Caroline Leavitt's Blog, page 117

Kathy L. Patrick talks about Beauty and the Book, The Pulpwood Queens, literacy and more

If you've been reading this blog, you know how much fun I had at Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend. No one does more for literacy, readers or writers than Kathy L. Patrick, so of course I had to corner her and interview her.  That's gorgeous Kathy  below, decked out for The Pretty in Pink Prom at the Pulpwood Queens Weekend! Thank you, Kathy, for doing this interview, and for everything I can think of.

How did the idea for Beauty and the Book, the first and only beauty shop and bookstore, come about? 

The idea happened in the worst way.  I was downsized in my job as a book publisher's rep. I lost my job.  I was devastated as I thought that was my dream job.  But what I learned was that sometimes when a door is slammed a window of opportunity does indeed open.  My sister suggested that I open a hair salon again.  I had put myself through college doing hair, the story is all in my book, "The Pulpwood queen's Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life".  I told her I would be bored just doing hair and she suggested I do the book thing.  Zing! Wham! Bang!  Lightbulbs were going on in my head.  I thought what a terrific idea, I could do hair and talk books and instead of loaning them, I could sell them.  So the beginning chapter is all about me getting a real lemon but instead of making lemonade, I made margaritas!!!

The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend weekend was unlike anything I've ever experienced--a heady brew of friendship, reading, and costumes!!! I know every year you come up with a theme. Can you talk a bit about how you do decide the theme?  

The theme comes mostly from my interests and the books that we read.  This past year I had read 'Water for Elephants", "The Night Circus", and one of my favorite past reads was Carolyn Turgeon's "Rain Village" and they all had a circus connection.  I always wanted to run away with the circus so this is was a dream of a theme for me.  My life has always been a three ring circus with running a home, a business, and the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world, The Pulpwood Queens so "The Greatest Book Show on Earth" was created for this past Girlfriend Weekend's theme.
I was deeply moved by some of the wonderful things that the Pulpwood Queens do to promote literacy. How did this come about?  

One book, one Pulpwood Queen chapter at a time.  I ask all the Pulpwood Queens to take on a literacy endeavor. I have book clubs embracing that endeavor and leading us all in their literacy efforts. My charity of choice is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, www.imaginationlibrary.com. I ask the authors to donate a personal item signed for Silent Auction and these funds keep our literacy programs going.  Then this year I decided to award my book club chapters that were doing incredible, mind-blowing literacy endeavors, this the Diamond in the Tiara Award.  By showcasing these chapters it truly is inspiring for all of us to perhaps go one step or more further in promoting literacy.
I hear you yourself are writing a novel!  Tell us about it!  

I have been working on and off on this for years but it's to be called "EUREKA" which means I found it.  All I have to say as a born and raised Kansan, I felt we need a story from Kansas that was beyond "The Wizard of Oz".  It's my love letter to the place that I truly call home.
What's obsessing you now?  

The fact that I am dying to buy an airstream trailer so I can fix it up like a gypsy caravan and hit the road to travel and have literary adventures.  I have always loved to camp and big on decorating to make a place my own.  My Beauty and the Book, I have been told, looks like Moulin Rouge meets a gypsy caravan wagon but I have now reached the point where I really want to see the world.  Vintage is always more intriguing to me than new as the item or in this case trailer has a story.  And my favorite quote by Muriel Rukheyser has always been, "The world is made up of stories, not atoms."
What questions didn't I ask that I should have?  

I just think that if I have one more thing to share is to tell everybody to go after your life's passions.  I was forced into it losing my job but this has ended up one of the best things that happened in my life. For me, my life finally came into full bloom when I decided to go after my true passions, beauty and the book. I never dreamed that when I lost my job that my life would turn out to be so beautiful, so purposeful, and so rewarding.

Kathy L. PatrickAuthor of "The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life", Grand Central PublishingFounder of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book ClubsBeauty and the Book608 North Polk StreetJefferson, Texas 75657903-665-7520kathy@beautyandthebook.comwww.beautyandthebook.comwww.pulpwoodqueen.comwww.twitter.com/Pulpwoodqueenwww.facebook.com/Pulpwoodqueen

Sere Prince Halverson talks about The Underside of Joy

About marriage, family, and a custody battle, The Underside of Joy is just a knockout of a book. I couldn't wait to invite Sere Prince Halverson to my blog, and I'm absolutely honored she's here. Thank you so much, Sere! 
Your luminous novel is set against the redwoods and the vineyards, which I loved. is this something you already knew, or did you research, and if so, what was the research like for you?
I am fortunate to live in Northern California, surrounded by redwoods and vineyards. I spent a lot of my childhood here, but then left to go to college and ended up living for seventeen years in San Diego, which is lovely, but never felt like home. Whenever we'd drive through Sonoma County, I'd tell my kids, "Look at the trees! Look at the trees!" Even now that we've lived here quite a few years, when I step outside, I still want to twirl around like Maria in the opening scene of The Sound of Music. This is a place that continues to awe but also feels deeply familiar. In part, the novel is my love song to this beautiful area.
I loved the complexity of the relationships, especially between the two mothers. You ask the question in the book, what makes someone a mother, and a good one? Can you talk about the answer?
I don't think there's one answer to that question. It takes a lot to be a good mom and motherhood does not come naturally to every woman. Even good mothers fail their children at times. But a mother who leaves her children? Society tends to automatically label her as a "bad mother." There are times when the decision to leave, given a mother's circumstances or limitations, can be a painful sacrifice that's the best choice for the children, although there will still be scars. This decision was something that as a mom, I couldn't fathom. I knew I needed to write about it.
And because I'm a mom and a stepmom (as so many of us are) and have a mom and a stepmom (as so many of us do), I wanted to explore the relationship between two women who love the same children, to turn the fairytale version of the evil stepmother on its head.
I'm always fascinated by process so can you please talk a bit about how you wrote the book? Are you an outliner or a writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pen type of person?
Oh, I do both! It begins with a character. I start writing without a map, sort of like jumping in the car for a road trip, not knowing where I'm headed. But by the first rest stop, I start making notes, asking questions, coming up with a loose plan. I tend to write the first draft fairly quickly then spend a lot of time on revision. I pin it all up on a bulletin board to try to get the shape of the thing. I also lay it all out on the floor and walk through chapters, moving things around. Old-fashioned, I know.
But I revise constantly on the computer, too. I love revising. You know how the wonderful Annie Lamott insists on the shitty first draft? My second draft, third draft, even fourth draft—all shitty. But eventually I get into the land of not-so-shitty, then into not-too-shabby, and that's when I glimpse the twinkly lights of it-may-actually-be-working, and I keep going. I should also add that I took a month-long writing retreat at a cabin in the redwoods by the Russian River. This was a writer's absolute heaven—total immersion—and made a huge difference in The Underside of Joy.
What's obsessing you now?
I'm going to reveal myself as the newbie debut novelist that I am and admit that I'm completely obsessing about the publication of my first novel. It took me forever to get here--with a lot of close calls and major disappointments along the way. I stare at the gorgeous finished books my publisher sent me and think, Hey, it's really happening. And they even spelled my name right!
I want my story to inspire others. For twenty years, I worked as a freelance copywriter and creative director, helped raise our four kids and wrote fiction. This is actually my third novel, although it's the first to be published. And it's being published in 15 countries! Keep going. You just never know what's ahead.
What question didn't I ask that I should have?
How about this one: How do you feel about being interviewed for this blog?Extremely grateful. And touched once again by your big-hearted generosity to other writers. Thank you, Caroline!
The Underside of Joy will be published January 12th by Dutton. Read more at Seré's website: www.sereprincehalverson.com and on her blog at www.whomovedmybuddha.blogspot.com

What makes authors dress up like clowns? Kathy L. Patrick's Pulpwood Queens Author Extravaganza

You know me, the one who always dresses in black, preferably jeans and sneakers, with only a splash of red cowboy boot for color? Well, next week, I am happily hightailing it down to Texas for Kathy L. Patrick's famous Pulpwood Queens 12th Anniversary Girlfriend Weekend Extravaganza!

Kathy's the genius behind the mega-membered Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Bookclubs and she's the owner of the only hair salon/bookstore in the world.

The theme this year is Circus. This Greatest Show on Earth is having an 80" Pretty in Pink Prom Party (I bought a pink wig, black tiara and black lace gloves. Hey, you thought, I'd do without the black, didn't you?) , A Great Big Ball of Hair Ball, a Come as your Favorite Circus Character (I'm going as a fortune teller), a Silent Auction (I donated a 1950s red plastic purse that I drew all over) and an event where all the authors clown it up by dressing like clowns and serving the attendees with a smile. Plus, there are tons of author events, including mine on Saturday the 14th at 2:30  (Books to Share Like Popcorn with Your Bookclub)!

Kathy, (she's the gorgeous redhead in the photo)  is one of the warmest, funniest, most enlightened book lovers around, and I cannot wait to go. I've already got my red cowboy boots packed. Come and have fun! The author roster is amazing, the events are a hoot, and I'm going to be posting live from the book circus. The photo of the women in green regalia is from a previous event and I bet this one is going to be even more outrageous!

12th ANNIVERSARY GIRLFRIEND WEEKEND
AUTHOR EXTRAVAGANZA
The Greatest BOOK Show on EARTH!
January 12 – 15, 2012
Jefferson Tourism and Transportation Convention Center
305 E. Austin
Jefferson, Texas 75657

Gayle Brandeis talks about The Book of Live Wires, writing, bellydancing and more

Poet. Novelist. Activist. Wife. Mother. Friend. Bellydancer. How many people can claim all those things? Gayle Brandeis can and does. I first met Gayle Brandeis at BEA at a Readerville reading. We had emailed back and forth before and I just instantly felt a connection. Gayle's the kind of person you could call at three in the morning if you had to and she'd sit and listen and console you. She's had an amazing life, which she's navigated with grace and heart. She's also a brilliant writer, which brings us to The Book of Live Wires, available for e-readers, the sequel to her beloved Bellwether Prize- winning novel The Book of Dead Birds. I'm honored to have her here. Thank you so much, Gayle! (And be sure to visit Gayle's wonderful blogs, Mama, Redux, and Fruitful. And read her other wonderful books, Self Storage, The Delta Girls, and My Life with the Lincolns.)

What sparked the writing of The Book of Live Wires? And how is it connected to your prize-winning novel, The Book of Dead Birds? What was it like to revisit the characters? Did anything surprise you?

I wrote The Book of Live Wires back in 2002, during National Novel Writing Month. I had just had the most exciting year of my life as a writer; I honestly doubt I'll ever top it, thrill-wise. My first book, Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write had just been published that spring, and while I was on my book tour, I got a call from Barbara Kingsolver saying that my novel-in-manuscript, The Book of Dead Birds, had won the Bellwether Prize, judged by herself, Toni Morrison and Maxine Hong Kingston, three writers I revere. Of course this was all so mind blowing and affirming, but it ended up having a strange effect on me as a writer: I got writer's block for the first time in my life. I started to worry that every word that came out of me needed to be worthy of Toni Morrison's praise, and this made me freeze. I felt like a total fraud because I was still touring around with Fruitflesh, talking to people about the writing process, and I wasn't writing at all, myself; I was avoiding it, in fact, and had actually become quite afraid of it. When I heard about NaNoWriMo, I realized it might be just what I needed to get out of my own way--and it was.


I had always had the sense that my characters were out living their lives after the first book ended, but I wasn't able to access them until I started to write The Book of Live Wires. It was wonderful catching up with them--like a month long family reunion. The thing that surprised me most, I think, is that Darryl wanted to be the narrator. He was the love interest in Dead Birds (which had been narrated by Ava Sing Lo), and a few readers had told me that he seemed a bit too good to be true, and they couldn't quite get a real sense of him. I suppose this book was Darryl's way of making himself known, and making himself much more complex. He made some decisions that definitely shocked me. 

There is a great deal about the secrets we hide from others, and the truths we refuse to believe. Can you talk a bit about that?

Oh golly--it's hard to know where to begin. It can be hard to be truthful, to face truth, as a person and my characters certainly wrestle with this. Darryl and Ava are both good human beings, but they are also in a bit over their heads--they are dealing with their baby's illness while they are still getting to know one another, plus they are each working out some of their own internal issues, and this (along with sleep-deprivation, I imagine) leads to some questionable, not very honest, actions.

I suppose I still struggle with this a bit, myself--growing up, my loving and wonderful family had a tendency to always say that everything was okay even when it wasn't, and this made it difficult for me to face and voice my own darkness. It led to a lot of secret keeping, a lot of denial. I have gotten much better at acknowledging when things are troubling me, but it is still a challenge. I am slowly learning to be more and more brave in my life (writing helps--somehow it is easier for me to be brave in my writing.)

What was the whole writing process like? Were there any surprises? (Ah, surprise again..)

I wrote the book so long ago, it's a bit hard to remembert he actual process of it (other than the fact that NaNoWriMo got me writing every day.) There were definitely surprises as I revised the book last year, however I should mention that I never thought I would share this book--I thought I had written it just for myself, to slip back into my writing process, but I've mentioned its existence over the years at various book events, and readers have always expressed curiosity. I finally decided to take a look at the manuscript last year (I hadn't even glanced at it all this time) and was surprised to see how much life was inside it--there were even some passages that may be among the strongest I've ever written. What was especially surprising to me, though, was how much in the novel resonated with my current life. Darryl was in a new second marriage with a new baby--so was I (and both of us got married during the pregnancy.) Darryl was dealing with tremendous grief--so was I (although of a different kind; he lost his first wife to cancer. I had recently lost my mom to suicide and then my mother in law to a sudden heart attack four months later.) Darryl is Jewish, yet baptized his baby for non-religious family reasons; so did I (you can read about that here: http://mamaredux.blogspot.com/2010/09...). It was really kind of eerie how many coincidences popped up. When I wrote the book, I never could have anticipated that these storylines would be part of my own life in a few years.

Revision was a fun process--I had enough distance from the manuscript that I had no compunction about striking out whole scenes, etc. (although I found myself making less changes than I thought I would need to. The manuscript felt surprisingly whole for being written in one white hot month.)

You are also a prize-winning poet and a belly dancer! Can you tell us how those two things infuse your work and change it—and you?

Poetry and dance have been a central part of my life since I was a little girl; I wrote my first poem at four, and have been dancing as long as I can remember. My BA is in "Poetry and Movement: Arts of Expression, Meditation and Healing", a concentration I created through the Johnston Center for Individualized Learning (now named the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies) at the University of Redlands. I remember telling myself in college that I wanted to figure out how to write with the muscularity of dance and dance with the articulation of language. This is still a desire of mine. I have to say I am more of a passionate dancer than a precise one--technique has never been my strong point. It makes me happy that I wrote about a couple of my dance influences--Isadora Duncan and Josephine Baker--in The Book of Live Wires (they both go unnamed but are hopefully recognizable); their example gave me permission to be wild and free in my dancing as a young woman, and it feels good to honor them this way. Poetry definitely continues to feed my writing, too, makes me acutely aware of word choice, how words sound and feel when they rub up against one another; I think it helps keep my prose fairly economical, as well.

I am super grateful for belly dancing--when I separated from my first husband, a friend invited me to be part of her troupe; I hadn't belly danced for 15 years at that point, and it was a way back into my body, back into joy. Writers have a tendency to live in our heads, I think, and belly dancing helps keep me grounded inside my skin.

The world of publishing is changing dramatically, which brings us to our next question. Why go to Smashwords to publish your novel? How is and was the process different than with your traditional publisher?

I did this as an experiment. I had been feeling freaked out by all the changes in the publishing world, and had been really resistant to the idea of ebooks. I eventually realized that it is quite amazing to be part of a shifting culture, and I decided to embrace those shifts rather than fear them or run away and stick my head in the sand. I felt comfortable doing the experiment with this particular book because I felt I had nothing to lose--the novel's just been sitting in my computer for all these years...might as well give it some air.

I do hope to continue to publish traditionally--I still am in love with physical books, plus I love the storied tradition of the publishing world, and it's great to have a whole team of people working to get your book into readers' hands--but there is something satisfying about making all the choices yourself, from cover image to platform. I chose Smashwords because it makes the book available to the widest variety of e-readers--you can download it in just about any form (and once you're approved for their Premium Catalog, they list the book at B&N, the Apple Store, Sony, Diesel, etc. They don't have an Amazon connection, though, so I uploaded it through Kindle Direct Publishing, as well). Once I deciphered the Smashwords style guide, it was really quite easy to format the text. I also uploaded the novel to Google Books because I learned that several independent bookstores are selling Google e-Books to their customers now, and I want to do whatever I can to support beloved indies (my one major hesitancy about this experiment was worrying about how ebooks will affect brick and mortar stores, and I don't want to contribute to their decline.) It's exciting to me that there are so many tools now to help writers take publishing into our own hands if we choose to go that route.

What's obsessing you now?

Right now, my two year old's temperature, I'm afraid--it spiked to 105 a couple of days last week, and has been fluctuating since then. The doctor thinks it's just a virus, and he is really doing fine now (his temp is down to 99.5) but I can't help but obsessively take his temperature. This sweet little guy reminds me to be joyful about my obsessions (other than this thermometer-related one)--I love seeing how he takes such pleasure in trains and clocks and rocket ships and pretending to be a cat. He gives himself over to them so fully and openly--a great reminder to throw myself into my own enthusiasms with abandon.

One of the things that obsesses me right now is the collective voice--I have been so inspired by the power of people rising up throughout the world, and am eager to see where the Occupy movement will go next. This has also translated into a fascination with non-linear, multiply voiced narratives.

I recently saw the stunning documentary Bombay Beach--I thought it would be good research for the piece I'm working on about the Salton Sea for the Los Angeles Review of Books, but it ended up being much more than that for me. It's an intensely lyrical, beautiful, painful film chronicling the lives of three people in the Salton Sea area (one of the poorest regions in the country--it's where The Book of Dead Birds is set, and The Book of Live Wires spends a bit of time there, as well). It does something no documentary I've seen ever do before--the filmmaker was able to get her subjects to do these dreamlike, surreal, moving choreographed dance numbers, and I found the mix of honesty and artifice incredibly energizing. It made me wonder how I can do something similar in my writing, find that balance between improvisation and directed vision, truth and art.

What question didn't I ask that I should have?

I suppose you could have asked about my kids.  In addition to my cutie-pie toddler, I have two full-fledged adult kids now, which blows me away--my firstborn son is 21 and will graduate from college in June, and my daughter just turned 18 and is poised to start college soon, herself. They are super cool people; I feel lucky to know them, and even luckier to be their mom

Pictures of You makes USA Today BestSeller List for ebooks!

To my astonishment, a year after publication, my novel, Pictures of You, is suddenly on the USA Today Bestseller list for ebooks! To say I am amazed, grateful, stunned, is to put it mildly. And yup, I am posting it everywhere because I am so filled with joy.

There are always a lot of conversations going on on twitter or Facebook about how, or even if, a writer should self-promote. Many have others do it for them. Some don't do it at all. Some posters say that if you self-promote, you are sending out a message, "I achieved this AND YOU DIDN'T (with maybe a ha-ha thrown in for good measure.) Others actually gripe. "So what, you have this today, but don't get so smug because maybe you won't tomorrow." Others talk about how it's not deserved, or there are better books out there, or if you post too often, readers and writers both will hate you and hope you move to Siberia.

I find all of this sad and shocking.

Hey. We're all swimming in this big huge sea of writers, and what helps one, helps the many. I've posted a lot about how hard my struggle has been to get here, how many years I suffered, and how some months, I had trouble paying the bills. I've written a lot about  how ecstatic I am that now I am finally, finally, having some success.

When I post about something wonderful happening to me, I have a few different messages than the snarky ones in the first paragraph. And here they are.

1. If I can do it, so can you. I had no virtually no career, and no sales. No one was taking my calls or emails. And this is after NINE books. I'm the patron saint of second chances and proof that it's never too late. You want someone to cheer you on? Consider me. Be brave, be bold and never give up.

2. I've been helped so much by other incredibly generous writers, (and hurt by some, but those we won't talk about), and I've made it my business to do the same, to help every writer I could, in any way that I can, be it blurbs, blog space, advice, reading, support, and yes, thrilled congratulations when they post about something wonderful happening to them. If I have success, hey, it just means I can help other writers even more.

3. Always be grateful. Always be in a state of wonder. And share everything with other writers.


So yes, I'm giddy with celebration, but I'm celebrating with everyone who ever wrote a line, or picked up a camera or a paintbrush. Joy can be contagious and so can success.

Craig Lancaster talks about unraveling, writing, and Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure

I've known Craig Lancaster for about a year now. Introduced by way of Jonathan Evison, I've come to really appreciate Craig's take on writing (as well as his writing, itself!) I'm so happy to have him here on my blog, again. He's really brave, and that makes for a great writer. Thanks, Craig!

THE UNRAVELINGBy Craig Lancaster
In late October 2010, I was in Missoula for the Montana Festival of the Book, and it should have been one of the great moments of my life. My debut novel, 600 Hours of Edward , had just won the High Plains Book Award for best first book—this on the heels of being named a Montana Honor Book earlier in the year. All in all, it was a remarkable showing for a little book that I'd written in twenty-four feverish days two years earlier, one put out by a little publishing house in Montana. I was in the company of writers I deeply admire, I had a chance to read from my novel, and I was looking ahead to the January 2011 release of my follow-up, The Summer Son .But I also knew what was going on back home in Billings.My wife and her mother and father were packing up her things and moving them to a small house about a mile away, a house she had rented in the throes of her despair at no longer being able to tolerate my moods, my silence, my disregard for her and our marriage. When I came home, it was to an empty condominium, with only a couch for me to sleep upon. I'd grown used to it; it had been months since we had shared a bed.At a joint session the following week, I told Joe, our counselor, that coming home to an empty house drove home for me just how much damage I'd done. He looked at me, incredulous. "So you were just oblivious for all these months?" He knew I was full of shit. I knew I needed help.I scheduled a talk with the pastor who'd married us. We didn't say a word about God. Jim, a clinical psychologist in a previous professional incarnation, asked me questions—deep questions about where my moods go, when they show up, my seeming inability to derail them. I described the experience as something akin to throwing rocks at a freight train. He seemed uncannily clued in to the nuances of my mental state, and finally he said, "I've known you a long time, and I've seen it. I think you're bipolar II, and I think you need to get a diagnosis so you're sure." I'd never heard of it. When I got home, I started reading up, and the illness described—hypomania marked by an almost rhythmic series of depressions—sounded like a perfect fit with what had dogged me for most of my life. I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist.At this point, I'm going to cut through a lot of the medical mumbo-jumbo, except to say this: Jim's suspicions were largely correct. My relief at having a diagnosis was offset by the knowledge that, while my moods obviously could be destructive, the alternating periods of hypomania were large factors in my ability to create the work that is so central to my life. I absolutely wanted and needed a way to "lift the floor and lower the ceiling," so to speak. But, like a true crazy person, I gave my illness a lot of the credit for my ability to do the things I do well. I didn't want to lose that. And by clinging to something that was corroding me from the inside, it was a few more months before I got serious about getting better.Something wondrous happened when I finally did. I began writing short stories, tales that hewed closely to the things I was thinking about: personal relationships, the loss of control, separation, the struggle to find our way back to the people we love. By day, I was trying to make amends: to my wife, to her family who had taken me in and loved me, to mutual friends who had seen the destruction I had wrought. By night, in the darkness of a house where I now live alone, I tried to find peace with my torment by writing stories. I want to be clear about this: I was (and am) mentally ill, but in no way do I blame that for what I did. I made the choices, I hurt my wife and others, and to whatever degree my bipolarity was a contributing factor, I own that, too. I waited until I was forty years old to do anything about it. That's on me and no one else.Now, as I write this, those stories are out in book called Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure , a perplexing title on the surface but one that makes perfect sense when the book is read. All of my work is personal on some level, but nothing I've written is quite so in my deepest brain as this book. For the first time in three years, I'm not actively working on a new book, and I'm OK with that. In the past year, my wife and I have tried to find our way back to each other in fits and starts. We've discovered that there's still a lot of love between us and that what made us best friends in the first place carries on despite everything. The anguish of what happened a year ago isn't far from the surface, though, and we try to deal with those things quickly when they flare up. We have committed to working as hard as we can to rebuild our life together, and we're both optimistic and terribly scared. I'm the one who allowed the fear to come in. I'm the one who'll have to do the heavy lifting of making it go away.It's the most important work I'll ever do. No book could possibly compare.

Coming up in 2012

Coming up here in 2012, writers I love and want you to love, too: Anne Lamott, Jodi Picoult, Jonathan Evison, Liz Flock, Jessica Brilliant Keener, and more, more, more. I'm hoping to have more film people on here, too!

Thanks so much for reading.

Pictures of You on San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of 2011

I am speechless. My novel Pictures of You is on Kirkus Best Books of 2011 List, Bookmarks Magazine Best Books of 2011 List and now on San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of 2011. 

This is so amazing because this particular book was rejected by my previous publisher as being "not special enough." The publisher also said they didn't really get what I was trying to say or do. I truly thought my career was over. It was my 9th novel. Although I had some great reviews from stellar places for previous novels, I had no sales. No one really knew who I was (or cared.) And then Algonquin Books came to my rescue and told me they were going to turn my life around.

And they did.

I've had five publishers before them. Three went out of business right before my novel came out. Two ignored me and wouldn't take my calls. Algonquin got POY into 4 printings months before publication. They gave me a huge tour. They got me on the NYT bestseller list and as a Costco Pennie's Pick. And they call me!  They email me!  They are still pushing Pictures of You a year later and they are publishing my next novel Is It Tomorrow! They are truly an Edenic paradise for writers.

So, consider me your poster girl for second chances. Never give up. You never know what is around the bend.

Sometimes, it's magic.

Filmmaker Sheldon Candis talks about Luv, moviemaking and never giving up

                                 I'm a movieholic as well as a bookaholic and because I also write scripts, I keep a close eye on new film talent. Sheldon Candis is getting a lot of buzz for his new film LUV, about a young boy's coming of age in the mean streets of Baltimore, so I tracked him down and he very graciously allowed me to pepper him with questions. Thank you, Sheldon!
Can you tell us how and why you got into film?
For me, movies molded me as a child. My dad would faithfully take my mom and me to the movie on Sundays.  Also, when my mom wasn't around, he would show me rated R movies when I was 9. PURPLE RAIN and THE FLY altered me early.) That world on that screen was one that I wanted to be a part of, no matter how dark or heartbreaking the story! Also, my grandfather James Moore, aka "Mr. Fish" had a serious VHS collection in the 80s. I was always in front of Sears wooded floor model TV, watching movies over and over again. My uncle Charles McCaskill and I have seen THE TOY a few hundred times! (those OCD viewings came at our great Uncle Arthur and Great Aunt Doris' house.
LUV is set in your hometown of Baltimore. What was it like filming there? Was this a place you wanted to escape when you were a kid or did you always know you'd come back and stick around.
Filming in Baltimore was great! Very surreal. I was shooting the movie in places where I grew up. We shot a scene in the pimlico horse track parking lot, right in the neighborhood where I grew up. My Uncle Tyrone Moore came to visit set that day, For part of my childhood, I slept in the basement under his room. We also shot down at the inner harbor and inside Lexington Market. M y grandfather would take me to the market, a very communal space where many of my cousins and uncles eat oysters there religiously
Did you want to escape Baltimore growing up?
Yes, I did. There were some tough times growing up off Cordelia Ave. and Ducatel St. My parents fought a lot. My uncle would come pick me up nights and take me driving through the city with him. It was an escape. I also grew up quickly because of the very adult things I was experiencing young.  My mom and I moving to North Carolina with my grandparents was the best thing that happen to our lives. We got to see the world outside of Baltimore and I was exposed to a lot of things that I wouldn't have seen in the city. As I've gotten older, I've grown fonder of Baltimore and it has a special place in my heart. I love Baltimore because the rest of the world views it as this ultra violent place. Isn't violent everywhere? I love that Baltimore's nickname is Charm City. If you take the time to explore it and get to know it, Baltimore will win you over.
I'm always interested in structure. What made you decide to tell the story of Woody Watson, an 11-year-old boy during one day, rather than spread it out over time? What were some of the challenges of doing it that way?
I personally love movies that take place in one day, if done properly, it ups the stakes and makes the experience more visceral for the audience. DOG DAY AFTERNOON & TRAINING DAY are two of my favorites. My writing partner Justin Wilson and are branded ourselves as the guys who write DRILLERS. a hybrid genre of a coming of age drama with thriller undertones. We felt that it was very compelling for an audience to witness a boy's rite of passage, coming of age all in one day through the crumbling relationship with his fallen hero of a father figure. We thought, hmmm…we've never seen a story where a kid is exposed to violence for the first time. How does he react to that? Does it feel more authentic and present if it's all happening in real time in movie real time, where you don't give the audience time to catch their breath, where the child feels like he's present within danger.
I believe I read that it was 8 years and over 45 drafts to get LUV onto the screen. How were you able to keep from being defeated?
 It was very challenging shooting a movie in a short shooting schedule with a child actor as the lead. People told me for years, there's no way you can shoot this movie independently with a minor.  This kid is in every scene, you won't be allowed the proper time needed because of child labor laws. Michael Rainey Jr. is a little alien, he's not from this world. He acts as if he's been doing it for years. The truth and vulnerability he emotes gives me chills, it's unfair a 10 year old kid has that many layers and depth
I always say I hear a thousand 'No's' for that one 'Yes'. My producers Jason Berman, Gordon Bijelonic, Datari Turner, Joel Newton, and Michael Jenson sacrificed a lot to get this movie made and believed in me as a first time filmmaker. Jason had been with LUV forever, we had become like a feuding married couple. Ultimately, there's a level of respect and trust with Jason and me. I always believed he would get it done. Without Gordon and Datari, the movie does not happen. They came onboard and made a lot of major things happen during some crucial moments... I've known Gordon for many years. He's a fearless producer who fights for his filmmakers! You gotta keep fighting everyday to get your movie made. Everyday do something to be working towards it being real: a phone call, writing, talking to someone. Don't ever stop working on it


What's obsessing you now?
Shame, Watch the Throne, Phoenix, Tumblr, Raven's Football.
What question should I have asked that I didn't?

What keeps me going? My faith in God, the foundation given to me by my mother, Minister Leslie Morrison, and my dad, Minister of Music Fredrick Morrison. They have always kept me up. God knows there have been some dark days in LA. Without them, I couldn't do this interview right now. Without them, my filmmaking dream is not realized.                        

My beloved local yarn shop owners wrote a book!

Every community/city needs a fabulous yarn shop--for me, a knitoholic, it's a necessity of life. I'm completely thrilled with Patricia's Yarns, which just happens to be two blocks away from my house. Patricia not only knows everything there is to know about yarn and patterns (and she's calmly and patiently helped me out of near disasters more times than I care to admit), she's got this warm, cozy shop that's filled with unbelievably gorgeous yarns. (Sometimes I just pop in to look and touch.) And she's smart, funny and wonderful--and so is her husband Adam, who hangs out, and their gorgeous little girl Grace, and their dog! When I found out that Patricia and Adam wrote a book, The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater, I had to promote it! (And hint hint, it would make ANY knitter on your holiday list really, really happy. Trust me on this.)
Thank you Patricia and Adam for answering my questions!

So, tell us how the idea for writing a book came about. Had you ever written before? Was it fun or were there times when you felt like screaming? What was it like writing together?
In 2004, Adam was in the shop and he heard someone talk about the urban legend known as the curse of the boyfriend sweater / the curse of the love sweater (it has been given so many names).  He said that day that the topic would be a great idea for a book. I agreed, there were so many websites and articles about the curse, but no one had written a book about it. Initially, we were just going to do a book of patterns (Adam and I agreed, there weren't enough good men's sweater patterns and thought it would be cute to make a book about "breaking the curse"). We wrote out an outline and then started adding anecdotes to go with each pattern idea. After a while, the outline became a story line – we thought, let's make it into a novel with knitting patterns.  For years, the story line was nothing more than a few Microsoft Word documents - a project for a later date. Then in 2008, we started to get serious about having a family and put together a list of things we wanted to do before a baby arrived... go to New Zealand, save some money, write the book, etc.
We aren't writers. The last time either of us had written fiction was in high school. But, we thought the story idea was great.  So, at first, we looked for ghost writers, but found out quickly that we couldn't afford one. Then a friend who worked in publishing said, "just write it yourselves, you can do it. Just write the first draft".  At the time, my father-in-law was sick with cancer. We were spending a lot of time in the hospital. So writing was a good outlet for both of us. We could work on the book in the waiting rooms, one chapter at a time - and then have something to talk about later (besides cancer). Writing became therapeutic.  Before we knew it, we had written more than 15 short chapters. Adam would write a few paragraphs and I would read it, adding here and there to each section.  It was fun to work on together.  There were times when I would ask him to read what I had changed and he wouldn't have time – or vice versa- and we would just leave a working copy – covered in sticky notes – on the counter until the other person had time to look at it.  We did really well giving ourselves deadlines - until our daughter Grace was born.  Then things slowed to a halt.  When we finally completed the chapters, we then had a friend, Tommy Crawford, do some of the first drafts editing and he helped flesh-out some scenes.  This summer, though, a typically slow time at the shop, we were able to make final edits and upload the project to Createspace.
Tell us why there's a curse attached to a boyfriend sweater?
If you Google this you will have thousands of search results, each with a slight variation on the same theme:  if you knit your boyfriend a sweater, he will break up with you.  There are many explanations for this phenomenon, but the best in my opinion, are (1) he doesn't understand how much work is put into making the sweater – which causes problems, (2) he realizes the commitment you've made to make the sweater, and him, and it scares him off.  It's like a hand-knit engagement ring.  Or, (3) you knit him the equivalent of the Christmas jumper – one very ugly sweater.  Either way, it makes for a good knitting topic – and has been discussed often at the shop.
I love the story of how you, Patricia, left corporate life to forge this wonderful knitting store (I also left a horrendous corporate job years ago to write full time at home.) Tell us what that was like. Were you nervous about it or had you just reached a breaking point?
I used to really like my job in finance.  I was fresh out of college and was surrounded with people my age – many of whom I really liked.  Then, over a few years, many of my work friends were moved to different departments.  And their jobs became mine.  I was one person doing the job of three (or four).  I was stressed, getting sick often, getting migraines, it wasn't healthy.  And, the hardest part was that Adam, a teacher, really liked his job.  I eventually called him from work one day crying.  He said, "quit".  Just like that.  And so, the next day, I did. We had been talking about starting a knitting shop in Hoboken – so I seized the opportunity.  We were living very simply at the time, so Adam supported us while I got the business up and running.  I quit in April, 2004 and opened Patricia's Yarns in August of 2004.  I love my shop and I haven't had a migraine since!
Are you writing another book?
No.  Writing our book was a marathon.  Some people finish marathons and want to run another.  We are just happy we finished the race.
What question didn't I ask that I should have?
For all of your readers that are thinking about self-publishing, we were very pleased with the simplicity and quality of Createspace.  
Our book is available at www.curseoftheboyfriendsweater.com  Thank you so very much for featuring us.  We know your readers are all very knowledgeable writers and hope they enjoy our book for what it is – a lighthearted story with a few simple, but favorite knitting patterns.