Writer Unboxed - The "Connect Kitty" Approves
AAC can't help but deliver the best bloggish content that will inspire writers to new leaps of imagination. This one is mostly new releases, bestsellers, literary fiction historical fiction, mysteries, popular non-fiction, memoirs and biographies.
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In a recent email from author Emily Kimelman, she laid out a whole new model for self-publishing that I found especially intriguing, and I thought the Writer Unboxed community would as well. Emily is the best-selling author of two series—the Sydney Rye mysteries and the Starstruck thrillers—as well as the Kiss Chronicles urban fantasy series under the name Emily Reed. Spending her early years in the Soviet Union (her father was a foreign correspondent for the Philadelphia Enquirer), she caught the wanderlust bug at a young age and has traveled the world from Mongolia to Costa Rica to Spain and beyond, and she often bases her books on her experiences abroad. (Personal no…
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photo adapted / Horia Varlan Major secondary characters deserve a life of their own—I wrote about that here back in March. Their robust inner lives and unique perspectives will motivate their actions in each scene and put them into conflict with your protagonist so that they don’t come across simply as an author’s “tool.” It is dangerous to think of our secondary characters as tools meant to apply pressure to the protagonist, because a hammer always acts like a hammer. Ideally, we’d like the interactions between our characters to be a tad less predictable. If the secondary character is so obvious that the reader can reliably predict what they are going to do or say, …
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Some novelists break rules. It’s so annoying. You, as a dutiful writer, labor endlessly, revising and revising to get a manuscript exactly right. You study, cut, revise, beta, sensitivity read. You find comps and kill your darlings until your floor is slippery with blood. You craft a novel that fits the market and which cannot possibly raise objections. And then there are the wise guys. The ones who don’t seem to care. They go ahead and write exactly what they want, offend without concern, ignore the rules, throw away the craft books and indulge in freeform story structure. They stick up their middle fingers to time-tested advice and—worse—get published. Not onl…
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Photo by Pablo Hermoso on Unsplash I’m not talking about the stories that you write. I’m talking about the ones you tell yourself: while you’re writing, when you can’t write, after you write, when what you wrote doesn’t get an agent or publisher, or isn’t well reviewed, or doesn’t sell well. Our attempt to find reason and logic in what is so painful to us—rejection, disappointment, setbacks with our personal creative work—often results in finding reasons that don’t actually exist. “Reasons” that decimate our confidence and self-image and equanimity, the very elements we need to most freely create our best work. It’s not these events themselves that can derail creatives…
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In talking with other writers, especially those early in their journey, I’ve often said that talent isn’t the most important thing. Talent, for the most part, is not actually what gets you published. Talent is great, don’t get me wrong, and your journey toward holding your published book in your hands will be easier if you have some. But plenty of talented writers write a great book and then, poof, it goes nowhere. They don’t succeed, and they quit. I’m sure you see where this is going. The quitting is the problem. Far more important than talent is persistence. So persistence is the most important thing. Nobody can stop you from being published but you. You keep trying,…
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Congratulations to WU contributor Sophie Masson on the publication of her latest book for early readers, Four Up In Lights, which releases tomorrow for markets in Australia! This fun and colorful collaboration with illustrator Cheryl Orsini is the third and final book for Sophie Masson’s series about vintage vehicles (after Four On the Run, and Four All at Sea). What’s this last book in her popular series about? Let’s get right to it. What’s the premise of your new book? SM: Four Up In Lights is the third and final book in a little junior fiction series that illustrator Cheryl Orsini and I have been creating over the last three years. The series is about the action-p…
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Longtime friend to Writer Unboxed and bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch has started an initiative that we want to share with you. In turn, we hope you’ll share this post with others who may be willing and able to join her in providing books to libraries-in-need. Details from Allison herself: Earlier this summer, I checked my email and found a note from a librarian in Alabama, asking if I’d be open to donating some of my books since she did not have the funds to buy them. The answer was, of course! I wrote her back and asked if it would be helpful to send a full box of books from my shelves, not just mine, and if so, what genres she was most in need of. This time, i…
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A short-and-sweet post from us today! We received a number of scholarship applications for the WU OnConference, and awarded a dozen partial scholarships. Five people received full scholarships: Two Merit Scholarships: Patricia Bailey Anitha Krishnan Three Community Scholarships: Sara Dillinger Marta Pelrine-Bacon Vanesa Perillo Congratulations, everyone! You can learn more about the Writer Unboxed OnConference and secure your ticket on Eventbrite, 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 a…
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Stephen of England, 1153 from WIkipedia. In my last post about revising a novel draft, I offered up some primo advice from four successful and wise author friends. I’m still revising my own draft, so, being totally self-serving, I thought I’d stay with this theme and tell you about a fabulous program I found for self-editing. Then, I’ll fangirl for a bit over two gifted authors who don’t follow the rules, and finally, I’ll wrap up with a short rant about style. If you’re up for it, read on. I’ve just joined up with two talented writers in a novel critique group and I look forward to having fresh eyes on my work. My number hasn’t come up yet, so being the insecure impost…
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Author Mia Tsai, Photo Credit: Rebekah Chavez at Wynne Photography Over the last few years, I’ve gained dozens of wonderful online author friends, but I’m fortunate to know today’s author personally. In fact, we have a standing monthly coffee date where we talk about writing, publishing, and everything in between. Mia’s an accomplished pianist, an orchid lover, and, of course, an author. Her debut novel, a xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy titled BITTER MEDICINE, will be published by Tachyon Publications in 2023. In our Q&A, Mia provides insight into the rollercoaster ride that is querying and offers an important reminder about what drives publishing. GW: One o…
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This past Friday at sundown began the Jewish month of Elul, the last month of the year and a month for teshuvah, a word often translated as repentance, but which more literally means return. I’ve spent the past couple of years working towards my conversion and learning about the cycle of the Jewish year. And as I write this post, it has me thinking about other cycles in our lives, about the natural ebbs and flows of people and nature, and so, in the spirit of Elul, this is not my usual advice post. Instead, this post is an apology, a forgiveness, and a reminder. But first, I have a confession to make. I’ve barely written since last November. It isn’t that the creative w…
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As I sit at my desk, my wireless keyboard waiting expectantly, my fingers hover ever so lightly on its keys. My extra wide gaming screen shines brightly in my eyes, with the minutes ticking away as the TV in the background emits white noise. I wait for the words to come. And wait. And wait. They don’t come. I swivel in my chair facing the TV, thinking, “Oh, General Hospital’s on,” and realize that it’s 2 pm and the day has slid past me. I have to pick up my kid in an hour, talk about the school day, and maybe make dinner. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write before I get sleepy. I should have started writing at 8 am, typing my way to literary heaven. I should have banged o…
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We have two reminders and exciting new details to share with you about WU’s OnConference! Email subscribers, this is a video- and graphic-rich post, and we recommend viewing it on Writer Unboxed to fully appreciate it. Click HERE to experience this as intended. August 31st First, August 31st is the last day you’ll be able to purchase Early Bird tickets–which comes with early access to the writers’ lounge on our event platform. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite, HERE. August 31st is also the last day to apply for a WU scholarship. Learn more about that and how to apply, HERE. Tiffany Yates Martin We’re thrilled to share with you that multi-published author and pro…
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Photo by Martin Neuhold on Unsplash It’s easy to focus on what you don’t have enough of – uninterrupted time to write, money for conferences / coaches / editors, friends or family members who get what you do, saleable ideas. And what you have too much of – anxiety over the market / sales / our process / reader reactions, dejection at repeated rejection, too many indie publishing decisions to make. Writing can be such a mind f*@!. What if you did something radical and explored the idea that you have what you need to be a writer? Could that be a way to lead yourself out of the not enough/too much loop? IMAGINATION Your What If engine makes this whole writing thing possib…
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I always wanted to be fluent in Italian. There was something about being able to speak one of the most romanticized languages in the world, whose very mechanics force you to slow down and enjoy the language as one would a decadent plate of pasta. It also happened to be the language of my grandparents, however, by the time my generation came along we were primarily an English-speaking Italian-American family. Growing up, we spoke some phrases around the house like Che cosa fa? Meaning What are you doing?, often asked in frustration when my cousins and I were up to no good. Or a favorite, mangia, when it was time to eat. Beyond a handful of catchphrases and a few choice swe…
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In keeping with my brand of using my hobbies as writing metaphors, I was at my climbing gym the other day when I was reminded of one of my own past WU posts, “Why You Should Tackle that Ambitious Dream Project Now.” At the gym, my climbing partner challenged me to climb a route several grades higher than my personal best (indoor climbs are made up of individual routes planned out by a route-setter, and are graded based on difficulty). The goal was not to reach the top, but to go as far as I could. Readers, I did not make it very far up that wall. But I hadn’t expected to: I knew that this route was above my ability level. What I did learn in the few moments I spent the…
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Whether you’re an indie, trad, or unpublished writer, you can benefit from turning your manuscript into an ebook. Here are several reasons you might want to: To self-publish a book. EPUB 3 is now the standard for ebooks on all platforms (yes, including Amazon). For friends, beta readers, critique partners, and agents/editors who prefer an EPUB. To read through your own manuscript. When I go through the text as if reading a novel, I catch different things (e.g., typos, awkward phrasing, l-o-o-o-n-g paragraphs) than when I read it in Scrivener on my laptop. I can take notes in iBooks or Kindle—and view them all together later—without getting caught up in revisions before …
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As I hurtle toward the publication of my debut, it struck me the other day that I’ve spent over a decade crafting an elaborate 1,500+ page setup. It’s true. In 2011, after two years of collecting rejections for my first epic fantasy story, I convinced myself that the only thing keeping me from a publishing deal was that my story lacked an engaging opening (reader, this was not the only thing). I must have tried two dozen new openings before I had the not-so-original idea that led to the following ten years, and ultimately to this moment. I’m not sure which came first, my interest in a deeper exploration of the backstory of the deceased father of my protagonist brothers, …
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ALGONKIAN SUCCESS STORIES
WTF is Wrong With Stephen King?
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How Edgar Allan Poe Reinvented American Literature – and Science Writing
Some people’s gateway drug into crime fiction is Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock stories. Others credit (or blame) Agatha Christie, or Ed McBain, or Raymond Chandler, or Sue Grafton for their addiction to books with a body count. My origin story is a passion for Edgar Allan Poe that has only grown deeper and richer than memorizing “The Raven” or watching the great Vincent Price/Roger Corman movies based on Poe’s tales, like “The Tomb Of Ligeia” and “The House of Usher.” I studied Poe in graduate school where the difference between his output and aspirations and those of other writers of his time is stark: he was not religious like Ralph Waldo Emerson; well-born like Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Identified with a particular region, like Henry David Thoreau. Poe was a restless soul and writer, jumping from poetry to short stories to criticism and from New York City to Boston to Baltimore, occasionally swinging by his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. What is often forgotten is that Poe also wrote about science; indeed, he considered his masterpiece to be “Eureka,” a meandering and tangled work Poe called a prose-poem about the material and spiritual worlds. Enter John Tresch, a historian of science who saw an overlooked science writer in Poe and produced a remarkable new study, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science. Admittedly, Poe can be a Rorschach test for critics: I hadn’t thought about science, as I am fixated on his fixation with women who are dead or on their way there. Tresch’s biography opened up the possibility of a new Poe, and I was eager to learn more. Lisa: So how did you how did you end up writing this book? What’s your attraction to Poe? John: Well, I think he’s an intrinsically interesting writer and there’s all kinds of unexpected stuff buried in the stories. When you start to read some of the criticism, you realize how many games he’s playing and how many in-jokes he’s got—secret references and secret illusions and influences. Poe is really at the center of modernist literature of all kinds, including science writing. That totally shocked me only knowing him as a childhood author. Lisa. I was going to write my dissertation on why some of the best writers in American literature have now been relegated to reading for children—Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Hawthorne, Mark Twain. John: For me, Poe became a mystery I had to make sense of. It became my mission to write a different Poe. Not the madman, the guy who’s exploring psychopathology. Lisa: What’s interesting to me about Poe as a literary critic is that we don’t really look at his whole body of work and think about what it means. That’s why I found your book so intriguing. Poe had different aims than most of the writers of his time because he had to make a living. If he didn’t sell enough magazines, then he and [his wife] Virginia don’t eat. John: Exactly. Even though the more snooty critics and authors stay clear of what’s popular; what people wanted to read, it’s what’s selling the penny papers. When they got their magazines, they ran to the sensation tales. He’s taking the interest in the first person and sensation and subjectivity and aesthetic response and using it in his work. Lisa: The short stories were the stuff he had to produce in order to eat. Which is not to say he wasn’t invested in them. Some of them he’s quite invested in, but a lot of them are dashed off. When you’re a writer with a deadline, you recognize a writer with a deadline. John: There’s a lot of throwaways. I don’t spend too much time on some of the comic tales. Lisa: Poe is not funny. In general, things that are creepy aren’t funny. One of the things that’s fascinating is that Poe is so serious and yet we’ve relegated him to the school room. Americans think that Poe is something you read in elementary school and you make a diorama and there’s a body in a wall and that’s it. That’s the height of American literature. We did it to Hawthorne. We did it to Washington Irving. What does that say about America as a culture, as a canon? John: It’s not so good on its past. Lisa: Or it reinvents itself and gets rid of the things that don’t fall into line. John: In Poe’s case, there’s such an effort in the 19th century to set up Boston as the intellectual center of the country. Poe is not very Boston. He’s got a lot more edge to him, a lot more irony. A sense of the cruelty of the world. And he’s working in genres that don’t get taken as seriously. Lisa: I was just reading your take on “The Philosophy of Composition” [a lecture where Poe describes how he wrote his popular poem, “The Raven”]. His lectures are huge elaborate hoaxes for the most part, but they’re read very seriously. John: I think part of why he’s so interesting is that there’s always that double reading, sometimes a triple reading. You can like “The Philosophy of Composition.” You can take it at face value. And then you can step back and say, well, wait a minute. How could you have possibly done it like that? But there’s another level. I think he does hold very sincerely to the idea that he knew what effect he wanted and therefore he adapted his means to that end. His work has that massive density of meaning, which forces readings that are totally opposed to each other. Lisa: Absolutely. John: We’re totally hoaxing. Lisa: The reason we have trouble with Poe is that he doesn’t tow a line. He has a much more open point of view than the writers of his time. He’s not especially religious. He is ill and his illness becomes part of his persona, but his illness is also part of his life. He was a chronically ill person trying to make a living in a very difficult sphere. I think literary people want him to be more literary and he just isn’t. I mean, he cares about literature, but he messes with form. Poe is too weird to shove into a category. John: He’s always going to be the outsider. Lisa: That is an incredibly charged thing in 1830s and 1840s America. We are basically on the cusp of civil war. And he is either a Southern gentleman in the north or a literary Yankee who goes south. John: Exactly. And he plays both. Beyond the north-south division, which is forming at that time, all literary cultures are very regionally aware. His outsider status allows him to set the agenda for literature and decide what counts as good. Then he viciously tore down the things that he doesn’t think are good, which is why he’s dying his whole life to get his own magazine. He wants to be the owner and the editor-in-chief and call the shots. He feels this great pressure from the Rupert Murdochs of his time. You were saying that he’s always outside. He’s not welcomed by American letters. And I think that’s sort of true. He has his friends, he has the critics, he has his fellow writers, he’s got amazing moments—with Hawthorne, for example—where there’s a really appreciative exchange. And in New York, after the “Raven,” he’s the talk of the town. He is totally celebrated. He’s welcomed to all the salons and becomes very close friends with literary people in New York. It’s that success that’s perversely his undoing. It’s at the time when Virginia’s more ill [with tuberculosis] and he’s taking on more and more jobs. He starts to work for and then eventually takes over the editorial control of “The Broadway Journal.” He’s working like 18 hours a day. He’s republishing his own work, or plagiarizing his own work, and getting articles to put into “The Broadway Journal.” And he’s also drinking quite a bit. Lisa: To deal with the pressure. John: That’s when he burns all his bridges, Lisa: What you’re describing is the life of the average writer. John: Yeah. But I think it’s taken up to like— Lisa: Eleven. Poe always takes it to eleven. But Poe always thinks that like everybody hates him. I’m going to go to this other city. I’m going to try this other genre. I’m going to give these lectures about scientific topics to try and weasel my way into this other arena of publishing. John: Not just weasel my way in, but to put myself above it. Yes. I’m going to be beyond it all. No other literary figure could do what I’ve done. I’ve done a complete cosmology: an astronomical, philosophical account of the origin of the universe. I’ve blown away my competition. I’ve blown away all the scientific competition. I understand intuitively the critique of the philosophy of science at the time. I know exactly how the universe works, what the beating heart of the universe is. And I’ve justified that leap into discovery with the same arguments that I’ve been using for what makes for good literature. He moves into different genres, and into different audiences in order to get away from the ones he was in before and to be outside them. It’s always a one-upmanship. In “Eureka,” that last cosmological lecture, he’s taking on the literary establishment, and he’s taking on the scientific and philosophical establishment, but ultimately he’s taking on God. Lisa: Yes. John: Poe was oblivious sometimes: I won’t understand your motives. I won’t understand your plans. I won’t understand how you did it, just like Dupin in the detective stories. Poe says I can trace the clues and figure out exactly how you did it. Therefore, you didn’t outsmart me just like the criminals don’t outsmart Dupin. God does not outsmart Poe. Lisa: As you say in the book, Poe is all about puzzles and games and puns and allusions. To read Poe in a scholarly way is to have a whole bunch of reference materials around you. John: You have to be following behind him taking notes in order to figure out what he’s talking about and to figure out when he’s playing a game and what you should take straight. Lisa: There’s a way in which his trickery made people really angry, not only people in his time but the people who end up codifying what American literature is in the early 20th century. The question that’s often asked is why is Poe left out. Why did we erase the history of the American literary bestseller? Because it was mainly women’s fiction. By disregarding popular authors, it’s trying to codify itself as transcendent. There’s a real seriousness about art and Poe is actually a very serious artist for all of his trickery. What he wants more than anything is respect. John: That’s true. I think that combination of real seriousness—like here are my principles of criticism and literary evaluation, which are connected to the seriousness of the modern scientific revolution. There are huge new discoveries being made. And he speaks that language. He speaks with that authority of scientific certainty. That’s a big part of what I wanted to show. He makes his claim to literary acuity as he speaks like a scientist. He’s definitely serious about it, but he then makes use of that seriousness in popular literature and then invents these new genres, right? Which are hard. You don’t know how to make sense of them. There’s no name for science fiction. There’s no name for detective fiction yet. He invents new genres. It’s always about selling, about getting a readership and attracting readers who don’t appreciate the formal qualities of the work. The thing that I think drove American critics nuts about Poe was not only that he sold much more than the authors that they venerated as proper literature. But then he had this huge following among the people who were looked at as real authorities for literary taste in Europe. This is modern literature because it’s experimental, because it’s psychologically acute, because it’s not afraid of frightening subjects. It’s not afraid of the perversity of the human mind. It’s not afraid of the unconscious. It puts it all right there on the page. And in that lurid myth, in those shocking images, that’s where the field of experimentation for future literature lives. Americans took a very long time to get with that. View the full article -
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Guest Post: Consent and Children’s Books
Former academic and game designer turned librarian (and parent to a horde of minions), Clay Chiment has spent the better part of her life reading and falling down rabbit holes. This post was inspired by a story time selection about consent for young children. … Consent is sexy, but when it comes to children’s literature consent is colorful, creative, and more and more common. If you have small ones at home or are an honorary adult in a child’s life, check out these board books and picture books that model age appropriate ways to ask for, and give, the respect everyone deserves. A | BN | K For the smallest hands grab a copy of Will Ladybug Hug? By Hilary Leung. The artwork is simple, the pages are uncluttered, and the question/answer format lets even the littlest littles anticipate and join in the fun of asking each friend in turn if they would like a hug. There are several books in this series so if you enjoy Ladybug make sure you look for the others! For those who are ready for a touch of dramatic tension in their board book, grab Huggy the Python Hugs too Hard by Ame Dyckman. Huggy loves to squeeze but sometimes a tight hug isn’t appreciated. This book is more interactive, with the reader participating in demonstrating a gentle touch for Huggy and celebrating each success along the way. The artwork is colorful and Huggy is an extremely dapper python but if a child is afraid of snakes…give this one a pass! Picture books are fantastic for any age, and if you have an opinionated little one running about give More Than Fluff by Madeline Valentine a try. This book follows the adventures of Daisy, a very fluffy little chick who wants to be taken seriously by her community. While the language might be a little too “direct” for some readers (as she learns to express her boundaries, Daisy responds to the announcement that it is time for her daily cuddle with “Actually, it’s time for you to give me some personal space”) this picture book covers important ground when it comes to apologizing and making amends for those times when overstimulation causes unintentional hurt, and the ways in which Daisy learns to connect to each member of her community provide a wonderful framework for future discussions. A | BN | K If you’re looking for a more traditional rhyming read aloud, Rissy No Kissies by Katey Howes is a bouncy book perfect for sensitive kiddos who need a little support when it comes to exploring boundaries. Rissy is a Lovebird, but she doesn’t like kisses (and we know from the text that all lovebirds love kisses). Rissy’s family and friends wonder if Rissy is rude, or mean, or sick but with reassurances from her adults, Rissy comes to celebrate the ways in which she enjoys expressing and receiving affection. This is a great book for teaching body autonomy, but also for reassuring a child who feels different from their peers for whatever reason. The stories on this list all explore ideas of sharing and consent in different ways from different points of view. Not every story will be a good fit for every child so pre-reading is key. Your local librarian can help you find a perfect match! Board Books: Huggy the Python Hugs Too Hard by Ame Dyckman ( A | BN | K ) Will Ladybug Hug? by Hilary Leung ( A | BN | K ) Yes! No! (a first conversation about consent) by Megan Madison ( A | BN | K ) May We Have Enough to Share by Richard Van Camp ( A | BN | K ) Picture Books: Hug? by Charlene Chua ( A | BN | K ) Don’t Hug Doug (he doesn’t like it) by Carrie Finison ( A | BN | K ) Nobody Hugs a Cactus by Carter Goodrich ( A | BN | K | AB ) Rissy No Kissies by Katey Howes ( A | BN | K ) You Know How to Love by Rachel Tawil Kenyon ( A | BN | K ) Miles is the Boss of His Body by Abbie Schiller and Samantha Kurtzman-Counter ( A | BN ) Don’t Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller ( A | BN | K ) More Than Fluff by Madeline Valentine ( A | BN | K ) The Perfect Hug by Joanna Walsh ( A | BN | K ) Action Books: Let’s talk about body boundaries, consent & respect by Janeen Sanders ( A | BN ) Consent (for Kids!): boundaries, respect, and being in charge of YOU by Rachel Brian ( A | BN | K ) View the full article -
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New York Write to Pitch 2022 - Seven Assignments (12/22)
1: STORY STATEMENT Fresh out of undergrad, *Callie wants freedom from the expectations placed on her by everyone but herself. That, plus money. But first, she must confront her own relationship to dominance in the equally fringe but ethically opposite worlds of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Fetish Wrestling. *Likely all names will be changed, but for now I'm using my real name (Callie) and my real professional name (Kayla) 2: ANTAGONIST/ANTAGONISTIC FORCE *Part 1 - Social voices and relational expectations: Southern upbringing of repression (represented mostly by Mom). The inherently antagonistic experience of making money in an ethically questionable manner. - Mom: represents social and parental expectations, social inheritance, the first voice of “no one will love you the way that you are.” - Lisa: the ‘madam’ figure of the fetish wrestling agency. Protective and helpful at first, but the relationship devolves as Lisa’s own personal issues affect her business sensibility. Ultimately reinforces the damaging lessons that Callie learned from her mother. Kayla finds herself in precarious situations with unscreened clients, and ultimately finds Lisa to be a high pressure merchant whose interests are primarily self-serving. - Babs: false father figure. Head professor of the dojo, the moral compass. He presents as a man of the world but really man of his own rigid thinking. Also a long-term clandestine sexual partner, creating enormous confusion and messy boundaries in the dojo and Callie’s romantic life. - Fabio: failed parental figure. The owner of the dojo. Enormous, but quiet. Generous but resentful. His own issues with women make it impossible for Callie to be taken seriously as a professional within the Dojo. - Rio: false partner. Callie feels she’s finally found a partner with whom she connects. A couple of months into the relationship, she discovers that he’s a sociopath. He reinforces the theme of role-playing, but from a different, less pro-social angle. *Part 2 - Keith: Ornery and challenging client with a surprisingly paternal side. Lines blur and personal boundaries are crossed, causing complications that extend well-beyond the job. - Brian: High-rolling client who wants more than anything to feel out of control. When he isn’t able to bring himself across that line, he blames Kayla for taking a deep role-play session too far. - Jason: A much younger lover who leans submissive. It is the first and only relationship in Callie's romantic life that is characterized by dynamics she's only known with clients. For Kayla, the role is familiar. For Callie, it is a mind-melting departure from what she knows herself to desire. The relationship is as fraught as it is expansive as they struggle to find peace with their attachment to each other. *At this point, there are two clear narratives that resolve at different points in the overall narrative. It's unclear to me whether it needs to be two separate books or simply two parts. Part 1 is primarily concerned with Callie's need for liberation, and her journey toward liberation through playing roles as Kayla. It resolves with her choice to leave the fetish wrestling agency and the dojo she's been with for 7 years. Part 2 delves more into the sexual psyche and the labyrinth of intimate relationships. It concludes with the unexpected death of one of Kayla's long-term clients, who has also become Callie's friend. 3: BREAKOUT TITLES 1: Roleplay 2: Roleplay: How I Became Myself While Being Others 3: Muscle Worship 4: GENRE Insider memoir, memoir, narrative non-fiction COMPARABLES: 1: Pretty Baby, Chris Belcher: A highly reflective memoir of a dominatrix. 2: Three Women, Lisa Taddeo: Addresses nuance of the female experience - neither feminist nor antifeminist. As a writer she tends to approach the mother/daughter inheritance conundrum with brutal honesty without pushing for redemption. 3: David Sedaris: He is a humorist without sacrificing the humanity, narrative interest, and philosophical opportunities of a story. 5: LOGLINE A promising young woman burdened by the court of family and social opinion steps off the well-worn path to find herself navigating the complex world of the fetish industry while balancing her personal relationships and her Jiu Jitsu practice. She seeks personal and financial independence through the sexual economy and discovers the inner workings of the human psyche in the process. As she begins to monetize her ability to play different roles for different people, she begins to understand her true consistent self. As she monetizes her sexuality, she begins to embrace her own power and proclivities. 6: INNER CONFLICT & CORE WOUNDS - inability to separate self from others, constantly falling into relational patterns - fear that she won’t be accepted for her depravity and willingness to live on fringe 6a: SECONDARY CONFLICT - Callie is unwittingly seeking and accepting false parental figures. She creates more restrictions for herself from which she must be once again liberated. She is playing out old conflicts with new characters, inching closer and closer to becoming an integrated person who has mastery over all of her selves. - The constant concern about being ‘found out’ by people outside of the fetish world. Callie can’t be all of her selves and expect to be accepted in her circles. 7: SETTING - New York City: Transient city where you can get anything you want and become anything you want. You can hide in plain sight. - Jiu Jitsu Dojos: A place of non-sexual extreme physical intimacy. A place with very specific old-world rituals, hierarchy, and power dynamics. A visceral space of heat, sweat, exhaustion, physical danger, and power exchange. - Sex-work Studios: The workplace of a domination wrestler. Often crammed into unsuspecting spaces like office buildings, commercial walk-ups, and residential apartments. -
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Podcast 539, Your Transcript has Arrived!
The transcript for Podcast 539. Wishes, Wins, and Best of 2022 with Sue, JFHobbit, and Maria Vale has been posted! This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks. ❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast → View the full article -
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KDDs: Spooky Books and Historical Romance
Every Rogue Has His Charm Every Rogue Has His Charm by Susanna Craig is $1.99! This is book four in the Love and Let Spy series. Prior books in the series have been favorably reviewed on the site and this one was mentioned in a Hide Your Wallet. Love, intrigue, and a fresh spin on historical romance make a sexy and suspenseful mix in the latest novel in Susanna Craig’s Regency-set series—as the wife one man left behind becomes the woman he can’t live without… Caroline, Marchioness of Chesleigh, has been married for six years—at least in name. In fact, Caro has hardly seen her husband since the early days of their union. Scarred and reclusive, Maxim wasn’t ready to trust his wife with his secrets—or his heart. Instead, he quickly resumed his life of espionage in France, believing Caro was better off alone. When the spy who left her returns upon inheriting the Dukedom, he finds his wife is not the girl she once was. Her heart is a little harder. She’s learned to stand on her own. Yet the desire that once ignited between them burns as hotly as ever… Now, the more Caro learns about the past Maxim tried to hide from her, the deeper their bond grows. But danger haunts her husband’s every move, jeopardizing their passionate reunion… Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is $2.99! This was mentioned on a previous Hide Your Wallet and Moreno-Garcia’s books are usually worth a read. Not sure how this one compares to Mexican Gothic. Feel free to sound off in the comments! From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman. Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers. The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities. All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction. For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. Cackle RECOMMENDED: Cackle by Rachel Harrison is $1.99! I really love the new cover. Carrie read this one and gave it B+: Cackle is a feminist and creepy yet cosy read that asks us to explore the boundaries between an empowering friendship and a toxic one. A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return. All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation. Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she? Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Broken Girls The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is $1.99! James is a bit of a favorite here, especially with Elyse, and tends to write historical fiction with mystery and romantic elements. This one jumps between 1950 and 2014 Vermont. Are you a fan? The “clever and wonderfully chilling” (Fiona Barton) suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare… Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . . Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case. When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced. . . Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. View the full article -
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Forbidden Notebooks: A Woman’s Right to Write
Alba de Céspedes pictured in the Italian magazine Epoca, vol. VII, no. 86, May 31, 1952. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Forbidden evokes, to my English-speaking ear, the biblical fruit whose consumption leads to shame and expulsion from Paradise. Eve’s story is not irrelevant to a novel like Alba de Céspedes’s Forbidden Notebook, in which a woman succumbs to a temptation: to record her thoughts and observations. Valeria Cossati’s impulse to keep a diary leads not so much to the knowledge of good and evil as it does to the self-knowledge advocated by Socrates and serving as a cornerstone of philosophical inquiry ever since. In Valeria’s case, it also leads to solitude, alienation, guilt, and painful lucidity. The Italian title of Forbidden Notebook is Quaderno proibito—literally translated, “prohibited notebook.” Forbidden and prohibited may be interchangeable in English, but the latter lacks the romance that might soften the former (as in “forbidden love”), and connotes instead legal restrictions, interdictions, and punishment. The word prohibited comes from the Latin verb prohibere (its roots mean, essentially, “to hold away”), which was fundamental to legal terminology in Ancient Rome. It is the word de Céspedes chooses to describe Valeria’s notebook, and to interrogate, more broadly, a woman’s right, in postwar Italy, to express herself in writing, to have a voice, and to hold opinions and secrets that distinguish herself from her family. The act of purchasing the eponymous notebook, along with the ongoing dilemma of how to conceal it, drives the tension as the novel opens. Having purchased it illegally and smuggled it home, Valeria hides it in various locations—in a sack of rags, an old trunk, an empty biscuit tin. But she always runs the risk of it being discovered by her husband and grown children, all of whom laugh at the mere idea that she might want to keep a diary. As soon as she buys the notebook, Valeria is anxious and afraid, but she is also armed—for although acquiring a diary throws her into crisis, the quaderno is both an object and a place, both a literary practice and a room of one’s own. In lieu of walls and a door, pen and paper suffice to allow Valeria, albeit furtively, to speak her mind. Thematically, I would call this book a direct descendant of Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking treatise and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It’s just that Valeria does not consider herself an author but rather a traditional homemaker. Her writing is surreptitious, and she must lie to tell the truth. De Céspedes was herself a writer and a diarist; Forbidden Notebook fuses these forms and disciplines. The diary was for her (as it is for so many writers) preparatory ground not only for her artistry in general but for a series of searing first-person female protagonists who are at once invented and real. Melania Mazzucco quotes from de Céspedes’s diaries in her introduction to the 2021 reissue of Dalla parte di lei (From her side). Already in that novel published in 1949—which is also concerned with women’s rights and roles—de Céspedes is experimenting (as the title clearly suggests) with an intimate first-person female narrative. Three years later, in Quaderno proibito, the diary commands center stage. The private becoming public, the individual subject dividing, and the writer becoming her own reader and vice versa—the diary, an elusive, elastic container, straddles all this and more. Diary writing may be the most private of forms, but when placed within the context of a novel or when it serves, as it does here, as the structure of the novel itself, this form of confession—dating back, at least in the Western tradition, to Augustine—contradicts its very nature. From Petrarch to Gramsci to Woolf to Lessing, all diaries and notebooks, whether intended for publication or not, whether invented by their authors or not, whether framed as (or within) novels or not, are dialogues with the self. They are instances of self-doubling and self-fashioning. They are declarations of autonomy, counternarratives that contrast with and contradict reality. The form of the fictionalized diary has always been especially appealing in that we get to know the character not only as a person but also as a writer. This additional authorial persona is especially provocative in light of the fact that female consciousness has struggled to find its place in history and in the literary tradition. In her diary de Céspedes confides, “I will never be a great writer.” Here I take her to task for not knowing something about herself—for she was a great writer, a subversive writer, a writer censored by fascists, a writer who refused to take part in literary prizes, a writer ahead of her time. In my view, she is one of Italy’s most cosmopolitan, incendiary, insightful, and overlooked. Whether or not we choose to read Forbidden Notebook through a feminist lens, it is a radical novel. Freshly translated by Ann Goldstein with her signature energy, it blazes with significance. Women’s words are still laughed at, still silenced, still considered dangerous. De Céspedes vindicates, artfully and ardently, a woman’s right to write—a right that must never be taken for granted. Ironically, the harshest condemnation in Forbidden Notebook is generated by Valeria herself, who both speaks and threatens to cancel herself out at the same time. I discovered de Céspedes when I was researching for and assembling The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, an anthology that featured forty Italian authors who were writing short fiction in the twentieth century. I included one of her short stories in that volume and was curious to read more of her work. An Italian friend suggested I read Quaderno proibito, and I was lucky enough to find a used paperback copy at my local flea market in Rome. Mondadori has recently reissued a few of her books, but even seven years ago it was hard to find her titles in Italian bookstores and very few people mentioned her work. She was one of those amazing authors and literary figures that most people had stopped reading and had largely forgotten about. I have kept a diary for decades, and I also teach a course on the diary as literary practice and form, so reading this novel was doubly exciting for me. Jhumpa Lahiri teaches creative writing and literary translation at Barnard College. A writer in both English and Italian, she is the author of Interpreter of Maladies, which won the Pulitzer Prize. This is an adapted extract of the foreword to Ann Goldstein’s English translation of Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes, forthcoming from Astra House in January. View the full article -
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Interview with Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (THE WITCH AND THE TSAR)
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore was born in Moscow, Russia, raised in the U.S., and graduated from Pepperdine University with a BA in English/political science, and from Northwestern School of Law with a JD. She practiced litigation at a large law firm for several years before pursuing her dream of becoming an author. She is most happy writing historical fiction and fantasy inspired by Eastern European folklore. She lives in a wooded, lakeside suburb of Chicago with her husband and daughter. The Witch and the Tsar is her debut novel. Welcome to the Hive Olesya, and congratulations on the release of your debut novel! How does it feel to know your book is out there on shelves? Thank you! It really is an incredible, out of body experience to see a book I wrote on the shelves! But I must confess, I still can’t really believe it. One of the most unforgettable memories from release was going into a bookstore I visited as a young girl, seeing my book staring back at me at the very front, and signing those first few copies, with my husband and parents cheering me on! It still brings tears to my eyes, it was so special. What a very special moment that must have been! What can readers expect from The Witch and the Tsar? A different perspective on the notorious Slavic fairy tale personage of Baba Yaga. But she isn’t the old, evil hag we know. She is a half goddess, half human healer, but first and foremost, she is a woman. Readers can also expect a real world, as the novel is set in real-life 16th century Russia, with real though fictionalized historical events and characters. And they can also expect lots of romance and adventure in the vein of some of my favorite adventure novels, by Rafael Sabatini, Baroness Orczy, and Alexander Dumas. There’s a lot to unpack with this novel, so let’s start with the Slavic fairytale root of Baba Yaga. Retellings are very popular right now, with Greek ones cornering the market somewhat with their feminist takes on the masculine hero stories. What were your aims for your own retelling? You said it right there! After reading Madeline Miller’s Circe, I had the idea to tackle a retelling of a witch with a major presence in my life, Baba Yaga. That would explain the strong Circe vibes I’ve been getting from it! In the vein of the Greek retellings, my aim was to show a different side of her character that maybe people have not heard about before. This idea is rooted in the fact that many scholars believe the Baba Yaga we know is a version or a descendant of an earth and fertility goddess that ancient Slavs worshipped. I instantly became interested in the concept of how a goddess was turned into a witch – and an old, ugly one at that – seeking to reframe Baba Yaga by imagining what she could have been like if she were a goddess and a human woman both, before the rumors and tales had reduced her to a silly old crone. I wanted to reinvent her as a living, breathing woman, extraordinary yet relatable, multi-dimensional, and most importantly, real. And I would call her simply Yaga. On a similar note to my last question, there is a strong feminist message in a woman having to disguise her wisdom in lies and ritual? There is certainly that message because that is what women have had to do for centuries. To hide their wisdom, their intellectual curiosity, their ambitions and interests. Or they were not only branded as witches and sorceresses and other evil beings, but put on trial (both in court and in the arena of public opinion) to defend their beliefs, and their lives. It is another reason why I decided to approach Baba Yaga the way I did: to show a woman who has been unfairly judged by the society of her day simply because she is different in not conforming to its social mores and expectations. When Yaga first comes to Moscow, there is that element of disguise; she knows she must look like she’s conforming because that is survival at Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s court. She then must work very hard throughout the novel to become at peace with herself and to fully embrace being a powerful witch and woman, unapologetically and without disguise. It’s a similar theme to that found in Madeline Miller’s Circe, as we’ve discussed, but also in the works of Angela Carter. Outside of the original fairy tale, what were your other influences? You just named two of my biggest ones! I love what Madeline Miller did for Circe; in fact, it was after reading her novel that I realized I could retell not only a classic story, a classic character, but the tale of a supposed villainess. I love Angela Carter for her delightful subversiveness and dream-like language, which I try to emulate, as well as the dark fairy tale storytelling tone of Catherynne M. Valente. Another influence was Katherine Arden for paving the way for Slavic folklore retellings and medieval settings. Other influences, as per above, were the classical adventure writers and poets like Aleksander Pushkin, who wrote about huts spinning on chicken legs in the woods. Lastly, I must mention Philippa Gregory, who was the first author to draw me into modern historical fiction centered on women and therefore, retellings in their own right. Ah yes! Now you mention Gregory, your Kremlin certainly has the dark, claustrophobic feel of her Tudor court! Let’s talk about the importance of the historical setting. What made you choose the sixteenth century? I wanted to set my novel in a specific historical time period because Yaga felt more real to me this way, if I could envision her living in the real world–our world. Medieval times came quite naturally to my story. I’ve always been obsessed with this time period, starting with my mania for the Tudors of England, the Valois of France, the Ruriks of Russia. And I chose Ivan as my antagonist because he was the first true Russian tsar. He is also a very famous tsar in Russia, arguably as part of the popular culture as Baba Yaga herself. He was an autocratic ruler, was paranoid and constantly felt his power threatened, and was incredibly superstitious. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that he would invite a witch and healer like Yaga to his royal court. So, the sixteenth century it was. Your portrayal of Tsar Ivan as he becomes increasingly volatile on his path to becoming Ivan the Terrible – how important was it to you to hold up a mirror to current events through a historical figure? When I started the book in the fall of 2018, I wasn’t specifically writing to current events. Rather, I was focused on the time period and my portrayal of Ivan and his rule as I saw them. After all, Russian history is peppered with autocratic rulers who frequently oppressed their people–with a realpolitik way of ruling that some historians believe was a result of centuries of Mongol occupation. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Ivan’s character and rule has taken on a deeper meaning, and a new kind of relevancy. It is more important than ever to tell these stories from the past and to reveal parts of Russian history the Western world may not know to illuminate the present, to help understand and give context to the tragedy unfolding in the region today, even in some small way. What are your thoughts on the current popularity of mythological retellings and the importance of their evolution? These stories are critical because they give folkloric and mythological characters, as well as historical figures, lives and voices they did not previously have. What we know about most women from history is they lived, they gave birth, and they died. Folkloric and mythological characters are similar in that their roles were strictly reduced to idealistic “good” heroine or hag-like “evil” witch, bit players, caricatures. Ivan Bilibin, Baba Yaga, illustration in 1911 from “The tale of the three tsar’s wonders and of Ivashka, the priest’s son” (A. S. Roslavlev) Baba Yaga, for example, is frequently portrayed as a figure of ridicule and laughter, not to mention a villainous old woman and cannibal. She is told what to do by the male characters in her own stories, has body parts made of iron, and is even said to take on male characteristics and various deformities. She never has a voice of her own. In Russian fairy tale film adaptations, Baba Yaga is even played by a man. I believe readers are tired of this simplistic and frankly sexist view of women. We not only wish to give these women their voices, but to humanize them, to make them real and multidimensional, to give them their stories back by finding new perspectives and approaches to them. It is time for their stories to take center stage. A necessary component of this evolution is for readers to move on from their entrenched notions of what these female characters should be and envision what they could be. There are some readers who have questioned why I chose to portray Baba Yaga the way I have, lamenting the fact that all they wanted was the hag they know from folklore. But isn’t this a reflection of the same notions and beliefs that we have been taught to embrace since we were children? As the tagline for my book says, “Sometimes the true story is cloaked in lies to hide its power.” It is important for readers to open themselves up to the possibility that not all is as it seems. And that truth may be more layered, more hidden, and more beautiful than we ever imagined. I whole heartedly agree with you, that’s a fantastic answer! Let’s talk about magic for a moment. It’s an important ingredient in any fantasy novel, but is usually more ethereal in myths. How have you approached magic in The Witch and the Tsar? As with everything in the book, I have tried to make the magic real, accessible, and most importantly, the kind that might exist–if one looks hard enough. To do this, I used as its foundation real Slavic pagan and folk magic, ritual, and superstitions, even some that my family has whispered about for years! If you were a witch who possessed magic, what would your affinity be? What kinds of spells would you cast? I love Yaga’s magic–it is delightfully wild and witchy, steeped as it is in herbs, charms, and blood rituals. But it’s also very real and tangible. Most of all, I love the idea of helping women. I have always joked that if I were a doctor like my sister, I would want to treat women most of all. So, I love how Yaga comes through for the ladies, not only in times of illness, but also in helping with their love lives, their marriages, their heartaches, their babies, and so on. I find these issues to be the most fascinating, and ones where spellcasting would be particularly useful and selfishly good to know–and they come with a dash of gossip and drama as well! One of our favourite questions here on the Fantasy Hive: which fantastical creature would you ride into battle and why? This is a fantastic question I’ve never heard before! A fire-breathing dragon, or zmey in Russian folklore, would be pretty unbeatable, for who could beat a creature breathing flames? But an alkonost from Slavic mythology would also be cool. The alkonost is a fierce creature with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. They can fly and are known for their beguiling siren-like singing. We would just put everyone in battle under our spell! A wonderful insight into your tactics! Tell us about a book you love. Any hidden gems? I love, love Stardust by Neil Gaiman. It is a small book, but is quite literally enchanting. The fairy tale world Gaiman creates is filled with a magic that breathes with life, whimsical and entertaining characters, and a romance that takes your breath away. It is fantastical and gritty and charming all at once. And I love the film adaptation, too! Can you tell us a little something about your current work(s) in progress? Have you any upcoming projects which you can share? I am thrilled to be working on my second novel with Harper Voyager UK, a historical gothic horror tale in the vein of A Gentleman in Moscow meets The Hacienda, in which two sisters risk all to save each other and their family from their ancestral house bent on bringing back a royal past not only dead, but dangerous to remember in post-revolutionary Moscow. Finally, what is the one thing you hope readers take away from your writing? Magic–and truth–is found where you least expect it. Thank you so much for joining us today! Thank you so much for having me! The Witch and the Tsar will be released on the 8th of December 2022. You can pre-order your copy HERE The post Interview with Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (THE WITCH AND THE TSAR) appeared first on The Fantasy Hive. View the full article -
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Notes to Self: On Making Room to Move Ahead
Photo by author Recently, in his writer’s newsletter, Story Club, George Saunders wrote about packing for a move and completing what he called a “death cleaning”, which is not his concept, but a Swedish one, he explained, where a person edits their belongings before death, in order to simplify things for their survivors. I’ve been doing some of my own death cleaning lately (I’m just fine, BTW, nothing dire to see here), and I admit that just maybe, there is a little teensy smidge of avoidance behavior going on. I tell myself it’s a good time to set my novel-in progress aside for a bit and then go back to it with fresh eyes after the holidays. Anyway, I started the Big Clean in my studio (see above), which was originally built in the 1920s as a bunkhouse on our farmhouse property. It might have held two sets of bunk beds in its prime, and originally had a wood stove. It has no central heat, air conditioning, or plumbing, but it is MINE—my she-shed, or whatever. Honestly, I hate that term. But I digress. For the twenty-two years I’ve lived here, it has been my place. I began by sorting a bin of tangled needlepoint yarn in a mélange of harshly bright 1970s shades. There were four unfinished needlework projects—two by me and two I inherited from a friend of my mother’s when she died, comprising one knotty, half-finished, floral pillow cover and a just-started monogrammed tennis racket cover. I’ve no idea whose monogram it is (was?), and the cover is small enough to fit a 1970s-era wooden racquet. Toss! Next, I found the accoutrement required to make a smocked infant garment, given to me by a friend who taught me this craft twenty-some years ago, before the birth of my daughter. Back then, I completed one dress and thought I’d rather go through first-stage labor again than start another smocking project. And so it went. Bin by bin, I had to decide which things I might use again someday. I still knit obsessively, so my yarn stash and pattern books remain. My newest hobby, originated during lockdown, is knitting little 7” forest animals with clothes, and making rooms for them and telling their stories @tinyfoxstory on Instagram. So there are myriad minuscule fiddly bits to misplace and step on. My three sewing machines stay in use these days mainly for repairing chewed dog beds. I’ll also save craft supplies I hope to use with my toddler granddaughter someday. Pneumatic upholstery stapler? Nah. From a post on Instagram by the brilliant cartoonist Roz Chast @rozchast, I found an organization in New York called Materials for the Arts, a government-sponsored “creative reuse center.” They are happy to accept donations of beads, buttons, fabrics, art supplies, etc. So boxing up things to mail off kept me busy for a good few days and produced a flattering glow of accomplishment. I tossed! I culled! I donated! My Marie-Kondo-inspired self (have not read, BTW) was feeling pretty pumped by now—warmed up and ruthless. It was time to double down and tackle the alternate function of my bunkhouse: writing. In addition to cabinets of sewing and craft supplies, I have file boxes and a shelf unit of materials acquired while researching my first two novels. I have books on everything from candy making to multiple biographies of Josephine Baker, to a depressing coffee-table photo book about children in the Great Depression. In full-on death-cleaning mode, I packed up about a third of these to take to my local library’s annual book sale. Each volume had served me, and now, I wondered, would anyone else want them? I have a stack of advance reader copies of my first novel. What to do with them? I gave some away a while back, and then stopped when a reader who had one complained in an Amazon review that the book had typos. Argh. That’s why we have ARCs. I gave away a lot of “how to write a novel” books I bought before I started my MFA, when I was just beginning this journey nine years ago. It’s not that I don’t still have a lot to learn, I do. Oh, I do. But there are only a few craft books I find myself returning to, or keeping for sentimental reasons. One favorite I still use is Janet Burroway with Elizabeth and Ned Stuckey French’s Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, now in its tenth edition. Other old friends are One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty, Stephen King’s On Writing, and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Another resource that deserves space on any aspiring writer’s shelf, IMHO, is Courtney Maum’s very real and practical Before and After the Book Deal. By the way, some of these would make great holiday gifts. From the bookcases, I moved on to files, including boxes filled with pads of notes of research and drafts of my first two novels, both published now. The first notepads I had specifically for creative writing came from the Levenger Catalog. For Christmas 2015, right before I started my MFA program, my sweet husband gave me a stack of these deluxe, gold-bound pads with thick, high-quality, gold-edged paper, which I ultimately found intimidating. They were Toni Morrison-Donna Tartt-quality note pads. My scribbles didn’t seem worthy. For the long term, I settled instead on a more modest model, of recycled paper, which I buy in bulk, also from Levenger. The paper is great to write on. So I had maybe fifteen of these babies, numbered and organized by date and novel. I flipped through each one. Since my lockdown transition from Word to Scrivener, I keep a lot of research in the project file on my laptop. For my current novel-in-progress, I’ve filled about six notepads. The last time I sorted and culled the notes to use going forward, I unearthed these pithy take-away notes-to-self: 1. Dead air—cat fight? 2. They do the dirty deed. 3. This is important shit here! 4. No Dukes, FFS! 5. This is all so juvenile. Somehow, I can’t envision the archive of Liza Nash Taylor’s author’s notes being presented to the Library of Congress. After viewing notepads from novels one and two, I ended up tossing most of them. Toss, toss, toss, whee! This cleaning-editing-choosing-what-has-future-value requires subjective judgment. If I keep something, it has either ongoing value as inspirational material, or sentimental value. And I’m not a particularly sentimental person. I’ve already tossed the birthday cards you sent me in October. The harder judgment of what to keep or toss involves the definition of what serves me NOW, and that raises the tricky question: Where AM I, at present, as a writer? And then comes the sneaky, impostor-syndrome-voice I’ve named Icky, who asks: Yeah, where ARE you? Does your present work have value? I think not. My two traditionally published historical novels came out in August 2020 and August 2021. My pandemic babies. Hope springs eternal, and I’m working hard on a third. As with my first two, this WIP has its own shelf filled with research including contemporaneous early 1950s novels, memoirs of fashion models, technical guides for couture beadwork and sewing, issues of Life and Look and fashion magazines from the 1950s. I have a wall-sized bulletin board filled with inspirational fashion photos, pinned alongside a copy of the check I received for my first payment for my writing ($75, for second place in a contest). It’s there with my daughter’s childhood tempera paintings and postcards from Paris museums. So maybe I’m not completely lacking in sentimentality. As writers, when we reorganize our space, or records, or research, we are choosing what to carry forward. What I’ve found with this death cleaning project is that I felt a need to redefine the use of my space to best serve me now. In doing so, I’ve found myself confronting what I will do in the future. In making room for the background materials for my novel-in-progress, I’m creating space for it as an entity as valuable to me as my two published books. That feeling, in itself, makes the effort worthwhile. So, where am I right now, as a writer? I’m a published novelist hard at work on a new manuscript. Will I ever reupholster an armchair? Almost certainly not. Will I finish this novel draft? Hell, yes, and shut the heck up, Icky. I’m not making room for you here. How do you decide what to carry forward to support your writing? Which craft books do you treasure? [url={url}]View the full article[/url] -
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The Attractiveness of Wisdom (Reader Review and Giveaway)
We're proud to announce our reader review event for The Attractiveness of Wisdom by Judy Kelly. Read the reviews of this romantic Christian novel and our interview with the author. Don't forget to enter to win a copy of the book as well! First, about the book The Attractiveness of Wisdom: After a tumultuous marriage and a struggle trying to keep it together, Hamilton, a university dean, sets out on a perilous emotional journey to change his life and seek the love he's always wanted. He has tried to control his life and the lives of others. Hamilton meets Franny, a troubled dance teacher, and accepts her job offer of organizer in her studio. When Franny injures her foot, Hamilton must step out of his secure place to help. His trepidation increases when he meets a research journalist who falls in love with him. But her life isn't what it seems. He fears controlling her, and after her convent life, she needs his love. Will Hamilton wise up and learn how a man truly loves a woman, the value of friendship and the need for prayer? The Attractiveness of Wisdom is a Christian literary fiction, heart-warming, enthralling novel with endearing and unforgettable characters. Publisher: Black Rose Writing (November 2021)ISBN-10: 1684338506ISBN-13: 978-1684338504ASIN: B09L1FRK6CPrint length: 341 pages The Attractiveness of Wisdom is available to purchase on Amazon, Black Rose Writing, and Bookshelf.com. You can also add the book to your GoodReads reading list. What WOW readers said: "This is a heart-warming, Christian, literary fiction novel with endearing characters. The value of friendship and family are important themes in the book. So many people get divorced nowadays that we don't often stop to think how that impacts all the parties involved. If you like books that make you think about your life and how you're living it, then I would recommend this book." ~Michelle Cornish "What a charming book! This is about a man who learned how to let go and let God. Hamilton starts out struggling with losing control after the falling apart of his marriage. He then has to take a sabbatical from work for health reasons. He ends up helping out a woman running a dance studio and that eventually leads him to Emma. What a transformation! This is a heart-warming tale of love and learning to change your own ways. I absolutely recommend it. It's a worthy, unforgettable read." ~Nicole Pyles "This is quite an exploration of a personality in need of transformation. Hamilton starts out as very controlling. He thinks he knows best and tells others how to do things, including his wife. That turned out to be a disaster and led to a divorce. Even when he takes a sabbatical from his university position and works in a dance studio, he thinks everything should be done his way. "The novel follows Hamilton's experiences as he learns the damage his attitude has caused. This novel is his story of learning he can't control everything. He ultimately, though very reluctantly, comes to find God is in control. He has the healing experience of finally loving another while letting go of his controlling attitude. "Kelly has given readers a touching story of possible romance. It is also about loss and how people make their way through it. Primarily I think it is about coming to grips with letting God have His way, shown through the life of Hamilton. Kelly's writing style is straightforward and easy to understand. The plot moves at a consistent, methodical pace. This novel would appeal to readers who like a novel centered on the events experienced by one man as he learns to let go of control in order to experience love." ~Joan Nienhuis "This book recounts the spiritual journey of a middle-aged man through divorce, parental relationship epiphanies and new love. I so appreciated the authors skillful way of painting a love scene that was tender, passionate and not graphic. I felt that the inclusion of the spiritual side of these characters gave the story greater depth. I would recommend this book to my daughters and friends." ~Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas, M.Ed. "Such an interesting romance! Definitely reminded me of some personality traits in myself and others - I enjoyed the storyline and did some self-reflecting along the way!" ~ Crystal Otto "What makes wisdom attractive? The ability to listen definitely helps. So does the release of controlling behaviors. In Judy Kelly’s The Attractiveness of Wisdom, Hamilton is divorced from a woman who considers him too controlling. He doesn’t even know he’s acting that way as we see in his interactions with his children, who love and tolerate him and a group of dancers who aren’t nearly as polite. Everybody has their own way of doing things, and his is not always the right way, a lesson he faces repeatedly as the book progresses. There are some good plot points moving the story forward and the look at romance, where things went wrong, and second chances, will help those involved in a relationship with a shaky partner. Author Judy Kelly has picked a subject with a great deal of potential. Despite a few proofreading glitches this story can open a reader’s eyes to the power of letting go." ~B. Lynn Goodwin About the Author, Judy Kelly Writing has been a passion of Judy's as far back as she can remember. In her early teens, she wrote stories in notebooks and when she finished one, she went on to the next one. When she wasn’t writing, she was reading. The fact that a person could write something down, and it could be written in a book for others to read and enjoy, and these books were housed in a place called a library, really fascinated Judy. After earning a Master’s degree, and while she earned the ED.S., Judy taught students who were fourth and fifth grade learning-disabled students. The reading books that were required for them were the same for the general education population, but during that time, there was a tendency of some teachers to implement a different curriculum for children who were learning-disabled. These strategies were designed to improve the students’ learning ability so that they could learn to read, write and do all the things the general education students were doing. The problem was that the program was a year long, and year after year, the students got farther and farther behind. So, Judy ditched all that and taught them reading, and all the other things that the general education students were learning. When Judy's students began their reading program, they hardly knew any words. She used to tell them stories that she would make up on the spot that were designed to help them with vocabulary, comprehension, and the other concepts they needed to learn to read. They asked her if her stories were written down. She went home and wrote some stories for them and those stories were used in place of the books. That was when Judy began to look at writing as not just something to write and tuck away. The students were enjoying the stories and she could see that she needed to take writing seriously. One day her students told her that her stories sounded like “the real stories in a real bookstore.” That was the beginning of her writing career. You can follow Judy on her website: https://judycar.com/. You can also find her on Facebook too. ---- Interview by Nicole Pyles WOW: Congratulations on your book! What inspired you to write this book? Judy: As a healing prayer minister, I encounter people who want prayer for their emotional, physical, or spiritual life. Something happened to them in the past and they want to make a change in their lives. They come for prayer, and we pray. Prayer is the beginning. There is no magic to prayer; we pray a special prayer and puff, you're a changed person. Prayer doesn't work like that. Prayer is ongoing with change. Years ago, I realized I had a poor self-concept. To protect myself from condescending words and attacks from the people around me, I built a wall around myself. I kept people away from me. At work or at school, when it came time for employees and teachers to work with a group on a project, I was never chosen. I would be invited to things that everyone was expected to attend. I can't tell you the number of activities I was left out of, even when people made plans in my presence. Over the years, I could have turned into someone hateful and mean. I wanted to push people away and they went away. This continued before I got tired of it. I prayed for help. I wanted and needed to make a change in my life. With God's help (and He still helps) I made a change from someone no one wanted to befriend to someone people love. Now, I believe if you don't like who you are, then change. I did. But you can only do that with God's help, and it does not happen overnight, though I often wished it could. I have worked my way back to being someone more human, someone people can talk to, learn from, and enjoy. Me, my inspiration came from my personal experience. WOW: I believe the same as well. Change is only possible with God! Are you a planner or a "pantser" when it comes to writing your book? Judy: When I read a story, I look for the story beneath the story I read on the page. Some stories don't have that story beneath the story. So far, including The Attractiveness of Wisdom, all three novels have a story beneath the story on the page. When it comes to planning or pantser, I do what's needed. For this story, I had to be a planner. Since the novel is Christian Literary Fiction, it must be written according to the conventions of Christian fiction. It must contain the Christian way of life and show love. I needed the reader to see how change can occur. I start with a character who is flawed. Everybody I know has flaws, and based on that, I can say that most of us have flaws. People can relate to someone who is flawed, but I also wanted people to see that Hamilton is much like the readers; he also has good qualities. Hamilton believes he must control his life and the lives of others. Hamilton ended up in a dance studio trying to teach dance because that environment would be exceedingly difficult for someone who is trying NOT to control. In an artistic world, people use their own skill and abilities to accomplish a step, a stroke on a canvas or lyrics. I knew it would be difficult for him. In the studio, the reader could see him trying to make a change. But that was not all I wanted to bring out in that dance studio. Hamilton met a couple who had been together for years. He saw the couple make mistakes, get upset with each other but they continued dancing. I wanted to represent marriage through the couple. He saw why they were together for so long and thought about his marriage and how they were so broken. He met a woman who taught him how to be a friend and just listen when she needed it and offer help when she needed it. Again, he thought about his marriage and how he really didn't listen and the help he offered was more of an effort to control her life. He saw a person in trouble and without asking, tried to help her. When she turned him away, he pushed harder until she finally gave in. In her, he saw what it looks like to control a person. This made him think about his marriage and how he controlled his wife. In a Christian world, when one is called to help someone, that person receives the help they need at the same time. I tried to make that happen in the dance studio. Even though it seemed like people just dancing, for Hamilton I wanted the dance studio to be more for him. As the reader sees Hamilton grow, each of the three women he meets, teaches him something. WOW: I love how you look for the story underneath the story. What has it been like to publish with Black Rose Writing? Judy: I like this publishing company very much. The people in the company that assist during the publishing process are great. The owner does his homework, finds out about marketing tools, and brings us the newest marketing opportunities, such as WOW. I try to take advantage of as many as I can, but even with a discount, it can be difficult. I highly recommend Black Rose Writing. WOW: That's awesome! You have such good character development in this book. What is your technique to build such strong characters? Judy: Characters are not props. My characters are not actors in my mind. I think of my characters as "real" people. They are whole and alive and have experiences. They have jobs. They have their likes and dislikes. They may have something to hide. They have feelings and can get hurt or they can be the people who hurt. Each of my characters has their own backstory. Backstory is what makes a person, so backstory is what I give to my characters. WOW: That really helps create fully complete people, not just names on a page. Christianity is such a core element of this story and I love how it guided your character in his actions. How does your faith guide you in your writing? Judy: The title, The Attractiveness of Wisdom, comes from the Bible. In the Bible, Wisdom is a lady. In the story, Hamilton's change came from his interactions with women. Each of the women offered him a new way for him to see himself and caused him to change. The title represents the good or positive that comes from being wise and doing for yourself what you need. I also prayed each day before I began to write and asked for His help in crafting this story. You see, this is not just my story. WOW: That is so amazing! I loved reading that you are a teacher! How does teaching influence your writing? Judy: I wish I could say that I influenced my students. After all, I am the teacher. But the truth is, they have influenced me. I began writing because my 4th and 5th grade students in my class told me that my "stories sounded like the real stories in a real bookstore." They were in a program where they were to learn thinking skills. I wanted them to learn to read and think. They had not developed their reading skills and when I went to get them 4th and 5th grade reading books from the book room, I found they could not read. I made up stories for them. They enjoyed the stories and really got involved with the characters and they loved the setting. They read those pages so quickly, I had to write increasingly and write faster to keep ahead of them. By the end of the school year, they were reading on 4th and 5th grade level. This was the beginning of my writing career and almost every time I write, I think about those students who didn't want to learn to read but couldn't get enough of my stories. They asked me to publish the book. When my high school students found out I was writing and wanted to get published, they wanted to read something. I had them read a short story I was working on at the time. They gave me help with it. I took their advice, and the story was much better. After I began teaching at a college and completed That Ever Died So Young, one of my students asked me if I was the same person whose picture they saw on the back of a book in the college's bookstore. My college put my book in their bookstore. Almost all of the students bought the book. One student asked me if I was aware of the number of themes in that book. The students read the book and gave me a list of themes they found in That Ever Died So Young. They said they really enjoyed the story and I had to sign their books. WOW: I love how your students support you! What do you hope readers take away from reading your book? Judy: I would like my readers to see what I had to do for myself and realize they can do the same thing, if they need to. Many times, I see people who need to make a change in their lives, but they think they don't need to. We can be better people. I continue to improve myself and I want to have a relationship with my Father in Heaven. I want people to see the value of family. When parents divorce, they think that there is no longer a family. What about the children? They need to see that they still have a mother, father, siblings, in other words, a family. The family may look differently, but the parents who created their children out of love are still family, even though separated. Put the children first. We saw that in The Attractiveness of Wisdom. It's the job of the parents to keep the children mentally healthy, especially during a divorce. The kids are watching and are likely to repeat what they see and hear if the parents aren't careful. The most important value I want readers to take away is what someone said about the novel. "This novel is about love." Indeed, it is. Hamilton didn't have to do what he did in the dance studio with Franny. But he did. He did it out of love. He did many things in the novel out of love, and we certainly saw how that love impacted his children, especially his youngest son. WOW: Thank you so much for your time today! We hope everyone enjoys reading your book! ***** BOOK GIVEAWAY ***** Enter to win a copy of The Attractiveness of Wisdom by Judy Kelly! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway ends December 15th at 11:59 CT. We will announce the winner in the Rafflecopter widget the next day and follow up via email. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway (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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11 Mysteries and Thrillers That Are So. Much. Fun.
We spend a lot of time on this site recommending the dark and brooding, but as the weather grows chillier, I find myself drawn to the more light-hearted thrillers and mysteries. There’s quite a few extremely entertaining reads out this year and next year, and I’ve assembled 12 of them to keep you reading, laughing, and cheering throughout the dark months ahead. Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age (Berkley) As the tag-line for this incredible series launch reminds us, women of a certain age may be invisible to society, but sometimes, that’s their greatest asset. As Killers of a Certain Age begins, four trained assassins are readying for their retirement after four decades of taking out terrible people in a most elegant manner. Unfortunately, their bosses have planned a rather more permanent end to their careers than they would like, so the women must go rogue and take on their former employers to find out why they’re been selected as targets. The lively banter between old friends, mixed with plenty of action sequences, will keep you turning the pages long into the night, and I’m hoping these feisty heroines make it to the screen soon to continue their adventures. Elle Cosimano, Finley Donovan Series In this highly entertaining series, a single mother and struggling writer becomes a hitwoman by accident after one of her plot descriptions is overheard in a cafe by a mobster’s wife desperate to get rid of her husband. Cosimano’s heroine, and her snarky babysitter-turned-crime-assistant, are a fantastic duo to follow, and I hope to be reading their adventures for quite some time. Mur Lafferty, Station Eternity (Ace) What if Jessica Fletcher’s tendency to have people die around her had led to instructions to self-isolate for the benefit of society? And what if that isolation had taken place on a space station rather like Babylon Five? In Station Eternity, a young woman who has solved a suspicious number of murder mysteries flees police attention on Earth and heads to a space station with few other humans on board. Of course, someone on board the space station would have the temerity to be murdered, and once again, all signs point to Lafferty’s protagonist unless she can solve the crime herself. Zarqa Nawaz, Jameela Green Ruins Everything Zarqa Nawaz is as smart as she’s funny, and that’s saying something, since she’s very funny. Nawaz first became known for her hilarious and heartwarming sitcom, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and now she’s embraced fiction writing with her new novel, Jameela Green Ruins Everything, in which a woman prays for a book deal, accepts a mission from an imam to perform a good deed, and somehow finds herself in conflict with the CIA. Michelle Gagnon, Killing Me (Putnam, March 2023) In this wild ride of a thriller, a woman finds herself rescued from the clutches of a serial killer by a mysterious female vigilante. She should be happy. Or at least trying to heal. But post-escape she’s now a person of interest who also happens to be a con artist. Her now-threatened exposure forces her to go on the run to Vegas, where she starts a cautious flirtation with a sex worker and meets a madam with a heart of gold. Things are going well—that is, until the vigilante returns with a very particular agenda. Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit (William Morrow) Counterfeit is so much fun. Ava Wong leads a privileged, but ordinary, life, at least until her old college roommate comes calling with a scheme to sell counterfeit handbags. Ava initially balks at the idea of getting involved in something illegal, but the chance to make her own money after years of being supported by her husband is too good to pass up. Richard Osman, The Bullet That Missed (Pamela Dorman/Viking Books) I adore the first two Thursday Murder Club books with all my heart. If you, like me, have been taxing your patience, crawling up the walls in wait for the next installment, you won’t be in agony for much longer, and your patience will be rewarded. Number Three in the series about the residents of a retirement community who transition from discussing cold cases to solving real murders,might be the most fun book of them all. It’s called The Bullet That Missed, and it sets our beloved Thursday Murder Club members against spies, mysterious assignments, television personalities, and of course, several dead bodies. A hilarious, gripping new tale, it is worth waiting for, and not to be missed! –OR Amina Akhtar, Kismet (Thomas & Mercer) I’m a huge fan of Amina Akhtar’s cult classic debut, #FashionVictim, based on Akhtar’s experience working in the fashion magazine world. Her second novel skewers the wellness industry of Sedona (Amina Akhtar is now based in Arizona) and also includes a light supernatural touch that’s perfectly integrated into the thriller arc as a whole. In Kismet, a young desi woman follows her #livelaughlove mentor from New York to Sedona, befriends a bunch of ravens, and also solves some murders. Someone is killing extremely annoying people in this book, and readers may find themselves actively encouraging the killer. Janice Hallett, The Twyford Code (Atria, Jan 2023) Janice Hallett writes charming puzzle mysteries with intriguing formats—or at least, that seems to be the pattern, as this her second novel, like her first, allows a motivated reader to piece together a solution from the primary-source-style documents provided in the novel. The Twyford Code is told entirely in transcribed voice memos recovered from a mysterious smartphone, detailing the narrator’s quest for meaning from an intricately annotated children’s book. Sean Adams, The Thing in the Snow (William Morrow, Jan 2023) The Thing in the Snow is bizarre in the best way possible. A small group of workers at a remote arctic facility spend their days testing chairs and counting desks, keeping the huge research station in moderately working order. One day, they spot a suspicious thing in the snow just outside. It seems to move. It must have an agenda. But what could it possibly want?! Rachel Koller Croft, Stone Cold Fox (Berkley, Feb 2023) Stone Cold Fox is about a woman who’ll do anything to secure the luxury and stability she has always wanted, and I do love a scrappy social climber novel. Growing up with an unstable, narcissistic mother, Croft’s antiheroine has been through plenty and come out street-smart on the other side. But her new engagement with one of the nation’s most eligible bachelors threatens to derail her success when his family appears unhappy with the match. Who will back down first, in this modern variant on Vanity Fair? Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (Berkley, March 2023) Vera Wong is a lonely, bored tea shop owner who can’t seem to connect with her zoomer son, but that all changes when one day she finds a dead body in her shop and takes an important clue for herself before the police can get there. I love a novel featuring a mature woman solving a crime, especially one so confident in her own abilities. View the full article -
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“True Detective” Season Two: An Unholy Mess, or Better Than You Remember?
It’s time to revisit the scene of the crime. Witnesses to this particular crime call it one of the most horrifying things they’ve ever seen, destroying forever their sense of what’s right and wrong in this cruel world. Others have forgotten the crime happened at all. We’re talking, of course, about the second season of “True Detective,” which, despite airing in ye olden days of 2015, is still capable of sparking intense discussion among noir aficionados. Those eight episodes have their fans, but so many more people seem to think it was an unholy mess, if not a high crime against art itself. But was it really that bad? A quick refresher: The first season of “True Detective” starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Louisiana detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, who pursue a serial killer over multiple decades. It won a couple armfuls of awards for HBO and unleashed a barrage of memes playing off Cohle’s existentialist musings (“Death created time to grow the things it would kill.”). It also made stars out of Nic Pizzolatto, who wrote all the episodes, and Cary Fukunaga, who directed them. When it came time to craft a second season, Pizzolatto decided to super-size things. Set in Southern California, the story centers on four characters. There’s a California Highway Patrol Officer named Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) who has a hideous past as a war criminal—but who seems more concerned about people finding out he’s gay. Riding his motorcycle one night, he comes across the body of a butchered city official, Ben Caspere, and he’s assigned to the investigation along with a stereotypically miserable wreck of a detective named Raymond Velcoro (Colin Farrell) and uptight, deeply wounded sergeant Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams). As you might expect, all three of these detectives have demons even several lifetimes’ worth of therapy won’t cure. But they’re all decent investigators, and they quickly discover a deep layer of rot and corruption among local officials. If that wasn’t enough plot threads, Pizzolatto throws in Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a onetime gangster who tries to go legit by investing a lifetime of shady earnings into a California high-speed rail project, only to be ripped off by Caspere before his mysterious demise. As the detectives try to figure out Caspere’s killer, a broke Semyon returns to his old ways to drum up cash—irritating a whole lot of shady characters in the process. HBO expected a hit, but when the second season came out, many of the reviews were excoriating. In Vox, Emily St. James declared the narrative an absolute disaster, from an “overcomplicated” yet “predictable” plot to the lack of a coherent directorial vision. Hordes of Twitter and Reddit commenters likewise took a flamethrower to it: “Every character was trying to be Rust Cohle without any straight man to ground them in reality,” one commenter wrote on the latter platform—and that was one of the kinder (and less profanity-filled) takes. It’s hard to find someone who would defend the season as a masterpiece. But let’s spare a moment for the contrarian view: Pizzolatto and the new directors (Fukunaga having decided to sit this one out) managed to create eight episodes that encapsulate both the sublime and messy bits of California noir in equal measure. If parts of the season seem confusing and convoluted, and the characters occasionally play like two-dimensional parodies of noir archetypes, well… the classics of the subgenre established that precedent. For example, “The Big Sleep”—arguably the Urtext of California noir—had a plot so infamously convoluted that even Chandler didn’t know (or care) who killed the chauffeur. You practically need a whiteboard to follow James Ellroy’s sprawling narratives. Polanski’s “Chinatown”—call it the Ur-film of California noir—offers the viewer a tangle of incest and murder against a backdrop of fights over water rights, and even with the excellent screenwriting, it’s still difficult to keep all the details straight on the first watch. (Thomas Pynchon’s “Inherent Vice,” with its twisty plot-points and 1970s L.A. setting, can be seen as a gentle sendup of such labyrinthine plotting.) Pizzolatto’s characterizations come off as stilted clichés at moments, true, but he’s only riffing on one of the mainstays of the genre. When Vince Vaughn growls something like, “Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating,” or Colin Farrell offers to commit an unmentionable act to a headless corpse, is it really so different, at least thematically, from what Bogart or Mitchum might have murmured in a film from a bygone era? The difference is that Vaughn, Farrell, and McAdams deliver every line with the same deep gravity, whereas the noir stars of yesteryear were inclined to smirk as they did so—they seemed intensely self-aware of how they sounded, which sold it. There are also many things Pizzolatto did right. At its best, the season plays as an amped-up mix of John D. MacDonald’s “The Green Ripper” (the one where Travis McGee ends up fighting a weird California death cult), “Chinatown,” and an Ellroy novel, mixing shady real-estate deals and fallen gangsters and corrupt cops and creepy orgies and murders into a sour cocktail. Scenes play like a California travelogue written by a latter-day Ross Macdonald, from mansions in the Hills to L.A.’s industrial stretches to the scenic coastline. It is, to put it mildly, a lot, even for genre aficionados—but if you’re in the right mood, especially if you’re craving an unadorned, unapologetic old-school noir experience (good or bad), it can be exactly what you crave. Why did the second season of “True Detective” seem to invite such animosity? Given how the first season’s combination of Southern Gothic and nihilistic philosophy racked up such critical praise and online fandom, it was perhaps inevitable that anything short of perfection the second time around would spark a massive, collective letdown. But the second season has more in common with the first than some critics would like to admit—the revelations of the killers are treated like afterthoughts, and we’re never given much reason to care about the victims. As a writer, Pizzolatto seems less interested in the whodunit than crafting a character study. Season two also carries forward the first season’s inclination to weave an oddly redemptive thread running through the characterizations, an inner light at the end of the tunnel. Even if they end up wounded, dead, or exiled in another country, many of the characters give you the sense of having moved past their challenges. For all the online crap shoveled onto Farrell’s Velcoro, the disgraced cop pulls off a pretty neat trick for a noirish archetype, becoming more sober and competent as the pressure on him steadily ratchets up to unendurable levels. McAdams’s Bezzerides, who starts the second season as an emotional time-bomb, ends it in a place of determination and calm. Sure, other characters don’t make it to the finish line, but that’s okay—in the grand California tradition, they had the chance to achieve a little self-realization before they went. In the end, Pizzolatto couldn’t transcend Chandler or MacDonald or Towne or Nunn any of the other writers who defined California noir. But if you view the second season of “True Detective” on its own terms, it’s pretty good. View the full article -
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A Foretaste of Culinary Cozy Mysteries
Culinary cozy mysteries have become a larger slice of the crime fiction market in the last two decades, mirroring the popularity of cooking shows on TV and YouTube. Most such books feature sleuths with food-related jobs. Among them are chefs, caterers, bakers, restaurateurs, food writers, and shopkeepers who sell ingredients, books, or tools for cooking. In my latest book, Bake Offed, which takes place at a mystery fan fest, a book vendor explains why culinary cozies sell well: “Readers want to know, not just whodunit, but what to eat for dinner.” The recipes appended to cozy mysteries serve that purpose. But years before culinary cozies became a mystery subgenre, cookbooks based on the eating habits of famous fictional detectives gave readers a foretaste of today’s culinary mysteries. The authors of Dining with Sherlock Holmes (1976), The Peter Wimsey Cookbook (1981), and The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1973) mined the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, and Rex Stout for allusions to the food their detectives ate as they solved crimes. The three cookbooks feature recipes along with descriptions or quotations from the scenes that inspired them. Despite the sleuths’ names in the titles of those books, all three of them had someone else making their meals, Mrs. Hudson cooking for Holmes, Bunter for Lord Peter, and gourmet chef Fritz for Nero Wolfe. Though the recipe is the entrée in these cookbooks with the mystery as a side dish, passages from the mysteries spark memories for those who’ve read them and whet the appetites of those who haven’t. In today’s parlance the term foodie applies to Lord Peter Wimsey and Nero Wolfe, but decidedly not to Sherlock Holmes. The authors of Dining with Sherlock Holmes, Sherlockian Julia Rosenblatt and Chef Sonnenschmidt of the Culinary Institute of America, come up with recipes based on specific foods mentioned in the Holmes stories and on typical Victorian fare. A footnote identifies one recipe for a dish served during a commemorative Sherlock Holmes dinner in the 1970s. Menus for that and other Culinary Institute of America dinners honoring Holmes are in the book’s appendix, and those menus are to drool for. Dining with Sherlock Holmes may be the only book that received rave reviews in both Bon Appétit and The Armchair Detective. The cookbook was so successful that it went into a second printing in 1990. Two examples show the methods the cookbook’s authors use to connect Holmes stories to recipes. The recipe for Mrs. Hudson’s biscuits follows an introduction to biscuits as a staple at Baker Street. Holmes consumes them after a three-day fast in “The Adventure of the Dying Detective,” and the biscuits revive a man who collapses from hunger at Baker Street. The cookbook contains passages from “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” a story centered on a Christmas goose, as the lead-in to recipes for a ten-course holiday menu that includes two different ways of cooking a goose. Unlike the Holmes stories, the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers are replete with details about eating and drinking, giving authors Elizabeth Bond Ryan and William Eakins a cornucopia of dishes to include in The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook. Those dishes are often parts of a multi-course meal, like the dinner Lord Peter orders in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. The feast starts with oysters fried in their shells. The recipes for the fish, pheasant, potatoes, and soufflé contain at least two of the following ingredients: eggs, heavy cream, butter, and bacon. Calorie counts aren’t part of the recipes. Not all the menus culled from the Dorothy Sayers mysteries are quite so extravagant. The dinner described in Strong Poison features cold jellied beef consommé, poached turbot with parsley sauce, a chicken and vegetable casserole, and a sweet omelet. The preparation of the omelet comes out in a courtroom scene in this book. A solemn, bewigged judge recites the ingredients and instructions for making the omelet, which the victim ate shortly before dying. Strong Poison might be the first mystery to include a detailed recipe within the story. Recipes play a larger role in mysteries featuring gourmand detective Nero Wolfe. His creator, Rex Stout, is as serious about food as his character and is listed as the author of The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, though he credits other writers for testing and explaining the recipes. While solving crimes, Nero Wolfe obsesses about food, often discussing recipes with his personal chef Fritz. Those discussions and other scenes from the Nero Wolfe mysteries preface the recipes. The cookbook includes simple recipes with few ingredients, such as for leg of lamb, polenta, and sponge cake. But many dishes have fifteen to twenty ingredients and multiple steps, and a few require food not found in most supermarkets—squirrels, opossum, starlings. The Wolfe book that most obviously anticipates culinary mysteries is Too Many Cooks, which includes recipes at the end of some editions. Rex Stout’s 1938 publicity tour for this book featured an editorial luncheon in twelve cities and a keepsake for the guests: a set of recipes in a box designed to look like a book. Prized by collectors, the promotional recipe box is now worth more than a first edition of the book. In case you’d like to own this artifact of mystery history, you can find one for sale online, where a rare book dealer is currently asking $3,750 for it. The recipe box plays a role in Bake Offed, my latest Five-Ingredient Mystery, in which café manager Val and her grandfather volunteer to help a friend in charge of a mystery fan fest. In addition to panels and book signings, the fest includes an unusual event for such gatherings—a bake-off. Each contestant in the Deadly Desserts Bake-Off must play the role of a cook to a famous fictional detective and make a dessert the detective would enjoy. Val’s grandfather, a food columnist who promotes five-ingredient recipes, is miscast as Nero Wolfe’s gourmet chef Fritz. Flipping through the Wolfe books, Granddad finds only “fancy dishes with scads of ingredients.” But in the attic he discovers a treasure bequeathed by his mystery-loving aunt—a book-shaped box of Nero Wolfe recipe cards. The box inspires Granddad’s dessert for the bake-off. He faces stiff competition from his rival food columnist, Cynthia Sweet, playing Mrs. Hudson. On the night of the bake-off Granddad’s prized recipe box disappears and Cynthia is found dead in her hotel room next to a whistling teakettle. While some fest attendees assume Mrs. Hudson’s murder is a mystery game, Val and Granddad act fast to protect a witness in jeopardy and prevent another death. *** View the full article -
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Wanda Morris On Bringing Together The Past and the Present
Both of your novels are grounded in your legal background; how did your experience as a lawyer influence your writing? Working as a lawyer has influenced my work in several ways. In both my books, I try to explore the ways the legal system can impact our everyday lives—both good and bad. Whether it’s examining a corporate organization fraught with discriminatory practices to the inequity of the American justice system to a societal structure that prevents full and fair access to the voting polls. So much of my professional working career was spent in the legal arena, it was bound to seep into my creative endeavors. From a craft perspective, I believe most lawyers are storytellers in sone way. Whether you’re trying to persuade a jury in a lawsuit or trying to convince a group of business leaders of the legality of their venture, a lawyer is telling a story of sorts. Similarly, I believe when an author is writing a novel, she or he is trying to persuade the reader’s emotions about the story. Every writer wants a reader to feel a certain way about the story they are telling. Another legal skill that translates well to publishing is the discipline of meeting court deadlines. As a practicing attorney, it’s ingrained in you to never miss deadlines. Missing a court due date is a huge no-no. This skill helps when meeting publication deadlines. With crime novels coming out influenced by historical fiction, horror, and romance, there have never been a better time for crossovers. What’s behind the new fluidity of genre? I can’t speak for other writers, but for me, I am always trying to explore and explain why people behave the way they do. Shortly after I finished writing my first book, All Her Little Secrets, I was looking for another idea for my second book. The 2020 election had just wrapped up and the country was in the throes of “the big lie.” States like Georgia (my home state) and Texas were enacting state legislation to make it more difficult for disenfranchised people to vote. I knew I wanted to explore all of that in my next book. I couldn’t figure out a contemporary angle for the story. Crossing over to historical genre gave me the perfect backdrop to explore what happened back in the 1960s as Black people fought for the right to vote. Anywhere You Run is an impeccable historical novel. Tell us about the research you did for the project, and what drew you to the early 60s setting. Thank you for that lovely compliment. I had just finished writing my debut novel, All Her Little Secrets. The country had just come through the aftermath of the 2020 election. States like Georgia and Texas began to enact state laws that made it much more difficult to vote, particularly for the disenfranchised, the working class, and the elderly. It reminded me of the times my mother told me she was unable to vote when she lived in Birmingham, Alabama. I had a character from All Her Little Secrets that continued to ramble around in my head long after I finished writing that book. I thought it might be interesting to put a face on an aspect of the civil rights movement that still continues to plague us to this day – equity at the voting polls and what that means for full and fair equal rights in this country. It was important to me to get the details right. For that, I owe a huge debt to the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History located here in Atlanta. I spent hours there culling through books and documents on the civil rights movement of the early 1960s. Researching things like Medgar Evers work to secure voting rights for Black Mississippians, the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three Freedom Riders who were brutally murdered while trying to help Black Mississippians get the right to vote. Some of the research was very difficult to go through, particularly pictures and first-hand accounts of the lynchings and beatings of Black people and civil rights activists who stepped into the fray. Something that surprised me, but it shouldn’t have — women were not allowed to obtain credit in their own name without a cosigner. Married women were required to get their husband’s permission and his cosign to obtain credit. On the other hand, there were some aspects of the research process that I really enjoyed. To bring authenticity to the book and immerse myself in that time period, I spent a huge amount of time reading old magazines — Life, Ebony, Jet and Tan — and listening to music from the early 1960s. In fact, I created a playlist of the songs that inspired the novel: Spotify playlist for Anywhere You Run. There’s every type of music included, from a civil rights anthem to Patsy Cline to James Brown to Thelonious Monk. I talked to older relatives who lived during that era. I also got to talk to Jonathan Shapiro, a civil rights lawyer who actually worked on the Mississippi Summer Project helping Black Mississippians get the right to vote and serve on juries. I owe a huge debt to Jonathan and his wife, Hank Phillippi Ryan (Yep, that Hank Phillippi Ryan!). Your characters are in predicaments that are unfortunately resonating strongly with present day struggles. What did you want to highlight about the parallels between the early 60s and our current era of retrenchment? Unfortunately, there are some frightening parallels between what women, particularly Black women, endured in the 1960s and what is happening today. So many of the themes from 1964 that I cover in the book feel eerily familiar in 2022 — voting rights, police brutality, a woman’s right to financial independence and to govern her own body, and brutality against the LGBTQ community. Keep in mind, it was less than 60 years ago that Blacks secured the right to vote under The Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was only 50 years ago that the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade gave women the right to govern their own bodies. Sadly, that decision has been overturned by a Supreme Court majority created by a president elected to the White House. So many hard-fought rights are being whittled away. Right now, my millennial daughter has less rights than I had when I was her age. And when you think about it, so much of this all comes back to exercising your right to vote and deciding who will govern this country. I tell people if you think voting doesn’t matter, then you’re not paying attention to what’s going on around you. What are you working on next? Would you ever go historical again? Right now, I am writing a contemporary novel about a young woman, suffering a heartbreaking loss, who must rise above her personal insecurities to save a Black landowner in Georgia’s low country when she uncovers an illegal scheme that threatens to undo the legacy and generational wealth of disenfranchised families, including her own. The story explores what it means to have a home and how difficult it is for disenfranchised families to build a legacy of generational wealth for those they leave behind. As for writing another historical novel, I’d love to if I can come up with the right concept and characters. View the full article -
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AudoFile’s 2022 Best of Romance Audiobooks
Audiobook listeners and romance readers! We’re once again happy to announce AudioFile’s Best of Romance list for audiobook narration. For those who don’t know, AudioFile is a magazine available in print and online that reviews audiobooks. You can also check out the rest of their Best Of categories! Here’s what romances made AudioFile’s list, along with links to their reviews: We continue to abide by the Harper Collins Union request that we not promote, feature, or review Harper titles until an agreement is reached. The strike is still ongoing, so we will not cross their picket line. To see the complete list of Best Of Romance 2022 audiobooks, please visit AudioFile Magazine. Our thanks to AudioFile for accommodating our efforts to support the Harper Collins Union, and for inviting us to announce this year’s best romance audiobooks. . DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE by Ashley Herring Blake, read by Kristen DiMercurio KAMILA KNOWS BEST by Farah Heron, read by Soneela Nankani SEATMATE by Cara Bastone, read by Amanda Ronconi, Zachary Webber, Josh Hurley, Carol Monda, Corey Allen, Allyson Johnson, Eric Yves Garcia, Tanya Eby, Dina Pearlman SOMETHING FABULOUS by by Alexis Hall, read by Nicholas Boulton Congratulations to all the winners! Have you listened to any of the books listed? What were your favorite audiobooks this year? View the full article -
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539. Wishes, Wins, and Best of 2022 with Sue, JFHobbit, and Maria Vale
It’s time for the first of several end of the year episodes! This year I’ve invited the staff reviewers at SBTB and our podcast Patreon community to tell me their holiday wishes for everyone, a book that made their year better, and their big win for 2022. This week: Sue, JFHobbit, Maria Vale and Lilisonna share their picks – and of course, no one brings just one best of book! Music: purple-planet.com Listen to the podcast → Read the transcript → Here are the books we discuss in this podcast: We also mentioned: Episode 521. Heists That Bang and World Travel with Erica Ridley The post about designing a new SBTB Lady Loops Earplugs (Link offer: 15% off!) If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes. More ways to sponsor: Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?) http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/podcast/patreon.png What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast. Thanks for listening! Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher. View the full article -
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Calais Jungle_First Pages
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