02/11/2009

Karen Joy Fowler, author of the successful The Jane Austen Book Club, writes science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction. Her works often focus on the nineteenth century, the lives of women and alienation. Her latest book is Wit’s End.

Q: What was it like to have The Jane Austen Book Club made into a film?
How did the transformation from book to film take place? What was your role in writing the screenplay?

A: It was unexpected! And effortless. In point of fact, I was overdue on my next novel, so I wasn’t able to pay as much attention to the whole thing as I might have liked.

I went down to LA once and watched a day of filming. I went to an early screening and got to have lunch with John Calley as well as director/screenwriter Robin Swicord, which was lovely. I went to the premiere in a fancy dress. And that was about it.

I had no role in writing the screenplay. In fact, the screenplay was finished long before I even knew we’d gotten that far toward the movie. Swicord had already written an original screenplay focused on Austen, but contemporary, so she’d done a lot of thinking about what she wanted in a similar project. I’m guessing that gave her a head start.

Q: What is it about that time frame that seems to attract readers today?

A: The time frame of the Austen novels? I know from talking to Austenites that some of them are attracted to the slower pace of life, the pastoral settings, the general sense of quiet and good manners.

Not me though. I suspect the clothes are uncomfortable and the food unappetizing. And the medical care not to my liking.

Cruelty may be too harsh a word, but there is considerable unkindness in the little villages of those books, which is, of course, where the stories come from and why they’re interesting. I don’t want to live back then. I just love the way Austen tells a story.

Q: You won the Nebula for Best Short Story for the 2007 story “Always.” How different is it to write short stories vs. novels? Why aren’t short stories more saleable?

A: Short stories are quite saleable, they just don’t sell for very much so it’s hard to make a living only on those. Of course, it’s hard to make a living with novels, too.

I think most readers like the longer immersion in a world that the novel offers. As a writer, I like that, too. I like spending years with my characters—I’m much more attached to the characters in my novels than I am to the ones in my short stories.

In spite of that, I like writing short stories better. I think I’m better at it; the whole thing is just much more manageable. I can keep the whole of the story in my head and actually see how it’s working on the page. With novels, there always comes a point when I just lose my grip and have to move forward anyway.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.

By Amanda Linsmeier

Come Be My Love is a wonderful and rich romance by Diana Brown. Alexandra is just 12 years old when she falls in love with the neighbor’s son, Darius Wentworth. Several things divide this girl from the man she knows to be her soul mate including politics, age and finances. Alexandra, while quite pretty, has no real dowry to speak of and the Wentworths are very well off. Despite the fact that her father is opposed to her spending much time with the family, Alexandra manages to become familiar with them, first through Darius’s younger sister and then through his own father who becomes Alexandra’s teacher, helping her pursue her love of reading and writing. As long as Alexandra is a model daughter her father soon sees no reason to prevent her from going to Charteris, the Wentworth’s home.

As much time as Alexandra is able to see Darius, he still treats her like a beloved younger sister even as she ages into a lovely young lady. Her frustrations are further enhanced when Darius becomes engaged to the beautiful, stylish Philomena. Alexandra knows she could never live up to Philomena and becomes desolate and heartbroken when the two finally marry. Upon hearing the news that Philomena will give birth to a child, Alexandra is convinced that all is lost for her and Darius. However, once the child is brought into their world, it sets into motion a series of events that will pull her and Darius further apart than she ever thought and also push them closer together.

Come Be My Love is a great novel. I love the fact that Alexandra is so independent for a girl at that time. I think it’s great that she refuses to marry without love and that she pursues a career of her own. There were many things that I did not see coming which I felt really enhanced the storyline. After enjoying this book so much, I am eager to read more of Diana Brown’s stories.

If you’ve been following this series of articles, you know that I’ve been writing about banishing the “mental ghosts” that hamper your writing versus the ethereal spirits that fill the pages of my novel, Midnight Revelations. In weeks past, you have identified your counter-productive voices, challenged them with rational responses, and developed a plan to translate your revised thoughts into action. The last step in keeping the ghosts at bay is to expand these new and improved scripts into other areas of your life. It’s remarkably easy to allow negativity and self-doubt to creep in from the sidelines if you are not vigilant.

Picture a writer who, by using a new “script,” has finally broken out of a self-imposed shell. Imagine that writer gathering the confidence to walk into a bookstore, ask for the manager, and then successfully sell the idea of the shop hosting an author event. When the event comes around, the author meets with fans, discusses the story and signs dozens upon dozens of books. What a tremendous change and one that should be applauded! But, does the confidence extend beyond this setting? If the answer is yes, then celebrate with a hardy pat on the back; however if the answer is no, then there is still work to do!

If the same writer leaves the bookstore, returns home to an empty house and doesn’t see or talk to anyone other than the pizza delivery man for the next two weeks, chances are that the ghosts aren’t really gone. They have simply taken a holiday with their cousins, who happen to fill up the other areas of this writer’s psyche. And the thing about vacations is that they always have an end.

So what is the answer to achieve sustainable ghost–free living? Building up and out! Take the plan and apply it to the other areas of your life. Using a critical eye, take an honest inventory of how you negotiate the world. Is your life so restricted that the only living you do is through the characters in your novel? Or do you live a full and satisfying existence with only one or two areas of self-doubt? If the task seems daunting, remember to start small and proceed step by step, slowly expanding into all the corners and crevices where ghosts can hide. With methodical determination and consistent effort, you’ll find that living ghost–free becomes the only way to live!

Be sure to catch my next article that will take “ghosts from the past” in a whole new direction… adding them to your characters to make them more complex and three-dimensional.

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Karen M Bence graduated with a bachelor of arts in Psychology from Dickinson College and a master's degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. A former social worker, psychotherapist and educator, Ms. Bence is also an avid equestrian and dog breeder.

Well, it’s official: David Kuzminski of Preditors & Editors is a DEFAMER. And, his pocket is going to be, what has yet to be confirmed, $250,000 lighter. The jury has found Kuzminski guilty and has awarded Victor E. Cretella that tidy sum.

First, let me make one thing very clear: I don’t know the man. Never met him. Never talked to him. But, apparently, he thinks he knows a lot about me. Yep, I’m one of those people about whom he knows nothing, so he fills in the blanks.

Do I dislike the guy? I don’t personally know him. Do I dislike what he did? Yes, I do. He has caused havoc in our industry and he has hurt my friends and colleagues. But most of all I’m not overly fond of him for exposing me as a coward. I should have worked harder to bring together those who were damaged by Kuzminski and his buddies and, as a unit, we should have sued the crap out of the lot of them. Instead, we huddled together, hoping someone would be brave enough and have pockets deep enough to go after them.

Oh, I could make excuses, like my income was cut by nearly three quarters when their campaign against my companies began; that I was afraid they would do more damage once I sued them (ex: Bauer); and that lawsuits take so damn long and cost so much money. I did meet with an attorney regarding Kuzminski and others, and I was faced with the decision to proceed with a lawsuit and lay-off an employee or weather the storm. I kept my employee.

Fact remains, I wasn’t alone with my excuses. A lot of us were just plain scared to death. We all worked so hard to build our businesses only to have them crippled, and in some cases destroyed, because some frustrated, angry, wannabee writer with a website or some egomaniac thought they could control the industry.

I did manage to speak with one of the more predominant bloggers. I asked this person why they were saying and writing what they had to know was incorrect information for new writers to follow. The following is this delightful person’s answer: “The more misinformation out there, the better my chances are of getting published.” At least on one level this blogger was honest.

Many in our industry have been victimized by people like Mr. Kuzminski: Everyone from agents, to publishers, to writer’s groups, to trade sources, and last but not least, new writers themselves. Perhaps Publishing’s Reign of Terror is at the beginning of its end. Perhaps, those who have been quietly suffering will now have the courage to speak up because Mr. Cretella has hit a blogger where it hurts the most: The pocketbook. Perhaps there is some truth to that old saying, what goes around comes around.

Freedom of speech is apparently the battle cry of bloggers. Now that’s just precious, ain’t it? Having potty mouth and saying untrue things about someone isn’t freedom of speech, now is it David? Still, I’ll bet Mr. Kuzminski will appeal and ask his faithful followers for more money for his Legal Defense Fund. Or may he will do the right thing and acknowledge his mistake. After all, with freedom of speech comes responsibility. It’s rather simple, this concept of responsibility. First: You own what you say. Second: And I quote a lot of good parents: “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing!”

That being said, here’s my something nice to David Kuzminski: “Have a nice day!”

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When the streets are pools of muddy water and fields are lakes with fences around them, you know there's been a lot of rain. When you see people canoeing in their backyards, you know there's been a lot of rain. We had an unusually high amount of rain in a short period of time in a part of town near a river front.

The heavy downpour lasting days hit us over a holiday weekend when we least expected it. Hearing a dripping sound, my spouse and I rushed down to the basement and there were six inches of water on the floor. The carpet was sopping wet and squished under our feet. We tried the wet vacuum but we could see the cleanup and removing the wetness was beyond us.

The first thing we did was install a new sump and get the pump going again. A cleaning crew got started as soon as possible, but with so many beleaguered customers waiting they would do some work and then come back later.

The furniture, sofas, chairs and tables were piled in the middle of the rooms. The wet carpet was cut into sections, pushed through an open window with the screen removed and piled at the curb. A commercial vacuum with a large hose shot excess water out of the window. The hose gushed overnight and then several large fans were placed about and turned on high to dry the bare cement floor. The drying up took about three days.

Wet and ruined items were recorded and set out for removal. Many boxed items in a storage space under the stairs were completely soaked.

Unusable furniture included a bed and mattress and an entertainment stand of pressboard and oak veneer that splayed at the bottom for about eighteen inches. Completely wet boxes of books, papers and magazines were discarded. We didn't try to dry and save anything paper that would have meant wet papers lying over the furniture piles. Anything paper, cardboard or pressboard wicks up and is ruined by wetness. Anything in a metal case or desk or filing cabinet is fine. Anything in a plastic container or a plastic bag is fine but that wasn't my Shakespeare plays or novels or other literature studied in English.

For four months, we had a cleaning company underfoot, coming and going, and someone had to be there to keep the appointments, usually me. What they had to do was remove the drywall in three rooms, a utility room and a washroom. Then they had to replace the drywall, tape and paint the walls, doors and trim. New carpet, new wood edging and baseboard were going to be installed. I had to pick the carpet out and I had to pick out the colors to paint. Never in my life have I ever done everything all at once. The color I picked was sea green, or a light aqua, for carpet and walls everywhere.

Meanwhile, I had moved my work station upstairs to the dining room, thrown out the box of soggy printer paper and bought a new one. Typing seemed to be the thing to do when everything was piled high. The printer would be going and the phone would be ringing all day. The work crew was very polite even though my effort was very visible and audible while they were coming and going.

Then once the cleaning crew finished, the sofas shampooed and furnace, washer and dryer checked, we started on the upstairs. The fact that we wanted to renovate the upstairs and leave the downstairs alone before the flood was beside the point. The color picked for the upstairs was also sea green. I reasoned that the color was peaceful and picked up the color in the furniture and lamps. The color reflected the opposite of how I felt, which was disorganized, upset and helpless in the ruin.

The nice part was to be all organized again and to have the flood behind us rather than in front of us. A flood without a doubt is one of the most upsetting problems I have ever encountered.

Sandra Orr is a freelance writer and real estate broker, and is the author of "Huron: Grand Bend to South Hampton" and "The Perpetrators". A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Ms. Orr resides in Canada.

Congratulations to Andy Carrera of Simpsonville, South Carolina. Mr. Carrera penned the winning essay in which writers had to pick a character from Salem Pact or Touching the Dead by Carlotta G. Holton and explain why they loved/hated him or her. You can read Mr. Carrera’s essay by clicking here. Mr. Carrera has won an autographed copy of Ms. Holton’s newest book, Vampire Resurrection.

I really intensely disliked the character of Martha in Salem Pact. Her unattractiveness on the outside equally matches her inner feelings. She is sneaky, blind to the truth, man hungry and I felt she deserved Rev. Parris’ ultimate wrath. There was not one personality trait that could make the reader sympathize with Martha. For example, in the herbalist hut, Faith Peabody tries to instruct Martha in a positive way, but Martha takes it as ridicule and is nasty to her. She also spies on other people to gain the good graces of Parris. The very fact that Martha adores the misguided evil Paris proves that she is easily duped by the possibility of attracting a man. No man wants a woman who will kowtow to everything he wants. In this reader’s opinion, Parris and Martha deserve each other.

Andy Carerra, Simpsonville, South. Carolina

If WNW readers are anything like the WNW staff, then they are probably addicted to Lost, the ABC hit show about the goings-on of a mysterious island. What’s even better are the literary references that are sprinkled throughout each episode. NPR has compiled a list of some of the books mentioned on the hit TV show. If you’re a Lost fan and have read one of these books, send us an email and let us know your theory surrounding the literature. We’ll post your theories here next week.

Lost Reading List:
1. Watership Down- Richard Adams
2. Slaughterhouse-Five- Kurt Vonnegut
3. The Turn of the Screw- Henry James

Reed Exhibitions has announced a number of changes to future BookExpo America conventions. The BEA will be held in New York City through 2012; a decision that scraps plans to hold the convention in Washington, D.C. in 2010 and Las Vegas in 2011. Beginning in 2010, the convention will be held Tuesday through Thursday, with the exhibit running on Wednesday and Thursday only. Lance Fenterman, industry v-p and show manager for BEA said in a press release, “To put it simply, our goal in planning the show this year and beyond has been on quality, not quantity.”

At just over 1/3 in. and weighing in at 10.2 oz., the Kindle 2 made its debut on Amazon this week, and will be released to the public on February 24. The 3G wireless Kindle delievers books in under 60 seconds with no need for a PC, boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text, has a 25% longer battery life and has 20% faster page turns compared to the first edition Kindle. The Kindle 2 also has “Read-to-Me”—a program that reads every book, magazine, blog and newspaper out loud. The pricetag: $359.00