The Istoriaphile’s Corner

If you hang out with writers or writer wannabes for any length of time, you’ll hear them talk about Voice.  They mention the word with awe and respect, like the Voice is Gandhi’s or Caruso’s or God’s (a Voice, according to the clergy and Kevin Smith, that would literally Blow. Your. Mind.) and every writer wants one.  A strong narrative voice.  A recognizable voice.  An exciting voice.  You might think that all these adjectives had made the word-nerds squishy-brained but the fact is Voice is often the hook that pulls a reader into a story.  For example:  Listen my children and you will hear-Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.Hear those fourteen words again and suddenly you are a kid again, curled up with some pals by a wing chair  because the storyteller in the center has promised you tales of derring-do. Fourteen words and the narrator’s in charge.   That, my friends, is Voice. All of this is build-up for a novel I just finished called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  My mentor, Javacia Harris Bowser (she of Writeous Babe fame) mentioned it as a topic for research but scanning it for data brought to light a…