Art and Life in Novel Writing
Writer takeaways on craft learned from the best books utilized in the AAC novel writing program including "Write Away" by Elizabeth George, "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass, and "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard. More art-and-life links below:
Cara's Cabinet and Audrey's Corner.
Writing and the Disquiet of Self Doubt
Blake "Save the Cat" Snyder
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Writer Bear encounters a narcissist newbie who pushes her to indulge murderous thoughts. Can you blame her?
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Books on Fiction Writing Utilized in the Algonkian Novel Writing Program "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program) "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass (another good primer) "Write Away" by Elizabeth George (a no nonsense primer, and humorous) "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard (a look at the struggle) ________________________________________________________________________________ As you've noted on the novel writing program website, the above books are listed as must reads for this program. Therefore, the purpose of this forum is to nudge you into taking what you've learned from these …
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The Writing Life 1. I hated Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, when I first read it. I love The Writing Life and need to go back and read Pilgrim again and see what I was blind to I hated the lists of vegetation that seemed to substitute for something else, in my mind—lyricism, or description. I love the Writing Life, and how it enters through specifics the most abstract regions of resistance, and ego, and fear. This book is the most delicate kind of Judo that is designed to forward writing as alive, not me the writer. It makes me fear for every being able to not have myself in the way. 2. Lessons: Alarming patience, almost geologic time. I struggle with dee…
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Book Reports The Art of Fiction, John Gardner The Art of Fiction introduced me to the concept of a "fictional dream." Whatever the story medium, the author strives to create a "vivid and continuous dream." All elements of craft must support that dream. Other lessons from the book include grounding yourself in the great literature of the past, maintaining artistic integrity and truth, and lending a novel "profluence." That is, causality, one scene launching the next, but also building synergistically, so that at the climax and resolution, the reader envisions the confluence of images. The story resonates. Lastly, I love the vignette about psychic…
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BOOK REPORTS "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? It reinforced for me some vital components that must permeate the book throughout. For example, the story development must continuously cast forwards, drawing the reader from paragraph to paragraph, from scene to scene. Any let up and the reader can stop caring where the story will go next, at which point the writer has failed, and the reader stops reading. This was particularly important for me to get in my head in the early scenes when I move from place to place, character to character. I had initially focuse…
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"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardener 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? I found this book to be quite valuable. Although Gardener mentions a number of concepts I already agreed with, it was helpful to have them spelled out in a clear and rational way. Gardener spends much of the book focusing on the concept that a fictional story is a kind of dream in which the reader is temporarily transported out of their world. The goal of a fiction writer is to keep his reader completely submerged in this fictional world or else risk losing the reader's interest. With only a few words a writer can easily sell his…
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The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner 1. One of the major lessons I learned from Gardner’s work was that all questions I raise within a text, I must answer. Otherwise, it leaves the reader feeling dissatisfied. Upon reflection, I discovered that all of my favorite works follow this guideline.They wrap up every individual character’s storyline and identify any unknowns/solve any mysteries by the end of the story. For example, in Les Miz Hugo wraps up the storyline for not only Valjean, but for Cossette, Marius, Javert, Eponene, Gavroche, and even the Master and his wife. They don’t all have happy ends, but they all have definitive conclusions to their stories. …
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The Art of Fiction While rewriting my manuscript (from basically a clean slate), I've been more mindful of making my current draft publishable. The learning curve in doing so has been necessary and useful, yet my progress on this draft (as opposed to my original) has unfortunately been much slower. John Gardner's advice not to sacrifice your writing's "delight" was helpful, as that's one of my motivating factors when writing (and one that is sometimes lost when I feel overwhelmed about strategically perfecting something as opposed to simply writing it). Gardner reiterated that good writing should shift in and out of various POV's, as opposed to limiting the na…
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Ben Chewey Reaction to Algonkian Novel Writing Program Readings The Art of Fiction by John Gardner 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? The Art of Fiction helped me as a writer by introducing me to the concept of aesthetic interest. Since the start of my writing career I was aware of the importance of a story having a cast and setting that stands out. John Gardner made it clear why it's important for every aspect of one's story to be organic, or at least as organic as possible from something that does not actually exist. 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book …
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"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program) "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass (another good primer) "Write Away" by Elizabeth George (a no nonsense primer, and humorous) "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard (a look at the struggle) The Art of Fiction by John Gardner 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? What spoke to me the most regarding this book was the focus on the authenticity of a story. As well as the focus on "feeling" giving rhythm to sentences. It caused me to go back and look at my sentence variation. Was I using fragment…
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THE ART OF FICTION by John Gardner 1. This book is startlingly basic in both its description of what fiction is and what the writer needs to do. It makes me want to write, to use the power within me to reach out to others, expressing what really matters to me, and hopefully to them also. 2. The primary lessons I learned: structure is paramount - be aware of each word chosen, each sentence structured, each paragraph and scene, as elemental building blocks of character and plot, therefore of the story. Above all else, plausibility: make the fiction so real that the reader lives and breathes within it. My novel, THE BRAID, being a serious (living, breathing) matter …
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The Art of Fiction 1. How did it help me as a writer? Throw away details that are not necessary. Even as a writer who dislikes excessively long books, it's easy at times when writing our own stuff to have fun "playing" with details in the story that might bore others. 2. Two or three major lessons I learned from it? Writing is like any other art form, break the old, traditional rules if you can do it in a way that makes the art more beautiful. And the idea of not overexplaining what a character is thinking. THAT is something that's very easy to do when writing in the third person, and it's a good reminder to show, not tell, even in third person POV. 3. Anyt…
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Book Review - Part 2 - Module 8 The Writing Life by Annie Dillard This book plus some of the assignments within The Art of the Novel gave me permission to be more descriptive in my novel. I fear that it also led me to start too many chapters with exposition. My excuse is wanting to assure that readers know when they pick up the book each time the place and the point of view. The chapters of Dillard's book that I hope to keep in mind are the last two, Chapters 6 and 7, with her analogies of writing and Ferrar Burn's struggle to bring in the log from the sea and then Dave Rahm, the stunt pilot. The first tale is about the writer's struggle against and with th…
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The Writing Life 1. Dillard's perspective of the writing life provides insight into the reality of writing for a living, rather than the romantic notions that my brain tends to fixate upon. I love how she gives permission for it to take years to write a book. I often berate myself for being so slow, but Dillard gives me permission to take my time. I also needed the reminder to create a schedule. It is all too easy to not get around to writing without one. 2. On the practical end she had some motivating comments about revision. Two that particularly struck me were, "I hope you will toss it all and not look back," and "You can waste a year worrying about it, or y…
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Art of Fiction 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? I don’t honestly know if this helped with my writing, though I did like a few of the concepts that he addressed (see #2). I had a hard time reading this, since it was so dense, and I don’t feel that I retained much of it. The “Write Awayâ€� book dealt with many of the same concepts, but in a much more accessible style. 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? I did like his point about writers benefitting from learning and applying technique, rather than “rulesâ€�. I liked the …
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The Art of Fiction by John Gardner 1. John Gardner is very smart and talented, but also extremely condescending and pompous. As such, I often found myself sort of chuckling reading this book, as he called certain types of would-be writings insulting names, but when I look past the tone, I know there's good advice here. Gardner's emphasis on the importance of reading and engaging in deep, meaningful exploration and study of writing craft is well taken, but I do feel this book is for undergrads and as such was basic for me. I've been teaching English for 16 years. For me, the book had good reminders but no new information. 2. Gardner's advice about clarity and the…
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The Writing Life - Annie Dillard 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? This is the journal entry I wrote directly after finishing the book: In reading this book I find myself wishing I had read it in my early teens, so as to have clearer expectations for the life of a writer, though by now, I largely have learned the same lessons on my own. Enough time in any craft allows a person to bump into tricks of the trade in the dark, and in this way of bumping into them in the dark, the artist happens upon the secrets. In this way this book felt...validating, like a sigh of relief, "Thank God, it's that way for me too.…
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Book Report 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? 3. Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they? The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner 1. It taught me that the rules of writing a novel have roughly been the same ever since the beginning. It also taught me that all rules to writing are breakable and many of the early authors broke these rules to some degree or another. Therefore,…
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The Art of Fiction 1. This book was helpful in giving insights regarding what to write. It gave perspective regarding the liberties a writer should embrace and the risks he should be aware of. The section regarding basic skills convinced me to develop the habit of writing and then proof reading what I wrote to develop the innate skill to write good sentences. Writing sloppily from the outset creates a huge task to pore over tens of thousands of words correcting multitudes of bad structure. 2. a. Part 1 is good in helping to formulate personal styles and approaches to a story and how to test those styles whether they are functional for a reader to follow. b. …
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Book Reports Connie Whitmer WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL Donald Maass I found Donald Maass’s book empowering, and invaluable as a writing craft reference, in general, and for my project in particular. “If I write an amazing story, well – they will come!â€� His advice improved every paragraph, page and chapter, knowing what to cut, and what to leave in. And affirmed the passion I feel for the importance of my story, and my need to tell it. And, most exciting, he reaffirmed exactly what I am trying to do. “To write a Break out Novel is to run free of the pack – To go beyond what has been done before - delve deeper, more original, unexplored realm…
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Robert Pfaff, Shrunken Heads, Book Reports Book Reports: The Art of Fiction (Gardener) 1. I have loved John Gardener since I read Grendel in high school. He validated my instincts. For example, I like to break the rules but have always believed that you have to master the rules before you can break them well. Learning a musical instrument or a foreign language teaches you the same idea. You must understand and appreciate structure before you can manipulate it. 11. 1) He debunks certain myths like “Write what you know.â€� It’s a good departure point for a first book, and my first book is a memoir. But I prefer to write about topics that inspire me to learn…
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BOOK REPORTS THE ART OF FICTION by John Gardner How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? I have to say when I started to read it, for a moment I was not liking John Gardner's tone. For me, a little too pompous. But, I agree with what him in that a writer needs to work on his craft to get even better, even if you are born with the talent. The book helped me have a better understanding on the overall craft of writing and the dedication one must put to really become one of the bests. I also learned by his examples proper way of tackling different ways of expressing oneself as a writer. …
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BOOK REPORTS: 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? 3. Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they? THE ART OF FICTION - JOHN GARDNER This book challenged me on two levels: an abstract/theoretical level and a more concrete “craftâ€� level. As difficult as it is to apply theory sometimes, it is good to pull yourself away from your work and try to look at it from afar. The “common errorsâ€� section …
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The art of fiction This book does a great job of inspiring the creative spark with its built in lessons, and its a perfect starting place for new writers for this reason. John Gardner's respect for writing as an art form is appreciated, because he stresses the importance of writing not being clearly defined by "do's" and "do not's", or complex mathematical equations. I like the reminder that every subtle detail must be relevant in the story, and that unimportant facts need to become so or simply discarded. This is an easy mistake to make, and the book helps to teach how destructive it can be. It is certainly something I keep a keen eye out for in my revisions. The…
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"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program)
 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? “ The first and last important rule for the creative writer, then I stat though there may be rules (formulas) for ordinary, easily publishable fiction - imitation fiction - there are no rules for real fiction, any more than there are rules for serious visual art or musical composition. Pg. 158. That line made me question a lot of things. With that said Gardner does later imply that you have to be a master to learn how to break those rules correctly. It was good reminder that Im still gree…
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“That Little Click in the Mind”: Vijay Seshadri Reflects on his Tenure as the Review’s Poetry Editor
Photo by Lisa Pines. This fall marks a transition on our editorial team, as Vijay Seshadri is bidding the Review farewell—at least as our poetry editor, a role he has occupied since 2019. He will be greatly missed. With our forthcoming Winter issue, we will welcome to the role Srikanth “Chicu” Reddy, a professor at the University of Chicago who has served as a guest editor of Poetry magazine and is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Underworld Lit. We are deeply grateful to Vijay for introducing us to the work of so many remarkable poets over the last few years, and for being a marvelous colleague and a true friend to the Review. The worst thing about choosing poems for The Paris Review is having to say no. The magazine receives many submissions, and many of those include strong poems that deserve to be in its pages but can’t be accommodated. Turning down poems is probably even worse for a poetry editor who is also a practicing poet and knows how being turned down feels. Guilt, misgivings, second-guessing, paralysis about naysaying, and avoidant behavior are the by-products of the process. And they should be. As a writer, if you don’t identify with the writers who are sending you work, you’re probably hardening yourself against yourself. Other than that, being The Paris Review’s poetry editor for the past thirteen issues has been a terrific experience. Looking back over the more than sixty years since I washed up on American shores, I’ve come to recognize how much literature was the means by which I socialized myself into this country and its civilization. Choosing poems for the magazine and mulling over the choices I made gave me a chance to make that socialization concrete in my mind. I was a descriptive rather than a prescriptive editor, largely because that unusual process of socialization had left me with a vivid sense of the imagined republic of American letters. At least as an editor, I saw my obligations as being almost as much civic as they were aesthetic, requiring me to acknowledge the entire republic rather than stake out a claim in one of its territories. I honored, I think, the multiplicity of American poetry (including translations into American English)—which is easy to do, because there is excellent work across the range of American literary allegiances. There has been something deeply satisfying about engaging with this country as an editor. I was most gratified when I chose poems by poets whom I felt were unfairly neglected or underappreciated. I had the chance to publish long poems, which have a harder time finding homes. I had the chance to experience over and over that little click in the mind, with its attendant rush of endorphins—very much like the click in the mind that comes from finishing a piece of writing you like—on coming across a poem that is undeniable. Maybe my only regret is that I came to the job too late to do full justice to my experience of the poetry of my time, and to some of my deepest enthusiasms. Very early on in my tenure, for example, I wrote to Allen Grossman’s widow, Judith, begging for unpublished Grossman poems. She told me there were none. That was a bitter moment. On the flip side, though, early on I also wrote to Kamau Brathwaite asking for work. The last poem he published before his death was in the pages of The Paris Review. I’ve worked with two excellent editors: Emily Nemens, who hired me, and Emily Stokes, who kept me on after she took the reins. The magazine’s vigilant staff and interns have made the mechanics frictionless, and have saved me from some serious rookie publishing errors. I’m grateful to the magazine itself, an enduring and central force in American culture. And I’m particularly glad that this goodbye letter gives me a chance to express my deep gratitude to Richard Howard, protean and titanic. The first poem I submitted to The Paris Review, in the mid-nineties, when I was about to publish my first book, was a long poem called “Lifeline.” At that time, the magazine had a long-poem prize, named after one of its former publishers, Bernard F. Conners. Richard gave me the prize for my poem, and he and the magazine arranged a reading at what was then the brand-new Barnes & Noble on Union Square for me and a writer who had contributed fiction to a recent issue, from a novel she was working on. That writer was Susan Sontag. It’s hard to convey, a quarter-century later, the enormous cultural presence and authority that Susan Sontag—and, for that matter, Richard and George Plimpton—had in the New York of the nineties. It was breathtaking to stand for half an hour in front of the eminence they had created, facing the huge crowd that had come out for the reading. Looking back to that event and then along the narrative arc that led to my sitting in the chair Richard once occupied, I get another of those clicks in the mind. Vijay Seshadri is the author of five books of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning 3 Sections, and a professor of writing at Sarah Lawrence College. View the full article -
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Turning Points
Do you ever get the feeling that things are about to change? I mean, really change? Like, if you were to describe it in terms of the weather, it wouldn’t be just—“oh hey, it looks like rain,” but much more like, “Winter… Is… Coming!” As in, cue the Cate Blanchett-as-Galadriel voiceover: “I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air…” I have this feeling now. Indeed, I’m aware of a major milestone—one that’s been long upcoming. I’m inside of a month till the publication of my debut. But it’s starting to feel like something more than just a day of rain or shine. Of course I’ve presumed for many years that this fast approaching day would eventually come. But I’ve already met so many great people, and experienced so much kindness and wonder because of it. I’m starting to sense that my life is going to continue to change in ways I could never have anticipated, and really still can’t. Anyway, the phenomenon has me thinking about turning points, and how important they are to our lives—how unplannable and unavoidable they are. About how many steps are required on the way to them. All of which got me thinking about how these things apply to our characters’ lives. I thought delving into the phenomenon would be beneficial to me, and hopefully to you, too. Milestones Versus Turning Points As I say, the publication of a debut is something we know is coming. At some point it becomes an actual day on the calendar. I think the important dates and milestones of our lives—births, deaths, weddings, debuts, etcetera—are more like mere steps than the sort of turning point I’m trying to describe. Looking back on my own major turning points, I can see that it’s always taken a series of events to bring them about. Some are obvious, but others are more subtle-not so obvious as they happen, but hindsight reveals their crucial impact. For example, I consider my relationship with my wife to be the most important aspect of my life. From the moment we began sharing our lives, mine has been utterly transformed. I am who I am because of it. I can look back at dozens of milestones and vital dates that relate to our relationship, and it took all of them–steps falling one after another–to make this major turning point in my life complete. I perfectly recall the day we met. Indeed, I perfectly remember the moment I saw her, through a window at a house party as she emerged from a friend’s car (it’s been noted that I dreamily but emphatically asked, “Who is that?”). For my part, it was instant attraction. I also clearly recall our first “real” date (took her to see Prince’s movie, Purple Rain). And of course, with our 32nd anniversary just around the corner, I have to acknowledge that these events culminated in our wedding day, which came on the perfect autumn evening, cementing and commemorating the completion of the turn. But when I think back on it all, another auspicious day springs to mind—one between that first meeting and first date, and quite some time before the autumn day in the chapel. Hindsight reveals that this day was a key-spring—an event without which the turning may not have occurred as it did. I’m not sure exactly how many months had passed since our meeting; my wife and I weren’t exactly an instant item (and yes, she resisted and I persisted, how did you guess?). Anyway, we were retail coworkers during college, and on one particularly fine summer Saturday, as I was about to punch out at noon, I mused that it would be a perfect beach day. The store was slow, and I noted my very bored coworker’s interest in the idea, so I jokingly suggested that I would actually go if she joined me. To our mutual surprise, our manager, who’d been eavesdropping, suggested my coworker take the day off and do just that. To my even greater surprise, she did. To those who don’t know the Mighty Mitten, the Lake Michigan beaches on the western shore near the city where I grew up are world class expanses of soft sand and Bahama blue water. Often, those who grow up on the east side of the state—like my wife did—have never experienced them. That day I felt like a tour guide, revealing a legacy treasure that she’d just inherited. It was during this serendipitous beach day—getting better acquainted during the hour-long drive there; spending the afternoon relaxing, swimming, playing Frisbee; and then listening to music, laughing and chatting away the drive back—that our enduring friendship took root. I remember this impending sense I had that day of the turning of things. I began to feel it in the water, in the earth, in the air. I think we both sensed it that evening, as we sought to cool our sunburns over beers. The experience had shifted things for both of us. Yes, milestone experiences can have instant impact. But often it’s the subtle shifts that turn out to be key-springs to such turnings. Either way, such events are usually mere dominos, falling to push down the next, which falls to… You get the idea. Inexorable I’m getting far enough along in my life to see that it’s defined by a handful of major turning points, and that all such changes—over a series of incremental steps; incidents and events—come to feel inexorable as they arrive. Take a life-change of mine that is perhaps second in magnitude only to my marriage: our decision to leave the business world in Illinois and move back to Michigan. This turning point plays into everything that followed—particularly my writing life. The first domino to fall came in the form of a major blow—one that we knew was coming but had no grasp of its scale and lasting impact. It began with the passage of a dog. We said goodbye to our beloved black lab Maggie on the twilit morning of a September Friday. Mag had been with us through most of our years in business—a grounding presence through a whirlwind of toil. The day she left us we did something unprecedented: We left. We left our business without checking messages, without consulting our department heads, without leaving written instructions, and without offering to take calls. There had been no question where we would go. We went where Mag would have had us go. Oh, how our girl loved coming to Michigan. The joy was palpable, and contagious. Driving straight to what was then our getaway cottage on the day of Maggie’s passing taught us that the little house we built in the woods near the shore was our hearts’ home. That was twenty years ago this month, and we’re still here. It took over a year from Maggie’s passing, and an uncountable number of dominos, to complete this turning point. During that time, we started to joke about making a change. Looking back, we sensed the inexorable turning. We’d say things like, “We’ll do that after we sell the business,” or “We’ll be able to do this once we move to Michigan.” I remember one particular morning here. I’d stopped overnight at the cottage on the way to a business meeting further up the coast. Before setting out, as I sat on the porch drinking coffee, enjoying the stillness and birdsong, the thought of living here, of working at something creative here, buzzed around my head like a happy hummingbird, teasing and beckoning me to strive toward something that I couldn’t yet see. That domino was a subtle one, of the sort I only see in hindsight. There was a final domino. My wife and I began to see the signs of an oncoming economic downturn. For several years prior to this, we’d experienced what might be called growth-on-cruise. In response, we called a meeting with our partner, our top sales and marketing staff, and our accounting team. We laid out a fairly austere plan to proactively face the projected downturn. It did not go over well. Our team had grown metaphorically fat and happy. And, honestly, we had lost much of the zeal required to fight through such resistance. I’ll never forget leaving the meeting. Once we were in the car, and before I even started it, I said, “That’s it, isn’t it?” My wife gave a single nod. “Yep. We’re done.” We drove home in relative silence, feeling the resound of that final domino’s fall, knowing it had been the last of the turning. What we had long sensed possible—what had been both hopeful and terrifying—had become inexorable. Alignment Turning points such as these are intrinsic to storytelling. Indeed, change is the very essence of story. Often an entire story is built around one such turning point, and the dominos required to get our characters to it. Often it’s monumental. Thinking about this sort of change–bit by bit, one domino striking the next, until a character is utterly transformed–brings to mind characters like Ove, from A Man Called Ove, or Lieutenant John Dunbar, from Dances With Wolves. Heck, think about Frodo (sorry, had to go there), from the moment he tucks the one ring into his vest pocket and askes Gandalf, “What must I do?” to swatting at waking nightmares as he trudges across the Plateau of Gorgoroth. Only through witnessing the fall of each domino that led them there can we believe such monumental changes could have occurred. Having seen them tumble, one by one, we are all the more invested, and moved, by the result. As I sit here, feeling on the verge of yet another major turning, it’s not mine to know if the long string of events that have conveyed me this far have been aligned by unseen forces, guiding me to the life I am meant to live. But I must admit, it often feels that way. In our fiction, we are those unseen forces. And though some of the dominos we set are more auspicious and impactful, it’s our job to make each one feel like a necessary step. It’s on us to make our readers feel that each one is both surprising and essential. We must make change become a force like gravity, unrealized but accepted as a law of the nature of our stories. The dominos of storytelling—the inciting incidents, opportunities knocking, pinch points, the flips from reactivity to proactivity, the black moments and heroic sacrifices—all of them must feel both unexpected and unavoidable. The best story changes often feel both hopeful and terrifying. We must strive to have our readers feel them in the water, feel them in the earth, and smell them in the air. If we hope to tell stories that are both fresh and satisfying, we must strive to bring about the change in our characters that no one would believe at the onset, and then make it feel inevitable, even rightful. We do so by utilizing events and milestones that are inexorable steps to turning points that transform lives. What about you, WU? Is Cate Blanchett still the best Galadriel? Can you look back to the dominos that led to your own life’s turning points? Do you delight in being the unseen force that aligns them for your characters? About Vaughn RoycroftVaughn Roycroft's (he/him) teacher gave him a copy of The Hobbit in the 6th grade, sparking a lifelong passion for reading and history. After college, life intervened, and Vaughn spent twenty years building a successful business. During those years, he and his wife built a getaway cottage near their favorite shoreline, in a fashion that would make the elves of Rivendell proud. After many milestone achievements, and with the mantra ‘life’s too short,’ they left their hectic lives in the business world, moved to their little cottage, and Vaughn finally returned to writing. Now he spends his days striving to finish his epic fantasy series. 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10 New Books Coming Out This Week
A look at the week’s best new releases. * Kate Atkinson, The Shrines of Gaiety (Doubleday) “[Atkinson] takes on London in the 1920s, masterfully capturing both its shimmer and its seediness…It’s a deliciously fun, absorbing read.” –Time Sarah Bonner, Her Perfect Twin (Grand Central) “Airtight, cat-and-mouse plotting with twists that will draw Gone Girl comparisons, this is a compulsively bingeable debut thriller.” –Booklist Iain Reid, We Spread (Gallery/ Scout) “Reid combines magnetic character development with clipped, eerie prose in this masterfully crafted psychological thriller that will keep the reader guessing until the very last word on the final page.” –Booklist Katherine St. John, The Vicious Circle (William Morrow) “[A] fun romantic adventure-thriller… St. John effectively ratchets up the suspense and the surprises. Lushly exotic locales and touches of humor add to tasty escapism that should please fans of Nine Perfect Strangers.” –Publishers Weekly C.J. Box, Treasure State (Minotaur) “Excellent. . . Box has rarely been better in his plotting. . . The story culminates with one of Box’s most satisfying payoffs.” –Publishers Weekly Elizabeth Brooks, The House in the Orchard (Tin House) “Exceptional. . . . Readers will scramble to decide whom to trust, as misplaced faith leads to deadly outcomes.” –Kirkus Reviews Kim Taylor Blakemore, The Deception (Lake Union) “Kim Taylor Blakemore’s The Deception captures the fascinating world of nineteenth-century mediums in this story of intrigue, deceit, and the otherworldly. Historical fiction lovers will delight in the wonderfully captured details and the mystical elements at the center of this novel. A must-read!” –Lydia Kang Archer Mayor, Fall Guy (Minotaur) “Another winner in one of the best American procedural series.” –Booklist Leanna Renee Hieber, Andrea Janes, A Haunted History of Invisible Women (Citadel) “Delightfully harrowing and full of spine-tingling horrors, A Haunted History of Invisible Women is not your average book of ghost stories. Hieber and Janes go far beyond the obvious thrills and chills, providing fascinating context and lavish detail in this incredibly empathetic book as they gently remind us not only of what we are but what we may become.” —Deanna Raybourn Ainslie Hogarth, Motherthing (Vintage) “A darkly comic, kaleidoscopic novel of unhealthy fixations, love, murder, the gifts and wounds that family can inflict and one woman’s fight to save herself.” –Shelf Awareness View the full article -
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Six YA Thrillers where Teens Fight the System
Below are six YA novels that I adore for their complexity, their willingness to grapple with larger social and moral questions, and their resistance to easy answers. Part of adolescence isn’t only coming to understand one’s own self and place in the world; it’s about questioning why the world is the way it is in the first place. No wonder adults find literature and teens so terrifying. They ask the questions we don’t always have the answers to and force the issues we’ve never been prepared to answer for. Courtney Summers, The Project A girl grieving for her shattered family. A father grieving for his lost son. Their pain, their suffering, as well as her own, lead young aspiring journalist Lo Denham to seek out the Unity Project, a community in rural New York where members dedicate themselves to charity and spiritual transcendence. But who is their leader, Lev Warren? And what connection does he have to Lo’s past? Summers’s novel quickly heads down the rabbit hole into a world where the line between coercion and consent; empowerment and dependence are flipped upside down. What is free will in a world where so much of power and success are wrapped up in hero worship and subservience? Lo is young, naïve, but determined to forge her own way, to take down this man who’s ruined the lives of so many. But what if Lev can offer her what she’s longed for most? What if Lo’s convictions aren’t what she thought they were? Janne Teller, Nothing “Nothing matters. From the moment you are born, you start to die….Life isn’t worth the bother.” When one of their classmates climbs into a tree and begins shouting about the meaningless of life, a group of Danish middle schoolers grow angry and decide to prove him wrong. Life does have meaning, they insist. The things they care about and value and center their daily lives around—well, those things matter. Don’t they? The children hatch a plan to force the issue: they’ll each sacrifice an item they care about, but that item will be chosen by the person who sacrificed before them. Human nature takes it course and what ends up mattering is not what they lose, but what they’re willing to take. Francesca Padilla, What’s Coming to Me There’s a lot for seventeen-year-old Minerva to be angry about; she’s been expelled from her Long Island high school, her mother’s terminally ill; her best friend’s ditched her; and she doesn’t have the money or means to escape her stifling existence. Then, when she’s finally able to land a job at a local ice cream shop, it turns out her boss is a perv who spies on his employees with hidden cameras. Well, there’s always something to be said for having nothing to lose and when rumors about hidden stashes of money in the boss’s office—courtesy of his unsavory side hustles—Minerva starts to plot some unsavoriness of her own. But there are people in Minerva’s life who care about her and who understand the haze of grief and anger she’s moving through. Will that be enough to save her? And is she capable of saving herself? Rebecca Barrows, Bad Things Happen Here It’s no paradise. In fact, life on the seemingly idyllic island of Parris is more fantasy than truth. It’s a place where denial allows wealth and opulence to outshine the human misery simmering below. Biracial teenage islander Luca, who suffers from severe anxiety, hates this place and has always believed Parris to be cursed. What else could explain the random acts of violence, including the childhood death of her best friend Polly? But when another tragedy strikes closer to home, something awakens in Luca. No longer bound by fantasy, she’s driven to find the real killer. But unraveling the truth will mean taking on the island’s tightly held secrets and pushing back against forces that have always been willing to wash the sins of the wealthy away. Zack Smedley, Deposing Nathan This is a book that starts after the crime’s occurred. The narrator, Nathan, is being deposed in a case against the person who brutally stabbed him—his supposed best friend Cam. But as the story unfolds, beginning with the boys’ initial meeting, their budding friendship, and eventually a more complex relationship, we start to understand Nate’s inner conflicts as well as the complicated dynamics present in some of his prior relationships. A sheltered boy living with his widowed father and an aunt who’s tried to take on a maternal role, Nate’s never questioned the adults in his life. He’s never wondered if they truly have his best interest in mind. But when the cost of obeying means hurting himself and those around him, Nate isn’t sure if he’s really a victim at all. And if he is, maybe Cam’s the one who’s been trying to save him. Kelly Loy Gilbert, Conviction In the stifling heat of California’s central valley, Braden, a young pitching phenom, faces an impossible choice. His father, whom he idolizes, has been arrested for a hit and run accident that left a law enforcement officer dead. Braden’s testimony about what happened that night will either set his father free or convict him. But the truth is never easy. And in his choice, Braden must reckon with his faith, his future, the reasons behind his older brother’s estrangement from the family, as well as who his father really is and who Braden’s always needed him to be. *** View the full article -
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Happy Holidays (That Aren’t Christmas)!
Holidays are fun to write about. Each has its own vibe. And we immediately associate iconic symbols with them. Colorful eggs mean it’s Easter and pumpkins take us straight to Halloween. There are special foods that we expect, too, like chocolates on Valentine’s Day and turkey at Thanksgiving. While families don’t gather for all holidays, when they do, authors love to write about dysfunctional family chaos. It can be very entertaining, provided it’s not our families that are involved. A GOOD DOG’S GUIDE TO MURDER is set at Thanksgiving and takes the reader into the holiday season. Holly Miller’s Jack Russell terrier and her calico cat have noses for murder. When they show an unusual interest in the most unexpected place, the trunk of a tree, it turns out someone hid a body in it! Holly has to figure out not only who is in the tree, but also who committed murder. But we’ll start at the beginning of the year. The very beginning when we drink champagne and ring in the new year. Murder in a Cape Cottage by Maddie Day Coming September 27th Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida runs a bike shop and belongs to a book group in Cape Cod, but her mind is on her upcoming New Year’s Eve wedding. She and her fiancé begin to renovate a cottage only to find a skeleton in the wall dressed in a bridal gown! Even worse, the killer lurks in their quaint seaside town, poised to make it a murderous New Year’s Eve. Death of a Chocoholic by Lee Hollis Giving up on dating disasters, on Valentine’s Day food columnist Hayley Powell intends to curl up with a box of special chocolates from Bessie Winthrop. But Hayley finds the chocolatier dead! Her chocolate may have been sweet, but it turns out that Bessie had plenty of enemies and it’s up to Hayley to pick through them. Easter Bonnet Murder by Leslie Meier Part-time reporter Lucy Stone can’t imagine how a sweet old lady could go missing over an Easter bonnet contest in Tinker’s Cove, Maine. Lucy soon finds back-stabbing has no age limits. She must hop to it and figure out what happened to the missing woman before Lucy becomes another tragedy. An Eggnog to Die For by Amy Pershing With Easter behind us, it’s time to move on and head to the beach for the Fourth of July where foodie Samantha Barnes is trying to choose the best blueberry buckle as a dessert after a clambake on Cape Cod. But when she settles on one, the baker, a cookbook author and retired restaurateur, dies in an accidental house fire. Sam isn’t buying that the fire was accidental and needs to find the killer before more fireworks begin. Claws for Suspicion by Deborah Blake When autumn winds begin to blow, what could be better than Oktoberfest in the Catskills? Kari Stuart is the new owner of Serenity Sanctuary and has her eyes on a handsome local. Everything is going well until her ex-husband arrives with the horrible news that they aren’t actually divorced, and he owns half of the sanctuary! Just when Kari thinks things couldn’t get worse, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder! Calypso, Corpses and Cooking by Raquel V. Reyes Coming October 11th Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes to find a dead woman in her Miami front yard next to a fake tombstone! When a chef tumbles down a staircase to his death, Miriam doesn’t think it could have been an accident. As more mishaps occur, Miriam’s life is also in jeopardy but she delves into rage, retribution, and murder. And that brings us back to Thanksgiving on Wagtail Mountain in Virginia where the annual dog and cat gingerbread house competition is under way and Thanksgiving weekend means a full house at the Sugar Maple Inn. Holly has to juggle her inn duties while figuring out who the man in the tree could be. It soon becomes clear that someone is desperate to keep the truth a secret. It’s up to Holly and her furry sleuth pals to find an elusive and conniving killer. *** View the full article -
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Joe R. Lansdale and Jussi Piironen Talk Graphic Novels and Noir
Joe R. Lansdale is the author of more than 50 novels and 30 short story collections and is perhaps best known for his Hap and Leonard series of crime fiction novels. Jussi Piironen is a Finnish artist and illustrator, whose most recent illustrations appear in the graphic novel adaptation of Lansdale’s now-classic Hap & Leonard novel, Mucho Mojo. Thanks to Joe and to Jussi for answering a few questions about the collaborative process, the graphic novel form, and the cult classic series. What inspired you to adapt MUCHO MOJO into the graphic novel form? JOE R. LANSDALE: This is actually a question for Jussi, but for me the answer is simple. What a cool idea! JUSSI PIIRONEN: The original novel was published here in Finland in 1997 and I immediately bought it—at the tender age of fifteen. I instantly fell in love with the characters and the mood of the book. Mucho Mojo was my first encounter with the characters and remains one of my favorite stories in the Hap and Leonard canon so the graphic novel was actually a no-brainer. How did you two find each other? JOE: Paul Fry, who was the original planned publisher, wanted to hire Jussi to do the job, and I agreed. But it was mostly between Paul and Jussi. JUSSI: I was doing this horror graphic novel for Paul and after couple of conversations and wild twists and turns, I was suddenly adapting and illustrating Hap and Leonard graphic novels. As I mentioned earlier, I was already a massive fan of Joe’s work. What were some aspects that were important to keep in mind when bringing Hap and Leonard to life visually in this book? JOE: Books leave the character’s appearance and intonation to the readers. When you actually present the characters, you have to hope the art, their appearance, is convincing and satisfying for the audience. But then again, I’m not one who worries about the audience when creating, other than an audience of one. Me. But when finished, I hope everyone likes it. Jussi may have a different view point. JUSSI: Yeah, the characters have such a large fan base, so I felt gigantic pressure to make everything look right. This is our second collaboration with the characters [after adapting and illustrating the Savage Season graphic novel] and with Mucho Mojo I was, to be honest, quite comfortable during the whole process. Art-wise, I really pushed myself to extremes during the creation state as this novel means so much to me and, from what I’ve heard, for the fans here in Finland and all over the globe as well. How did the inspiration for the look of the graphic novel evolve? JOE: Jussi, to you. JUSSI: I already had the look of the graphic novel vividly in my mind when I started adapting the novel. A lot of bright colors to show the hot summer of East Texas. And I really wanted the fight scenes to be brutal and crazy. Just something that has not been seen in comics before—or not that often. After Savage Season, we already had the look of Hap and Leonard figured out. The only character I had some trouble with was MeMaw. Believe it or not, at first I illustrated her to look like a horrible, mummified grandma. Jeez! The final look for her has the right amount of heart and toughness the character needs. Did the illustrations inspire the text, or vice versa? How does that collaboration process work? JOE: Jussi did the work, I saw it, and sometimes I commented through Paul or to Jussi by email, and he would develop ways to incorporate changes. JUSSI: The Mucho Mojo graphic novel is a collaboration of us three. Joe gave me great tips and notes and Paul commented some art stuff here and there and kept the whole palette together during the process. It has been a really rewarding experience for me as a writer and as an artist. What do you get out of the graphic novel format that you can’t get from a novel (and vice versa)? JOE: It’s merely a different way of presenting a story, as is film and television. But it’s unique in that in some ways, it’s closer to the source and you’re not restricted by an actor’s abilities, and though budget may cause some restrictions in comics, it’s of a different nature than films. You don’t have to leave something out you want to put in because it will cost too much to make it work. The talent of the artist and the space are all that’s needed. JUSSI: Like Joe said, you don’t really need to leave anything out because of budget restrictions. And you don’t have to censor yourself so much as when working in the film/TV industry. The action can be over the top and there can be some serious foul language. Joe, with plenty of film and tv adaptations under your boot, your work seems uniquely easy to visualize on screen. Did that ease transfer to the graphic novel adaptation? JOE: I felt it did. What’s on your nightstand/What are you reading next? JOE: Actually, I’m reading books on settling Mars and on Greek mythology, always an interest of mine. Both subjects, actually. JUSSI: I’m currently reading Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle series, the controversial but oh-so-great autobiographical novels. The reading is sometimes really a challenge but the books are so honest you gotta love them, and I devour them. I also have Hugo Pratt’s Ballad of the Salty Sea graphic novel on my desk. The graphic novel form doesn’t get better than this. *** View the full article -
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Cover Snark: Is It Too Early for Easter?
It’s Monday morning and time for some Cover Snark! From Rebecca: For your consideration for cover snarkiness because the title hurts my brain. Sarah: Sir, I am just as confused as you are. Elyse: WTF is happening with his armpit? Also it sounds like the baby she’s carrying is her roommate’s dad so is this a time travel issue? Sarah: Wait, maybe the cover model is pregnant with their roommate’s dad? That’s going to be a complicated gestation. Elyse: He’s carrying the baby in his weird arm lump Sarah: Unless this is an alien romance and the person who is pregnant is gestating another person’s parent? AJ: This is why you don’t drink and drive a time machine, folks. From Naomi: I know the Bitches will Have Opinions about this cover! Sarah: Who is Desive? And why does Desive slap? Seems uncalled for. It’s just gold leaf. Calm down Desive. Tara: I feel like I’ve seen a face version of this on Glow Up. Elyse: I thought it said Derisive Slaps. Sarah: Decisive? Decisive slaps! Claudia: Well, regardless, the gold leaf most definitely does not slap. Amanda: He looks like me after I tuck into a croissant. Carrie: This is what happens when people discover glitter for the first time. From Tracy: This cover is wild AF but it 100% gets the point across. Maybe too accurate? Peep that horny dick spaceship tho. (Unrelated but this is the first time I’ve seen female on male anal fisting in a book, but that’s not on the cover for some reason…) Sarah: None words. Unable to word. None. Elyse: Why the ears ? Shana: Just in time for Easter, Bunny Aliens! Claudia: We can appreciate the pastel colors…I guess? Kiki: I’m now realizing just how long it’s been since I had Peeps… Elyse: If we microwave them will they expand? Sneezy: No. They’ll take up too much space. AJ: Welp, looks like I’m going to have to read that Easter bunny book. I cannot resist the crazy sauce. The heroine’s name is Ch’ik. Chick. We’re starting strong. Amanda: It says book two and yes, there is underboob on every other cover in the series. At least it’s consistent. Carrie: Look, we all know that all that exposed area is dangerous, but can we take a moment to discuss the hazards of chafing? Cause that can’t be comfortable! Amanda: The thought of chainmail rubbing against my nips 24/7 is a big ol’ nope for me. Dr. Nips would be on speed dial Carrie: I hurt just looking at this. Sarah: This is what endometriosis feels like. Elyse: I love how the armor just exposes her most vulnerable areas. Sneezy: Plus her hair must be all caught and snagged in the chainmail. View the full article -
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Checking Out Virtual Book Clubs
Photo by Taryn Elliot/Pexels Years ago, when my oldest child was an infant, I heard about a book club a local mom’s group was organizing. I was so excited and desperate to talk to other like-minded moms that I purchased the book, read it from cover to cover, and showed up at the restaurant. I didn’t see anyone I knew, so I grabbed a drink and waited for the meeting to start. I believe we talked about the book for approximately five minutes, before everyone began breaking off into groups and chatting among themselves about their lives. Because I didn’t know anyone, I stood off awkwardly to the side. Disappointed, I left the club early and never went back, vowing that book clubs were a waste of time. I still love to read, and a few years ago noticed virtual book clubs were beginning to pop up. I’ll see different celebrities promoting them and often get ideas for new books to read from their social media pages. I’ve interviewed a few local true crime authors for my podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. I often get pitches (and Net Galley access or offers of advanced copies) for thrillers, mysteries and true crime new releases. I started thinking it might be fun to form my own virtual book club as an extension of my podcast, so I poked around to find out what some of these other virtual book clubs offer. Here are two I researched. Reese’s Book Club How it works: Each month, Reese Witherspoon selects a book with a woman at the center of the story. It’s free to join. You download Reese’s Book Club app and set up a profile. You can buy books through an affiliate link, but it’s not required. 100 percent of the proceeds go towards funding specific programs designed to advance diverse voices and promote literacy. You can also shop for merch on the website and create your own box complete with a book and other goodies from the club’s partners. Recent selections: “Honey & Spice” by Bolu Babalola, “Counterfeit” by Kirsten Chen, “The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams, and “True Biz” by Sara Novic. Jen Hatmaker Book Club How it works: Author Jen Hatmaker has a monthly subscription box and membership designed to share works of fiction, non-fiction, biographies, short stories, etc. each month. Members can pay $32.99 (plus shipping and handling) to receive the book, chapter summaries, a reading plan, and weekly group discussion questions. They also receive access to the private Jen Hatmaker Book Club Facebook group and a video podcast with the author or other special guest. The monthly book always includes a surprise item, such as a beanie, coffee mug, water bottle, etc. If you don’t want a physical copy of the book and would rather use a Kindle version, library copy, etc., you can pay $9.99. The digital membership allows access to everything but the physical copy of the book and bonus item. Recent selections: “When We Believed in Mermaids” by Barbara O’Neal, “The Girl with the Louding Voice” by Abi Dare, “I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet” by Shauna Niequest, and “The Lost Apothecary” by Sarah Penner. What’s the verdict? Do you belong to any of these virtual book clubs, and do you enjoy participating? What would you enjoy most out of joining this type of club? Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer who also hosts the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas.(C) Copyright wow-womenonwriting.com Visit WOW! Women On Writing for lively interviews and how-tos. Check out WOW!'s Classroom and learn something new. Enter the Quarterly Writing Contests. Open Now![url={url}]View the full article[/url] -
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Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 26
Hey there! Are you ready to get rec’d? This is where we get to talk about book recommendations, whether we’re receiving them or giving them out. I love to do a bit of handselling at the bookstore and it’s always a point of pride when a customer takes a chance on your suggestion or staff pick. Have you recommended any good books lately? Picked up anything based on a friend’s suggestion? A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons I feel like even if you think you’ve exhausted your list of historical mysteries to read, there’s always another one popping up! Saffron Everleigh is in a race against time to free her wrongly accused professor before he goes behind bars forever. Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Anna Lee Huber, Kate Khavari’s debut historical mystery is a fast-paced, fearless adventure. London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university’s large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition’s departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor’s name cleared, she’ll have to do it herself. Joined by enigmatic Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list? Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Killing Code This one was actually recommend to me! I loved Marney’s None Shall Sleep, which I recommended here before. I had no clue she had a new one coming out that is a WWII YA thriller. A historical mystery about a girl who risks everything to track down a vicious serial killer, for fans of The Enigma Game and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Virginia, 1943: World War II is raging in Europe and on the Pacific front when Kit Sutherland is recruited to help the war effort as a codebreaker at Arlington Hall, a former girls’ college now serving as the site of a secret US Signals Intelligence facility in Virginia. But Kit is soon involved in another kind of fight: Government girls are being brutally murdered in Washington DC, and when Kit stumbles onto a bloody homicide scene, she is drawn into the hunt for the killer. To find the man responsible for the gruesome murders and bring him to justice, Kit joins forces with other female codebreakers at Arlington Hall—gossip queen Dottie Crockford, sharp-tongued intelligence maven Moya Kershaw, and cleverly resourceful Violet DuLac from the segregated codebreaking unit. But as the girls begin to work together and develop friendships—and romance—that they never expected, two things begin to come clear: the murderer they’re hunting is closing in on them…and Kit is hiding a dangerous secret. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Sleepless A woman came into the bookstore, wanting a dystopian/sci-fi read for her husband. I sold her on this murder mystery with the caveat that it does feature a pandemic that changes the population, if that’s a no-go for them right now. In a near-future New York City where a minority of the population has lost the need for sleep, a journalist fights to uncover the truth behind his boss’s murder on the eve of a sinister corporate takeover—while his own Sleeplessness spirals out of control. A mysterious pandemic causes a quarter of the world to permanently lose the ability to sleep—without any apparent health implications. The outbreak creates a new class of people who are both feared and ostracized, most of whom optimize their extra hours to earn more money. Jamie Vega, a journalist at C+P Media, is one of the Sleepless. When his boss dies in a suicidal overdose, Jamie doesn’t buy this too-convenient explanation—especially given its suspicious timing during a controversial merger—and investigates. As Jamie delves deeper into Simon’s final days, he tangles with extremist organizations and powerful corporate interests, and must confront past traumas and the unforeseen consequences of being Sleepless. But he soon faces the most dangerous decision of all, as he uncovers a terrifying truth about Sleeplessness that imperils him—and all of humanity. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy This is why it’s good to have people whose opinions you trust! I used Sarah’s review of this one to get my friend, Emma, to pick this one up. I would say my dear friend Emma and Sarah have similar interests in the romances they read and I’m eagerly awaiting Emma’s thoughts. Hart Ralston is a demigod and a marshal, tasked with patrolling the wasteland of Tanria. The realm the exiled old gods once called home is now a forsaken place where humans with no better options or no better sense come seeking adventure or spoils, but more often end up as drudges: reanimated corpses inhabited by the souls of those who’ve died in Tanria before. Hart tells himself that his job is simple: neutralize the drudges with a quick zap to the appendix and deliver them back to polite society at the nearest undertaker’s, leaving the whys and hows of the drudge problem for men without the complexities of a god in their family tree. But working alone, Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder exactly those questions he’d most like to avoid. Too much time alone is the opposite of Mercy Birdsall’s problem. Since her father’s decline, she’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son undertakers afloat in small-town Eternity—despite definitely not being a son, and in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart Ralston, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. The work’s not the problem—Mercy’s good at it, better than any other Birdsall—but keeping all her family’s plates spinning singlehandedly, forever, isn’t how Mercy envisioned her future. After yet another run-in with the sharp-tongued Mercy, Hart considers she might have a point about his utter loneliness being a bit of a liability. In a moment of sentimentality, he pens a letter addressed simply to “A Friend,” and entrusts it to a nimkilim, an anthropomorphic animal messenger with an uncanny connection to the gods, (and in Hart’s case, a bit of a drinking problem). Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born. If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most–Mercy. As the two unlikely pen pals grow closer, the truth about Hart’s parentage and the nature of the drudges creeps in. And suddenly their old animosity seems so small in comparison to what they might be able to do: end the drudges forever. But at what cost? Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. View the full article -
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Meet Q3 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest Runner Up Jennifer Juniper
Jennifer Juniper’s love of travel mixes well with her uncontrollable curiosity and often leads to adventure and intrigue. With life as her muse, she stays busy chronicling connections and inspiring interactions. An excerpt titled “The Fish Doctor” from her upcoming memoir was recently published. Her poetry is featured in But You Don’t Look Sick: The Real Life Adventures of Fibro Bitches, Lupus Warriors, and other Superheroes Battling Invisible Illness. Her essay made it into Decimos: We Say. She is an award-winning poet currently living on the road with a kitty she was only supposed to foster, splitting her time between here, there and everywhere while working on her memoir, Gut Instincts. She blogs at onehitoneder.wordpress.com and tries to stay up on Twitter @JenJuniperM. Read Jennifer's moving essay here and then return to learn more about the author. ----------Interview by Renee Roberson WOW: Congratulations, Jennifer, and welcome! Your essay about your relationship with your father is very touching. How has writing helped you explore the details (good and bad) that may have remained buried within your psyche had you not put them on paper? Jennifer: Thank you for feeling it with me. It’s why I write—to feel something and help others feel something. Writing has always been how I process life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been using words, both reading and writing, to help me find a solid place within myself. Writing makes it all stand still for a moment, where I can see it. Hold it. Let it do with me what it will, within the safety of the page. I use the power of the pen to get those buried treasures out of me and bring them to the light. I love seeing what pours out of me given the quiet opportunity to discover. All we need is within us—writing is one of the ways I find it. People, places and things written down become immortal. We can transcend time. I get to revisit, relive all those moments again. This piece about my father and me, it puts us in one place where I can find him again. Dance with him again, see him hand me an ice cream cone again, fall back on his advice. WOW: On your blog you wrote about how the first two times you submitted to this writing contest you didn’t advance to the finals. What advice would you give to anyone who is hesitant about submitting their work to writing contests? Jennifer: Write for the sake of writing. Write because you can, because you have something to say and what you say matters. Make art–literary art. Aren’t we lucky to be creative types? Unbound by what is, able to angle ourselves into our own designs. Everytime I write, I get better. I’ve come to see it beyond the labels of good and bad, but as a person learning guitar approaches an instrument. To learn. I’m practicing my craft, and you get better at what you practice. I always pay extra for the feedback and it’s always helpful in addition to being super encouraging. Contests offer discipline. They give structure and a deadline, prompting you to stay with a piece through completion—all good things for us writers. I find there’s a certain intrinsic prize once I hit the Send button. I didn’t let my fears stop me. I created something to share with the world. I was vulnerable. And I often tell myself, I can’t be the only one feeling and thinking this. Maybe someone will find company in my piece. I take solace in Stephen King’s "On Writing" where he talks about being a kid, putting a nail in the rafter above the desk in his bedroom. He stabbed his rejection letters onto it. And when it got full, he had to put in a second, bigger nail. So, I figure I’m in pretty good company when I don’t get chosen. A record label turned down Prince. Chicken Soup for the Soul got passed on heaps of times. Anyways, if I really want to keep an authentic voice, I need to write without wondering what will come of it. How high it will climb in the world. Once I saw Eric Clapton perform his song "Tears In Heaven" live, to loud applause. He told us he’d written the song to deal with his own grief. “That you all happened to like it, too was a bonus." WOW: Your memoir, “Gut Instincts,” chronicles your health journey with Crohn’s Disease. What do you hope readers will take away from your book? Jennifer: To see it not as a How-To book, but a Now-You book. I want them to be inspired to listen to their bodies and love themselves well. A disease has symptoms and also is a symptom of our whole life and our whole being. Go beyond the limitations of modern medicine, take back their power and tap into their own self-induced healing mechanism. An understanding that without the mind, the body can’t heal. And everything can heal. Everything. Chronic illness is wrought with shame and isolation, I want to alleviate that. Obliterate it. I hope they find a hand to hold inside my pages. I hope they reach out and ask me for more than that, if needed. WOW: I love this! Thank you for shining a light on the emotional struggles people with chronic illness face alongside the physical symptoms. Speaking of writing nonfiction, are there any memoirs you’ve read recently that you would recommend to our readers? Jennifer: Mary Karr’s "Lit." She drills down deep, puts me right there with her, and her style makes me read sentences over and over again, in awe. I’m a better writer for having read her. And she’s snarky, with a self-deprecating wit, which I love and relate to. WOW: Thank you for that recommendation! You are currently living on the road as you complete the memoir. What has the experience been like for you and would you recommend it to fellow writers if they have the chance to do it? Jennifer: Travel is magical–I highly recommend it. I just got back from a trip and can’t keep up with my muse! Movement and newness are so good for me and my creativity. I’m my best self on the road, because I can be whoever I want, unencumbered by the mundane. There’s a suspension of self, like being in a new place makes me new, too. I’m not sure how it all works, but I’m definitely more likely to follow those nudges and tune into nuances when I travel. They take me to places I wouldn’t have found otherwise. They seem to know better than I do. WOW: Jennifer, thank you again for spending time with us today! Keep us posted on your writing projects--you're an inspiration.(C) Copyright wow-womenonwriting.com Visit WOW! Women On Writing for lively interviews and how-tos. Check out WOW!'s Classroom and learn something new. Enter the Quarterly Writing Contests. Open Now![url={url}]View the full article[/url] -
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Interview With the Creators of the Sit & Write: A Writing Master Course
I'm so excited to interview Claudine Wolk and Kate Brenton, creators of the Sit & Write: A Writing Master Course. It's a course for writers who know they have a book in them, but don't know where to start or how to meld it into their mission. Kate Brenton, author and inspired teacher, joins book marketing expert, Claudine Wolk, in this class that combines the spiritual and analytical sides of writing to get your mission and your message into the hands of those who need it. Community calls, video lessons, and one-on-one calls combined with the unique insight of Kate (spiritual) and Claudine (analytical) will provide pieces of what is needed for your book to get written and seen. Find out more information about their course by visiting their website. Use WOW2022 for an early bird discount! Registration ends 10/15/2022. Before we get to my interview, get to know a bit more about Kate and Claudine: Kate Brenton, published author and inspirational teacher, will help you work through the structure and cadence of your story, refine your voice, and reach your audience. Kate has an uncanny knack of intuitively following a thread and unearthing resistance that clouds a writer’s voice. Writers will receive 3 one-on-one calls with Kate to review material, work through voice, or another writer-selected topic on the creative process. Claudine Wolk, published author and book marketing muse, will help you to identify your book’s message, audience, and hook - the building blocks to determine the viability and focus of your book idea and later marketing materials. You will receive 2 sixty-minute-one-on-one calls with Claudine to flesh out your book idea and get your questions answered on good publishing practices. Claudine will also teach on the art of pitching your book (because it is an art and you get to practice. -- Interview by Nicole Pyles WOW: I can't wait to find out more about this course! What can people expect from taking it? Kate & Claudine: With full committed participation, Sit & Write will be the space where you create the first draft of our book and learn the first, most important steps to successfully market the book. WOW: That's fantastic! Why do you think people have a hard time disciplining themselves to write? Kate & Claudine: It's the discipline and time management, coupled with standing your ground against resistance and doubt, which inevitably arrive. Sometimes we doubt the content as a facade for doubting ourselves or we can be so close to what we are creating that we cannot truly see it. The beauty of writing is that it's you and the word, but that is also the difficulty. WOW: So true, conquering that doubt is such a challenge. Kate, you work with writers on overcoming their doubts while also helping them structure their novel. What are the roadblocks do you notice writer's struggle with the most? Kate: Accepting that they have 1,000 things to say but there is only room for 10. So, a writer has to trust their intention and the scope of what they have set out to write to maintain a coherence and elegance for the reader. What the writer wants and what the reader needs can sometimes be a dance in creation. WOW: It is a dance! Claudine, you teach a lot of what goes into the marketing of the book. What do you think are the most important parts of figuring out how to market your book? Claudine: Number one is to learn the publishing options available so that you understand the correct timeline of the important promotion opportunities available to give your book the best chance to be seen and sold. Marketing starts while you are writing your first manuscript! Number two is to identify your message, audience, and hook. Message, audience and hook are the fundamental building blocks that will inhabit every part of your media kit and marketing plan. WOW: Yes! I don't think people realize that marketing starts while you are writing. It takes time to build a plan. Kate, what kind of resistance do you see writer's struggle with when finding their voice? Kate: For some writers there is an un-learning that needs to happen. As in so many areas, they have assumed a voice that is needed rather than trusting their own. This can look like a journal prompt flowing more easily than a significant chapter. Rectifying this is acknowledging how the writer feels (mindset) when they write in that natural voice and leaning in there, until it becomes the voice. WOW: Getting out of our own way is definitely challenge. Claudine, how do you help writers plan out the marketing method to your book? Claudine: After a discussion of publishing choices and making a publishing decision, we engage the writer in exercises to identify their message, audience, and hook. Writers come away from the exercises with an elevator pitch for their book and the backbones of a book proposal and/or query. We review the pitching process with tips and suggestions. Once the fundamentals are in place, we discuss book marketing options and how to narrow an author’s focus to what is actually doable from a financial and time management standpoint. Book distribution and book promotion opportunities are discussed for further research. WOW: That is an exciting but difficult process! Why is the spiritual and analytical side of writing important to consider? Kate & Claudine: Both are needed. If you are more guided internally you may hide from the marketing thinking that you can't do it or it's not necessary, but it is; not only for book sales, but to strengthen the reach or hook for the reader who does not know you. The analytical side helps take your book and provides the accessibility for your readers to find it! Likewise, if you are completely analytical in your writing and focusing only on the transaction of writing, you aren't allowing your reader the joy to sink in and unfurl to the fullness of your piece or your voice, fiction or non-fiction. For purpose-driven writers you need both. WOW: So true! Can you share any success stories with us? Either through this class or through one-on-one work you've had with writers? Kate & Claudine: For some of our early birds on this round, their first (free) consultation call gave them a call to action. For one writer, she decided to go with her gut and broaden her depth in her book and she is already writing before we begin! Another author, between their intake call and signing up, chose to convert a class curriculum to a book and has also begun writing with a clear directive and a loose structure. Both writers benefited from the intake assessment for Sit & Write: A Master Writing Course that both narrows the focus and asks the questions to illuminate the true intention of what is being written. We are both published authors and know what it takes to write, publish and market a book. More importantly, our work with authors over the years, Kate as teacher/mentor, Claudine as book marketer/editor, has only heightened our desire to help authors get their message out there. Why should a writer’s message be stymied because he/she can’t get it out onto the page or because they were not aware of the book marketing steps that from the beginning of the process would have made the difference in getting their book seen and sold? We aim to change that circumstance with this class. WOW: That's exciting! So much action happening so soon. I am can't wait to see what comes out of this course for people. Thank you again for your time today. Again, find out more information about their course by visiting their website. Use WOW2022 for an early bird discount! Registration ends 10/15/2022. (C) Copyright wow-womenonwriting.com Visit WOW! Women On Writing for lively interviews and how-tos. Check out WOW!'s Classroom and learn something new. Enter the Quarterly Writing Contests. Open Now![url={url}]View the full article[/url] -
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Sleeping on the Sticky Side
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Six Things You Might Not Know about the Writer Unboxed OnConference
Our event is being held on “the #1 virtual and hybrid event platform for building relationships.” When we discovered Airmeet, we thought it might come close to the connection potential of an in-person event. And you know what? We’ve already heard from WU UnConference alums who’ve been in our event lounge that they feel exactly that way; it’s the closest they can imagine an online platform coming to an in-person feel. How? It supports community connection in countless ways–from hosting small-group meets, to event-wide conversations, direct messaging, unique ways to connect with session leaders, built-in networking capabilities, and more. It’s the perfect platform for a community event, and we’re thrilled to have found it. We’re all about accessibility–and we don’t just mean that you can attend our event from your own living room couch. If you, like a growing number of people from all age groups in this country, prefer your media with closed captioning, you’ll be glad to know our live sessions offer it. While there are a plethora of reasons for using closed captioning, the one that rings true to us right now is the ability to help with attention. If you have a hoppy mind (thank you, social media), turn on closed captioning and feel your roving brain cells home in. It’s a beautiful thing. You don’t need a computer to participate. Though we recommend using a computer for the most fulsome OnConference experience, you can download Airmeet in the app store or on Google Play and access the event via your mobile device. We may have accidentally stepped over the cutting edge. When we conceived of this event, it was in part through listening to the alums of our in-person UnConferences. What would they like to see in an online event? One of the things they mentioned was the need to marry the event with life at home. Time of day was important, and events that trickled out rather than landed over one bloated weekend might be more doable. Turns out the long-form event may be the new podcast, as it’s been found to create lasting community bonds. Who knew? We didn’t. But we couldn’t have written a more perfect possibility for this particular group. The event’s blueprint has yet to be finalized. Yes, OnConference sessions begin in just 5 days, and will wrap on 10/16, and those things are set–never fear. But the event itself will stay open through the end of the year, and there are so many ways the platform can be used to help you with your writing. Already, writing sprint groups have formed tables in our lounge and meet daily M-F. NaNoWriMo kicks off November 1st, and whether you NaNo or NoNo, November writing energy is real and can help you to meet your goals. How else will we use the space–the lounge and the session stage? That has yet to be determined, but is limited only by our imaginations. There are five days left to register for WU’s first OnConference. Learn more about the event that has us all abuzz, and sign up HERE. Write on! About Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton in 2006. Since then the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors--including bestselling authors and industry leaders--and frequent guests. In 2014, the first Writer Unboxed UnConference (part UNtraditional conference, part intensive craft event, part networking affair) was held in Salem, MA. Learn more about our 2019 event, ESCAPE TO WuNDERLAND, on Eventbrite. In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer's Digest. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published has been well-received by readers who seek help in overcoming the hurdles faced at every step of the novel-writing process--from setting goals, researching, and drafting to giving and receiving critiques, polishing prose, and seeking publication. James Scott Bell has said of the guide, "Nourishment for the writer's soul and motivation for the writer's heart." You can follow Writer Unboxed on Twitter, and join our thriving Facebook community. Twitter | Facebook | More Posts [url={url}]View the full article[/url] -
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Whatcha Reading? September 2022, Part Two
September is wrapping up and that means it’s time for our second Whatcha Reading of the month. We want to hear all about your reading highs and lows! Elyse: I just started The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) It’s spooky season and I want spooky! Lara: I was influenced by Sarah. I’m reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn and I’m loving it! Claudia: I am at the very beginning of Sailor’s Delight by Rose Lerner! Sarah: I am reading A Restless Truth, ( A | BN | K | AB ) the sequel to A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. A | BN | K | ABTara: I’m listening to The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it’s sooooo good. Shana: Ooh, good to know! I have The Memory Librarian on hold at the library. I’m midway through The Bad in Each Other by Tasha Harrison. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a second chance romance, and the hero was enough of a jerk in the backstory that I’m going to need a LOT more groveling. And it better happen soon. Susan: I marathoned Sailor’s Delight and loved it, so I hope you enjoy it too, Claudia! So, whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments! View the full article -
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Take the Thin Skin Test!
Handing your writing over for feedback always sounds good in theory, but when it comes right down to it, it takes courage and confidence to hear others criticize our stories without complaint, even when the comments are helpful and constructive and kindly given. Even we know they’re right. Maybe especially when we know they’re right. That said, learning to take the good feedback, leave the bad, and get on with the hard work of revision is crucial to becoming a career author. Whether you’re reading your story aloud at Bread Loaf or exchanging notes with your best writing buddy, you need to develop a skin thick enough to deflect the slings and arrows of harsh assessment and permeable enough to absorb the wisdom of relevant observation. Developing this thick skin is so important, according to my pal Michael Neff, poet, author, and founder of the esteemed Del Sol Review, that he prepares the writers who attend his acclaimed New York Write to Pitch Conference by giving them what he calls THE THIN SKIN TEST (see below). Note: I often serve as a workshop leader at this quarterly conference, so I’ve seen firsthand the direct feedback from agents and editors that participants receive. It’s invaluable, but it’s also intense. I can see why Michael created this. And I asked him if we could reproduce it here, as I believe it could benefit any and all of us as we take in criticism from teachers, editors, agents reviewers, readers, and our fellow writers. Fair warning: Michael’s approach is not for the faint of heart. But then neither is a career as a writer. THE THIN SKIN TEST By Michael Neff In case you’re not sure if your skin qualifies, we’ve developed a few skin test questions below. Feel free to respond to yourself as you read each one. We desire to work exclusively with writers able to take fair and direct critique from the professionals, and we also wish to avoid time-wasting instances of Offended Writer Syndrome (OWS) which often take place in writer workshops all across America. Has any writer ever prefaced their critique of your work by first saying to you, “Don’t hate me, please? Do you sense that writers who unfavorably critique your work are “loading the gun” and taking aim? Do you rush to defend your work when a reader gives you criticism rather than absorb and weigh it carefully? Do you feel a need to say unkind things about a writer’s work if you perceive she or he was unkind to you first? Have you ever chastised any writer for what you consider to be improper or incorrect critique of your work? Have you ever been in writer workshops and reacted to criticism of your writing or story by demanding the other writer defend their decision in such detail that it served your purpose of making certain they never gave you unfavorable critique again? Do you receive critique you oppose in good humor, but routinely seek the negation of it from those you know will agree with your version of reality? Do you feel a bout of OWS coming on after reading the above questions? If you answered yes to two or more of the above questions, the New York Write to Pitch Conference is definitely not for you.
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