new ideas and fresh voices

Last night I watched the film Stuck In Love and was struck by how different the real world of writing is from the world portrayed in films. In that story a nineteen year old girl writes a novel with the editing help of her father who is a successful novelist (a winner of the Pen Faulkner award for fiction and the author of a best seller). She is frustrated by how much influence her father had on the final product, so she tosses the first book and writes a second in her spare time. She submits the book under a false name to be certain her father's reputation won't influence the response. The book is immediately picked up by Scribner (a major publishing firm known for publishing Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, and others just as famous).

Yeah, right.

The truth is that the publishing industry has for years functioned like most of the other industries in America. Who you know was as important as what you wrote, possibly more important. Hemingway went to Europe where he could gain the influence of people such as Ezra Pound. If he hadn't done that, would his name be as well known today? It's impossible to know for sure.

Later, in the film Stuck In Love there is another first publication mentioned, this one based on a recommendation from a major author who knows the author's father. That example is much closer to the truth.

However, technology has changed the publishing industry. There are still major publishers and best seller lists. Readers who want the books that everyone else is talking about should get their “to read” lists from those places. But every year there are more small presses, some producing high quality work. Readers who want new ideas and fresh voices, should go to those sources when picking their next book.

Listening to Motherless Soul

People often label the process of writing a novel as a solitary task. But there are stages along the way when the task opens up in ways that are amazing.

I'm a member of a critique group that helps me find the sections that don't work as well as I hoped they would, so I can make them work. My wife is a great reader and also helps me polish the work. My publisher edits my work before bringing it out. And when it's read by people I know, I get the joy of discussing what they discovered in my words. All of those moments are fun.

And I just had another one.

The audio version of Motherless Soul was just released. It's read by a young woman from Florida named Michelle Haynes, who happens to have a lovely voice.

The process of creating this work was handled by my publisher, so I wasn't involved. But I listened to the entire reading as soon as I could. It's wonderful to hear someone take my words and make them her own. She always reads clearly and changes her voice for different characters in ways that are subtle, but effective. She puts emotion in areas that are different from the places I would have chosen, so it became a different story than it would have been had I read it. I love that.

I've never met Michelle, but I've shared a project with her and it's one that I take pride in. A sample of her reading is available on the Amazon site. Click here to hear then click on Sample.

New Blog interview and an upcoming reading

I'll be reading from my novels at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro on Thursday, March 5, 7:00 PM. It's a great place to hold a reading with a wonderful atmosphere as well as sandwich plates, craft beer, wine and coffee. Also I've just had a new interview go on line at Marina Neary's site -- Click here to read it.

March is starting out great.

The Black Dwarf and 19th Century Literature

I reviewed The Black Dwarf by Sir Walter Scott this week. You can read the review here.

I thought it was a good story, but not a great one. I may try some of Scott's other works, so I can compare. Scott wrote a companion book to this one entitled Old Mortality which received better reviews. That might be a good choice.

There are coincidences in the plot and an ending that's a little too pat, but strong characters are the most important aspect of any novel and this book has a great one. In the introduction Scott explains that Elshie is based on a real man, David Ritchie, who "...was the son of a labourer in the slate-quarries of Stobo, and must have been born in the misshapen form which he exhibited, though he sometimes imputed it to ill-usage when in infancy."

My daughter is a huge fan of 19th century literature and has influence my taste. It's fun to step back into another era, which must be why Jane Austen is so popular.

Summerland and writing to a formula

Summerland by Michael Chabon is the book I reviewed this week. Click here to see the review.

Books that have target audiences of children from 9 to 12 always seem to be a bit formulaic and this one was no exception. There were mystical creatures, baseball games, and gooey, gross smelling things encountered along a journey to save the main character's father. The important things came through: Jennifer T. Rideout's empathy for Taffy, Ethan's love for his father, Thor Wignutt's feelings about being different, and others. But they weren't emphasized enough for my taste. Instead there always seemed to be another odd creature or another game of baseball.

I don't think writing to a formula is bad unless the human element isn't there. In the case of Summerland (and most other tween books I've read) the human element is a kid element. For this reason I gave the book a good rating (four stars) and wrote about the story's influences rather than the story itself.

Wink of an Eye and Thoughts on revising

I just reviewed Wink of an Eye by Lynn Chandler-Willis and was taken by how careful her writing is. (Click here to see my review.)

I took a workshop with J.A. Jance, another mystery author, about a half a year ago. Jance is very prolific, but I was struck by her response to a question I raised about rewriting. She writes a chapter then will revise it while working on the next chapter. Once she finishes that second chapter, she will never go back to the first. She keeps to that pattern as she writes and said she'd never finish her books if she kept going back. I like Jance's books. They are exciting and kept my attention, but Wink of an Eye includes more foreshadowing and never seems to leave questions unanswered.

Although my gut reaction to the issue of rewriting is that authors should do it until the work is perfect, that response is simplistic. The body of work produced by a writer is important and, given that assumption, how many books a writer produces is a factor. Comparing a prolific writer with a careful, exact writer is a bit like comparing a film with a TV series. There are qualities they share, but differences as well.

Time Traveler's Wife

Judging by the reviews of The Time Traveler's Wife, this is a book that is either loved or hated. My own review is available by clicking here: The Time Traveler's Wife. My reaction is mixed, but overall I fall in the "loved it" column. The idea behind it is worthy of five stars, especially the way Henry is so much older than Clare at times and not at others. To fall in love with someone when she's a child and have a relationship when she's an adult is romantic, but also a little creepy. It's been done before (for example: The Thorn Birds), but this book's time shifts cause the age differences to keep shifting as well. It is definitely a book to keep thinking about after finishing the read.