Beth Kephart's Blog, page 221

Cover Stories: The story behind the YAMO cover

Melissa Walker is not just a fiendishly talented author, kindhearted fashion maven, and brand-new mom who knows how to strap her pretty baby on.  She's the creator of (among countless other things) a regular feature series called "Cover Stories."



Today she shares a story I told about how the cover of You Are My Only got made. 



Sometimes (no, often), I think these thoughts:  Where would we be without Melissa?

Let the voice take you where it will

If I have learned anything from the last many weeks of struggle with a novel, it is to trust (again) in the organic.  To step away from what I thought this book was, what it should be, so that the book might reveal itself to me.  Preconceptions have never served me well.  Discipline only takes one so far.  I could move forward with this novel only after I finally stopped.  Stopped sitting here.  Stopped poundings keys.  Stopped endlessly jamming scenes into scenes into scenes. 



You tell me, I finally said to this book.  And because I was listening, it did.



Take it apart.  Put it back together.  Let the story lead the way.

The Main Line Comes Out in Force for Elizabeth Mosier's Book Party

Elizabeth Mosier has been celebrating the launch of her novella "The Playgroup" this week, and this afternoon friends from all corners of her life gathered in appreciation of both her work and her spirit.



I came home with 114 photographs and share but a handful of them here.  There's Chris, Libby's cupcake-stacking husband. There's Libby's youngest, Cat, on the right, tempting the rest of us with treats.  There's Libby herself, reading to those who gathered, and, below her, her eldest, Alison, listening to words long-wrought and savored.  Finally, among the cast of mothers, teachers, friends, and writers stood Kelly Simmons, whose second novel, The Bird House, I loved, and Lynn Rosen, the creator of the fabulous Open Book series. 



 

Work in progress

May came in.  Sweet and green, hauling shadows.  Vin would leave right after dawn.  Kate would call, and they would speak of it, or they wouldn't.  Either way, in the afternoons, Becca walked.            Sometimes she took her camera out.            Sometimes she walked too far.            Sometimes she would see the tip of the tail of a wolf.  Or of a shadow.

Saturday Evening, 7:08 PM, the color of the sky

Today I did not wake up exhausted.



Today, when I wrote, I did not write with despair.



Today I danced the pulse parts of the Combat routine and punched my cross jabs hard.   



With my husband, I took a ride.



Alone, I ate a square of chocolate.



I took a walk and talked to a friend.  Not one friend. Two.



I had that feeling back:  alive.

Bill Cunningham New York: A film by Richard Press

All I want to do today is to encourage those of you who may have missed this most fantastic documentary on New York Times style photographer Bill Cunningham (now 82 years old) to stop and sit and watch it.  One of my favorite documentaries of all time.  Netflix has it; so does iTunes.  I promise this:  It will move you.

Thank you, Country Day School of the Sacred Heart

It is always a great privilege to spend time among students and teachers, and today I stood among these beautiful ladies in their cardinal red blazers to talk about Dangerous Neighbors, its prequel, and the making of books.  Following a presentation of Centennial images and illustrations, I met individually with each class to go deeper, to think harder.  There were questions about titles, covers, favorite characters, fires.  Questions about writer's block and process.  Conversations about twinship and sisterhood. 



This beautiful day was arranged for me by Kerri Schuster, the school's Head of English (who is pictured here, at the podium).  Thank you, Kerri, and thanks to all the girls for your thoughtfulness, honesty, and spontaneity.  It was a pleasure.  I'm going to wear my Country Day sweatshirt (gorgeous) in style.

Book Making, Fundraising, School Speaking, Thanks: A little about a lot

I'm going to spend this beautiful day in the company of the students and faculty of the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, which chose Dangerous Neighbors as its summer read. 



Before I head out, I wanted to share these few things:



First, readers of this blog know how moved I was by the Logan Schweiter Fundraiser, which took place at Club La Maison.  Today, at Generocity.org, in a story called "A Spectacular Act of Love," I report on the remarkable efforts of literally hundreds of people who together raised an extraordinary amount of money on behalf of a young local teen still recovering from a near drowning following a storm.



Second, yesterday morning I had a chance to read the Vanity Fair story "The Book on Publishing," which can also be found on Nook and Kindle reading apps at vfr.com/go/ebooks.  This extended essay by Keith Gessen takes an instructive look behind the scenes of one of the largest book auctions in recent history, which yielded Chad Harbach, a first-time author, a $665,000 advance from legendary editor Michael Pietsch for the novel (ten years in the making) called The Art of Fielding.  Anyone who ever wondered just how major parts of the industry work will have questions answered here.



Finally, a bouquet of gratitude to Medieval Bookworm, for her eloquent words about You Are My Only, and a thank you to Caribousmom for letting me know those words exist.  I am, as always, very grateful. 



To the Country Day School I now go.

Callan Wink, Dog Run Moon, and the question: Can an MFA make a difference?

This one, then, is quick:  I speak often of my dear friend Alyson Hagy, whose emails to me are rich, whose books are complex and fearless, whose teaching at the University of Wyoming is impeccable, whose friendship I cherish.



This week, one of Alyson's students, Callan Wink, has a story in The New Yorker called "Dog Run Moon." It's a keeper.  Also a keeper is the post-pub interview that Wink did with Cressida Leyshon. He is asked about his work within the MFA program at the University of Wyoming.  He says, among other things, this:

More than anything else though, coming to Wyoming has benefited me in that I've had the good fortune to work with some extremely talented and generous writers, both students and faculty. Brad Watson, Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Alyson Hagy (and too many others to list here) have gone out of their way to give my work careful, serious, readings and I'm extremely grateful for that.

I know of what Wink speaks, when it comes to Alyson (and I've read enough of Brad Watson's work to know how he soars).  I am glad that others, reading this interview, will know something of the power that emanates from this highly special Wyoming program.

When people you love become part of your books

Early readers of You Are My Only encounter, in the final pages, a young, astute, and beautiful young woman who will become integral to Sophie's healing.  Her name is Miss Mandy.  She epitomizes all that is good, all that is future.



The real Miss Mandy walked into my life a few years ago; she's here to stay. Today she sits to the right of these words.  She is, you will have to agree with me, gorgeous.



I've been waiting to share Miss Mandy's new blog with you.  Today is the day that I unveil it.  On a Southern Breeze reports on her adventures in Australia—the birds, the chemists, the calories, the blooming things.  It tells us all about this fine reader of both life and books.  It reminds us of what happens when a young couple leaves the familiar haven of Colorado to live on the opposite side of the world. 



Please visit Miss Mandy.  She has stories to tell.  She has heart.