Celine Keating's Blog
April 3, 2015
My Search for Three Pines
(first published in Creativity & Constraint, Wising Up Press)
Most literary pilgrimages are to where an author has lived or worked; mine involved an imaginary place
Canada's Eastern Townships, L'Estrie, the region of Québec less than two hours' south of Montreal and just over the border from Vermont, is an area rich in beauty, culture, and history. After the American Revolution, some who were loyal to the crown fled north and settled among the Québécois and the English, Scottish, and Irish settlers. From this mix come lovely juxtapositions: Both French and English are spoken here, and the towns display the sloping metal roofs of the Quebecois as well as the pale rose brick homes of the Loyalists. In this rolling countryside of apple orchards, lakes, and forests, you're never far from a crisp baguette, Farmhouse cheese, excellent wine, or specialty chocolate.
There is much to attract the visitor, but that's not why I talked my husband into traveling to the Townships. I was drawn by the novels of award-winning best-selling author Louise Penny, whose work is a paean to the area, and to the alluring hamlet in which she sets her mysteries. In Three Pines, homes face each other around a green jewel of a town square, the pond ices over for winter frolicking, and mysterious forests envelop all in a protective embrace. Evil comes to this world—these are murder mysteries after all—but there's always time to gather in the bistro for warm croissants and camaraderie.
We reached bustling Cowansville on the western edge of the Townships and dined at a breakfast spot we had learned was frequented by the author, then circled in to Lac Brome (Knowlton), where I purchased a Gamache mug at the local bookshop that hosts Penny's book parties. At a cheese shop in Sutton, La Rumeur Affamée, the owner told us that there was someone in town many thought to be the model for Penny's endearing character, Olivier. The second we left the shop my husband and I turned to each other and said, ''It's him!''
Of course I knew all along that Three Pines doesn't exist. Writers of fiction use snippets of the real the way birds use stray bits of grass, ribbon, or twigs to form their nests. Penny has taken the mansard roofs from one town, the old railroad station from another, the pond from yet another, and created of these elements her Shangri-La. But while the writer in me understood that, the reader, seduced by her fiction, was intent on seeking entrée to the special place that inspired her. For that's the power of fiction.
Once home, there was one consolation. I opened Penny’s just published novel and returned to Three Pines. Once again, in some invisible space, an author and a reader's imaginations colluded to create a world.
*“The Pippiest Place on Earth” (The New York Times magazine, February 12, 2012).
Most literary pilgrimages are to where an author has lived or worked; mine involved an imaginary place
Canada's Eastern Townships, L'Estrie, the region of Québec less than two hours' south of Montreal and just over the border from Vermont, is an area rich in beauty, culture, and history. After the American Revolution, some who were loyal to the crown fled north and settled among the Québécois and the English, Scottish, and Irish settlers. From this mix come lovely juxtapositions: Both French and English are spoken here, and the towns display the sloping metal roofs of the Quebecois as well as the pale rose brick homes of the Loyalists. In this rolling countryside of apple orchards, lakes, and forests, you're never far from a crisp baguette, Farmhouse cheese, excellent wine, or specialty chocolate.
There is much to attract the visitor, but that's not why I talked my husband into traveling to the Townships. I was drawn by the novels of award-winning best-selling author Louise Penny, whose work is a paean to the area, and to the alluring hamlet in which she sets her mysteries. In Three Pines, homes face each other around a green jewel of a town square, the pond ices over for winter frolicking, and mysterious forests envelop all in a protective embrace. Evil comes to this world—these are murder mysteries after all—but there's always time to gather in the bistro for warm croissants and camaraderie.
...
I went in search of Three Pines....
Penny writes that Three Pines can only be found by those who are lost, that it does not appear on any map, but I was undaunted. Like her main character, Chief Inspector Gamache, I sniffed for clues. In A Fatal Grace, Penny writes of an old stone mill and an abandoned railroad station; in The Brutal Telling, the Riviere Bella Bella flows. An old stagecoach road, a lake, and other features are variously mentioned. But the constants were these: The village, hidden among hills and forests, occurs where four roads come together ''like the spokes of a wheel'' [Still Life]. And at one end of the commons stand three majestic pines....
We decided that we would circumnavigate the outskirts of the Townships and then spiral in, as if drawing a noose ever tighter around PennyLand, an area comprising roughly a quarter of the 5,000 square miles of the Townships. Its bull's eye was the town of Sutton, where, as I learned through her blog, the author has a home. Somewhere in PennyLand, I was convinced, would be the real town upon which Three Pines is based....
We drove over the border from upstate New York into Canada, stopping in Venice du Quebec at the head of Lake Champlain, and then headed east along a hilly road through a chain of tiny villages just skirting Vermont—Saint Armand, Abbott's Corner, Mansonville—mostly farmland rather than the woods and mountains of Penny's landscape. When we reached the eastern edge of the Townships, we headed north along the shores of sparkling Lake Memphramagog to the funky tourist town of Magog. Driving down the other side of the lake, to Ayer's Cliff and Georgeville, we came upon a stunning view of Saint-Benoit-du-Lac, the Benedictine Abbey that was the inspiration for the abbey in The Beautiful Mystery....
In A Rule Against Murder, Inspector Gamache stays at the remote Manoir Bellechase. Through careful research and clever deduction (i.e., reading the book's acknowledgements), I deduced that the model for the boutique hotel was Manoir Hovey in the town of North Hatley, where brunch surpassed even Penny's mouthwatering descriptions. As I wandered the gardens and lawns overlooking Lake Massawippi, I could feel Gamache's presence at my side, staring out at the water ringed by dark forest.We reached bustling Cowansville on the western edge of the Townships and dined at a breakfast spot we had learned was frequented by the author, then circled in to Lac Brome (Knowlton), where I purchased a Gamache mug at the local bookshop that hosts Penny's book parties. At a cheese shop in Sutton, La Rumeur Affamée, the owner told us that there was someone in town many thought to be the model for Penny's endearing character, Olivier. The second we left the shop my husband and I turned to each other and said, ''It's him!''
...
Sutton and Lac Brome, though quaint with shops, art galleries, B&Bs, and requisite stream and lake, respectively, were too large to be the real Three Pines. Frelighsburg, with its grassy town center, and Stanbridge East, with its beautiful old mill, felt closest in spirit, but were missing other key elements. Dunham, Lac Selby, West Brome, Sutton Junction: some were near mountains or ringed by forest, some had a covered bridge or bistro, bookstore, or a boulangerie. The architectural details Penny mentions were in evidence everywhere, like the loggia house style, with a balcony built on a gable wall over an open-type porch with pillars, and we even spotted a sign for the old stagecoach road. But at some point we realized that there wasn't one—not one of the dozens of villages we visited—that was formed at the juncture of several roads or that had a central commons. And few had any pines at all....
Our map was so detailed the roads looked as fragile as eyelashes. We drove every last lash until we were retracing our steps, heading down rutted dirt roads and into private driveways, making sure we hadn't overlooked a possibility. Then we learned that for a television movie made by Canadian Broadcasting Corp. of one of her books, filming had taken place in several different villages because Penny couldn't point to a prototype. After a week of travel, we headed home, frustrated and disappointed, despite having fallen in love with the area.Of course I knew all along that Three Pines doesn't exist. Writers of fiction use snippets of the real the way birds use stray bits of grass, ribbon, or twigs to form their nests. Penny has taken the mansard roofs from one town, the old railroad station from another, the pond from yet another, and created of these elements her Shangri-La. But while the writer in me understood that, the reader, seduced by her fiction, was intent on seeking entrée to the special place that inspired her. For that's the power of fiction.
...
In an article on literary tourism, Sam Anderson writes, ''Literature, for all its power, is an abstract transaction: A reader gives time and attention, an author gives patterns of words that call up vivid people and landscapes that—mystifyingly—are not physically there.... It seems like a natural human response to try to plug that gap—to look for solid, real-world corollaries for those interior landscapes.... It's the brain’s attempt to anchor an abstraction, to make the spirit world and the boring world finally align. It is, in my experience, one of the cheapest forms of magic available.''*Once home, there was one consolation. I opened Penny’s just published novel and returned to Three Pines. Once again, in some invisible space, an author and a reader's imaginations colluded to create a world.
*“The Pippiest Place on Earth” (The New York Times magazine, February 12, 2012).
March 28, 2015
5 WAYS BUILDING COMMUNITY CAN BUILD YOUR PLATFORM
For writers, the watchword these days is “platform.” Writers, who really just want to close the door, block out the world, and play with words, are told they have to have a website, Facebook page, and be on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest – the list goes on.
But writers can enhance their platforms in a different way – a way that is both more personally fulfilling and that also contributes to the world of letters. With community building, a writer aims to create something meaningful in and of itself. But while the primary goal isn’t to get more twitter followers or Facebook friends, or to secure an agent or more book sales, any of those results can come out of the connections that naturally occur. What goes around comes around.
Some of these suggestions are easier to achieve than others, and some have a longer timeline. Community building takes time and a lot of work, so make sure you choose something that you will enjoy doing. Here are five ideas for building community.
1. Reviewing
This is a step you can take without getting out of your pj’s. Write reviews and post on Goodreads, Amazon, and elsewhere. You can also start a blog where you discuss other’s work, interview authors –or go a step further and accept books for review. You can then extend your reach by sharing on social media platforms.
2. Join and volunteer in a writers’ organization
PEN, The Authors’ Guild, The National Writers Union are well known, and all hold events with networking opportunities. But there are many other organizations less known, and many are hungry for volunteers, such as The Women’s National Book Association. I joined the WNBA and later went on the board of the NY chapter, and enjoy participating in and planning events. Recently the WNBA gave me the opportunity to participate on a panel that drew an audience of 100. Working with this organization has certainly been a win-win for me.
3. Organize a group reading
Reach out to other writers to join you in a reading. You can organize one around a theme – to celebrate Earth Day, say – or with a focus on debut writers or on writers published by the same press. The writers don’t have to be well known or even all published authors. While bookstores are leery of scheduling readings for unknown authors, because they know how hard it is to draw an audience, that calculus is turned on its head with group readings, because the expected number of attendees exponentially increases. And if there aren’t willing bookstores, try a café or library. It’s best to work with a co-organizer to make it more fun and to share the work. (I personally have helped organize three such readings: one involved writers from my former workplace, BusinessWeek magazine; one involved writers whose work, along with mine, was in anthologies published by Wising Up Press; and an upcoming one is organized around a Mother’s Day theme.) You will want to do a flyer and some PR, and there will be a lot of “herding cats” – many emails to keep in touch with all the participants – but it’s well worth it. As a bonus, you gain connections with a bookstore; contacts, many of whom are really grateful to you for the chance to share their work; and great content to share in posts on your social media platforms.
4. Start a reading series
For an ongoing series, which is a big commitment, you will want to team up with at least one other person. You need to have a well-thought-out plan, a great venue, and readers lined up well in advance before you launch your series. You can work out criteria – all fiction, say – to give your series an identity. Some great examples: Sunday Salon, founded by Nita Noveno in New York City in 2002 (and now with offshoots in Chicago, South Florida, and Nairobi), is held at a bar called Jimmy’s 43 on NYC’s Lower East Side and focuses on emerging writers. Another salon, whose readings feature parents, is run by Pen Parentis, an organization that provides resources to authors who are also parents to help them stay on creative track after starting a family. (Pen Parentis also has a website and private Linked-In and facebook groups.) The Oh, Bernice! Collective was formed by a group of graduates of the MFA program at Queens College that wanted to continue working together after graduation, Oh, Bernice! holds a monthly reading at the Astoria Bookshop in Queens, New York. Each reading is hosted by one member of the collective, who gets to develop the lineup for a given night. Doing a series not only provides a wonderful service to the community, but gives groups and writers great exposure, many contacts, and PR and social media opportunities.
5. Put together an anthology
Whether you’re in a writing group and want to showcase the work of members, or have an idea for a theme you’d like to explore, publishing an anthology is a great way to create something terrific, get exposure of all kinds, and learn a great deal in the process. The South Jersey Writers Group has put out two anthologies, while Dumped: Stories of Women Unfriending Women, edited by Nina Gaby, focuses on a common theme. From a call to submissions to reviewing work to drafting contracts to finding a publisher (or, the easier route, crowdsourcing fund-raising, as through Pubslush, for a DIY approach), this is not an endeavor to be undertaken lightly, but it can be vastly rewarding.
There are any number of variants to these suggestions – mentoring young writers (Girls Write Now;), teaching a workshop at a library, volunteering at a literary magazine – but they all involve the same basic truth: They reward the time and energy in both tangible and intangible ways, and help you build your platform in the process.
But writers can enhance their platforms in a different way – a way that is both more personally fulfilling and that also contributes to the world of letters. With community building, a writer aims to create something meaningful in and of itself. But while the primary goal isn’t to get more twitter followers or Facebook friends, or to secure an agent or more book sales, any of those results can come out of the connections that naturally occur. What goes around comes around.
Some of these suggestions are easier to achieve than others, and some have a longer timeline. Community building takes time and a lot of work, so make sure you choose something that you will enjoy doing. Here are five ideas for building community.
1. Reviewing
This is a step you can take without getting out of your pj’s. Write reviews and post on Goodreads, Amazon, and elsewhere. You can also start a blog where you discuss other’s work, interview authors –or go a step further and accept books for review. You can then extend your reach by sharing on social media platforms.
2. Join and volunteer in a writers’ organization
PEN, The Authors’ Guild, The National Writers Union are well known, and all hold events with networking opportunities. But there are many other organizations less known, and many are hungry for volunteers, such as The Women’s National Book Association. I joined the WNBA and later went on the board of the NY chapter, and enjoy participating in and planning events. Recently the WNBA gave me the opportunity to participate on a panel that drew an audience of 100. Working with this organization has certainly been a win-win for me.
3. Organize a group reading
Reach out to other writers to join you in a reading. You can organize one around a theme – to celebrate Earth Day, say – or with a focus on debut writers or on writers published by the same press. The writers don’t have to be well known or even all published authors. While bookstores are leery of scheduling readings for unknown authors, because they know how hard it is to draw an audience, that calculus is turned on its head with group readings, because the expected number of attendees exponentially increases. And if there aren’t willing bookstores, try a café or library. It’s best to work with a co-organizer to make it more fun and to share the work. (I personally have helped organize three such readings: one involved writers from my former workplace, BusinessWeek magazine; one involved writers whose work, along with mine, was in anthologies published by Wising Up Press; and an upcoming one is organized around a Mother’s Day theme.) You will want to do a flyer and some PR, and there will be a lot of “herding cats” – many emails to keep in touch with all the participants – but it’s well worth it. As a bonus, you gain connections with a bookstore; contacts, many of whom are really grateful to you for the chance to share their work; and great content to share in posts on your social media platforms.
4. Start a reading series
For an ongoing series, which is a big commitment, you will want to team up with at least one other person. You need to have a well-thought-out plan, a great venue, and readers lined up well in advance before you launch your series. You can work out criteria – all fiction, say – to give your series an identity. Some great examples: Sunday Salon, founded by Nita Noveno in New York City in 2002 (and now with offshoots in Chicago, South Florida, and Nairobi), is held at a bar called Jimmy’s 43 on NYC’s Lower East Side and focuses on emerging writers. Another salon, whose readings feature parents, is run by Pen Parentis, an organization that provides resources to authors who are also parents to help them stay on creative track after starting a family. (Pen Parentis also has a website and private Linked-In and facebook groups.) The Oh, Bernice! Collective was formed by a group of graduates of the MFA program at Queens College that wanted to continue working together after graduation, Oh, Bernice! holds a monthly reading at the Astoria Bookshop in Queens, New York. Each reading is hosted by one member of the collective, who gets to develop the lineup for a given night. Doing a series not only provides a wonderful service to the community, but gives groups and writers great exposure, many contacts, and PR and social media opportunities.
5. Put together an anthology
Whether you’re in a writing group and want to showcase the work of members, or have an idea for a theme you’d like to explore, publishing an anthology is a great way to create something terrific, get exposure of all kinds, and learn a great deal in the process. The South Jersey Writers Group has put out two anthologies, while Dumped: Stories of Women Unfriending Women, edited by Nina Gaby, focuses on a common theme. From a call to submissions to reviewing work to drafting contracts to finding a publisher (or, the easier route, crowdsourcing fund-raising, as through Pubslush, for a DIY approach), this is not an endeavor to be undertaken lightly, but it can be vastly rewarding.
There are any number of variants to these suggestions – mentoring young writers (Girls Write Now;), teaching a workshop at a library, volunteering at a literary magazine – but they all involve the same basic truth: They reward the time and energy in both tangible and intangible ways, and help you build your platform in the process.
March 12, 2013
The Next Big Thing
I was tagged for this interview by Susan Segal, a marvelous novelist and short story writer. Susan and I met at the MacDowell Colony, where she brought the room to tears at a reading from her heartwarming novel Aria, which has remained one of my favorite books. I’m thrilled Susan is completing her short story collection All I Want and can’t wait to read it. I am honored to be included as part of The Next Big Thing.
What is your working title of your book?
Play for Me or
Where did the idea for the book come from?
The idea was sparked by a conversation with my sister, who was worried about how empty her nest would be when her twin daughters left home for college. She'd put childrearing and her career first, so it had been a long time since she'd focused on her own desires. In contrast, I was discovering a newfound passion for the classical guitar. I was also fascinated at the time with the dynamics of several friends' marriages that fell apart in midlife because one partner was looking for an illusive “something more.”
What genre does your book fall under?
My novel has been called “upmarket commercial/literary” – I’m not 100% sure what that means.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I'd love Robin Wright for my heroine Lily, or perhaps Diane Lane. Ethan Hawke would be wonderful as the neurotic/seductive guitarist JJ, while Kate Beckinsale or Rooney Mara could play prima donna singer Blaise.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Lily Moore risks her marriage and comfortable life in New York City to join musicians on tour when their music ignites in her a long-buried capacity for passion, authenticity, and creativity.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It is represented by my agent.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft was very very quick, because I did something I've never done before - I decided to finish a complete draft without allowing myself to go back over each previous day's work. So I completed the entire novel in about four months. Then, of course, I revised and reworked it over the course of several years.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’d compare this with Julia Glass’s The Whole World Over, because the wife in that book leaves home to try something new, as my character does. I’d also compare it with a very different book, Arthur Phillip’s The Song Is You, because he deals so beautifully with an obsession with a musician.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
In a sense it's the power of music that inspired this story – what Proust has called “a dangerous intoxication.” I wanted to explore both what creates passions that border on obsession and also why, exactly, music has such power to move us.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
For the past 10 years or so I have been doing music reviews and interviews with musicians, and I find their world and creative process endlessly fascinating.
Why do some get to be known or popular while others remain in obscurity, no matter how talented? What keeps them going? I wanted to explore some of that as well.
I look forward next week to reading about Deborah Batterman’s new novel Dancing into the Sun. Her fine short story collection Shoes Hair Nails and collection of linked essays Because My Name Is Mother show her to be an author of both wisdom and humor. I also look forward to reading about Susan Kleinman’s novel All Afternoon, set in the late 1970s. Susan has a deft touch in evoking setting, character, and the interplay of the two.
What is your working title of your book?
Play for Me or
Where did the idea for the book come from?
The idea was sparked by a conversation with my sister, who was worried about how empty her nest would be when her twin daughters left home for college. She'd put childrearing and her career first, so it had been a long time since she'd focused on her own desires. In contrast, I was discovering a newfound passion for the classical guitar. I was also fascinated at the time with the dynamics of several friends' marriages that fell apart in midlife because one partner was looking for an illusive “something more.”
What genre does your book fall under?
My novel has been called “upmarket commercial/literary” – I’m not 100% sure what that means.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I'd love Robin Wright for my heroine Lily, or perhaps Diane Lane. Ethan Hawke would be wonderful as the neurotic/seductive guitarist JJ, while Kate Beckinsale or Rooney Mara could play prima donna singer Blaise.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Lily Moore risks her marriage and comfortable life in New York City to join musicians on tour when their music ignites in her a long-buried capacity for passion, authenticity, and creativity.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It is represented by my agent.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft was very very quick, because I did something I've never done before - I decided to finish a complete draft without allowing myself to go back over each previous day's work. So I completed the entire novel in about four months. Then, of course, I revised and reworked it over the course of several years.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’d compare this with Julia Glass’s The Whole World Over, because the wife in that book leaves home to try something new, as my character does. I’d also compare it with a very different book, Arthur Phillip’s The Song Is You, because he deals so beautifully with an obsession with a musician.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
In a sense it's the power of music that inspired this story – what Proust has called “a dangerous intoxication.” I wanted to explore both what creates passions that border on obsession and also why, exactly, music has such power to move us.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
For the past 10 years or so I have been doing music reviews and interviews with musicians, and I find their world and creative process endlessly fascinating.
Why do some get to be known or popular while others remain in obscurity, no matter how talented? What keeps them going? I wanted to explore some of that as well.
I look forward next week to reading about Deborah Batterman’s new novel Dancing into the Sun. Her fine short story collection Shoes Hair Nails and collection of linked essays Because My Name Is Mother show her to be an author of both wisdom and humor. I also look forward to reading about Susan Kleinman’s novel All Afternoon, set in the late 1970s. Susan has a deft touch in evoking setting, character, and the interplay of the two.
Celine Keating's Blog
I was tagged for this interview by the marvelous novelist and short story writer Susan Segal. Susan and I met at the MacDowell Colony, where she brought the room to tears when reading us an excerpt of
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