Literary (and in no way despicable) Me

After a long hiatus of experiencing no literary events, I just went through a few weeks of very happy creative activity with other writers. The first was attending Summerwords, a creative writing colloquium at American River College in Sacramento. I was there at the invitation of Michael Spurgeon, organizer and faculty member there, who released his first novel during the conference. Although Michael and I never met before six months ago, we attended the same very small liberal arts college in Maine, Colby College, attended the same MFA program in Tucson, Arizona, and both wound up in the greater Sacramento area. Coincidences too great to be ignored! Facebook brought us together and we had coffee and compared notes on our shared, but not shared, experiences.

Here's a photo of Michael and his friend, fellow author Christian Kiefer, chatting during an audience Q&A following their joint reading at Summerwords. The goody bags had both their novels in it. Score!

Christian, on the left, is the author of The Infinite Tides, which looks like a great read. I'm in the middle of Michael's book Let The Water Hold Me Down now, which is wonderful. Photo courtesy of Bethanie Humphreys.

Next I need to talk about T.C.Boyle, who read a short story and did audience Q&A. Oh, this man. His source of charm must be located and destroyed. He must have kissed the Blarney Stone, located in the parapet of a castle in County Cork, Ireland, which confers wit, charm and eloquence upon the kisser. Although it appears clear he didn't just kiss it, but made out with it. I posit that T.C. Boyle frenched the Blarney Stone.

I was there as a presenter, and did a workshop on how to research and outline a novel. People seemed receptive and afterwards a young woman came up and said something so sweet I had to hug her. Then I went to the main hall and did a reading from The Witch's Trinity and signed books. The energy at Summerwords was honestly so upbeat and happy...I just loved the whole weekend. Bravo to the organizers!

That's me reading from Witch's Trinity, above. One final picture from the weekend...I mentioned above that Michael and I attended Colby College. Well, another person was there from Colby too: literary agent Eleanor Jackson. She represents Christian Kiefer and a slew of other wonderful authors. It's truly a small world! And Colby's English Department rocks. From left: Michael Spurgeon, Eleanor Jackson, and me.

All right, on to my next literary adventure. Last week, my friend Susan Spann (her first novel Claws of the Cat launches next month. Two words: ninja hero. Need I say more?) headed to a reading for Karen Joy Fowler's latest book. She gave a great reading and I'm dying to start her book! Especially since there's apparently a big plot spoiler event early on in the novel. She had us raise our hands to say if we knew already so she could talk about it. She gave a very generous Q&A and signed books.

This was her at the Barnes & Noble in Citrus Heights, CA. Many audience members had been part of her writers group many years ago, so it was neat to hear the familiar back and forth.

My next literary adventure is in a few weeks. I'm off to the Historical Novels Society conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. I'll be on a panel called "The Witchcraft Window: Scrying the Past." I have to admit I shamelessly stole the idea from a previous panel put together by someone else (I'd love to know who! Ann Kent?) at Book Group Expo in San Jose way back in 2008. Here's a "historic" picture of us then:

From left, moderator Michelle Gagnon, me (how I miss those boots), Kathleen Kent, and Brunonia Barry. Photo courtesy of Secret Sushi, Flickr.

From this crowd, only Kathleen and I will be in St. Petersburgh, with added ranks of Mary Sharratt and Suzy Witten. Excited to see all three of these wonderful women again, as well as others I met at HNS 2011 in San Diego.

Writing is such a solitary activity--when we can get together, talk craft, laugh, have a glass of wine and listen to sex scenes...oh wait. I forgot (literally! I was just about to wrap up this post). I'm going to be reading a sex scene from Woman of Ill Fame at HNS too. Moderated by the supreme Diana Gabaldon, this event is a Saturday night standard at the conference.  I'm going to gulp some courage and read a scene. Wish me luck.


. . . .

Happy to announce... Annamaria Alfieri

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The last in my series featuring Historical Novels Society conference 

presenters, today’s post is an interview with mystery novelist Annamaria 

Alfieri. Her third book Blood Tango launches next month from St. 

Martin’s Press. Congratulations, Annamaria!

Her book’s description: “It is the most dramatic and tumultuous period 

in Argentina’s history. Colonel Juan Perón, who had been the most 

powerful and the most hated man in the country, has been forced out 

of power. Many people fear that his mistress, radio actress Evita Duarte, 

will use her skill at swaying the masses to restore him to office. When 

an obscure young woman is brutally murdered, police detective Roberto 

Leary concludes that the murderer mistook the girl for Evita, the intended 

target of someone out to eliminate the popular star from the political scene.”

Don’t cry for me, Annamaria….couldn’t resist that terrible joke. All right, 

let’s get to the meat of the interview, with questions prepared by the 

wonderful conference organizer Vanitha Sankaran.

Do you follow a specific writing and/or research process?

Yes.  I have the enormous privilege of being a Writer in Residence at 

the New York Public Library.  I am there researching and working four 

or five days a week. My process is to draft quickly and then polish 

and polish and polish.

For you, what is the line between fiction and fact?

I try to portray the facts and the atmosphere of the time and place 

vividly and more or less accurately.  But above all I want to tell a 

really good story, so I don’t let the details of the history get in the 

way of pace and the suspense.  If I want there to be a full moon 

on a certain night, I don’t worry if the moon really was full that day.  

On the other hand, I never portray real people doing things that the

person in question would never have done.  Historical character 

assassination is unnecessary.  There are plenty of bad guys in history 

to go around.

Is there a writer, living or deceased, you would like to meet?

William Shakespeare, who wrote the greatest historical fiction.  

Can you tell us about your latest publication?

Blood Tango is set in Buenos Aires in 1945, against the most 

tumultuous period in Argentine history.  It imagines the murder 

of an obscure girl who was Evita Duarte’s body double.  The 

investigator believes the girl was murdered because she was

mistaken for Evita. 

* * * *

Good luck with your launch on June 25, Annamaria, and thanks for 

participating in the blog tour.

. . . . .

Tickled to announce...Julianne Douglas!

I’ve always enjoyed popping in and out of Julianne Douglas’s well-written history blog, Writing the Renaissance. No surprise, then, that she will be moderating a panel discussion at the Historical Novels Society conference titled, “Virtual Salon: The Historical Fiction Blog.” This will definitely be a fun one to catch!


I’m hosting Julianne today with questions prepared by Vanitha Sankaran, a fantastic writer and head of HNS’s conference board. Next month is the HNS conference in St. Petersburg, Florida: readers and writers alike are invited to attend.

1. What got you first interested in historical fiction?
Biographies! As a child, I devoured the Childhood of Famous Americans series. I particularly enjoyed the stories about women: Molly Pitcher, Clara Barton, Sacagawea, Amelia Earhart, Betsey Ross. The further in the past the subject lived, the more intriguing I found her story. At the age of 12, I discovered Jean Plaidy's historical novels. Plaidy's books were my first introduction to European history and through them I discovered a new world of kings and queens and courtiers--irresistibly compelling to a romantic teenager. I began to learn French and became a hopeless Francophile. College saw me double-major in English and French. Realizing there still remained many, many books to read, I went on to earn a Ph.D in French literature, specializing in the sixteenth century. When I chose to stay home with my toddlers instead of pursuing an academic career, I began to write historical fiction set in--you guessed it--Renaissance France. I'd found the way to put all that stuff I'd learned to good use!

 2. How do you find the people and topics of your books?
My academic work provided me the topic for my first manuscript, The Measure of Silence. In 1990 I published an article on the work of Louise Labé, the first non-noble woman to publish under her own name in France. Louise was an accomplished scholar whose verse was praised by the poetic luminaries of the day. However, being a woman of the merchant class and unable to claim the protection of a noble sponsor, she was vilified as a courtesan--and worse--for daring to "bare" herself to public scrutiny through publication. Determined to tell Louise's story, but not wanting to be bound by the constraints of a fictionalized biography, I created Jollande Carlet, a woman of similar socio-economic background living in the same center of Renaissance culture, the city of Lyons. While the details of Jollande's life differ from those of Louise's and the narrative follows tangents Louise herself would never recognize, Louise's historical situation and achievements support and justify Jollande's fictional ones. The novel is a salute to the long-dead poet, whose courage and resolution laid the groundwork for women writers of today.

A different poet sparked the genesis of my current manuscript. During a graduate seminar years ago, the professor referred to a poem by François I's court poet, Clément Marot. The work was a tribute to Emperor Charles V of Spain, who paid an extended state visit to France in 1539. The poem confused me at the time because I knew next to nothing about Charles V and his relations with France.  A few years ago, while searching for a topic for a new novel, I stumbled upon a description of this elaborate visit in a history book. Research proved it to be an exciting moment of artistic and political rivalries as France prepared to woo and impress its arch-enemy. Charles V is no longer a stranger to me, nor are the Italian artists who worked to renovate the château of Fontainebleau in time for the event. Anne d'Étampes, François I's mistress of twenty years, and Catherine Clouet, daughter of the famous portraitist, are my new best friends. If someone had told me that day in class that decades later I'd be quoting Marot's poem in a novel, I would have thought her a few lines short of a sonnet!

3. Do you have a crazy anecdote related to your writing you would like to share?
One evening last November, I attended a talk at my church. The speaker assured us that if we had a question for God and were fully prepared to accept the answer, He would provide it. Now, I'd been having some serious doubts about whether I was following the right path in life. My first manuscript, although it had secured me a first-class agent, hadn't sold; my current manuscript was taking way too long to write and the process itself had become arduous and stressful. My father's death a month earlier had shown me how short life could be; I worried I was wasting the little time I had pursuing a goal that would never amount to anything more than a selfish dream.

I prayed as I drove home, asking God outright: "Do You want me to keep on writing or do something else instead?" I pulled into the driveway and walked to the mailbox to retrieve the day's mail. Imagine my surprise when I pulled out a copy of Writer's Digest with "WRITE THAT NOVEL!" splashed across the cover! Immediately beneath it lay Historical Novels Review. I laughed out loud, tears of gratitude in my eyes. I had received my answer and it couldn't have been any clearer. (I’ve tacked that cover up on the wall above my desk to help me through the rough spots.) Let's hope I get as quick and as positive a response to the prayers I'll be sending up when my completed manuscript goes out on submission!

 * * *

Thank you, Julianne! I too loved reading biographies when I was a child, esp. the ones with orange covers: Clara Barton, Louisa May Alcott, all strong women. I loved them.

. . . . .

Thrilled to announce...Diana Gabaldon

When I signed up to host presenters from the upcoming Historical Novels Society conference on my blog, I had no idea I’d be lucky enough to host big hitters like Diana Gabaldon (and see my last post: Anne Perry). It’s so exciting to have her here today!

I was first introduced to her work by author friend Jordan Rosenfeld, who pulled Outlander off her shelf where it lay in a long line of the series, saying, “Here you go; you’ll love this.” And of course I did. I relished every one of those six hundred pages! And was thrilled to see that, coming late to the game, there were a half-dozen books still to devour. I’ll never look at kilts the same way again.

 

Gabaldon’s bio from the HNS website reports that she: “is the author of the award-winning, best-selling Outlander novels, described by Salon as “the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting ‘Scrooge McDuck comics.” Outlander began in 1991 and has continued through several more bestselling novels, with twenty million copies in print worldwide. Diana has also written a sub-series featuring Lord John Grey. Diana emcee’d the fabulous “Late Night Sex Scene Readings” at the San Diego conference in 2011, and will be reprising this scandalous event again in St. Petersburg this year.”

(I saw those Sex Scene Readings in 2011 and they were very fun!)

Without any further ado, here are Gabaldon’s fantastic, funny answers to questions created by megamind author Vanitha Sankaran, head board member of the HNS conference. Wait, no, a little more ado: I was told I could pick and choose out of the answers, but I think they’re all wonderful and thus I include them en masse.

What got you first interested in historical fiction? 
I wasn’t any more interested in historical fiction than in any other kind; I just thought a historical novel might be the easiest thing for me to write for practice, since I was a research professor, and did know my way around a library. It seemed slightly easier to look things up than to make them up…and, I figured, if I turned out to have no imagination, I could steal things from the historical record.



How do you find the people and topics of your books?
They just sort of show up. I think it’s probably better if I don’t try to figure out where they’re coming from.

Do you follow a specific writing and/or research process? 
What, like the Palmer Method? (g) I imagine everyone’s got some routines that are specific to them, but on the whole, both writing and research are pretty organic. Personally, I do the writing and the research concurrently, because I find they feed off and reinforce each other. I have a rough sort of work schedule, but it’s flexible. I mostly write late at night, between midnight and 4 a.m.—much less intrusion and psychic noise.

For you, what is the line between fiction and fact? 
Er…are you implying that there are people who don’t know the difference? (g) Fiction is stuff I make up, and facts are…you know…facts. (Though I notice with interest that one source gives two definitions of “fact”: 1. A thing that is indisputably the case. 
1. 2. Information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article. 
I think that’s an interesting distinction, don’t you?)

  

Do you have an anecdote about a reading or fan interaction you'd like to share? 
Well, I have had no fewer than three young ladies come up to me at book-signings, turn around and lower their pants enough for me to see that they had “Da mi basia mille” (“Give me a thousand kisses.” It’s a quote from Catullus, used in one of my books) tattooed on their rumpuses. As my husband remarked, “It’s not everybody who can say, “Kiss my ass” in classical Latin.” 

Where do you feel historical fiction is headed as a genre? 
Frankly, I don’t worry about such things. 

Is there an era/area that is your favorite to write about? How about to read? 
The eighteenth century is one of my favorites, because it’s sufficiently near to our time that there’s a great deal of primary source material still available, and it’s reasonably accessible (in terms both of language and printing)—and at the same time, it was a huge period of intellectual, scientific and political upheaval and ferment. As for reading, I’ll read anything, as long as it’s well written. 

What are your favorite reads? Favorite movies? Dominating influences? 
I read so much of everything, it’s hard for any one influence to be truly dominant. Still, there are five writers whom I’d acknowledge as what you might call literary role models: Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, John D. MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, and P.G. Wodehouse. 

Is there a writer, living or deceased, you would like to meet? 
I do meet them, in the pages of their books. Writers really can’t hide, you know; everything they are is right there on the page.

  

What book was the most fun for you to write? 
 It’s always the one I’m presently working on, because that’s the one I don’t yet know everything about. (g)

Can you tell us about your latest publication? 
Well, the eighth Big OUTLANDER novel is coming right up, later this year. That’s WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, set in 1778 (and in the 1980’s), in Colonial America (and Scotland…maybe a little bit in the Caribbean, I haven’t decided yet), and featuring All Kinds of Things, some of which are guaranteed to make the readership scream and hop up and down like peas on a hot shovel, and others that will make them melt into little puddles of goo. The most important thing is probably that THIS IS NOT THE LAST BOOK. (I’m pretty sure the ninth one is the final one.) 

Do you have a most interesting question or crazy anecdote related to your writing you would like to share?
Fortunately, my books seem to attract fairly benign nuts. I think this is probably because anyone who’s truly crazy doesn’t have a long enough attention span to read one. 

* 

Benign nuts, indeed. I think I qualify! Thanks so much, Diana, for taking the time to share your insights into your writing and thinking process



. . . . . .

Delighted to announce...Anne Perry!

Anne Perry is an internationally-known and bestselling
writer (since 1970! Thirty years of book publishing. We all could want a career like that). She’s also Guest of Honor at the Historical Novels Society conference coming up next month in St. Petersburg, Florida. Perry’s website says, “None of her books has ever been out of print, and they have received critical acclaim and huge popular success: over 26 million books are in print world-wide.”


She has been writing the well-known Victorian crime/mystery series about detective Thomas Pitt and his aristocratic wife Charlotte since 1979, and in 1990 started a new series set about 35 years earlier, with private detective William Monk and sidekick nurse Hester Latterly. She’s still publishing more new creations focused on WWI as well as her most recent novel, a stand-alone, titled The Sheen on the Silk,

set in the exotic and dangerous world of the Byzantine Empire. She lives in Scotland.

As part of building up buzz for the conference, each day in May a different panelist will be featured on a different blog, a wonderful engineering feat organized by author Vanitha Sankaran. I’ll be featuring four authors on each of the upcoming Fridays in May, and I’m delighted that today’s author is such a behemoth of mystery writing. Vanitha wrote the questions, solicited the answers, and gave each of us bloggers free range to cull what to use, and how to illustrate it. Since Perry has literally dozens of books out—I counted 78 but may be incorrect—I have decided to festoon this post with as many book jackets as I can manage.

Now without further ado, here’s a brief Q&A;

How do you find the people and topics of your books?
In present-day news.*

Do you follow a specific writing and/or research process?
Yes, when I've got the topic, I think of the main character (i.e. Pitt or Monk) and what story will carry that theme. Then, I research what is necessary to make sure that story would work. Then I outline the story chapter by chapter then do the final research for the details.

For you, what is the line between fiction and fact?
Fact is what did happen, fiction is what could happen.

Do you have an anecdote about a reading or fan interaction you'd like to share?
Not a specific anecdote, but the thing that's most important to me is when someone says reading something I have written has helped them through a hard, tough patch.

Is there an era/area that is your favorite to write about? How about to read?
One I'd love to write about is the French revolution.

What are your favorite reads? Favorite movies? Dominating influences?
Favourite reads are present-day American mysteries, just for pleasure. Movies: A Good Woman (Oscar Wilde) with Helen Hunt. Intouchables (a superb French film). I think poetry and GK Chesterton in particular.

Is there a writer, living or deceased, you would like to meet?
GK Chesterton! I think sometimes it is better not to meet your idols for fear of they don't like you.

What book was the most fun for you to write? The Sheen on the Silk, because I loved letting rip with Zoe.

A few comments from me:
1. She’s an outliner! I guess for mystery writers it’s absolutely necessary, but I’m still excited to read this since I’m such an outlining advocate.
2. I noticed that without a hitch she changed the Americanized “favorite” to “favourite!” Good thing the questions didn’t involve any lorries, lifts, chips or flats.
3. How awesome would a French Revolution novel from her be?!

 * I found her answer that she found her book topics in present-day news fascinating, because Perry’s life itself has been splashed across headlines. Born as Juliet Hulme, she and her best friend murdered the friend’s mother when they were teens, in 1954. Kate Winslet plays Hulme in the film Heavenly Creatures. After serving a prison sentence, Hulme changed her name and began writing fiction. Her appearance at the conference falls on the anniversary of the crime, June 22, 59 years later.

Perry will be speaking at the dinner on June 21 as guest of honor, and then at 9:30 a.m. on the 22nd she’ll be a panelist speaking about “Writing the historical fiction mystery” along with my bestie Susan Spann, Annamaria Alfieri (who I’ll be hosting here on the blog May 31), Frederick Ramsay and Judith Rock. I can’t wait for this session!

Many thanks to Anne Perry for participating in the Historical Novels Society blogathon!

. . . . .

Very illustrious guest bloggers coming: watch this space!

I'm delighted to be hosting four historical novelists over four Fridays in May. We're building up excitement over the upcoming Historical Novels Society conference next month in St. Petersburg, Florida. Giving you a little taste of what discussions and panels could be like at the conference, my four guest bloggers will be answering questions about writing historical fiction, their favorite of their own novels, and more.

Here are some hints as to who my guests will be:

1. Three words: Thomas and Charlotte
2. Jamie in a kilt
3. A young girl who kills herself in a Spanish convent
4. Blogger and novelist focused on 16th-century France

(answers below)

I attended the Historical Novels Society conference in 2011 (every other year it takes place in the U.S., alternating yearly with England). I reveled in the company of all the other people who prefer to read--and in many cases write--books set in the past. It was a chance to geek out with other history nerds!

When I went, I didn't know a soul, but girded my loins to be friendly and meet people. Many of the events can be solitary, like watching panels and readings, but at the mealtimes I enjoyed getting to meet new people and hear which eras are their favorite. I heard someone say at the last conference, "I'm used to introducing myself by saying I write historical fiction; here I have to specify which era!"

So the answers to the hints are:

1. ANNE PERRY
2. DIANA GABALDON
3. ANNAMARIA ALFIERI
4. JULIANNE DOUGLAS

I am hosting these amazing writers and I couldn't be more excited! Check back here on May 10 when Anne Perry will be my guest. Anne Perry, people! This international best-selling author is guest of honor at the conference.


. . . .

Alluring daguerreotypes

A few months ago I blogged here about the experience of finding men in daguerreotypes who got the heart racing--"Having Crushes on Victorians," I called it.

I just learned I'm not the only one who enjoys the hot gaze leveling out from sepia. Here's a link to My Daguerreotype Boyfriend.

Enjoy! And don't forget to step into that time machine when its doors open and roses are thrust out at you.


Pictured here is Charles Keeler, an early Berkeley poet.



. . . . .

Finding gold: diorama style

Earlier in the year, I had the opportunity to visit Sutter's Mill, the place where gold was first discovered in California, setting off the Gold Rush and forever changing this once relatively-untouched area.

And forever changing the way of life for the native peoples.

In the wonderful museum near the mill site (it has been lost to the river, but a replica now stands close to the original siting), you can see two human figures in a lifesized diorama: James Marshall bending to pick up the glint in the mill race, and the Native American standing nearby watching. I hope it isn't irreverent to say it, because I do truly deplore the fate of the people who were here first, but the look on the Native American statue's face honestly did look like, "Oh, crap."

The water in the exhibit really did run!

The museum is well worth a visit with some great artifacts and good explanations--and yes, in an exhibit case some (fake, but based on reality) chunks of gold the size of bread boxes. There are buildings scattered among the incredibly beautiful, green grounds: a Chinese apothecary business, a working blacksmith's forge (more on that in another post), a still-in-use Grange Hall, and others.

The most impressive feature is probably the American River itself, a blue so bright it seems fabricated. And oh so bitter cold. Not the thing you'd at all want to stand in all day, panning for gold.



. . . . .

Penis theft: not again

Yes, penis theft is in the news again, with this article on Yahoo commenting in turn on an article in Pacific Standard magazine.

Penis snatching (or shrinking) makes its way into our news every year or so. It would be hysterically funny, this Freudian fear that someone has snatched your penis, made it invisible, or made it smaller, were it not for the fact that the people accused of doing this nonsensical act are often killed.

Yes, killed.

For the crime of penis theft.

It's considered an act of witchcraft...and it dates all the way back to medieval Europe. The Malleus Maleficarum, the famous witchhunting Bible, has several passages about witches stealing men's penises, including one in which a multitude of snatched penises are stored in a bird's nest. Whenever I hear about these modern-day reports, I blog about them, so here are some archival posts if you are interested:

 http://erikamailman.blogspot.com/2009/10/ive-blogged-before-about-passage-in.html
 http://erikamailman.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-things-change-more-they-stay-same.html
http://erikamailman.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

These posts date, in order, from October 2009, May 2008, and April 2009.




The image is from the 1489 edition of De Lamiis, a book about witchcraft. It shows witches calling down the rain.

. . . . .

National Keep Your Chin Up Day for Writers: second annual!

A year ago, I established (in my own mind, and on this blog) March 19 as National Keep Your Chin Up Day for Writers. I was responding to a friend who was exhibiting despair on Facebook about his writing career after decades of trying. The original post is here.

A year later, that guy has spent serious amounts of time with a Hollywood actor who is working on producing a film based on his novel. He doesn't need the pep talk anymore!

But many people do. Writing is the most serious "spec work" there is. We can spend years on a single novel, with not a bit of encouragement other than our own sincere belief that it can find an audience. Our work is often lonesome, unless if we have the focus and poor hearing to work in cafes and other public spaces. We're driven to write, and we hope that when we reach "The End," a literary agent will be eager to represent the work, an editor will fall in love with it, and it will see its way into print.

It's difficult to get published these days, as countless mournful forums on the internet testify. It used to be hard, and the gatekeeping was stringent. But these days the hatches have been battened down and fewer books find publishers. It's the economy. It's the book industry.

But we have to keep our chins up. We never know when good news is coming. And if it makes anyone reading this feel better, out of all my published acquaintances--from undergrad to grad school to writing workshops and retreats--only one has had an effortless path. (Hint: his book was about kites and jogging just a little bit faster.) I know dozens of people who hit the bottom of despair's tank...but their feet found purchase at the bottom and let them drift back up to the surface. We can't give up when our feet are itching to shove against that dank interior and rocket us to air, to gusty inhales.

Chins up. Believe in yourself, in your craft. If you are genuine in your search to improve your writing and tell a compelling tale, then publication will come. It may not be for this novel. It may not be for #2 or even #3. But devoted workmanship and a steady diet of reading others' quality work will yield results. For everyone who is craving publication today, acknowledge the desire and reassure yourself that you are doing everything possible to make that happen, by:
A. Sitting in the chair, eking out sentences until the book is done
B. Spending serious time and thought in revising--not just rearranging sentences and fixing commas, but truly re-evaluating scenes and how characters behave
C. Encapsulating the story in an elegant paragraph you embed in the query letter
D. Researching the correct literary agents to send it to

"Yes" is a word we delight in hearing. We can't hear it with our chins buried in our chests.



. . . . .

SummerWords...a writers' feast in May/June

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be a presenter at the SummerWords Writing Colloqium, where T.C. Boyle (pictured) will be the keynote speaker. There is an impressive roster of writers presenting and teaching at this event, held at the American River College May 30-June 2 in Sacramento, and I hope to see as many of the sessions as I can.

I’ll be teaching a workshop on historical fiction 11:30-12:45 on June 1 

called “Delving into the Past” (come prepared to wrestle an idea into 

submission and build a loose outline for a novel) and later that day 

from 1 to 2 I’ll be giving a Shop Talk where I’ll read a bit of my work 

and discuss it.

A few highlights at SummerWords to look out for:

* “An Evening with T.C. Boyle” on May 31

* The release of Michael Spurgeon’s novel Let the Water Hold Me 

Down (each attendee will be given a copy!) Michael and I both 

attended the same small college in Maine—Colby—and the same 

graduate program at UA Tucson. Now we both live in the greater 

Sacramento area. Uncanny coincidences, and it was wonderful to 

meet with him a few months ago and share anecdotes from these 

shared academic experiences, although we hadn’t known each other 

at the time. I’m a little…cough…older than him.

* An incredible, diverse array of poets and novelists and even a 

literary agent! Names that may ring a bell are Anthony Swofford, 

whose book Jarhead I used as a text when teaching Critical Thinking 

at Bay Area community colleges, his wife Christa Parravani whose 

memoir Her was just released this month and is receiving a lot of 

buzz, and Christian Kiefer, whose novel The Infinite Tides has also 

received a lot of attention. I’m excited to meet the other incredible 

sounding writers I see listed on the colloquium’s website.

It sounds like the attention will be on workshops for this sessions, 

so writers should definitely check it out. And for readers, there will 

be shop talks and plenty of opportunities to hear wonderful work.

Tickets are only $95 for four days of “panels, workshops, readings 

and talks with writers and poets of regional and national prestige.”

To learn more and purchase tickets, please visit http://www.arc.

losrios.edu/Programs_of_Study/English/SummerWords_

ARC_Writing_Colloquium.htm

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Do you love historical fiction? I have an idea for you...

If you’re someone who loves historical fiction, you should consider giving yourself the gift (or asking someone to give it to you! Spring birthday, anyone?) of attending the Historical Novels Society conference this June in St. Petersburg, Florida.

What is the conference? A gathering of people who love historical fiction.

Some of us will be writers, some of us will be readers, some are literary agents, some are editors with publishing houses. There are opportunities, if you’re a writer, to learn more about the craft of writing. If you have a manuscript you’re interested in pitching, you can have a free meet-up with several well-known agents and editors. If you’re a reader, there are opportunities galore to hear authors talking about their books, their research, the golden allure of the past.

I attended my first HNS conference in 2011 in San Diego. Besides listening in on panels that had so much great information I scribbled notes all over my conference brochure, I got to meet several people who are very important to me now.

And that’s the other part of conferences that’s so attractive: meeting like-minded people who form a community of people who love the past.

One was Susan Spann, then an unpublished author pitching a novel: this year, she’ll be coming as an author (and panelist) whose book will be published by Minotaur the month after the conference. Within two years, she has gotten a three-book deal and ushered the first of the series through to publication. I just met with her yesterday and saw the gorgeous galley (prepublication paperback version) of her novel Claws of the Cat. 

I met Susan when we started chatting in the conference bookstore (that’s another benefit of the conference; you can get your books autographed by the authors) and then agreed to meet up for dinner. We had a great time getting to know each other and I was psyched to learn she lived in the city I was about to move to. She’s now my closest friend here, and we have loved sharing manuscripts with each other, advice, cheering on, and fellowship. I’m not claiming you’ll meet a bestie at the conference, but you will for sure be surrounded by people who love what you love, and if you can strike up a conversation you might just make a wonderful connection.

I was also excited to have the chance to meet for the first time with my former Crown editor Heather Lazare. That’s one of the oddball things about publishing; you often never meet the people who have such an effect on your life. I had lunch with her and the ever-fabulous Michelle Moran.

I had many great conversations with people throughout the conference--too many to mention, but I’m excited to see you all again in a few months!-- and was happy to be in the same ballroom with people who love to read… and love to read historical fiction in particular.

I’ll be on a panel at HNS this year, “The Witchcraft Window: Scrying the Past.” If you loved The Heretic’s Daughter, or Daughters of the Witching Hill, or The Afflicted Girls, or my novel The Witch’s Trinity, come and hear us authors talk about what drew all of us to this topic. There are many, many other fantastic panels to choose from. See the conference website where the schedule is already posted.

Registration is open now and the conference is actually quite reasonable in price. It’s $350 for the weekend which includes all meals (and there’s also a few events on Friday too).  If you’re a member of HNS, it’s only $325. The guests of honor are well-known bestselling authors Anne Perry, Steve Berry and C.W. Gortner.

Please visit http://hns-conference.org/ for more information…and hopefully to register! See you there.

• Where and When

  Renaissance Vinoy Hotel
  St. Petersburg, Florida
  June 21-23, 2013
  

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Guest post on social networking

A friend from my former writers' group, Ann Marie Meyers, hosted me and seven other writers at her blog today to talk about striking a balance between writing and social networking. You can read it here.

To supplement what I wrote there, I'd add that in general I always try to do the hard work first, and the easy last. This always backfires when tasks are canceled and procrastinators exult, but in general I like coasting once the hard stuff is done. And for me, writing = hard, and social networking = timeconsuming but easy.

Well, "hard" isn't really the right word. Writing isn't hard for me. I love it. I get carried away with it. What I mean is, it's hard to get into the mental space required to write, whereas social networking requires no such mental preparation.



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Educate a Girl: Girl Rising

When it came time for my eldest to go to school, we were coincidentally also trying to purchase a home, so we spent a lot of time researching school scores and rejecting houses based on the schools they fed into.

Both my husband and I grew up in communities so small there was only one school, so at first we were taken aback to realize there were choices, and you had to figure out school boundaries, because it would be awful for your child to be doomed to attend a school that ranked only a four, when they should be attending a 10.

All that was set on its head for me on Sunday when I went to a screening of Girl Rising, sponsored by Intel. My dear cousin Karl Mailman and his wife Lynette, Intel employees, invited me. This film follows nine girls around the world as they struggle to attend school, a right we take completely for granted here in the U.S. (and often squander). I’m not talking about college. I’m talking about elementary school. I’m talking about the chance to learn one’s numbers and letters.

Did you know in some countries you must pay to attend school? And it’s not mandatory? A particularly chilling scene in the movie shows a 7-year-old girl in Haiti’s earthquake aftermath, trying to attend a tent school in the rubble, and being told by her former teacher that she had to leave because her parents had not paid.

In between the vignettes showing girls in Peru, Egypt, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and other countries, viewers are given statistics about how much good arises when girls are educated. The facts are compelling. We need to educate our girls. Here are a few of their facts:

1. There are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary school worldwide.” - The UN’s Education First initiative

2. “Girls with eight years of education are four times less likely to marry as a child.”-UN’s Education First Initiative

3. “Educated mothers are twice as likely to send their children to school.” -Unicef

The movie isn’t easy to watch. But change can never happen unless people face unpleasant facts.

Is it fair that a three-year-old must carry heavy buckets of water every day, most likely destroying her own developing skeletal system, to cleanse the hands of her healthy, grown male relatives? Should an 11-year-old (11!) be sold into marriage, and the proceeds used to buy her older brother a used car? Should a six-year-old be sent to live with strangers to serve as their slave, called a “bonded laborer” (kamlari)?

Of course, as you watch it is impossible not to think of children you know at these same ages, picturing them made to do the same things.

I’m outraged at the fate of lost little girls (and boys) around the world, and glad to puncture the little bubble I live in. One of the best things I took away from the movie was the idea that helping just ONE person means the world. It’s overwhelming to think of changing entire villages a world away…but we can change lives one at a time and still do good. My eyes are tearing up as I compose this blog post here at my comfortable local Starbucks, my belly full of a warm scone and a decaf mocha, with sunshine flooding the windows, knowing that my child is now safe at school, learning: learning happily, safely, carelessly.

Please visit www.girlrising.com to find a screening near you or to donate ($50 can send a girl to school for a year). You are also invited to host a screening of the film; information to do so is on the site.

Final note: the girl pictured above, "The Phoenix," is Sokha of Cambodia. She was orphaned and lived literally in the dump, each day picking through the trash to find food and goods to trade for food. She's now a star student at a top school, and as you can see a beautiful traditional dancer. No child should ever have to pick through other people's trash while other kids attend school. As the film says, she was literally thrown away herself.

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Spring Book Recommendations

It’s time for my quasi-seasonal  recommended books list. Luckily, I’ve had a spate of happy reading lately so there are some great books to mention.

1. Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I’m impressed beyond belief with this book and its deep, lengthy, complex look at one woman’s life. Aminata Diallo is only 11 years old when she’s snatched from her village in Africa and taken to Sierra Leone to undergo the Middle Passage to South Carolina. Moving from owner to owner and living through traumatic events, Aminata’s spirit and luminous grace carry her through. The author’s research was thorough to the point of Ph.D.hood, I’d think; the list of referenced nonfiction books in the Author’s Note was years’ worth of reading.

I enjoyed the fruits of that research: learning how indigo dye is made, what it was like to be a slave at the time of the American Revolution and all its rhetoric referring to Americans as “slaves” of Britain, learning about the different languages of Africa and having a Muslim woman as the protagonist, on and on. Every page is rich with information and a loving look at this intelligent woman (did I mention the author Lawrence Hill is male and writes this in the first person? What an accomplishment.)

With such a topic, you’d imagine the book might be too painful to read. It’s not. Hill has a deft touch so that while you agonize for the fates that befall Aminata, you continue hoping a good end will come. And you will cheer when one slender yet unforgettable piece of happiness comes (back) to her.

I honestly think this book should have received a Pulitzer or Nobel prize. Maybe both. I’ve never read such a thorough and heartfelt book about a slave. Hill truly did this fictional woman honor.

2. Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz. I LOVED this book. Pretty much perfect in every way, just like Mary Poppins. There are always books you read and enjoy, and then there are books that hit on topics that already fascinate you and seem tailor-made to you. For me, Splendors and Glooms was the latter kind of book. With Victorian orphans,  a mansion shrouded in snow, a locked tower, a character named Clara, dark magic, a smart and honest main character, inklings of romance and more….it was a sheer pleasure from page one to the end. I first learned of the book in the freebie magazine Book Page that my library carries; I dogeared the page it appeared on to remind myself, and then hunted down the book.  It’s considered a young adult book, but I relished it as an adult.

3. Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors.

The tale of a country noblewoman’s life in the years leading up to the French Revolution, this book follows her path through an arranged marriage to a brute, her necessary turn to courtesanship to support herself, and her imprisonment during the bloodthirsty days of revolution. I won’t give any plot spoilers, so will silence myself there. One thing I appreciated about this book is that it didn’t, as many books depicting the Revolution do, gloss over the fate of the Princesse de Lamballe. The viciousness of the Revolution almost seems apocryphal; did people really dip their bread in the freeflowing blood from the guillotine and exultedly eat it? Was the Princess of Lamballe’s story exaggerated and blown up out of proportion? If not, Paris was a desperately violent place, and how could you continue to trust your neighbor even after events calmed? The term “The Terror” best illustrates the era. This novel is unflinching.

Friends’ Books: I’m lucky to be part of a writing community and to announce the release of books written by friends.

Quest of the Warrior Maiden by Linda C. McCabe: Based on the legends of Charlemagne and featuring a strong woman warrior protagonist. I met Linda years ago at the East of Eden writing conference; we were assigned to share a room at Asilomar, and a year later we voluntarily shared a room at the next gathering. We’ve kept in touch over the years and had a strange friendship involving the repeated loss of keys! Once her husband had to fly down in a Cessna to bring spare car keys to her. To his credit, he greeted her with a big kiss. Linda’s book is available through Destrier Books.

A Time to Cast Away Stones by Elise Miller: Elise’s novel is about the 1968 May Revolution in Paris, an event few talk about or know about. I heard snippets of it years ago in a writers group we both belonged to in San Francisco. Believe it or not, this group required writers to read their work aloud for critique; I’ll never forget how much my hands trembled in the beginning holding up my pages. Elise was confident and continued honing her novel, now available through Sand Hill Review Press.

Forged in Grace by Jordan Rosenfeld: Jordan’s novel is about a burn victim who learns she can heal people--but not herself--through supernatural powers. She also voyages to learn more about the events surrounding the fire, and the best friend who was there at the time. I met Jordan and was good friends with her during the time I lived in Gilroy and she was in nearby Morgan Hill. It was a bummer not to make her recent March 2 launch party, which I blogged about a few weeks ago. I read an early version of her novel, then called Little Alien, and thought it was great; I know the version she launched was much different and can’t wait to read it. Her novel is available through Indie-Visible Ink, a collective she formed with a wonderful roster of fellow women writers. (What a great name, a play on indivisible! Surprised it wasn’t already taken.)

Up in the Air  by Ann Marie Meyers. Anne Marie’s book is a children’s picture book. I know Ann Marie from the same group that Elise Miller belonged to as well. Such a fun community of writers! Ann Marie is from Trinidad and now lives in Toronto. What a climate change. Ann Marie invited me to guest blog at her site in a few days; I’ll provide a link soon. Her book is available from Jolly Fish Press. P.S. I was in error; her book doesn't launch until July. I'll show the jacket jpeg then.

Claws of the Cat  by Susan Spann: This is cheating, because Susan’s book isn’t out yet! But you can preorder it and then enjoy the best-ever summer beach read. Available through Minotaur, Susan’s novel is the first installment of a fantastic mystery series featuring a Watson and Holmesian combination: a samurai warrior (a shinobi, as I  learned, part of millions of fascinating facts Susan has hipped me to) and a Portuguese priest, set in medieval Japan. They’re great partners, because Hiro the shinobi is taciturn and very Japanese, hiding many secrets, while Father Mateo is a man of the cloth and concerned to do the right thing, even while violating cultural expectations. I’ve read two of her books in the series and am waiting expectantly for #3 (clearing throat)…they are wonderful books and I can’t wait for them to hit the world. Watch this space for lots of Hiro content as the launch date approaches. I met Susan at the Historical Novels Society conference in San Diego in 2011. We had a great time getting to know each other, and I was delighted to learn she lived near Folsom, a city my family was about to move to (and did). We’ve had many an impassioned breakfast talking about writing and publishing, many a hushed evening talking about the same, and a few great walks talking about…you got it…the same. Susan’s a dear friend and thanks to HNS for getting us together! (I’ll be blogging soon about the upcoming conference in St. Petersburg, Florida this June, which both of us will again be attending.)

Before I close, I want to say I saw an amazing documentary this afternoon, courtesy of my cousin who works at Intel, which sponsored the film: Girl Rising. It was emotional, stirring, and well worth its own blog post, which I’ll post in a few days once I get a chance to mull it over and think how to approach it. (This post on my book picks has been underway for weeks, a sad commentary on how slowly I create these posts.)

There is a connection between Girl Rising and this post: the idea that literacy, that reading, can change lives and improve lives. I’m so grateful that I live a life of words and joyous reading and happy writing. I wish this was a liberty people worldwide enjoyed.

More later!

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Forged in Grace launch

Good friend Jordan Rosenfeld’s book Forged in Grace launches tomorrow at Booksmart in Morgan Hill. This novel is about Grace, irreparably scarred by a burn accident when a teen. Now an adult, she reconnects with the friend who was with her when it happened, and finally gets closure on their friendship and the circumstances of that afternoon. It’s psychologically complex: a great look at female friendships at the age when competition taints even the closest of relationship, and later at the age when one starts to assess one’s life and what’s been accomplished.

There are some amazing lyrical passages, and a nice reflective tone to the whole book. I had the fortune of reading this book in its early stages, and am so excited it’s out in the world now, much like tremulous Grace. The cover is a dream come true, eyecatching and aesthetically compelling! I was reflecting as I wrote this, that the cover must depict Grace…but then I wondered if maybe it was Marly, Grace’s friend. Or maybe we’re meant to wonder. Maybe Jordan can come do a guest post and talk about the book cover decisions.

Booksmart is a fantastic indie bookstore in charming Morgan Hill, just a short jump south of San Jose. Jordan used to work there so it’s the perfect place to launch her novel, embraced by the wonderful husband and wife owner team of Brad and Cinda Jones.

I got to know Jordan when I lived in Gilroy nearby. Many’s the long, complex talk we’ve had about the writing life and the craft of writing (she’s also the author of Make a Scene, a fantastic Writer’s Digest book on how to craft scenes. I always recommend it to my mediabistro students.) She’s been a fun and thoughtful friend, and I wish her all the best in her book’s success. If you live in the Bay Area, please attend her launch. If you don’t, please order her book to come to you.

3:00 Saturday, March 2

Booksmart

80 East Second St., Morgan Hill, CA

408-778-6467

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