Issue 52

Governor Sarah Palin has signed a deal with HarperCollins to pen a memoir to be released in spring 2010. Ms. Palin has declined to disclose how much she will be paid for the book. Ms. Palin tells the Associated Press, “There’s been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered.”

BookExpo America has announced which authors will appear on the Author Stage at the BEA in New York City May 29-31. More than 700 authors are slated to attend BEA, and 35-40 will be participating on one of the two author stages. Among those set to appear on the author stage: Steven Tyler; Pat Conroy; John Irving; James Ellroy; Charles McGrath; Cornell West; Tavis Smiley; A.J. Jacobs; Captain Chelsey B. Sullenberger III; Colin Harrison. Visit www.bookexpoamerica.com for more details.

Stephanie Meyer, author of the hugely popular Twilight series, has been named Children’s Choice Book Award’s Author of the Year and Teen Choice Book of the Year for her fourth book in the series Breaking Dawn. A full list of winners can be found by visiting www.bookweekonline.com

Orania Papazolou has written over 20 mysteries under the penname and is a regular contributor to magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle, and Parents. She is best known for her series of books featuring Gregor Demarkian, a former FBI agent.

Q: Which writers have inspired you? Why?

A: Oh, ack. Lots of them, really. And they change as I get older. When I was very young, I liked Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie--I've always liked puzzle mysteries. I like the way they make your brain work, but with Christie I also liked the idea that you could get inside the motives of the suspects and make a book about that.

When I was a teen-ager, I like Hemingway, any Hemingway, also almost any book that took place far away from the small Connecticut town where I grew up.

When I started writing mysteries as an adult, up to now, my favorite author is definitely P.D. James, because she proved that a mystery could be a real novel, with all that implies.

Q: You have been the featured writer on St. Martin’s Press’ “Moments in Crime” blog. What is that like?

A: Well, I liked it enough so that I started a blog of my own. You can get to it at http://blog.janehaddam.com

And I'm going to be blogging at SMP again at the beginning of May. I like the ability to just talk about writing, and reading, and teaching writing and reading, and all of that. It's a very natural flow.

Q: Regarding character development you’ve been quoted as saying, “You've either got to find a way to make your continuing characters interesting without making them maudlin or overwrought, or you've got to put more emphasis on the suspects.” Can you elaborate for authors considering using a continuing character in a series? How does this apply to writing in genres other than mystery/crime?

A: Most series die because everybody, including the writer, gets sick of the detective. You sit there and go--oh, no, not another marital crisis/break up with the boyfriend/cancer scare; whatever.
There just isn't that much to say about any character, no matter how complex. You can't make it interesting for thirty books. You really can't.

That's why I like to have only a little about the detective and his circle in each book, with the major concentration being on the characters who make up the suspects. They change from book to book, so you're always looking at something new.

Q: You have taught composition in college and note that writers need to learn to listen to advice. You’ve said, “You don't know how many writers’ conferences I've taught at where at least half the audience fights all the conventions of the field.” Please elaborate.

A: Oh, well--it isn't even writing advice I was thinking of. You stand in front of the room at some of these conferences and say, "okay, NEVER send the entire book, send a letter and a synopsis" and there are people who just won't listen--no, they HAVE to send the whole book because otherwise the agent or editor won't know how marvelous it is. In reality, if you send the whole book, the agent or editor won't even read it. She'll just send it back untouched, because she'll assume that you're an amateur. After all, you're not following the rules.

Publishing is a business. Like any business, it has protocols. Everybody follows them, unless they get as big as a Stephen King or a J.K. Rowling, and can get away with anything.

You wouldn't wear a dirty t-shirt to a job interview at a law firm--why package your submissions in the equivalent of that dirty t-shirt for an editor?

Q: What has been the best writing advice you ever received and who was it from? In what way did it help?

A: It was from Warren Murphy, who wrote the Destroyer series, among other things. It was right after I'd had my first baby and was having trouble getting a book started. The book was contracted for, there was a deadline, and I was going nowhere. He said, "stop thinking and just write and write and write. Make yourself, no matter how bad it feels. You're a professional. When you go back and read it over, it really won't be half bad."

And it wasn't. That was the end of writer's block for me.

Q: Magazine articles allow you to move out of the mystery/crime genre for a time. Have you ever thought of writing a novel in a different genre and if so what would it be?

A: I don't think about writing novels so much, but I do sometimes think about writing nonfiction. I envy Asimov for being able to write book after book on all sorts of topics, Asimov on Shakespeare, Asimov on The Bible. I wish I could do something like that.

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

By Carlotta G. Holton
When a man gives violets it’s a symbol of love. Perhaps it’s the only overt symbol he can proffer when an affair is an illicit one during a period when double standards still dictate private intimacies. Such are the circumstances in this fictional romance between French painter, Edouard Manet and his model, Berthe Morisot, a founder of the Impressionist movement in Paris.

With Violets (HarperCollins Publishers, 2006) by Elizabeth Robards effectively depicts the changing 19th century, rife with change, not only in the streets of Prussian- invaded Paris, but also within the artistic community. Robard also successfully portrays Berthe’s own struggle to live independently and remain true to her self. With Violets is a love story, rich in the emotional longings of the 27-year-old Berthe. At her first meeting with Manet, at the Louvre, she recalls, “I felt my throat tighten.” There was instant chemistry. “It is his unpretentious freedom that draws me to him. His ability to ‘just be.’”

This is also a coming of age story that, in some ways, is emblematic of every woman’s inner struggle between love at all costs and societal conformity. She appropriately designates these two sides of her being as “Propriety” and “Olympia.” She lives amongst Frenchmen who take for granted adultery with a mistress, including members of the Manet household. Women are not afforded the same acceptance.

To her credit, Robards’ canvas depicts no ordinary woman of the time – Berthe is an accomplished painter – she also bucks the establishment in every way. She refuses, much to her mother’s chagrin, to find a suitable marriage partner. She studies painting and joins the movement to break away from the Academe’ D’Arts. She acknowledges her departure from societal convention and states, “While most parents insist daughters of marriageable age not approach a hobby such as painting as more than a fleeting fancy, mine indulge.”

Berthe takes a stand against the Academe and prevails. She bonds with colorful artists of the times, such as Degas, who shares her frustration with their depiction of the era. Berthe notes, “It [the Academe] has a firm grasp, dictating the direction of modern art. Many, myself included, believe they need to move forward away from the staid mode of history. We are more than halfway through the 19th century yet art does not reflect the times.”

This book could have benefited from a more detailed description of the aesthetic battle waged on the Academe. Without bogging the story down with historical detail, one or two specific incidents would have made this struggle more real. At times the reader’s patience with Berthe grows thin. As the “other woman,” she questions Manet’s marriage, stating, “I do not understand how a man with such an eye can find anything beautiful in this woman, and it irritates me.” Their on again off again romance confuses Berthe. She ponders, “Why is it that he does not want me when he can have me, yet tries so desperately to win me the moment I resolve I am finished with him?”

Perhaps in such a dubious relationship the ending should not come as a surprise, but it does. It is not a conventional solution, nor is it the one readers might hope for, yet it is one that leaves the door open to all possibilities.

By Amanda Linsmeier

Veil of Roses (Bantam Books, 2006) by Laura Fitzgerald is a compelling and beautiful novel. Tamila, a 27-year old Iranian woman travels to America as a gift from her loving parents. It is their hope, and Tami’s too, that she will find a husband before her tourist’s visa expires so that she is able to stay in America forever. Although Tami loves her parents desperately, she is willing to make the sacrifice of marrying a stranger in order to stay in “the land of the free”. While staying with her sister Maryam, Tami is given opportunities to explore this strange and foreign land. She is able to take off her veil and not fear persecution. She can look men in the eye and not be afraid. She doesn’t have to answer to anyone. Tami takes up photography and joins an ESL class to better her communication skills. At her class she meets many new friends, including Eva, an “incorrigible” German with a talent for making Tami blush. Combining Tami’s newfound passion for freedom and her strength in making decisions is her interest in Ike, a Starbucks employee who catches Tami’s eye one day before her class. Despite Maryam’s objections to an American man, Tami finds herself drawn to Ike in a new and frightening way. Hiding the secrets of her heart, Tami is forced by her sister and her own desire to become married, to enter into a series of awkward matchmaking events in the hopes of finding a husband and gaining a Green Card.

This novel is very interesting. To look at America through the eyes of someone who is repressed is truly touching. To Tami, stepping into Victoria’s secret is not only terrifying but also extremely liberating. Flirting with a man, “free samples”, mini-skirts, men and women conversing in public, and so on, are all new experiences for Tami. and It is fun to see what she goes through and sad to know what others take it for granted. The journey Tami takes in this novel is exciting, distressing, humorous, and scary. Fitzgerald’s wonderful story about family, sacrifice, love and freedom will touch many readers.

There has been an abundance of information and advice from authors from this end for those who are interested in writing either novels or short stories. Many of the articles have described what potential authors can do to improve their writing and thus, their chances of publishing. There’s a lot of work involved, a lot of sources from which to garner what is necessary to succeed. One of the sources suggested is to get involved with a writers club, a club with which assigns homework that is presented at its meetings. The finished products are interesting, helpful, and a lot of fun during discussions of the works.

Following are some of the assignments used to progress writers. Choose a number of them and complete the assignments, each between 500 and 750 words–no more. Then try to do an objective critique of your own work. That is difficult, so to get a better objective discussion about your work, do what has been suggested by several WritersNewsWeekly contributor, join a club. Here are some potential subjects:

1. Objective description of a place in which something has or is about to happen.
2. An experience of déjà vu or a prior life.
3. Analyze the opening two pages of a novel.
4. Write a scene where a couple meets for the first time since their divorce.
5. Write about a very old house that you’ve seen or visited.
6. Have a character explain why he/she stole an object.
7. Write about one of your most embarrassing experiences.
8. Write what you think made Scrooge so mean.
9. Write about your favorite author and why.
10. Create the following characters: a rich snob whose closest friend is a homeless person; a wealthy prostitute who doesn’t like sex; an old West sheriff who is a serious academic.
11. A Christmas story without mentioning Santa Claus.

Now, go over your work with a fine tooth comb, covering points that have been pointed out in Writers News Weekly. Undoubtedly, it will be a very difficult chore to analyze your work objectively, but try it anyhow. Finally, realize how advantageous it would be to have other writers critique your work and offer their comments to you during a writers club meeting.

If you would like some feedback on your work, e-mail a completed assignment to james@jamesfalk.net.

Questions/Comments? Contact Jim at james@jamesfalk.net, or visit www.jamesfalk.net.

James Falk, as a teen-ager, used to dream of being a big-time racketeer. Fortunately, his dream didn't come true. A 10th grade dropout, he finished highschool after four years in the Marines and went on to earn a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Communications.