Sandra Gulland's Blog, page 23
January 3, 2013
Josephine B. in Serbia & other miscellanea
I’m busy diving into the new year (as are you all, no doubt). So quick notes.
I just sent out a special newsletter offering a chance to win one (or more than one!) of these books. It’s not to late to enter: here.
I have two blog mentions you might enjoy. One: what I have to say on Advice to Writers blog. (“Persevere!”)
And another, a charming article by novelist Randy Susan Myers for Beyond the Margins (a great blog): “Writers Wearing Costumes, Baking Cookies & Other Mad Men Tricks.” I bet you can guess which author will be the one wearing a costume.
And last, I love this photo a Twitter friend sent of her Trilogy in the Serbian edition.
I especially love how well-thumbed the books look: clearly read and reread.
Back to work! I’m delightfully lost in the Land of Research. (See this blog post on my discoveries.)
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January 1, 2013
The Casting Game! (The results are in.)
In my November newsletter, I announced that a television drama series based on the Josephine B. Trilogy was in the works, inviting readers to play “The Casting Game.” They responded with great suggestions!
Nancy Russell suggested Johnny Depp for Napoleon. Sister-out-law Wendy Milne said that a number of women would be happy if Depp played Napoleon, and according to Lee LaFont, he is short enough.
Nancy Russell also suggested Angelina Jolie for Josephine.
Paul Headrick suggested I use pull to get the role of Josephine myself. (I’m told that “Snerk!” is not a word, but I bet you know what I mean.)
Fran Murphy suggested “smoldering beauty” Sophie LaFont as Josephine. (Sophie, I can feel you blushing and smoldering from here!)
Marnie Mackay suggested Brad Pitt and felt that Johnny Depp was a bit too cute. Brad can do anything, she notes, and he might also be short.
Sue Lievers would like to see her daughter Jordy as Josephine.
Jordy, an actor, studied French for six years and lived in Paris.
Interior designer Bonnie Sachs suggested that David Straithern would make a wonderful Napoleon (unless he’s too old, she noted).
Novelist Roberta Rich suggests Jessica Chastain (above) for Josephine, but conceded that Napoleon was more of a challenge. (Yes!)
Another novelist, Lauren Davis, suggests Thomas Hardy (above) for Napoleon.
Debbie Pollock’s picks for Napoleon are Brad Pitt (Brad again!), Mark Ruffalo, Chris Pine, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, John Stamos and Eric Bana—with Patrick Dempsey the favourite (above).
For Josephine, she suggests Emily Blunt, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Winslet, Julia Stiles, Hilary Swank and Natalie Portman, with favour going to the ever-graceful Kate Winslet (above), a suggestion son Chet Gulland seconds.
Soon-to-be-son-in-law Bruce Sudds suggests the great character actor Toni Colette for Josephine (such eyes!), and another great actor Ed Norton for Napoleon (below). Thumbs up from Chet on that one too.
Victoria Sorenson (shown below, before attending a ball at Versailles) is a direct descendent of Josephine. She has had wide theatrical experience and would love a chance to audition for a role.
Ivy in Germany would like to see Astrid Berges-Frisbey as the young, grown-up Hortense (a lovely suggestion, I think) …
and could very well imagine Olivia Williams (below) as “late” Joséphine.
Marie suggests either Marion Cotillard or Charlize Theron for Josephine (below) …
and Joe Pesci or Javier Bardem (who is 5’7″) as Napoleon.
Stephen Solomans has cast Kevin Spacey and maybe Giovanni Ribisi as the younger Napoleon. (I am struck by how much alike they look.)
Joanne Zomers feels that Helena Bonham Carter (above) would make a fine Josephine. “And how about the producer Kelsey Grammer as Napoleon?”
Now there’s a thought!
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December 25, 2012
My 10 best books of 2012
These are the 10 books I most enjoyed this year, in no particular order. An excellent year!
Fiction
Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr was a first novel published in 1978, yet it won the National Book Award. This doesn’t happen often for first novels. It is easy to see why it won, for it is a marvel, one of those novels that delights on every level: sentence by sentence, character by character. I especially enjoyed it because it is set in Ibarra, a small town in central Mexico, in a landscape not unlike the region we live in during the winter. It’s a novel I look forward to passing on to friends. Ten stars!
Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. I very much enjoyed this novel. Lovely sentences. Curiously, I read it on my iTouch, tiny screen by tiny screen, and that seemed right for this reflective novel.
Canada by Richard Ford. I love the hypnotic, sad texture of Ford’s prose. Here’s a lovely article on Ford and his work.
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. In a word: incredible.
The Emperor of Paris by C.S. Richardson. A jewel of a novel: I gave it a rave review in the Toronto Globe & Mail (here).
The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam. An epic story of a Chinese man, the headmaster of an English school in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. A fascinating and horrifying snapshot of the life of a civilian in those years of war and turmoil, a man who is himself an immigrant in a country occupied by Americans. A complex love story, a heart-rending family saga … all told in spare, perfect prose.
Web of Angels by Lilian Nattel. Set in Christie Pits area of Toronto—where the author lives—and about a woman who is “multiple” as a result of child abuse. It’s a brave novel about the child porn industry—which is huge—its victims and the DID (dissociative identity disorder) that results. A difficult and important book dealing with a horrific subject, but full of hope and love. Enlightening.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. (No, this is not the Shades of Gray you’re thinking.) An amazing novel for both young and old adults, the shocking story of Lithuanians deported to Siberia under Stalin.
Non-fiction
I’ve been reading quite a few books on e-book publishing. I’ve noted the best ones here. Also, as always, books on writing, listed here.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I loved this! It made me want to hike, and I’m hardly even much of a walker.
How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. Laugh-out-loud funny and wise. I want every woman I know to read this!
December 21, 2012
The most successful self-published book of all time?
Surprise: the most successful self-published book of all time is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Read more about it on The Quivering Pen.
Dickens wrote:
I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C. D.
December, 1843.
Don’t you love his opening paragraphs?
Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
I also love this manuscript page, Dickens’ scribbled revisions:
I think I should have more Dickens in my life next year. (Resolution #1.)
Happy Holidays, everyone! Click here for my SmileyBox greeting.
December 18, 2012
December 15, 2012
Words & : finally! My very own bookstore.
For years I dreamt of having a bookstore, and now I do! It was always going to be named “Words &”—and now it is.
I got the idea from David Abram’s wonderful blog, Book Pregnant. To see his store: click here.
My bookstore is also an Amazon store, simply because Amazon makes it possible. (Note that all of the books are available from other vendors, including IndieBound, but Amazon is the only site that offers this feature at this time.)
And, because my books are available in the US, Canada and the UK and beyond, I couldn’t stop with just one bookstore: I had to create three:
US store above: click here. This is the Mother Ship.
UK (Sandra Gulland INK titles): click here.
Canada (my own titles there): click here.
And, because my research titles are rather a different sort of store: I’m contemplating a forth.
Let me know what you think. So far, it’s a work-in-progress. Many, many more titles will be added.
It has been great fun setting it up. If you’re inclined to create a bookstore of your own, click here, and Amazon’s Affiliate programme will take you through the steps. Look for the aStore tab. Not hard! If you do create a bookstore, be sure to let me know.
I’ve been having fun with the categories: Fantastic fiction, Historical fiction that awes me; Wonderful books on writing … It’s a pleasure putting all the books I treasure in one place.
AND … if you buy a book at Words & (how thrilling), let me know that, as well. I’m interested to see how the process works. I understand that there is very little money to be made on books sold through such bookstores, but I like making it possible for readers to easily check out the books I mention on my blogs.
Words & : finally!
For years I dreamt of having a bookstore, and now I do! It was always going to be named “Words &.”
I got the idea from David Abram’s wonderful blog, Book Pregnant. To see his store: click here.
My bookstore is also an Amazon store, simply because Amazon makes it possible. (Note that all of the books are available from other vendors, including IndieBound, but Amazon is the only site that offers this feature at this time.)
And, because my books are available in the US, Canada and the UK and beyond, I couldn’t stop with just one bookstore: I had to create three:
US store: click here. This is the Mother Ship.
UK (Sandra Gulland INK titles): click here.
Canada (my own titles there): click here.
Let me know what you think. So far, it’s a work-in-progress. Many, many more titles will be added.
It has been great fun setting it up. If you’re inclined to create a bookstore of your own, click here, and Amazon’s Affiliate programme will take you through the steps. Not hard! If you do create a bookstore, be sure to let me know.
AND … if you buy a book at Words & (how thrilling), let me know that, as well! I’m interested to see how the process works. I understand that there is very little money to be made on books sold through such bookstores, but I like making it possible for readers to easily check out the books I mention on my blogs.
December 13, 2012
I love to Skype-meet with book clubs!
I finally had a Skype meet with a book club at the Carteret Public Library, in Carteret, NJ. This meet had been scheduled long ago by Supervising Librarian Samuel Latini, but Hurricane Sandy conspired to make it difficult. Now, the library is once again up-and-running (yay!), and we were able to have a chat.
This time, however, illness had swept through and only three of the members were able to make it: Joyce, Gail and Stephanie. They had read MISTRESS OF THE SUN, and they had lots of interesting questions. It made for an intimate and lively discussion!
There were, of course, the usual technical problems: my image froze (fortunately not with my mouth hanging open), but I could see them, which was nice, and we could hear each other fairly well.
We kept it to 1/2 hour: and I think that’s a good rule-of-thumb. That gives them time to discuss the meet among themselves after.
All in all: it was just great. I’m always aglow after these Skype sessions. I’ve talked to clubs and high school classes in the US and Canada, and even one in Germany. If you’re in a book club and would like to schedule a chat, email me at sgulland AT sandragulland DOT com or through my website here: http://www.sandragulland.com/contacts/.
OMG, I nearly forgot to mention: I sent off the “final” draft of IN THE SERVICE OF THE SHADOW QUEEN this morning!
December 11, 2012
Swept away
This is lovely:
December 8, 2012
Inspiration & perseverance
I’ve been ill, slugging away at the “final” draft of The Next Novel in bed.
Yes: slugging. I find this final stage of taking a comma out and putting it back in (and more, I admit) somewhat tedious. I’m simply transferring my scribbled edits to a computer file, and I never (ever!) do this without thinking: could I contract this out?
The answer is: no. There are always mysteries that only I can solve. And, in truth, it is a pleasure to be so far along in the writing process to be obsessing about commas.
But I didn’t come here to complain, rather to share was looks like an inspiring blog: Brain Pickings, sent to me by a friend. Here’s a New York Times article on it. Cool. Tell me what you think.
And just so you know: I’m fully recovered. Every time I’m in the final stages of a novel I become convinced that I will die before it’s finished. Now, when that end-of-life conviction comes over me (and I wasn’t all that sick!), I think: Ah, almost there.
How do you respond in the final stages?
[Illustration: "Cork," from the wonderful blog BibliOdyssey. Chosen for its many layers, so much like the process of building a novel.]
