a girl painter set in the same time period the Bronte girls were young. Girls’ paintings were genteel accomplishments. The instruction usually involved copying famous works of art.

Charlotte's portrait of her sister, Anne

Charlotte was serious in her desire to be a professional artist. She also drew from life, which she realized was required to become an accomplished artist. Of the Bronte siblings, only Charlotte and Branwell would exhibit their work. But later, in response to her editor’s request that she illustrate the second edition of Jane Eyre, Charlotte wrote:


“I have in my day, wasted a certain quantity of Bristol board and drawing paper, crayons and cakes of color, but when I examine the contents of my portfolio now it seems as if during the years it has been lying closed some fairy has changed what I once thought sterling coin into dry leaves, and I feel much inclined to consign the whole collection to the fire.”



How many painters and illustrators have felt a similar discouragement at times? But how interesting it would be to see how Charlotte would have illustrated Jane Eyre! Apparently she had decided, however, that she did not have the originality to be a professional artist but could instead use her artist’s eye and imagination in her writing. I‘ve always found it an interesting aspect of Jane Eyre that Charlotte gave her heroine artistic ability, having her carry her sketch book around with her. And she described at great length Jane sketching the fascinating Mr. Rochester—beginning with how Jane “had traced on the paper a broad and prominent forehead and a square lower outline of visage….” She detailed the process, feature by feature. "Now for the eyes:  I had left them to the last, because they required the most careful working." Throughout the book she used painterly terms, very visual descriptions and even the names of artists’ colors to help her bring the scenes of her book to life.

Luckily some of Charlotte’s art has survived. I always enjoy seeing the artwork of esteemed writers who are not widely known for their visual art. There are actually quite a few!