And now on with my search to understand Amy Bloom’s Away and to see what others think. Maybe I’ll start with the stuff that’s easiest to find about what people make of the book – book reviews. I’ve already cited Publishers Weekly and The New York Times. Let’s take a closer look at those sources and then check out some other sources…
First look for reviews – I Googled “Amy Bloom Away Book Reviews.” First one up with the NPR review by Maureen Corrigan – so I get to listen rather than read. Corrigan starts by telling me two things that I didn’t know and/or think of myself:
1. she compare it to Toni Morrison’s Beloved, from the one word title to the use of a real woman’s story as a basis;
2. that is the 2nd thing, i.e. I didn’t know there was a real-world model for Lillian.
Corrigan calls it a female on-the-road novel, which I would agree with. It is very much about a journey.She then mostly continues on with the Beloved comparison and thinks it pales in comparison, including what she derides as its “multi-culti chorus line of clichéd characters…” I see what she means, but I think I found those characters more charming than did Corrigan...
Ok, onward in the reviews search… Next I find something that looks very handy, something I’ve actually been searching for – a compendium of reviews at http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/ - this site seems to list all the reviews a book received and link to them. There’s The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, newspapers from Seattle, Pittsburgh, Boston, and more, magazines such as Entertainment Weekly… Ok, I’ve got some reading to do…
Monday, August 4, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Away to Amy Bloom!
I just finished reading a new book by the author Amy Bloom, called Away.
First, a little background:
Amy Bloom is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and she has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and many other publications. She is trained as a psychotherapist, lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University.
Amy Bloom first attracted readers’ attention in 1993 with the publication of her story collection Come to Me, a finalist for the National Book Award about which the New York Times says: “Her voice is sure and brisk, her language often beautiful; the result is humorous as well as heartrending fiction.”
Oh, look – and here’s something else I recently learned about Amy Bloom – she recently got married! Mazel tov, Amy!
Bloom’s latest bestseller is Away. Set in the Roaring 1920s, Away is told through the eyes of Lillian Leyb, a courageous and beautiful Jewish woman who embarks on a n odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska to be reunited with the daughter she believed she lost in Russia. Publishers Weekly says: “Bloom’s tale offers linguistic twists, startling imagery, sharp wit and a compelling vision of the past. Bloom has created an extraordinary range of characters, settings and emotions.”
Anyway, I finished reading the book, and in thinking it over I thought “this book is brilliant.” It wasn’t always an easy read, wasn’t always the kind of book that you can’t put down or can’t wait to get back to, but brilliant nonetheless. It occurred to me that what the author was doing in this book was writing a female Jewish Odyssey. And then I wondered – what do other readers think about this book. I decided to go poking around the online book community to see what I can learn about what others think about Amy Bloom’s Away and to see whom I can meet with whom I can chat about this rich and perplexing book.
So that’s what I’m going to do…
First, a little background:
Amy Bloom is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and she has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and many other publications. She is trained as a psychotherapist, lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University.
Amy Bloom first attracted readers’ attention in 1993 with the publication of her story collection Come to Me, a finalist for the National Book Award about which the New York Times says: “Her voice is sure and brisk, her language often beautiful; the result is humorous as well as heartrending fiction.”
Oh, look – and here’s something else I recently learned about Amy Bloom – she recently got married! Mazel tov, Amy!
Bloom’s latest bestseller is Away. Set in the Roaring 1920s, Away is told through the eyes of Lillian Leyb, a courageous and beautiful Jewish woman who embarks on a n odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska to be reunited with the daughter she believed she lost in Russia. Publishers Weekly says: “Bloom’s tale offers linguistic twists, startling imagery, sharp wit and a compelling vision of the past. Bloom has created an extraordinary range of characters, settings and emotions.”
Anyway, I finished reading the book, and in thinking it over I thought “this book is brilliant.” It wasn’t always an easy read, wasn’t always the kind of book that you can’t put down or can’t wait to get back to, but brilliant nonetheless. It occurred to me that what the author was doing in this book was writing a female Jewish Odyssey. And then I wondered – what do other readers think about this book. I decided to go poking around the online book community to see what I can learn about what others think about Amy Bloom’s Away and to see whom I can meet with whom I can chat about this rich and perplexing book.
So that’s what I’m going to do…
Monday, July 28, 2008
David Wroblewski, continued
LR: Who were some other people who were influential in helping to shape the manuscript?
DW: There's a long list of people who helped along the way, in the form of reading drafts and providing feedback, but at the top, by a mile, is Kimberly McClintock, my partner, significant other, amore -- pick your favorite label for committed unmarrieds. Kimberly read more drafts than anyone, suffered through more revisions than anyone, consoled me more than
anyone, and gave me the hardest news of anyone. When something didn't work, she told me.
She was my first and last reader. If something didn't make her happy, it had to change.
There was also a group I called the Edgar Sawtelle Advisory Committee, my creative board of directors for this book, who'd read one or another of the drafts. I felt free to call them for sanity checks: I'm thinking of changing such-and-such, what do you think? They'd have to wrack their brains to recall how important that such-and-such was. It was incredibly valuable to have those minds to draw on. They often didn't agree, but that was perfectly fine with me. I took that as a signal that the decision wasn't simply binary, but a question of proportion, as so many
design decisions turn out to be.
There are also the teachers I studied with while completing an MFA: Ehud Havazelet,
Margot Livesey, Joan Silber, Richard Russo, and Wilton Barnhardt. They were endlessly patient.
I tend to write really wacky first drafts, and they were often confronted with crazy stuff,
out of control experiments. These were followed by many naive questions of the form, "But why NOT do it that way?"
A FINAL NOTE: TAKE A LOOK AT LYNN'S INTERVIEW WITH DAVID!
DW: There's a long list of people who helped along the way, in the form of reading drafts and providing feedback, but at the top, by a mile, is Kimberly McClintock, my partner, significant other, amore -- pick your favorite label for committed unmarrieds. Kimberly read more drafts than anyone, suffered through more revisions than anyone, consoled me more than
anyone, and gave me the hardest news of anyone. When something didn't work, she told me.
She was my first and last reader. If something didn't make her happy, it had to change.
There was also a group I called the Edgar Sawtelle Advisory Committee, my creative board of directors for this book, who'd read one or another of the drafts. I felt free to call them for sanity checks: I'm thinking of changing such-and-such, what do you think? They'd have to wrack their brains to recall how important that such-and-such was. It was incredibly valuable to have those minds to draw on. They often didn't agree, but that was perfectly fine with me. I took that as a signal that the decision wasn't simply binary, but a question of proportion, as so many
design decisions turn out to be.
There are also the teachers I studied with while completing an MFA: Ehud Havazelet,
Margot Livesey, Joan Silber, Richard Russo, and Wilton Barnhardt. They were endlessly patient.
I tend to write really wacky first drafts, and they were often confronted with crazy stuff,
out of control experiments. These were followed by many naive questions of the form, "But why NOT do it that way?"
A FINAL NOTE: TAKE A LOOK AT LYNN'S INTERVIEW WITH DAVID!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
More Insights on the Writing Process
More Q&A with bestselling author David Wroblewski about the experience of working with his editor...
LR: How did it feel to have an editor to work with after having worked on the book for so long?
DW: I had contradictory emotions. It was a great relief not to be working alone anymore. I understood that I'd taken the book as far as I could on my own, and if it was going to be improved, I needed to work with someone with more experience. On the other hand, I had a fairly clear idea about how this novel ought to work. And I knew that aesthetic decisions can be made collaboratively only up to a point, after which they are emotional, intuitive, irrational. My great fear was that I would find myself in a position where I couldn't explain my reasons for revising (or not revising) something, and look like a nut case. Which I suspect I did, sometimes.
Lee, to her great credit, understood how to manage this dynamic much better than I. Immovable object v. irresistible force situations rarely happened, and when it looked like we were getting close, we talked things through. Have I mentioned that Lee is hilariously funny? She made me laugh during our editorial discussions, often precisely when we were talking about the most difficult issues.
Plus, Lee worked HARD on the editing. Sections of the manuscript had pace problems, where the drama should never have flagged and yet did. Several times, I simply could not see how to go about making repairs. When that happened, Lee pushed up her sleeves and mapped out a solution (or several) and got me rolling again. 2007 evaporated in the process. When I looked up, it was August. Then November.
more to come...
LR: How did it feel to have an editor to work with after having worked on the book for so long?
DW: I had contradictory emotions. It was a great relief not to be working alone anymore. I understood that I'd taken the book as far as I could on my own, and if it was going to be improved, I needed to work with someone with more experience. On the other hand, I had a fairly clear idea about how this novel ought to work. And I knew that aesthetic decisions can be made collaboratively only up to a point, after which they are emotional, intuitive, irrational. My great fear was that I would find myself in a position where I couldn't explain my reasons for revising (or not revising) something, and look like a nut case. Which I suspect I did, sometimes.
Lee, to her great credit, understood how to manage this dynamic much better than I. Immovable object v. irresistible force situations rarely happened, and when it looked like we were getting close, we talked things through. Have I mentioned that Lee is hilariously funny? She made me laugh during our editorial discussions, often precisely when we were talking about the most difficult issues.
Plus, Lee worked HARD on the editing. Sections of the manuscript had pace problems, where the drama should never have flagged and yet did. Several times, I simply could not see how to go about making repairs. When that happened, Lee pushed up her sleeves and mapped out a solution (or several) and got me rolling again. 2007 evaporated in the process. When I looked up, it was August. Then November.
more to come...
Monday, July 21, 2008
A Bestseller!
Hello All,
Since my last post about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, the book has been steadily climbing the New York Times bestseller list, where it currently resides at #5 - very exciting for this first-time author! He has taken some time out of what is no doubt a frantically-busy schedule to answer a few more questions for us.
LR: Tell us about your experience working with your editor, Lee Boudreaux. At what point in the life of the book did she first read it? How much did it change since you two began working together?
[Note to readers: many of you who aren't in the book publishing business may never become aware of who edits a particular book, but the editor can often have a significant influence on a work. This editor, Lee Boudreaux, is well-known and respected in the industry, and is the force behind a number of high-quality works of literary fiction.]
DW: Lee first saw the book in December 2006. It had been a "completed manuscript" several times over at that point. I'd been working on Edgar for so long that I'd declared a moratorium on changing anything until some editor put the book under contract, which I expected would be never (despite the prediction of my superstar agent, Eleanor Jackson, who said it would be placed by the end of the year.) In fact, I was so sure Edgar wasn't going to be published that
I accepted a new, demanding job that November and resigned my old, comfortable job. During my two weeks' notice period, we went from no interest to several interested editors, to an auction.
Note to self: never doubt Eleanor.
That manuscript -- the one Lee accepted -- was the result of a cutting-only draft that took four months and reduced the length of the book by about 15 percent. I thought I'd cut everything that could be cut, maybe even a little more. I was wrong, of course.
LR: How did you work together – was she a hands-on editor or not?
DW: I have nothing to compare our work with, so I can't say in any absolute sense. Lee might answer quite differently than I. But it FELT as if she was hands-on, in a good way. The number one thing to know about Lee Boudreaux is that she eats rocket fuel for breakfast. Every once in a while she slows down to my speed, but it takes an effort of will on her part, and I can almost hear the thunderclap when she hangs up the phone and shifts back into her regular gear.
Lee went over that manuscript with an eye for detail that was, to put it mildly, alarming. Since I had recently cut so much, I knew she was bound to find continuity errors. But Lee probed everything, including story elements that had been givens from day one. She'd warned me, but I was still floored. It took several months to think through all her questions, and I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed it. But her questions were legitimate, across the board, and she was always
asking what was best for the book. We ended up going through the book twice more, with varying emphasis, before calling it done.
The end result was that the manuscript shrunk by an additional ten percent as we cleared away extraneous details and narrative tangents that obscured the story's larger movement. That was a surprise. I'd thought the final result might actually be longer.
[more to come...]
Since my last post about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, the book has been steadily climbing the New York Times bestseller list, where it currently resides at #5 - very exciting for this first-time author! He has taken some time out of what is no doubt a frantically-busy schedule to answer a few more questions for us.
LR: Tell us about your experience working with your editor, Lee Boudreaux. At what point in the life of the book did she first read it? How much did it change since you two began working together?
[Note to readers: many of you who aren't in the book publishing business may never become aware of who edits a particular book, but the editor can often have a significant influence on a work. This editor, Lee Boudreaux, is well-known and respected in the industry, and is the force behind a number of high-quality works of literary fiction.]
DW: Lee first saw the book in December 2006. It had been a "completed manuscript" several times over at that point. I'd been working on Edgar for so long that I'd declared a moratorium on changing anything until some editor put the book under contract, which I expected would be never (despite the prediction of my superstar agent, Eleanor Jackson, who said it would be placed by the end of the year.) In fact, I was so sure Edgar wasn't going to be published that
I accepted a new, demanding job that November and resigned my old, comfortable job. During my two weeks' notice period, we went from no interest to several interested editors, to an auction.
Note to self: never doubt Eleanor.
That manuscript -- the one Lee accepted -- was the result of a cutting-only draft that took four months and reduced the length of the book by about 15 percent. I thought I'd cut everything that could be cut, maybe even a little more. I was wrong, of course.
LR: How did you work together – was she a hands-on editor or not?
DW: I have nothing to compare our work with, so I can't say in any absolute sense. Lee might answer quite differently than I. But it FELT as if she was hands-on, in a good way. The number one thing to know about Lee Boudreaux is that she eats rocket fuel for breakfast. Every once in a while she slows down to my speed, but it takes an effort of will on her part, and I can almost hear the thunderclap when she hangs up the phone and shifts back into her regular gear.
Lee went over that manuscript with an eye for detail that was, to put it mildly, alarming. Since I had recently cut so much, I knew she was bound to find continuity errors. But Lee probed everything, including story elements that had been givens from day one. She'd warned me, but I was still floored. It took several months to think through all her questions, and I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed it. But her questions were legitimate, across the board, and she was always
asking what was best for the book. We ended up going through the book twice more, with varying emphasis, before calling it done.
The end result was that the manuscript shrunk by an additional ten percent as we cleared away extraneous details and narrative tangents that obscured the story's larger movement. That was a surprise. I'd thought the final result might actually be longer.
[more to come...]
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wroblewski continued
LR: Many writers wish to become published authors. Being one who has achieved this lofty goal, can you describe something of how it feels?
DW: It feels like a natural outgrowth of the work, to be honest. I'm very proud of my experience in making software -- thirty years or so – which can be every bit as creative as writing a novel or making a photograph. You learn from those disciplines how arbitrary such boundaries are, between the work-in-progress and the work that is "done". It's never done. You could always do more. But nevertheless, you're finished with it, and it becomes this beautiful, foreign artifact that looks nothing like the stack of laser printer paper you've lived with for so long. Just when it becomes perfectly real to everyone else, it looks least like what you've known it to be as the writer.
I remember calling one of my writing teachers, Joan Silber, and asking how I would know when I was done with this book. I thought maybe I WAS done, I told her, but the result was by no means perfect. She said that perfection wasn't something to strive for, or even possible, in a novel. Maybe a short story, but not a novel. I've always been glad I made that phone call. I surely take comfort in that idea right now.
DW: It feels like a natural outgrowth of the work, to be honest. I'm very proud of my experience in making software -- thirty years or so – which can be every bit as creative as writing a novel or making a photograph. You learn from those disciplines how arbitrary such boundaries are, between the work-in-progress and the work that is "done". It's never done. You could always do more. But nevertheless, you're finished with it, and it becomes this beautiful, foreign artifact that looks nothing like the stack of laser printer paper you've lived with for so long. Just when it becomes perfectly real to everyone else, it looks least like what you've known it to be as the writer.
I remember calling one of my writing teachers, Joan Silber, and asking how I would know when I was done with this book. I thought maybe I WAS done, I told her, but the result was by no means perfect. She said that perfection wasn't something to strive for, or even possible, in a novel. Maybe a short story, but not a novel. I've always been glad I made that phone call. I surely take comfort in that idea right now.
Friday, June 20, 2008
More Words with David Wroblewski
LR: Can you describe the contrast between the solitary work of writing and the work of promoting the book: shaking hands, signing books, smiling, posing for photos, giving interviews?
DW: As much as possible, I'm trying to approach all those activities as a wide-eyed first-timer. I don't think a person stops learning from a novel just because it is printed and on the shelves; in fact, it seems like that's when all sorts of new, interesting feedback should begin to come in. The trick, I think, is to let it accumulate before trying to make sense of it, rather than jumping on each comment as it arrives.
The question I want to answer for myself is, what is there to be learned from these things? The interviews have been great fun, by and large -- it's mainly a function of how well prepared the interviewer is, and the majority have been thoughtful and interesting. But oftentimes only 2% of what was discussed winds up in print, and the reduction can be disappointing, even when it is done well. The signings are enjoyable, but the chance to talk to people is all too brief.
We'll see. Shut up and watch, I tell myself. The received attitude from some writers is that these things are a pain in the backside. And yes, they fragment your time terribly, and take you away from your family and your routine. Unless you are that rare person who can write amidst chaos, they are hell on your writing. But they feel like a privilege to me, most especially the chance to talk with readers at bookstores.
DW: As much as possible, I'm trying to approach all those activities as a wide-eyed first-timer. I don't think a person stops learning from a novel just because it is printed and on the shelves; in fact, it seems like that's when all sorts of new, interesting feedback should begin to come in. The trick, I think, is to let it accumulate before trying to make sense of it, rather than jumping on each comment as it arrives.
The question I want to answer for myself is, what is there to be learned from these things? The interviews have been great fun, by and large -- it's mainly a function of how well prepared the interviewer is, and the majority have been thoughtful and interesting. But oftentimes only 2% of what was discussed winds up in print, and the reduction can be disappointing, even when it is done well. The signings are enjoyable, but the chance to talk to people is all too brief.
We'll see. Shut up and watch, I tell myself. The received attitude from some writers is that these things are a pain in the backside. And yes, they fragment your time terribly, and take you away from your family and your routine. Unless you are that rare person who can write amidst chaos, they are hell on your writing. But they feel like a privilege to me, most especially the chance to talk with readers at bookstores.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Here's David!
Well, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle continues to be lauded as the "must read" book of the summer, and to receive more good press. Hurrah!
Here's a piece from today's Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121383011826886483.html?mod=2_1167_1
And here’s some Q&A with the author, a wonderful guy who really cares what readers think about his work:
LR: Dolly Parton has a comment I read somewhere about it taking her years to become an overnight sensation. I feel like something of that applies to the situation you’re in now. Here you are with your first novel being published. You are in a fortunate situation, your publisher has done much to support you and promote your book, and signs are beginning to look like this is going to go well.
From a certain outside perspective, it all looks quite effortless. And yet, you spent ten years writing your book. That means, to those who aren’t writers and haven’t had this experience, ten years of countless hours alone in a room with a computer, ten years of rewrites, ten years of new directions, despair, and renewed hope.
How does it feel to be on the verge of publication after all the work you put into crafting The Story of Edgar Sawtelle?
DW: I alternate between wistful, excited, nerve-wracked, and busy as hell these days, and at any given time I'm feeling several contradictory emotions. I'm relieved to be done; I want to take Edgar back and do one more draft; I can't wait to get started on the next book. But this is typical, for me, at the end of a long project -- I resist letting go even long after it's out of my hands. A person gets familiar with their particular hunk of clay, and it's comforting andfamiliar to keep working it.
[more tomorrow…]
Friday, June 13, 2008
Rave Reviews
David Wroblewski will be visiting soon to blogalogue with me, but he’s a little too busy now being chased by the media. There’s a great review in today’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/books/13book.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
Of course, I already knew that it’s a great book. I was lucky enough to read a pre-publication edition of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and I loved it right away. I taught the book last term in my Temple U “Sneak Peek” course, and all the students thought it was terrific. I’ve since been recommending it to anyone who will listen, and everyone who reads it loves it. You should read it too!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/books/13book.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
Of course, I already knew that it’s a great book. I was lucky enough to read a pre-publication edition of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and I loved it right away. I taught the book last term in my Temple U “Sneak Peek” course, and all the students thought it was terrific. I’ve since been recommending it to anyone who will listen, and everyone who reads it loves it. You should read it too!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
There was an author reading last night at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver. The Tattered Cover (www.tatteredcover.com), if you don’t already know, is one of the finest and most interesting independent bookstores in the US. You can truly get lost there, and spend a whole day browsing in glorious racks and rows of books. You won’t get hungry either, because they have a really good restaurant on site.
Anyway, readings at the Tattered Cover happen all the time, but I’d particularly like to mention last night’s, which was by first-time novelist David Wroblewski. I wasn’t there, but I have read his book and interviewed the author, and it’s a really great new book. Yesterday was book’s official publication date. It has already received some great press, and I’m sure the great reviews are going to keep rolling in.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is, according to the author, “a boy and his dog” story for grown-ups. It takes place on a farm in rural Wisconsin in the 1970s, where the Sawtelle family raise a special breed of dogs. Edgar is their mute 14-year old son who has a very special relationship with the dogs, particularly one dog named Almondine.
Over the next few days I’ll be talking more about this book and interviewing the author. For now, take a look at one recent review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/05/AR2008060504378.html
Anyway, readings at the Tattered Cover happen all the time, but I’d particularly like to mention last night’s, which was by first-time novelist David Wroblewski. I wasn’t there, but I have read his book and interviewed the author, and it’s a really great new book. Yesterday was book’s official publication date. It has already received some great press, and I’m sure the great reviews are going to keep rolling in.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is, according to the author, “a boy and his dog” story for grown-ups. It takes place on a farm in rural Wisconsin in the 1970s, where the Sawtelle family raise a special breed of dogs. Edgar is their mute 14-year old son who has a very special relationship with the dogs, particularly one dog named Almondine.
Over the next few days I’ll be talking more about this book and interviewing the author. For now, take a look at one recent review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/05/AR2008060504378.html
Monday, June 9, 2008
Final Q&A (for now) with Lauren Groff
LR: How did you undertake your research? What were some of your best sources?
LG: My research was intense--I spent a long time in the New York State Historical library in Cooperstown, looking at old Freeman's Journals, theses on Cooperstown, boxes of clippings and other stuff. I read as much James Fenimore Cooper as I could and was lucky to have read this incredible book on William Cooper (James Fenimore Cooper's father), called William Cooper's Town (heartily recommended). And then, when I assembled everything, I began to twist facts this way and that, and my characters came alive, and twisted them some more.
Thanks for Lauren Groff for her great new book and for taking the time to answer my questions!LR
Friday, June 6, 2008
Monsters and Ghosts in Templeton
more Q&A with Lauren Groff. . .
LR: Do you have an interest in the supernatural?
LG: I think the supernatural has an interest in me, sadly. That, or I had far too intense an imagination and far too terrible eyesight to NOT see ghosts beside my childhood bed. And I have a great story about how this novel came to be--I was in the middle of swimming Cooperstown's lake when I saw something below me...something enormous and very thrilling...and wanted to give voice to the mystery there. But I never actually intended to write about supernatural elements, because I feared that people wouldn't take the book seriously. That said, I had to--the story forced these elements on me and wouldn't let go until I wrote them.
LR: Do you have an interest in the supernatural?
LG: I think the supernatural has an interest in me, sadly. That, or I had far too intense an imagination and far too terrible eyesight to NOT see ghosts beside my childhood bed. And I have a great story about how this novel came to be--I was in the middle of swimming Cooperstown's lake when I saw something below me...something enormous and very thrilling...and wanted to give voice to the mystery there. But I never actually intended to write about supernatural elements, because I feared that people wouldn't take the book seriously. That said, I had to--the story forced these elements on me and wouldn't let go until I wrote them.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
More Monsters Q&A
Many of the chapters in The Monsters of Templeton include some great photographs that really add to the book. So we asked:
Q: Did you find the photos before or after the text? How/where did you find them?
A: Some photos I found before I wrote the text, and formed the characters based on their images--others I found afterwards. I spent some glorious months and years in antique stores, flea markets and on eBay to find the right images. Some were mine to begin with (my mother is Vi as an adorable child); some were given to me (Vi as an adult is actually the photo of someone who is integral to my book, but who probably doesn't want me to tell on her); some, I searched and despaired until I found them. Marmaduke is this enormous 17-th century Dutch oil that's hanging somewhat gloomily over my fireplace in Florida--freaking out all of my dinner guests (he's frowning down pretty judgmentally), but he's also a fabulous conversational piece.
Q: Did you find the photos before or after the text? How/where did you find them?
A: Some photos I found before I wrote the text, and formed the characters based on their images--others I found afterwards. I spent some glorious months and years in antique stores, flea markets and on eBay to find the right images. Some were mine to begin with (my mother is Vi as an adorable child); some were given to me (Vi as an adult is actually the photo of someone who is integral to my book, but who probably doesn't want me to tell on her); some, I searched and despaired until I found them. Marmaduke is this enormous 17-th century Dutch oil that's hanging somewhat gloomily over my fireplace in Florida--freaking out all of my dinner guests (he's frowning down pretty judgmentally), but he's also a fabulous conversational piece.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Apologies!!
Hi,
Sorry - I promised you Q&A from Lauren Groff, author of The Monsters of Templeton, and then I disappeared. I actually went to LA for the annual book industry trade show, called Book Expo. More on that later. First, here's question & answer #1 from Lauren:
Q: How long did the book take to write?
A: From the first sentence of the first draft to when I gave it to my agent, it took about three-and-a-half years to write Monsters...add in another year for editing (and ongoing edits that I wish I could make every time I read it...but can't!), and you have a good part of my adult life. In a real sense, though, I have been working on this book my whole life--I've been storing up stories and tall-tales and characters since I first started writing seriously (every day) when I was fourteen. But it wasn't until I was living in California, very hungry for my hometown, that I sat down (after having written two very massively failed previous novels) to write about Cooperstown.
Sorry - I promised you Q&A from Lauren Groff, author of The Monsters of Templeton, and then I disappeared. I actually went to LA for the annual book industry trade show, called Book Expo. More on that later. First, here's question & answer #1 from Lauren:
Q: How long did the book take to write?
A: From the first sentence of the first draft to when I gave it to my agent, it took about three-and-a-half years to write Monsters...add in another year for editing (and ongoing edits that I wish I could make every time I read it...but can't!), and you have a good part of my adult life. In a real sense, though, I have been working on this book my whole life--I've been storing up stories and tall-tales and characters since I first started writing seriously (every day) when I was fourteen. But it wasn't until I was living in California, very hungry for my hometown, that I sat down (after having written two very massively failed previous novels) to write about Cooperstown.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monsters
In a post in late February, I wrote about an experience teaching a wonderful book called The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. As I explained then, this experience was the inspiration for this blog. Allow me to quote myself:
[from 2/28/08]
"Recently, in a class I teach at Temple U, we were discussing a great new book, The Monsters Of Templeton, by Lauren Groff. After a lively two-hour discussion about the book, my students still had more questions. They wondered things like: How long did it take her to write the book? Where did she get those photographs she used in the book? Also, some of the content made them wonder if the author has an interest in the supernatural.
After listening to a few of their questions, I had an idea. “Do you want me to ask her these things?” I asked the class. They responded with enthusiasm. So I emailed my questions to the book’s publicist, who forwarded them to Lauren Groff, who took the time to answer me directly in great detail. She told us everything we wanted to know! What a thrill for all of us!"
In April of this year, The Monsters of Templeton was listed on the 2008 shortlist for the prestigious UK Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, and the book is getting amazing reviews and endorsements from the likes of Stephen King.
Here is my Q&A with Lauren Groff. . . (starting tomorrow -- I'm leaving now for the Book Expo in LA...)
[from 2/28/08]
"Recently, in a class I teach at Temple U, we were discussing a great new book, The Monsters Of Templeton, by Lauren Groff. After a lively two-hour discussion about the book, my students still had more questions. They wondered things like: How long did it take her to write the book? Where did she get those photographs she used in the book? Also, some of the content made them wonder if the author has an interest in the supernatural.
After listening to a few of their questions, I had an idea. “Do you want me to ask her these things?” I asked the class. They responded with enthusiasm. So I emailed my questions to the book’s publicist, who forwarded them to Lauren Groff, who took the time to answer me directly in great detail. She told us everything we wanted to know! What a thrill for all of us!"
In April of this year, The Monsters of Templeton was listed on the 2008 shortlist for the prestigious UK Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, and the book is getting amazing reviews and endorsements from the likes of Stephen King.
Here is my Q&A with Lauren Groff. . . (starting tomorrow -- I'm leaving now for the Book Expo in LA...)
Monday, May 19, 2008
More Comments on Book Reviews
Michelle Latiolais adds:
I think serious writers of poetry and prose should be asked to review more often, and I think they should take up this task as a responsibility. Most of the smartest response to writing comes from writers showing us something about the writing, and kind of showing us from the inside. Carol Muske Dukes wrote a column for several years for the Los Angeles Times just because she felt the responsibility to create a forum for poetry if she could. Ron Carlson--my colleague at UC Irvine--just wrote a marvelous review of Peter Mattiessen's Shadow Country that was published in the Los Angeles Times. It was a writer writing about the craft he perceived in another writer's work.
One aspect of so much reviewing today that I find startling is the inability of the reviewer to enter into the world of the book. Instead, the book is flogged with some measure of reality that the reviewer perceives as not only operable, but exclusive of all other realities. You've heard these criticisms ad nauseam. They go something like "this is not believable," or "no mother would do . . . ." I'm always startled. John Updike does it in a recent review of Andrew Sean Greer's new novel that was published in The New Yorker. It seems to me that the one itty bitty thing someone might have observed along the way is that all manner of behavior is not only possible, but present in the human condition.
I think serious writers of poetry and prose should be asked to review more often, and I think they should take up this task as a responsibility. Most of the smartest response to writing comes from writers showing us something about the writing, and kind of showing us from the inside. Carol Muske Dukes wrote a column for several years for the Los Angeles Times just because she felt the responsibility to create a forum for poetry if she could. Ron Carlson--my colleague at UC Irvine--just wrote a marvelous review of Peter Mattiessen's Shadow Country that was published in the Los Angeles Times. It was a writer writing about the craft he perceived in another writer's work.
One aspect of so much reviewing today that I find startling is the inability of the reviewer to enter into the world of the book. Instead, the book is flogged with some measure of reality that the reviewer perceives as not only operable, but exclusive of all other realities. You've heard these criticisms ad nauseam. They go something like "this is not believable," or "no mother would do . . . ." I'm always startled. John Updike does it in a recent review of Andrew Sean Greer's new novel that was published in The New Yorker. It seems to me that the one itty bitty thing someone might have observed along the way is that all manner of behavior is not only possible, but present in the human condition.
Friday, May 16, 2008
More from Michelle Latiolais on reviewers
I guess you want me to respond to Jonathan Franzen's remarks. [Note: Franzen's comments are reported at: http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523349]
I'm not sure I want to add to the nastiness, but I stopped reading Michiko Kakutani years ago. Let's just leave it at that. I always read John Leonard in Harper's--actually I usually read all the reviews in Harper's. Here I am claiming I don't read reviews and when I think about it, I actually do read a fair number, but I'm careful, oh so careful who I read, because I really can be furious for a week. I remember a review of some memoir written by Edmund White's nephew that wouldn't have been published if he hadn't been Edmund White's nephew and the reviewer dismissed all--ALL--of Edmund White's work as self-absorbed and autobiographical. The irony was of course beautiful, a memoir that probably shouldn't have been published and wouldn't have if his uncle weren't famous, but here was a chance to discuss why Edmund White's first two novels are so important, and particularly important to young men trying to find their way in the world, whether homosexual or not. In other words, White's work and how the nephew came to be better in the world after living with his uncle are connected. Instead, the review thought it just fine to toss away a lifetime's work with one sentence, and to not even mention White as the extensive biographer of Jean Genet. Just stupidity. That was yet again a New York Times review.
--ML
Monday, May 12, 2008
Latiolais on Wieseltier
Note: the comments below refer to the following review:
Thank you for sending the Leon Wieseltier review of Martin Amis' The Second Plane, a review that I thought seemed thoughtful and contentious and very specifically skeptical of much of what he characterizes as Amis' bluster. I don't see anything wrong with that. Quite the contrary, this review seems as though it would spark a very good discussion, and a much needed one on secularism and morality. Not too long ago, a Harvard theologian was interviewed on NPR and was asked if he thought atheists could be moral and he answered "no." I was choking with indignation, particularly since his religious authority shouldn't be allowed to just stand in for unassailable moral rectitude, which might or might not exist, but he wasn't questioned further, and I wondered why.
Too much is said in America and left unresponded to. I do hope that this Leon Wieseltier review is responded to, and seriously, as much of what he accuses Amis of, he seems somewhat guilty of himself, and yet I do take his point about secularism. I believe Saddam Hussein was a secularist, and though he was brutal, I think the argument is made that he kept all the various factions of Iraq together because he was secular. Of course, that's not all he was! So, claiming higher moral ground for secularism might be dicey in many instances. I don't know; I'm not a very good historian. I have always said that man will find some rationale for killing his fellow man, if not religion, some other belief or credo, or gold or diamonds, or what have you. I'm not very hopeful that way.
Another aspect of the Wieseltier piece that I think might be discussed is aesthetics and truth. I don't see aesthetics as necessarily undermining seriously intellectual discussion--or the search for truths--but Wieseltier seems to feel there's a cheapening of rigor. I'm not sure he's right, but it depends on the writer, of course.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Book Reviews and Book Reviewers
Dear Michelle,
Your comments about reviewers are harsh indeed! And yet, clearly, your feelings are shared by many other authors. A recent piece (4/27/08) in the New York Times Book Review by Leon Wieseltier critiquing Martin Amis has drawn much commentary…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Wieseltier-t.html?_r=1&ei=5090&en=1877d09dd77c7181&ex=1367121600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
… and just last week Jonathan Franzen was quoted in the Harvard Crimson disparaging reviewers and saying:
“The reviews tend to be repetitive and tend to be so filled with error that they’re kind of unbearable to read, even the nice ones,” Franzen said. “The most upsetting thing nowadays is the feeling that there’s no one out there responding intelligently to the text,” he said. “So few people are actually doing serious criticism. It’s so snarky, it’s so ad hominum, it’s so black and white.” “The stupidest person in New York City is currently the lead reviewer of fiction for the New York Times,” he added, referring to controversial, Pulitzer-Prize winning reviewer Michiko Kakutani.
[as quoted in The Harvard Crimson]
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523349
At the same time, publishers are so eager to get reviews, as they can really help book sales (even negative reviews are often helpful!), and they complain that the number of review venues is dwindling.
And finally, I remember a great story I read in the Times years ago about an author whose book had just been published and received a stellar review in a major paper. Encountering the author at a cocktail party, someone said to him: “Congratulations on the good review!” to which he responded (haughtily, no doubt): “I didn’t write the review!”
So what can be done to improve the state of reviewing today? Any further comments on reviews and reviewers and/or advice for authors and publishers regarding reviews?
Thanks!
Lynn
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Claustrophobic Writing
from Michelle:
I think pretty much what is meant by "claustrophobic" is interior, a concentration on the psychological, though certainly I've heard complaints that a piece of writing doesn't leave a certain room, and that that is claustrophobic. My response is "so what?" If that's what the writing is about, someone who doesn't leave a certain room, and that's what a writer is giving me is a deeply felt sense of this interiority, I'm your reader. Give me that any day over writing that is psychologically simplistic, which so much writing is, and yet that might be necessarily so, too. After all, no writing could actually capture all the intricate psychological circuitry of any given moment of a character's head. Right? This is all smoke and mirrors, this trying to get at fully rendered psychological worlds.
I don't read many reviews. I stopped some years ago, because I could lose a week being so flabbergasted that someone's three nasty and moronic paragraphs was considered an appraisal of a piece of art. The pathetic state of book reviewing has hurt both male and female writers; I'm not sure anyone has been spared. This said, I admire the New Yorker and The New York Review of Books for still making room for serious reviews.
http://www.newyorker.com/
http://www.nybooks.com/
I think pretty much what is meant by "claustrophobic" is interior, a concentration on the psychological, though certainly I've heard complaints that a piece of writing doesn't leave a certain room, and that that is claustrophobic. My response is "so what?" If that's what the writing is about, someone who doesn't leave a certain room, and that's what a writer is giving me is a deeply felt sense of this interiority, I'm your reader. Give me that any day over writing that is psychologically simplistic, which so much writing is, and yet that might be necessarily so, too. After all, no writing could actually capture all the intricate psychological circuitry of any given moment of a character's head. Right? This is all smoke and mirrors, this trying to get at fully rendered psychological worlds.
I don't read many reviews. I stopped some years ago, because I could lose a week being so flabbergasted that someone's three nasty and moronic paragraphs was considered an appraisal of a piece of art. The pathetic state of book reviewing has hurt both male and female writers; I'm not sure anyone has been spared. This said, I admire the New Yorker and The New York Review of Books for still making room for serious reviews.
http://www.newyorker.com/
http://www.nybooks.com/
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
More Questions for Michelle Latiolais
Dear Michelle,
Referring back to the comments posted on May 2nd, a few more questions:
You said that “claustrophobic” is a term reviewers often use for women writers. Why do you think this is so? Does this have something to do with women traditionally having been limited to the domestic sphere and has this in some way resulted in a focus that’s narrower and deeper? Or is there no truth to the criticism? Do you feel that a number of reviewers are biased toward women writers?
And can you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by claustrophobic? Maybe give us some examples? Off the top of my head, I’m thinking someone like Carol Shields might be called claustrophobic, as opposed to a writer like Annie Proulx. Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Lynn
Referring back to the comments posted on May 2nd, a few more questions:
You said that “claustrophobic” is a term reviewers often use for women writers. Why do you think this is so? Does this have something to do with women traditionally having been limited to the domestic sphere and has this in some way resulted in a focus that’s narrower and deeper? Or is there no truth to the criticism? Do you feel that a number of reviewers are biased toward women writers?
And can you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by claustrophobic? Maybe give us some examples? Off the top of my head, I’m thinking someone like Carol Shields might be called claustrophobic, as opposed to a writer like Annie Proulx. Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Lynn
Saturday, May 3, 2008
And Now, A Word from Our Editor...
In her last note, Michelle Latiolais mentions her editor, Erika Goldman. I (Lynn) have known Erika for years. In the early 90s, when I was a literary agent and Erika was an editor at Scribner, she acquired a book I represented, Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls, by two of the country's leading experts on sexism in the schools, Myra and David Sadker.
[for more on this great book, which is coming out next year in a second edition, see:
http://www.amazon.com/Failing-Fairness-Americas-Schools-Cheat/dp/0684195410/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209841600&sr=1-2]
Then Erika joined me one summer speaking at the Jackson Hole Writer's Conference. I remember being greatly impressed by her when we went on a hike (all uphill, of course). She was many months pregnant at the time, and that didn't slow her down at all!
Anyway, aside from being a good hiker, I know Erika to be a very smart editor, so I thought I'd get her perspective on how the manuscript for A Proper Knowledge came her way. Here's a brief Q&A with Erika Goldman:
How did the manuscript for A Proper Knowledge happen to come to you?
I first heard about the manuscript from Varley O’Connor, author of Bellevue Literary Press’s first published work of fiction, The Cure. I admire Varley’s work so much that I was excited by the prospect of having a chance at any manuscript that she would recommend to me. I sent the message back to Michelle via Varley that yes, I would love to see it. And shortly thereafter the manuscript arrived in the mail, courtesy of Michelle’s agent.
How/when did you know you wanted to publish it?
I knew it was “the real thing” by the end of the first page. Fine writing makes itself known right off the bat. Of course I read it to the end to see how Michelle would develop her characters and plot—and because I couldn’t put it down. I knew that I wanted to publish it when I realized I had fallen in love with it. We publish only two works of fiction a year, so I won’t take a novel on unless I’m passionate about it!
[for more on this great book, which is coming out next year in a second edition, see:
http://www.amazon.com/Failing-Fairness-Americas-Schools-Cheat/dp/0684195410/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209841600&sr=1-2]
Then Erika joined me one summer speaking at the Jackson Hole Writer's Conference. I remember being greatly impressed by her when we went on a hike (all uphill, of course). She was many months pregnant at the time, and that didn't slow her down at all!
Anyway, aside from being a good hiker, I know Erika to be a very smart editor, so I thought I'd get her perspective on how the manuscript for A Proper Knowledge came her way. Here's a brief Q&A with Erika Goldman:
How did the manuscript for A Proper Knowledge happen to come to you?
I first heard about the manuscript from Varley O’Connor, author of Bellevue Literary Press’s first published work of fiction, The Cure. I admire Varley’s work so much that I was excited by the prospect of having a chance at any manuscript that she would recommend to me. I sent the message back to Michelle via Varley that yes, I would love to see it. And shortly thereafter the manuscript arrived in the mail, courtesy of Michelle’s agent.
How/when did you know you wanted to publish it?
I knew it was “the real thing” by the end of the first page. Fine writing makes itself known right off the bat. Of course I read it to the end to see how Michelle would develop her characters and plot—and because I couldn’t put it down. I knew that I wanted to publish it when I realized I had fallen in love with it. We publish only two works of fiction a year, so I won’t take a novel on unless I’m passionate about it!
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Author Responds, Part II
More responses from author Michelle Latiolais, author of A Proper Knowledge to the questions:
Had you at first thought the manuscript unpublishable?
Did the book change a lot from that version that was in the garage to the published version?
HER RESPONSE:
I have never thought in terms of publishable/unpublishable, as I'm not all that sure what measure that would be? I'd have to say I've read plenty of writing that somehow managed to get published, but quality could not possibly have been the reason. So, I don't think as I'm writing whether the work will be published or not; that's not even something I have much control over, so why would I bother. There are, I suppose, writers who can write to markets, but that's not why I write, nor would that ever even remotely interest me. That said, I deeply care about certain readers I have in my life. If I've taken something I've written to them and they shake their heads in dismay, well, you know, I change my wanton ways.
You ask if the book changed a lot when I did a final rewrite for Erika Goldman at Bellevue Literary Press. I would say no, but I think she would say, yes, awfully. When I went off to Ucross in Wyoming (http://www.ucrossfoundation.org/index1.html), I hadn't really looked at this novel in almost four years. It was almost as though someone else had written it, and really someone else had. Being widowed makes a very different person of you, believe me. I was stunned that the novel was being published, and very grateful, and I wanted to make it as good as I could possibly make it in two weeks, which was the amount of time I had at Ucross. I worked every day for about eight hours and did entirely rewrite it, by which I mean I polished every page. But I don't think I changed much fundamental about it. Ron Carlson had read it for me and had made me see that certain characters only lived when Luke was there in their lives, but they of course did have lives when Luke wasn't around and so I made those lives up, made them full, imagined them. Interestingly, those were "normal" lives. I'd spent so much attention writing the case studies, I'd neglected the lives without pathology.
Had you at first thought the manuscript unpublishable?
Did the book change a lot from that version that was in the garage to the published version?
HER RESPONSE:
I have never thought in terms of publishable/unpublishable, as I'm not all that sure what measure that would be? I'd have to say I've read plenty of writing that somehow managed to get published, but quality could not possibly have been the reason. So, I don't think as I'm writing whether the work will be published or not; that's not even something I have much control over, so why would I bother. There are, I suppose, writers who can write to markets, but that's not why I write, nor would that ever even remotely interest me. That said, I deeply care about certain readers I have in my life. If I've taken something I've written to them and they shake their heads in dismay, well, you know, I change my wanton ways.
You ask if the book changed a lot when I did a final rewrite for Erika Goldman at Bellevue Literary Press. I would say no, but I think she would say, yes, awfully. When I went off to Ucross in Wyoming (http://www.ucrossfoundation.org/index1.html), I hadn't really looked at this novel in almost four years. It was almost as though someone else had written it, and really someone else had. Being widowed makes a very different person of you, believe me. I was stunned that the novel was being published, and very grateful, and I wanted to make it as good as I could possibly make it in two weeks, which was the amount of time I had at Ucross. I worked every day for about eight hours and did entirely rewrite it, by which I mean I polished every page. But I don't think I changed much fundamental about it. Ron Carlson had read it for me and had made me see that certain characters only lived when Luke was there in their lives, but they of course did have lives when Luke wasn't around and so I made those lives up, made them full, imagined them. Interestingly, those were "normal" lives. I'd spent so much attention writing the case studies, I'd neglected the lives without pathology.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The Author Responds, Part I
Dear Lynn,
I had just finished a draft of this novel when my husband suddenly died in January 2004. Putting the novel away--along with so much of the rest of my life--was what I did, or what happened. Just how much this novel is about grief is not something I was all that aware of, but as I've been doing readings from it, I've realized this. Someone close to me recently said, "Michelle, it's prophetic," and I suppose now, with all I know, it is, but you know, if you'd asked me in December 2003 if I was writing about grief, I'd have cranked my face up a bit.
I actually don't remember when I first started writing this novel. Years ago, but even years before that. I've been interested in autism since I was about seventeen and first encountered mention of it in a psychology course at San Francisco State University. I was interested immediately because of the individual worlds these children often live in, and perhaps, to be honest, my interest was fanciful, or associative. I was a huge reader as a child and I think I was because reading provided an alternative universe to live in--thank God! I think I was also fascinated by children who didn't really care what their parents thought or felt, or weren't capable of knowing what their parents thought. Children who couldn't read their parents' faces. Wow. What an idea, not knuckling down under some glance from one's mother. (I was a very dutiful child.) So, I've been thinking about autism for many years, but I suppose I started this novel sometime during the year of 2000. I had returned to the University of California at Irvine as a professor; I had been a graduate student there, and I had written a second novel--also unpublished--about two sisters, and I'd put that novel away. So, I needed a new project, and I was always being called a "claustrophobic writer," a little something reviewers like to call women writers. Maybe I was a little in their faces, too, a little like, "here, you want claustrophobic! Let me show you claustrophobic!"
[more to come from Michelle's response tomorrow...]
I had just finished a draft of this novel when my husband suddenly died in January 2004. Putting the novel away--along with so much of the rest of my life--was what I did, or what happened. Just how much this novel is about grief is not something I was all that aware of, but as I've been doing readings from it, I've realized this. Someone close to me recently said, "Michelle, it's prophetic," and I suppose now, with all I know, it is, but you know, if you'd asked me in December 2003 if I was writing about grief, I'd have cranked my face up a bit.
I actually don't remember when I first started writing this novel. Years ago, but even years before that. I've been interested in autism since I was about seventeen and first encountered mention of it in a psychology course at San Francisco State University. I was interested immediately because of the individual worlds these children often live in, and perhaps, to be honest, my interest was fanciful, or associative. I was a huge reader as a child and I think I was because reading provided an alternative universe to live in--thank God! I think I was also fascinated by children who didn't really care what their parents thought or felt, or weren't capable of knowing what their parents thought. Children who couldn't read their parents' faces. Wow. What an idea, not knuckling down under some glance from one's mother. (I was a very dutiful child.) So, I've been thinking about autism for many years, but I suppose I started this novel sometime during the year of 2000. I had returned to the University of California at Irvine as a professor; I had been a graduate student there, and I had written a second novel--also unpublished--about two sisters, and I'd put that novel away. So, I needed a new project, and I was always being called a "claustrophobic writer," a little something reviewers like to call women writers. Maybe I was a little in their faces, too, a little like, "here, you want claustrophobic! Let me show you claustrophobic!"
[more to come from Michelle's response tomorrow...]
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A Proper Knowledge by Michelle Latiolais
Dear Michelle,
In your novel A Proper Knowledge (Bellevue Literary Press), your acknowledgments mention that the manuscript for this book spent some time in the garage before making its way to your editor. Can you tell us more about this journey? How much time passed between when you finished writing the book and when it went to a publisher? Had you at first thought the manuscript unpublishable? Or did you put it in storage for other reasons? What made you change your mind? Did the book change a lot from that version that was in the garage to the published version?
Thanks very much!
all best,
Lynn
In your novel A Proper Knowledge (Bellevue Literary Press), your acknowledgments mention that the manuscript for this book spent some time in the garage before making its way to your editor. Can you tell us more about this journey? How much time passed between when you finished writing the book and when it went to a publisher? Had you at first thought the manuscript unpublishable? Or did you put it in storage for other reasons? What made you change your mind? Did the book change a lot from that version that was in the garage to the published version?
Thanks very much!
all best,
Lynn
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
An Author Encounter
Before I get to the books mentioned below, I wanted to mention a just-published book that’s getting a lot of acclaim: Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter by Susan Nagel.
I wrote earlier about Nagel’s biography of Mary Nisbet, Mistress of the Elgin Marbles. Last week I had the chance to meet Nagel in person when she came to Philadelphia to speak at the Acorn Club, where she gave a very interesting talk about Marie Antoinette and Marie-Therese.
I wrote earlier about Nagel’s biography of Mary Nisbet, Mistress of the Elgin Marbles. Last week I had the chance to meet Nagel in person when she came to Philadelphia to speak at the Acorn Club, where she gave a very interesting talk about Marie Antoinette and Marie-Therese.
See this link for a New York Times review of the book:
Monday, April 28, 2008
More Books!
I finished another session of my Temple University “Sneak Peek at Next Year’s Bestsellers” class last week:
(http://amb-hercules.ftwash.temple.edu/CourseStatus.awp?~~08B8340).
We had a great time! What a great group of people in this class – great readers all! Thank you, class! We had some great discussions.
This time we read four books:
Stealing Athena by Karen Essex
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A Proper Knowledge by Michelle Latiolais
Hallam’s War by Elizabeth Payne Rosen
If you’re thinking that you haven’t heard of these books, that’s because they haven’t been published yet. That’s the “Sneak Peek” part of the class – we get to read ‘em BEFORE they’re published, thanks to some wonderful publishers who participate in my program.
I’ve already had the pleasure of blogging with Karen Essex. Over the next few days, I’d like to share some more with you about the other three books, as well as about how they got published and who published them – and what my class thought of them!
LR
(http://amb-hercules.ftwash.temple.edu/CourseStatus.awp?~~08B8340).
We had a great time! What a great group of people in this class – great readers all! Thank you, class! We had some great discussions.
This time we read four books:
Stealing Athena by Karen Essex
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A Proper Knowledge by Michelle Latiolais
Hallam’s War by Elizabeth Payne Rosen
If you’re thinking that you haven’t heard of these books, that’s because they haven’t been published yet. That’s the “Sneak Peek” part of the class – we get to read ‘em BEFORE they’re published, thanks to some wonderful publishers who participate in my program.
I’ve already had the pleasure of blogging with Karen Essex. Over the next few days, I’d like to share some more with you about the other three books, as well as about how they got published and who published them – and what my class thought of them!
LR
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Mary Nisbet in Fiction and Biography
It would be an interesting study for any reader who is interested to compare the character of Mary Nisbet, Lord Elgin’s wife, as portrayed in fiction by Karen Essex in Stealing Athena, and then to look at Nisbet as portrayed by a biographer in Susan Nagel’s book Mistress of the Elgin Marbles. There’s a reading assignment for you if you’re up for it!
I did ask Professor Nagel if she’d like to chat about this online, but she says she’s much too busy these days with the publication of her latest book, Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter, which was just published April 1st. We wish her much luck with her new book. For readers who want to learn more about Susan Nagel’s work, you can refer to her blog at: www.susannagelwritesabout.blogspot.com
Lynn
I did ask Professor Nagel if she’d like to chat about this online, but she says she’s much too busy these days with the publication of her latest book, Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter, which was just published April 1st. We wish her much luck with her new book. For readers who want to learn more about Susan Nagel’s work, you can refer to her blog at: www.susannagelwritesabout.blogspot.com
Lynn
Monday, April 14, 2008
Karen's Research
Dear Lynn,
I am definitely a research freak. I'm the sort of writer who thinks that if she doesn't know everything, she doesn't know anything. I first saw the Elgin Marbles in 2000 at the British Museum when I went to see an exhibit there about Cleopatra. I was researching my novel Kleopatra and I wandered into the Duveen Gallery where the marbles are housed. I listened to the story behind the marbles on the audio guide and had an intuition that it would be good fodder for a novel. When Susan Nagel's biography came out in 2004, I eagerly read it and was blown away by Mary's contribution to the acquisition of the treasures, and also by the absence of references to her in the sources. I thought, hmmm, another woman who defied society's idea of how a woman should behave and paid a steep price for it—and was forgotten. I got very excited about writing about her. My brilliant agent called me one day around that time and said that she'd read a review of a new biography about the Countess of Elgin, and didn't she sound like one of my heroines? I said, sister, I'm already on board!
I have not met Susan Nagel, but we have corresponded a bit by email. I've sent her an advance reading copy of the book. I hope she feels that I did Mary justice! I do think that scholarship and fiction work together often in this way. A scholar brings new understanding to something from the past, and the fiction writer or dramatist is inspired to try to popularize it. It's common knowledge that Shakespeare wrote with a copy of Plutarch open on his desk (so do I!).
I cannot explain how I decided to incorporate Aspasia's story into the narrative. I guess I just wanted to make my life a lot harder! I have long held an interest in Aspasia, and one day while I was lying on the floor, the idea to have Aspasia watch the Parthenon go up and have Mary watch it come down just descended upon me. I suppose that I love the classical Greek world above all time periods and feel very comfortable writing in that space.
Stealing Athena was difficult to write simply because of the enormity of the research. It was crucial for me to understand the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Napoleon, the Golden Age of Pericles, and all the ensuing cultural studies that would have impacted the people in those civilizations and epochs. I have posted a selected bibliography on my website. Additionally of interest might be an email interview I did with a class at University of North Carolina who were studying my book Leonardo's Swans in which I explain my research process. Please encourage your students to check out the resources on http://www.karenessex.com/ and sign up for my newsletter. I'm launching a newly designed site at the end of this month with loads of additional content on Stealing Athena and new resources. The interview is on the "Classroom" page. http://www.karenessex.com/classroom.html.
My best,
Karen Essex
I am definitely a research freak. I'm the sort of writer who thinks that if she doesn't know everything, she doesn't know anything. I first saw the Elgin Marbles in 2000 at the British Museum when I went to see an exhibit there about Cleopatra. I was researching my novel Kleopatra and I wandered into the Duveen Gallery where the marbles are housed. I listened to the story behind the marbles on the audio guide and had an intuition that it would be good fodder for a novel. When Susan Nagel's biography came out in 2004, I eagerly read it and was blown away by Mary's contribution to the acquisition of the treasures, and also by the absence of references to her in the sources. I thought, hmmm, another woman who defied society's idea of how a woman should behave and paid a steep price for it—and was forgotten. I got very excited about writing about her. My brilliant agent called me one day around that time and said that she'd read a review of a new biography about the Countess of Elgin, and didn't she sound like one of my heroines? I said, sister, I'm already on board!
I have not met Susan Nagel, but we have corresponded a bit by email. I've sent her an advance reading copy of the book. I hope she feels that I did Mary justice! I do think that scholarship and fiction work together often in this way. A scholar brings new understanding to something from the past, and the fiction writer or dramatist is inspired to try to popularize it. It's common knowledge that Shakespeare wrote with a copy of Plutarch open on his desk (so do I!).
I cannot explain how I decided to incorporate Aspasia's story into the narrative. I guess I just wanted to make my life a lot harder! I have long held an interest in Aspasia, and one day while I was lying on the floor, the idea to have Aspasia watch the Parthenon go up and have Mary watch it come down just descended upon me. I suppose that I love the classical Greek world above all time periods and feel very comfortable writing in that space.
Stealing Athena was difficult to write simply because of the enormity of the research. It was crucial for me to understand the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Napoleon, the Golden Age of Pericles, and all the ensuing cultural studies that would have impacted the people in those civilizations and epochs. I have posted a selected bibliography on my website. Additionally of interest might be an email interview I did with a class at University of North Carolina who were studying my book Leonardo's Swans in which I explain my research process. Please encourage your students to check out the resources on http://www.karenessex.com/ and sign up for my newsletter. I'm launching a newly designed site at the end of this month with loads of additional content on Stealing Athena and new resources. The interview is on the "Classroom" page. http://www.karenessex.com/classroom.html.
My best,
Karen Essex
Friday, April 11, 2008
More from Karen Essex
Dear Karen,
Thank you so much for your detailed and very illuminating answer about the cover art!
Another thing that interested my students very much about the book is the extensive amount of research that you did. How long did it take? What were some of your best sources?
Thanks!
all best,
Lynn
Thank you so much for your detailed and very illuminating answer about the cover art!
Another thing that interested my students very much about the book is the extensive amount of research that you did. How long did it take? What were some of your best sources?
Thanks!
all best,
Lynn
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
More Books and their Covers
I’ll hope to have more from Karen Essex soon, but in the meantime I thought I’d chat a little more about this question of book covers and what you can tell from them. Since I work in the publishing business, I know that there are conventions for how industry folks want book covers to look. If a certain type of book has a certain cover look, then its audience can locate it more readily. Think, for example, of romance novels. They have a very distinct look, making it easy for readers to find them. They often have very colorful art that looks hand-painted, and the art often includes a clenching couple or a woman walking alone on the beach, or in the moors, usually in period costume. Or look at self-help non-fiction. It often has a lot of big type, making it look serious, like it means business.
At the moment, I have a pile of galleys for some forthcoming books on my desk. One is a novel called Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts (Grand Central Publishing). It has a dark blue sky on the cover, with points of stars in the distance, and a horizon line low down so your eye is looking up at a big glass Mason-type jar with fireflies in it. To me this cover says: folksy, quirky, somewhere in America that’s rural, not New York or California. Looking at the back cover copy, the book appears to have a few quirky kids as main characters, and take place in South Dakota. I guess I got the right message from the cover.
Here’s another novel: Sun Going Down by Jack Todd (Touchstone). Lots of yellows, reds, and brown tones on the cover, a drawing of a Conestoga wagon, lots of cattle and horses. Ok, American West, not too hard. And sure enough, back cover calls it “a sweeping epic about the American West” and puts it in the tradition of Little Big Man and Larry McMurtry. Here’s one more, for now: a new forthcoming novel by David Guterson. This one is mostly black & white, with what looks like a photo, or if not a photo then a very photorealistic style of art of a lake, frozen and snowed over, with footprints going across. A bit desolate, a bit ominous. But the snow is what strikes me most. Since Guterson’s big book was the bestseller Snow Falling on Cedars, they’re obviously trying to make us think about snow!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Judging a Book By Its Cover
Karen Essex apparently did not think my question so superficial! Here's her in-depth response:
Dear Lynn,
The question of cover art is a very good one. Just as our first impressions of people often prove to be accurate, I do believe that we can frequently judge a book by its cover, which is why I try to be as pro-active as possible in the design of my book covers. I am a very deliberate writer in that I know exactly what story I am trying to tell and what themes I wish to convey to a reader. It's crucial that a book cover reflect those things, and who would know better than me? My undergraduate work was in theatrical design. I'm a very visual person, and my books are often inspired by works of art. With both Leonardo's Swans and Stealing Athena, I knew which art should grace the covers before I had written the books.
The cover is the "face" of the book, if you will. A reader may not judge the book by its cover, but the reader cannot get inside the book without seeing and regarding the cover. Like faces, a cover is either alluring—or not. Publishers (publishers of us more fortunate authors) put a great deal of time and consideration into what a book cover should convey. Choosing the elements for a cover is now as exacting as if it were a science. I am very grateful to have a publisher that wants to involve me in these decisions. Not every publisher defers to an author in these instances.
The painting on the cover of Stealing Athena is a self-portrait by the French painter Marie-Geneviève Bouliard in which she envisioned herself as Aspasia. I selected it because it is an imagined portrait of one of my two heroines done by a female artist who was painting in the time period of my other heroine, Mary Nisbet (circa 1794). Considering the dual narratives of my book, you can't get more perfect than that! The first attempt at a cover design, however, was unsatisfactory. The painting was a good choice, but the true star of the book, "The Elgin Marbles," had no representation. I asked Doubleday to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to get those marbles on the cover, and they graciously accommodated me. I think the result is stunning. The insertion of a small portion of the Parthenon frieze at the bottom was genius, as far as I am concerned. It does not intrude upon the design but enhances it. And I also love the gilded Turkish trim that the designer uses at the top of the cover because it brings in another element of the book, which is its setting in Ottoman-ruled Turkey and Greece. Also, a funny aside—the figure in the painting has one exposed nipple, which the book designer brilliantly wrapped around so that it fits on the spine, not on the cover, and then covered it with a plaque containing my name! Many bookstores, in addition to "family" stores such as Walmart, where thousands of books are sold, will not carry a cover that has nudity.
So you see, designing a cover is truly an art form in itself, but just as important are the marketing and sales realities that one must also consider. Another great question in designing a cover for Stealing Athena was how to make it reminiscent of the paperback of my last novel, Leonardo's Swans, which was very successful. Now, I know that a lot of people don't even like to think of an author having to trouble her pretty little head with these business-type considerations, but the truth (the real, solid, inescapable reality) is that if we don't sell books, we can't get published anymore. And if we can't get published, well, you can't read us, and moreover, we can't eat! So I am delighted to work on these issues with my publisher to satisfy all parties while still remaining utterly true to the integrity of the book. With a little patience, fortitude, and creativity, it can be done.
To recap, I think it's amazing that we were able to convey so many elements of the book in the cover design with visual clues alone: an 18th century woman in classical dress represents the two female heroines; the frieze suggests that the book is about The Elgin Marbles; the gilded letters and trim suggest the Turkish setting; the lettering, colors, and florals suggest the lavishness of the settings and the time periods; and the similar composition and elements that were present on the cover of Leonardo's Swans all suggest that the book was written by the same author.
My best,
Karen Essex
Dear Lynn,
The question of cover art is a very good one. Just as our first impressions of people often prove to be accurate, I do believe that we can frequently judge a book by its cover, which is why I try to be as pro-active as possible in the design of my book covers. I am a very deliberate writer in that I know exactly what story I am trying to tell and what themes I wish to convey to a reader. It's crucial that a book cover reflect those things, and who would know better than me? My undergraduate work was in theatrical design. I'm a very visual person, and my books are often inspired by works of art. With both Leonardo's Swans and Stealing Athena, I knew which art should grace the covers before I had written the books.
The cover is the "face" of the book, if you will. A reader may not judge the book by its cover, but the reader cannot get inside the book without seeing and regarding the cover. Like faces, a cover is either alluring—or not. Publishers (publishers of us more fortunate authors) put a great deal of time and consideration into what a book cover should convey. Choosing the elements for a cover is now as exacting as if it were a science. I am very grateful to have a publisher that wants to involve me in these decisions. Not every publisher defers to an author in these instances.
The painting on the cover of Stealing Athena is a self-portrait by the French painter Marie-Geneviève Bouliard in which she envisioned herself as Aspasia. I selected it because it is an imagined portrait of one of my two heroines done by a female artist who was painting in the time period of my other heroine, Mary Nisbet (circa 1794). Considering the dual narratives of my book, you can't get more perfect than that! The first attempt at a cover design, however, was unsatisfactory. The painting was a good choice, but the true star of the book, "The Elgin Marbles," had no representation. I asked Doubleday to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to get those marbles on the cover, and they graciously accommodated me. I think the result is stunning. The insertion of a small portion of the Parthenon frieze at the bottom was genius, as far as I am concerned. It does not intrude upon the design but enhances it. And I also love the gilded Turkish trim that the designer uses at the top of the cover because it brings in another element of the book, which is its setting in Ottoman-ruled Turkey and Greece. Also, a funny aside—the figure in the painting has one exposed nipple, which the book designer brilliantly wrapped around so that it fits on the spine, not on the cover, and then covered it with a plaque containing my name! Many bookstores, in addition to "family" stores such as Walmart, where thousands of books are sold, will not carry a cover that has nudity.
So you see, designing a cover is truly an art form in itself, but just as important are the marketing and sales realities that one must also consider. Another great question in designing a cover for Stealing Athena was how to make it reminiscent of the paperback of my last novel, Leonardo's Swans, which was very successful. Now, I know that a lot of people don't even like to think of an author having to trouble her pretty little head with these business-type considerations, but the truth (the real, solid, inescapable reality) is that if we don't sell books, we can't get published anymore. And if we can't get published, well, you can't read us, and moreover, we can't eat! So I am delighted to work on these issues with my publisher to satisfy all parties while still remaining utterly true to the integrity of the book. With a little patience, fortitude, and creativity, it can be done.
To recap, I think it's amazing that we were able to convey so many elements of the book in the cover design with visual clues alone: an 18th century woman in classical dress represents the two female heroines; the frieze suggests that the book is about The Elgin Marbles; the gilded letters and trim suggest the Turkish setting; the lettering, colors, and florals suggest the lavishness of the settings and the time periods; and the similar composition and elements that were present on the cover of Leonardo's Swans all suggest that the book was written by the same author.
My best,
Karen Essex
Monday, March 31, 2008
Karen Essex
I started a new session of my “Sneak Peek at Next Year’s Bestsellers” class two weeks ago, and we read a book called Stealing Athena by Karen Essex (published by Doubleday). The book, to pare it down, is about the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon. It looks at two time periods – the turn of the 19th century when Lord Elgin was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and lived in Constantinople with his wife Mary Nisbet, and eras earlier during the time of the building of the Parthenon. My students had a few questions for the author, so I started with this one:
Dear Ms. Essex,
This may seem superficial, but I have to start by asking you about the cover art, because it really attracted our attention. I happen to believe that you can actually tell a lot about a book by its cover. Do you agree? We were wondering if you selected the art for the cover, or what role you played in cover design, and what you and your publisher are trying to convey with the cover?
Thanks!
Lynn Rosen
Dear Ms. Essex,
This may seem superficial, but I have to start by asking you about the cover art, because it really attracted our attention. I happen to believe that you can actually tell a lot about a book by its cover. Do you agree? We were wondering if you selected the art for the cover, or what role you played in cover design, and what you and your publisher are trying to convey with the cover?
Thanks!
Lynn Rosen
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sneak Peeks
A while back, I mentioned a class I teach at Temple University. Let me say more about it. The class is in their continuing education program, and it’s called “A Sneak Peek at Next Year’s Bestsellers.” My idea was to create something with books akin to a film festival, where readers get to read books BEFORE they are published. As a publishing industry insider, I frequently get galleys (early pre-pub editions) of books, but for non-industry folks, I figured it would be a special treat to get early copies of books.
Each session of the class lasts 4 to 5 weeks, and we read a book a week in galleys I get from the publisher. It’s great, and the students love it!
If you want more info, you can see:
http://amb-hercules.ftwash.temple.edu/CourseStatus.awp?~~08B8340
My plan next is to correspond with the authors of some of the books we’re reading in class.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Impingement
I love impingement because it's a way to use language to propel a reader forward, even when nothing much is happening!
A sense of movement is critical to the feel of a book. Action cancontribute to it, obviously, but so can description. Here is a lovely paragraph from The Great Gatsby:
"I must have stood for a few moments on the threshold, dazzled by the alabaster light, listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women {in dresses} ballooned slowly to the floor."
Kelly
A sense of movement is critical to the feel of a book. Action cancontribute to it, obviously, but so can description. Here is a lovely paragraph from The Great Gatsby:
"I must have stood for a few moments on the threshold, dazzled by the alabaster light, listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women {in dresses} ballooned slowly to the floor."
Kelly
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Using Language
Hi Kelly,
I love this phrase of yours:
“the judicious use of language and impingement can make the piece feel as if it's in motion.”
Can you please elaborate a little more on that? Particularly the “impingement” part – how do you use impingement as a literary technique?
Thanks!
Lynn
I love this phrase of yours:
“the judicious use of language and impingement can make the piece feel as if it's in motion.”
Can you please elaborate a little more on that? Particularly the “impingement” part – how do you use impingement as a literary technique?
Thanks!
Lynn
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Writing Right
Hi Lynn,
Yes, I think we've all read those fact-laden fiction books, ugh. Some people don't notice or care because they feel they'regetting a "good value" for their entertainment dollar--they feel as if the author "worked" for it. I say, it's a novel, not a dissertation, and I don't want to feel as if I'm grading it.
There are definitely other things that can weigh a story down ---like too much back story being woven in too quickly. It clumps up and keeps the story from flowing seamlessly.
As for buoying things up . . . the right mix of dialogue and prose can lift a chapter out of the doldrums. And the judicious use of language and impingement can make the piece feel as if it's in motion.
Kelly
Yes, I think we've all read those fact-laden fiction books, ugh. Some people don't notice or care because they feel they'regetting a "good value" for their entertainment dollar--they feel as if the author "worked" for it. I say, it's a novel, not a dissertation, and I don't want to feel as if I'm grading it.
There are definitely other things that can weigh a story down ---like too much back story being woven in too quickly. It clumps up and keeps the story from flowing seamlessly.
As for buoying things up . . . the right mix of dialogue and prose can lift a chapter out of the doldrums. And the judicious use of language and impingement can make the piece feel as if it's in motion.
Kelly
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Too Much Research!
Hi Kelly,
I think the way the relationship between Claire and the kidnapper unfolds is very interesting, but I won’t say too much more than that so as not to spoil it for other readers. I’m intrigued, however, by what you say about research bogging down the writing. I can think of books I’ve read where that happens, and as I’m reading I think: “The author did a ton of research for this book, and I can see he’s not going to waste one bit of it – he’s going to squeeze every last detail he found into this book!” There’s one book in particular that made me feel that way. It was, in fact, a huge bestseller, so perhaps not everyone was as troubled by his pedantry as I was… But I digress!
Your comment makes me want to ask you about what other kinds of things, in your opinion and experience, other than too much research, weigh down the writing process? And, conversely, what buoys it up?
Thanks!
Lynn
I think the way the relationship between Claire and the kidnapper unfolds is very interesting, but I won’t say too much more than that so as not to spoil it for other readers. I’m intrigued, however, by what you say about research bogging down the writing. I can think of books I’ve read where that happens, and as I’m reading I think: “The author did a ton of research for this book, and I can see he’s not going to waste one bit of it – he’s going to squeeze every last detail he found into this book!” There’s one book in particular that made me feel that way. It was, in fact, a huge bestseller, so perhaps not everyone was as troubled by his pedantry as I was… But I digress!
Your comment makes me want to ask you about what other kinds of things, in your opinion and experience, other than too much research, weigh down the writing process? And, conversely, what buoys it up?
Thanks!
Lynn
Monday, March 10, 2008
Welcome to Stockholm
Dear Lynn:
I hope scholars everywhere are not too shocked to learn that I did no research on kidnapping to write Standing Still!
I'm not a very research-driven author in general --I think too much researching keeps you from writing -- and sometimes facts can weigh down fiction, making it read more like journalism. I did do some research about Mexico City for this book, but that's about it.
That being said, I was very consciously trying to create a relationship between the kidnapper and Claire that had echoes of Stockholm Syndrome. But I wanted to create the tension and ambiguity from their dialogue and relationship on the page---not by replicating any historical precedent.
Kelly
Friday, March 7, 2008
Kidnap Victim
Hi again!
Reading further, I’m intrigued by the relationship between the kidnapper and the victim. Lots of interesting precedent for this. The first thing that comes to mind is Pedro Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! I remember being troubled after watching that film by the attachment the character developed for the man who kidnapped her. I also thought of Patty Hearst – I see you did too! I’d be interested to learn what research you did to help you develop this scenario. (Please note I’m being careful not to give away any plot points.)
Thanks!
Lynn
Reading further, I’m intrigued by the relationship between the kidnapper and the victim. Lots of interesting precedent for this. The first thing that comes to mind is Pedro Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! I remember being troubled after watching that film by the attachment the character developed for the man who kidnapped her. I also thought of Patty Hearst – I see you did too! I’d be interested to learn what research you did to help you develop this scenario. (Please note I’m being careful not to give away any plot points.)
Thanks!
Lynn
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
It's a Scary World
Hi Kelly,
Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about post-9/11 fears of flying or travel. I was thinking about something deeper, as you suggest – a “real issue.” I think it has to do with motherhood, and I think this is what you’re writing about, at least this is how it seems so far, as of about 90 pages into the book. Once you have children, a) you’re more confined to the home, at least for a period when they’re young and b) you have ever so much more to risk, to lose, and so you become more fearful of all the scary things the world holds. I think that’s what’s happened to Claire. If it’s just you jaunting around the world, that’s one thing, but if you’ve got kids, you gotta pull back because you’ve gotta protect the kids and you can’t take as many chances with yourself because those kids need a mother to watch out for them.
L
Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about post-9/11 fears of flying or travel. I was thinking about something deeper, as you suggest – a “real issue.” I think it has to do with motherhood, and I think this is what you’re writing about, at least this is how it seems so far, as of about 90 pages into the book. Once you have children, a) you’re more confined to the home, at least for a period when they’re young and b) you have ever so much more to risk, to lose, and so you become more fearful of all the scary things the world holds. I think that’s what’s happened to Claire. If it’s just you jaunting around the world, that’s one thing, but if you’ve got kids, you gotta pull back because you’ve gotta protect the kids and you can’t take as many chances with yourself because those kids need a mother to watch out for them.
L
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Kelly Replies: Fear and Panic
Kelly to Lynn:
Lynn,
Fear about traveling happens a lot these days, in the post-9/11world. And having kids makes traveling seem more risky--a lot of women are uncomfortable flying somewhere with their husband on a vacation without their children. I think it's a semi-reasonable fear, personally! But if you're having a real issue --well, we can talk more deeply any time. I have a lot of experience with fear and panic.
Kelly
Lynn,
Fear about traveling happens a lot these days, in the post-9/11world. And having kids makes traveling seem more risky--a lot of women are uncomfortable flying somewhere with their husband on a vacation without their children. I think it's a semi-reasonable fear, personally! But if you're having a real issue --well, we can talk more deeply any time. I have a lot of experience with fear and panic.
Kelly
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A Question for Kelly Simmons
Lynn to Kelly:
Hi Kelly,
I'm only about 40 pages into your book so far, but I'm really enjoying it. Your writing is terrific - I really like your style.
I just read the bit about how Claire realizes that she used to be this intrepid world traveler, and now she stays home all the time and is afraid of everything. I hate to admit it, but I have recently realized a similar issue in my life. I was never a world traveler, but I certainly used to travel a bit further afield than my neighborhood! Maybe it's a common housewife problem.
Anyway, just wanted you to know I'm connecting with the book!
all best,
Lynn
Hi Kelly,
I'm only about 40 pages into your book so far, but I'm really enjoying it. Your writing is terrific - I really like your style.
I just read the bit about how Claire realizes that she used to be this intrepid world traveler, and now she stays home all the time and is afraid of everything. I hate to admit it, but I have recently realized a similar issue in my life. I was never a world traveler, but I certainly used to travel a bit further afield than my neighborhood! Maybe it's a common housewife problem.
Anyway, just wanted you to know I'm connecting with the book!
all best,
Lynn
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The First Book
I met Kelly Simmons at a writer’s conference last summer (’07), where we both wound up on the same panel talking about how to market your book. At that point, Kelly was touting her soon-to-be-published first novel, Standing Still, which Atria/Simon & Schuster published in this month (February, 2008). Kelly and I have exchanged a few random chatty e-mails since we met (nice to meet you, good luck with your book, and so forth), and last week I got a copy of her book and started reading.
Blog Talk with Authors About New Books!
As Holden Caulfield famously said, sometimes you like a book so much, you wish you could just pick up the phone and give the author a call:
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.”
--The Catcher in the Rye
It’s true – when you really connect with a book, the idea of talking to the author is really appealing. You may just want to say “I love your book!” or you may want to get specific, asking questions like: “How come so-and-so does this on page 154?” “What made you think of this idea?” Or you may just want to tell them what you think and how their writing is affecting you.
Recently, in a class I teach at Temple U, we were discussing a great new book, The Monsters Of Templeton, by Lauren Groff. After a lively two-hour discussion about the book, my students still had more questions. They wondered things like: How long did it take her to write the book? Where did she get those photographs she used in the book? Also, some of the content made them wonder if the author has an interest in the supernatural.
After listening to a few of their questions, I had an idea. “Do you want me to ask her these things?” I asked the class. They responded with enthusiasm. So I emailed my questions to the book’s publicist, who forwarded them to Lauren Groff, who took the time to answer me directly in great detail. She told us everything we wanted to know! What a thrill for all of us!
I told the author she made me feel like Holden Caulfield – I called the author, and she answered!
In this day and age, I think old Holden would be perfectly satisfied sending an e-mail in place of a phone call. So that’s what I’m going to do. In tribute to J.D. Salinger’s indelible protagonist from The Catcher in the Rye, I’m going to “ring up” a few authors whose books I’ve been reading, and ask them a few questions. Which I will gladly share with you in this blog. Read on!
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.”
--The Catcher in the Rye
It’s true – when you really connect with a book, the idea of talking to the author is really appealing. You may just want to say “I love your book!” or you may want to get specific, asking questions like: “How come so-and-so does this on page 154?” “What made you think of this idea?” Or you may just want to tell them what you think and how their writing is affecting you.
Recently, in a class I teach at Temple U, we were discussing a great new book, The Monsters Of Templeton, by Lauren Groff. After a lively two-hour discussion about the book, my students still had more questions. They wondered things like: How long did it take her to write the book? Where did she get those photographs she used in the book? Also, some of the content made them wonder if the author has an interest in the supernatural.
After listening to a few of their questions, I had an idea. “Do you want me to ask her these things?” I asked the class. They responded with enthusiasm. So I emailed my questions to the book’s publicist, who forwarded them to Lauren Groff, who took the time to answer me directly in great detail. She told us everything we wanted to know! What a thrill for all of us!
I told the author she made me feel like Holden Caulfield – I called the author, and she answered!
In this day and age, I think old Holden would be perfectly satisfied sending an e-mail in place of a phone call. So that’s what I’m going to do. In tribute to J.D. Salinger’s indelible protagonist from The Catcher in the Rye, I’m going to “ring up” a few authors whose books I’ve been reading, and ask them a few questions. Which I will gladly share with you in this blog. Read on!
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