Deep Survival -- Which Story Lives, Which Dies, and Why

Loreth gets dirt time learning to mantrack.

Please join us in welcoming Loreth Anne White, author of ten novels for Silhouette. For readers who haven't checked out her latest book, you're in for a treat! Her newest series, WILD COUNTRY all take place north of 60, in the last frontier of the very harshest terrain and weather. What would it take for the characters to survive in such a setting? This Canadian author is going to give you a little peek into how she develop heroes/heroines strong enough to thrive, while human enough to fall in love. . . .

Thank you so much RWTD for inviting me here! It’s a pleasure to cruise with you all, top down.

I’ve decided to float my new writing tool here today, and would love to know what you think. If you stick with me, I’ll be giving it away, too.

In setting out to write MANHUNTER, my November ’08 release for Silhouette Romantic Suspense, I found myself once again turning to an all-time favorite book I discovered while researching an earlier project – DEEP SURVIVAL, WHO LIVES, WHO DIES, AND WHY, by Laurence Gonzales – and it struck me that while this book is about the universal stages a human needs to work through in order to survive against impossible odds, those stages also mirror the journey faced by our fictional heroes and heroines as they battle though the increasing conflict in a novel towards their own happy end, their own resolution, their own survival. Against impossible odds and villains.


firing a .3.3 as a mountie watches


Turns out my best writing book is not a writing book at all, but one about why people die. Or don’t. Because to survive in situations where most others will fail, our protagonists must essentially reach those same emotional benchmarks that Gonzales outlines in his book. And our protagonists must possess those same qualities inherent in a true survivor. They are what makes a hero.

For over three decades Gonzales, a journalist, had reporting on accidents, outdoor recreation accidents in particular. And in an effort to understand why some people lived, while others died, he found “an eerie uniformity” in the way people survive against seemingly impossible circumstances.

In his words, from his website: “Decades and sometimes centuries apart, separated by culture, geography, race, language, and tradition, the most successful survivors – those who practice what I call “deep survival” – go through the same patterns of thought and behavior, the same transformation and spiritual discovery, in the course of keeping themselves alive. Not only that but it doesn't seem to matter whether they are surviving being lost in the wilderness or battling cancer, whether they're struggling through divorce or facing a business catastrophe – the strategies remain the same.”

He goes on to say that: “Survival should be thought of as a journey, a vision quest of the sort that native Americans have had as a rite of passage for thousands of years. Once you're past the precipitating event – you're cast away at sea, or told you have cancer – you have been enrolled in one of the oldest schools in history. Here are a few things I've learned that can help you pass the final exam …”

Each incredible tale of survival that follows in Gonzales’ book is a story worth reading in itself, because whether lost at sea, or battling cancer, or trying to descend 12-thousand feet cliffs of ice in a wrap-around skirt with no underwear and a broken arm, they’re the stories of heroes and heroines who start out reluctant participants in their own adventure, but they must leave their ordinary worlds behind them, and answer that call to action (a la Joseph Campbell in his HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES) if they are to live. And find a happy resolution.


learning how to snug up to a shotgun


I’m not going to bog the blog down by working through the survival phases here, but suffice to say the book is worth reading, and the writing superb. However, for a quickie crash course in what it takes to live while others die, Gonzales does offer 12 tips here. He notes that no matter the disaster a survivor will need to work quickly through a range of initial emotions from denial of the situation, to anger, to bargaining, depression, and acceptance (very much like the stages described by Elizabeth Kubler Ross in her book ON DEATH AND DYING). And once a survivor/hero, has accepted that no deus ex machina is going to pluck him (or her) to safety, he must devise a strategy to get himself out. And so, we have story. A hero’s journey. A lesson in survival, and hope.

Qualities needed to survive might be surprising to some. They include the ability to use fear, and not be ruled by it. And to manage pain. A survivor will also need to tap into humor, and see spiritual beauty around him in spite of the life-and-death stakes. Interestingly, humility is also a survival quality. Because too much confidence (or too little fear) can get one killed – see what Gonzales says about “Rambo types” – the Navy Seals and Army Rangers who don’t always make good survival material. A survivor must also be prepared to do whatever is necessary, and to never, ever, give up while there is still life.

Most interesting to me is Gonzales’ find that usually someone lives because they are doing it for someone else. For love. For that family member waiting for them to come home.

But more than anything his work drives home to me that a good story – a story worth hearing and re-telling -- is essentially the rhythm of survival. And a good hero or heroine must journey through those phases to get to the happy end.

I suspect it’s why story has always resonated with us, whether told by a wild-eyed sangoma around dancing flame, or on the pages of a book, or stage, or silver screen. And as author Toni McGee Causey pointed out in her moving post here, its why we read. It’s why we write. Because it offers hope.

What do you think? Is this how you see story? Or not? And, just for fun, and because romantic suspense/adventure is my first love, what is that you love most about a good romantic suspense read? And, is there anything you’d like to see in a romantic suspense/adventure novel that you are just not finding at the moment? Please post a comment for a chance to win a singed copy of MANHUNTER. And because I love Gonzales’ book so much and find his lessons so valuable – both in writing and in life – and because I want to do my bit to save the publishing industry this season, I will also be giving away a shiny new copy of DEEP SURVIVAL – WHO LIVES, WHO DIES, AND WHY.

Have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season all!