Sybil Baker's Blog, page 19

Cathy Holton's Summer in the South

Cathy Holton does it again with her latest novel of a "northerner" trying to understand a death mystery, her relationships with two men, and the South in general. Summer in the South incorporates some historical fiction and a murder mystery with a woman in her late twenties trying to come to terms with her own mysterious childhood. Fans of Holton will appreciate the Southern culture portrayed in this novel as well as Holton's trademark humor (although it is more subtle than in her earlier work). Highly recommended.
You can visit her website (and enter to win a free copy) here:http://www.cathyholton.com/

New Talismans Review--here

Nice words from Lavinia Ludlow on Talismans here:
http://plumbblogdotnet.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/reviews-of-talismans-by-sybil-baker-and-sherry-narcotics-by-nina-marie-gardener/

Book Review: alt.punk

Hazel, the narrator of Lavinia Ludlow's novel alt.punk is a heroine for our times. She's smart, funny, and neurotic. She's trying to change her life but clings to old alliances and patterns even when she knows they're destructive. For example, Hazel's mother criticizes everything Hazel is (not married and overweight at 110 (!) pounds) and does (quits her okay job to travel with her boyfriend's punk band), and yet Hazel still visits her family on holidays, answers her mother's calls, and even calls her mother in times of crisis. Hazel is also a germo-phobe, which means she sees the world as dangerous and life threatening. Her own skin is peeling off because of her Clorox obsession to keep this threat at bay. And yet Hazel's own awareness of her obsessions, her humor, and her sometimes extreme attempts to find her own place between the stultifying extremes of the American corporate world and the equally oppressive punk scene is what keeps the novel from getting bogged down in gross sex, mind-numbing and self-destructive drugs, and scenester rock-n-roll. alt.punk navigates this world successfully, and while most characters don't change (like in life), Hazel courageously tries to accept and work with her neurosis, as well as find her way both outside and within the polarizing extremes she has inhabited. Ludlow is a strong and assured writer, and a subplot of Hazel's own attempts to write and publish a novel offer some humorous meta-moments on the nature of novels, editing, and publishing. Highly recommended.

Support indie presses and buy the book directly from them--you can buy the book here:

http://www.casperianbooks.com/catalog/1-934081-29-9.html

To MFA or not MFA?

Frankly, this conversation has suffered from the either/or logic fallacy for years--either MFA programs are good or they're worthless. It still amazes me that this topic can still generate so much attention (check out the comments to the article if you don't believe me). If you want to get an MFA*, get an MFA (although I strongly advise not going into debt doing it). If you don't, then don't.
Here's the latest on Salon:http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2011/05/17/mfa_programs/index.html

Travel Writing workshop for GWA

I'm putting the final touches on a talk/workshop I'll be giving for the Georgia Writers Association May meeting this Saturday May 14. I was there a few years ago when The Life Plan came out, and I'm looking forward to returning. Here's the info for anyone who is in the area and wants to learn more about travel writing (both fiction and non fiction):

WhenSaturday May 14, 2011 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM EDT

Add to my calendar
WhereKSU - Social Science Building 2036 Please Park in WEST PARKING DECK. CAMPUS MAP
KSU Mail Stop #2701
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Details on the talk and directions are on the GWA website, which you can read here:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=i6byw7bab&oeidk=a07e3fbrufb350b89cc

VIDA updates

I've been following more than a few conversations/follow ups to the infamous VIDA post on number of women published in lit mags vs. men. See my previous posts here:
http://sybilbaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-are-few-women-writers-being.html

and here:
http://sybilbaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-i-have-no-desire-to-read-franzens.html
Here's an update on some other posts/comments on this ongoing conversation:
VIDA's Response to the counthttp://vidaweb.org/response-to-the-2010-count

The New Republic:http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/82930/VIDA-women-writers-magazines-book-reviews
I appreciate the following two publications (one an online CNF flash journal, the other an up and coming literary press) addressing the issue and making a commitment to be publish more women
Brevity:http://brevity.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/fourth-genre-and-the-second-sex/
Engine Books: Where are the Women--Updatedhttp://enginebooks.org/blog/?p=28
and writer Kevin Wilson commits to reading more women writers this year, too. See his post here:
http://wilsonkevin.blogspot.com/2011/05/vida.html
In a few weeks I hope to post my own analysis of this year's reading patterns--I have not consciously commmitted to reading more of any one/thing, so it will be interesting to see what I come up with.
There are of course many more posts about this subject on the internet--just google to fine more.

Some recent author interviews I've read

Steven King's interview in The Atlantic (and you might want to check out his short story as well):
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/stephen-king-on-the-creative-process-the-state-of-fiction-and-more/237023/

Edward P. Joneshttp://therumpus.net/2011/05/it-gets-you-through-the-rumpus-interview-with-edward-p-jones/
Chris Mazza:http://therumpus.net/2011/05/the-rumpus-interview-with-cris-mazza/
George Saunders:http://bombsite.com/issues/1000/articles/4996
And the Jennifer Egan interview I wrote about a few posts ago.
http://www.thedaysofyore.com/jennifer-egan/

Have you come across any other illuminating author interviews?

Betsy Lerner: Writing (and life) is/are not fair

Rebecca Cook was the first person who told me about Betsy Lerner and how much she loved her book on writing called The Forest For the Trees. I read an updated version of the book last fall and enjoyed it. Betsy used to be an editor but is now and agent and her blog is worth reading.
Her post the other day was in response to a writer lamenting he didn't think it was fair that he couldn't earn a living from his writing. Here was part of her response:

I said that no one invites you to write, no one cares if you do, and that it is against the world's indifference that you create. If you are lucky enough that the world loves what you write, then perhaps you will be among the few who make their living writing. The rest of us get up at dawn or write all night, or write on vacations, or quit for years and hate ourselves in an even more special way.

You can read the entire post here:http://betsylerner.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/i-know-youre-gonna-leave-me-but-i-refuse-to-let-you-go/

Jennifer Egan's advice to writers

Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad has been "The King's Speech" as Jonathon Franzen's Freedom has been "The Social Network." Freedom had so much fanfare and acclaim when it was published last fall, and not that Egan's novel also didn't also draw attention--but I think many were surprised when she has won many of the major book awards including the Pulitzer and theNational Book Critics Circle Award. As I've mentioned on this blog, I just don't have a desire to read Freedom--everything I've read about it just tells me it's not my cup of tea--when I have stacks of books that I think will be my cup of tea waiting to be read. So, I can't compare the merits of Freedom vs. Goon Squad because I haven't read Freedom. What I will say is that I after some prodding (people I knew kept recommending the book to me) and resistance (what, another New York hipster novel?), I read Goon Squad and came away feeling that the hype is deserved. It's an enjoyable, deceptively complex work that has stayed with me since reading it.
I came across this interview with Egan where she details the years it took her to improve her writing and I think it's worth reading for all aspiring writers. At the end she gives her advice to writers, which we've heard often: read and write a lot--and to not be afraid to write badly, yetthis advice I believe can't be repeated enough. Here's the excerpt, but you can read the whole article here: http://www.thedaysofyore.com/jennifer-egan/

Do you have any advice for young writers?

My advice is so basic. Number one: Read. I feel like it's amazing how many people I know who want to be writers who don't really read. I'm not convinced someone wants to be a writer if they don't read. I don't think the problem is that they need to read more; I think they might need to readjust their life goals. Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work. To be reading good things. I feel that you should be reading what you want to write. Nothing less.

The second thing is, I feel like getting in the habit of it is huge. I guess that was my one accomplishment of those two years [with the first failed novel]— making it a routine is a gigantic part of it.

One corollary of that— and this is probably the most important thing for me— is being willing to write really badly. It won't hurt you to do that. I think there is this fear of writing badly, something primal about it, like: "This bad stuff is coming out of me…" Forget it! Let it float away and the good stuff follows. For me, the bad beginning is just something to build on. It's no big deal. You have to give yourself permission to do that because you can't expect to write regularly and always write well. That's when people get into the habit of waiting for the good moments, and that is where I think writer's block comes from. Like: It's not happening. Well, maybe good writing isn't happening, but let some bad writing happen. Let it happen!

I mean, when I was writing The Keep, my writing was so terrible. It was God-awful. My working title for that first draft was, A Short Bad Novel. I thought: "How can I disappoint?"

So, just write and be happy that you did it. You stuck to the routine. You're kind of holding the place so that you're present for when something good is ready to come.

And then it's all about rewriting. Re-visiting, re-visiting and re-writing. I think it's a mistake to be too precious about one's words. I feel the same way about the criticism. You're not going to break! It's pretty tough to stick it out, to do this. So, get used to it! People are going to not like it. Okay! You'll live. So, it's bad. Okay. You'll live! They said 'no.' You know what? Everyone gets said 'no' to a thousand times. If that is really something that you can't tolerate, this may not work.

Perseverance.

Yes, that is huge. That is my biggest gift.

Writing Short Stories vs. Novels

As many of you know, I teach fiction writing at UTC--mostly short story workshops but every year or year and a half I teach a novel writing workshop. That workshop was in response to 1) the underwhelming experience I'd had with novel writing guidance in the literary world and 2) the idea that short fiction writing is somehow "training" for novel writing. Number 2 particularly bothers me because it manages to denigrate the art of writing the short story. It suggests that writing short stories is easier or lesser or even less demanding, which is hardly the case. To me if this logic is applied, then why doesn't everyone take poetry workshop for years in preparation for the short story?
I received this comment again recently-- that perhaps students were not ready (either in life experience or ability) to take a novel writing class, and that their energy focus on taking short fiction workshops in preparation for the novel later in life. While of course one can learn much about novel writing when writing short stories and vice versa (hint: in both forms mastering writing scenes is key), the differences are still different enough to require (in my mind) different approaches in instruction. And, some people who find themselves struggling with short fiction workshops end up thriving in the novel class.
To that end, here's an article from a short story writer defending the form (via Jamie Quatro):
http://patriciaannmcnair.com/2011/04/21/pbr-and-rejection-slips-gina-frangello-on-why-the-short-story-a-conversation-among-writers/