Hi Readers, I am on vacation this week , so look for my next post on Friday, September 7. See you then! BH  

This week I have continued reading  Barbara Pym's novel Crampton Hodnet, finding passages that amuse me and noting her techniques for creating her signature humor, so wry and satisfying. 4. Barbara Pym lets her characters ponder and philosophize, but when they start taking themselves too seriously, she slips in some prosaic details (gleaned no doubt from a … Continue reading THE FRIDAY FIVE HUNDRED: WHAT’S SO FUNNY? Part 3

Continuing my list of thoughts on how Barbara Pym creates satisfying, wry humor in her novels: 3. She takes her time in sharing the details of her characters' mundane thoughts, so that I see myself in their musings and chuckle (or laugh out loud) with recognition. An example: In one of the early chapters o Crampton … Continue reading THE FRIDAY FIVE HUNDRED: WHAT’S SO FUNNY? Part 2

I like novels that make me laugh. Very few do. Writing humor is difficult, even though readers may imagine that being funny is easier than being important, weighty, and ponderous. The novels of Barbara Pym make me laugh, often out loud, and when writing Always Gardenia I wanted to emulate her wry humor (I know, hubris!). … Continue reading THE FRIDAY FIVE HUNDRED: WHAT’S SO FUNNY? Part I

“In cheerful, lively prose that pays homage to the novels of Barbara Pym,  Always Gardenia skewers and celebrates middle-aged romance, English department intrigues, competitive mothering, brunch, and drum dancing. Betsy Hanson has a capacious heart:  Her characters maintain their dignity despite the degradations of living beyond the flush of youth, among friends who outdo them but are too kind to say so. Every hurt, tentative pleasure, and human foible sparkles with authorial precision. The laughable is also tender for being absolutely true.” — Kathleen Flenniken, 2012-2014 Washington State Poet Laureate

While writing and revising Always Gardenia, I learned some tricks of the prose trade: 1. Watch out for filter words. Not this: "She saw the gray clouds looming above the mountain." "He heard the church bells pealing." "He felt the raw wind blowing against his face." "He noticed the boy's grin." "She watched the crows attacking the soaring eagle." Instead, this: … Continue reading THE FRIDAY FIVE HUNDRED: THREE CRAFT TIPS