Jessica Knauss's Blog, page 64

Six Sentence Sunday Sail To Italy Again!

Sail To Italy and Sail From Italy are back and better than ever, with a spiffy new cover and in print from Açedrex Publishing!

I'm celebrating with six sentences from the beginning of the big blowup between Carlovita and Conchita in Sail From Italy. Conchita was Javier's girlfriend in a time long ago, and I think we all appreciate that Carlovita has to protect her marriage!

* * *
Conchita went directly to the mirror and started adjusting herself. Carlovita slammed the door behind her as hard as she could, to show her purpose in a way the most idiotic could understand. "All right, missy," she said as she advanced on Conchita."What?" squeaked Conchita before Carlovita backed her up against the wall."What do you think you're doing?"      Conchita opened her mouth to reply, but Carlovita stuffed a piece of toilet paper in it. 

* * *The video finishes the scene in rather a more mellow manner.

And look up there on the left. I now have whole page of Sailing Italy excerpts for your enjoyment.

Thanks so much to everyone for the comments last week. I'm so thrilled my work-in-progress The Seven Noble Knights of Lara seems to interest you!

Check out the other sets of six here!

He'll Feel a Lot Better Once He's Read Tree/House

Clergyman approved, Tree/House can even get rid of your headlice problem.

Sail To Italy and Sail From Italy Now Available in Paperback!

You've all seen the gorgeous new cover and have been waiting on pins and needles. Here it is at last, Sail To Italy and Sail From Italy in paperback! It's still economical, but trust me, the book is a thing of beauty. Buy it here, or from the Amazon ad at left. And it will always be available as an e-book, too.

There are tons of great excerpts from these silly books on the excerpt page.

Enjoy!

New Interview

I get just a little more Famous each time someone interviews lil ol' me. Don't miss this epic conversation with Sharon Jones.

http://color-me-read.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-with-jessica-knauss.html

Six Sentence Sunday Wedding

A magic circle is immortalized in stone alongside the cathedral in Arcos de la Frontera, Spain.Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Hello, Six Sentence Sunday fans! Here's the long-awaited wedding clip!

I did a bit of research, but we just don't know much about tenth-century weddings beyond the fact that it wasn't yet a sacrament, so it wouldn't have taken place inside the church. I guess it was going to be another thousand years before Bride Magazine could immortalize all these great traditions.

So, as we know, doña Lambra is really nervous, and her perceptions of the ceremony are clouded by the sinking feeling she can't shake. They're standing in a magic circle in the middle of the cathedral square because the last time I was in Arcos de la Frontera, I saw what was supposed to be a pre-Christian ritual circle where they performed some kind of blessing or cleansing before a child was baptized inside the cathedral.

* * *Doña Lambra saw the face of Count García smiling and shouting, and, blurrier, all seven of the the noble knights of Lara with their father, mother, and tutor. Someone threw a veil over Lambra's head, and then Ruy Blásquez stepped into the circle with a sure foot. The Count of Castile was addressing the crowd in a voice that had as much meaning for Lambra as the twittering of birds.

The first words she heard clearly came from Ruy Blásquez's mouth. "I receive you as mine, so that you become my wife and I your husband."

Doña Lambra's chest was rising and falling so dramatically she could see it out of the corner of her eye, but she still couldn't feel the air passing inside her.
* * *
Thanks so much for your views and comments. I appreciate them and take them to heart, so much.

Please take a look at Friday's post for the Big Announcement! Thanks for looking.

Big Announcement: Açedrex Publishing is Now Ready!

When I got some funding and the blessing of Tom Grundner of Fireship Press, I took the plunge. I have always wanted my own publishing house. The time is now. The result is Açedrex Publishing, a bilingual (English and Spanish) press that I hope will meet the needs of readers and writers alike.

Visit us here: acedrex.com. We're having a big debut party sale!
Please like us on Facebook.
And tell everyone you know (especially readers, writers, and translators).
Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I couldn't do it without my readers and supporters.

This was a big, scary venture that required a lot faith and a lot of work. Here are some highlights from the soundtrack of my life over the past couple of months.

When Chenoa's singing, you know everything will go well!

Madonna can really rock an inspirational song, but here's one of the sassier ones.

When you need every day to be the first day of your life, turn to Los Aslándticos.

And Stacey Q teaches us to seize the moment when the moment is right.

Any success Açedrex has will be the result of even more work, so there's no stopping now! I won't be giving up my own writing, either, so wish me stamina.

Interview Series: Lauryn Allison Lewis

Now, for a second round of questions and answers, Famous Writer welcomes Lauryn Allison Lewis, who writes fiction, essays, interviews, and bakery reviews. Her writing has appeared at Dogzplot Magazine, Bartleby Snopes, Knee-Jerk Magazine, Curbside Splendor, and others. She regularly hosts all-night dance parties in her kitchen and has just published a haute chapbook of her story collection, The Beauties, available for purchase at LaurynAllisonLewis.com. She is an assistant editor and regular contributor at Barrelhouse Magazine and Literary Chicago.

JK: Tell me a little about where you grew up and what you do/have done besides writing.
LAL: I grew up about an hour's drive west of Chicago. I also briefly lived in Washington during high school. At fourteen, my first job was as an ice cream scooper at a soda fountain. But I've had all kinds of wacky jobs. Floral designer, chocolatier, barista, personal assistant. The worst job I ever had was at a toy store. The owners were really mean, especially considering they worked around toys and kids all day.
JK: What is your favorite book? What other things influence your work? 
LAL: My favorite book is whatever I happen to be reading whenever someone poses that question! Right now it's My Sister's Continent, by fellow Chicago writer, Gina Frangello. She is so incredibly brave and emotionally intelligent.
I'm hugely influenced by my dreams. The fantastical, magical, and odd elements of my prose reveal that. I love changing or shifting the rules of nature, logic, and physics in my stories, and then following the story thread as it plays out. I'm a big fan of unreliable narrators, I think because in my dreams, I become my own unreliable narrator.
JK: Are dreams also a source of inspiration for you?
LAL: I take inspiration from everywhere; what I'm reading, eating, dreaming, and who I'm spending time with. For The Beauties, specifically, I tapped into feelings from my childhood and my memories of early motherhood. None of the events in the book actually happened to me in real life, but the emotional base is there; the feeling of pubescent awkwardness, the alienation I think all new mothers feel on a certain level.
JK: How much time a day do you devote to fiction writing? What is your work area like? Do you have any methods that might seem unusual or inspiring to other writers? 
LAL: I don't have any hard, fast rules regarding how much or how often I write, other than writing every day. I aim for 500 words a day, but most days I manage more. I used to wait until very late at night when the house was quiet to write. Nowadays I'm not so precious about when and where I write, though I still prefer a quiet space. I turn the ringer on my phone off and often forget to turn it back on. I'm bad with the phone.
If I'm having a hard time getting started, I'll usually read a page or two from an author I love to get motivated. I also never hem myself in with rules such as: begin at the beginning, or, write full scenes. The most important thing for me is just not slowing down once I start, and not getting too caught up with thinking. If that means I have to pick up in the middle, then that's what I do.
JK: I'm sure your natural approach contributes to the rhythm and flow of your writing. When and why did you get started writing? What characteristics from your first efforts survive today?
LAL: I was tiny, probably first or second grade when I first started writing little stories. I was an only-child, so writing as a solitary endeavor fit in perfectly. Even as a kid, I can remember putting emphasis of the emotional dynamics of my characters, the things they felt but perhaps did not or could not express directly; the things revealed through body language, internal dialogue, and gesture. I still strive to do that today.
I'm an unabashed people-watcher. That is definitely a holdover from my childhood. The best is when you can't hear what two people are saying, but can still discern what they're talking about by their body language, a subtle angle of one's jaw, the hands pressed into one's lap.
JK: You observation skills serve you well in your chosen career. What about language? Do you have a favorite word? How does language figure into your writing?
LAL: I'm often struck by the lyricism of our language, even when we're just using it to give directions, or commiserate with a friend over coffee. The narrative style of The Beauties really taps into that; the inherent poetics of the language we use to discuss everyday events and feelings.
Each of the characters in The Beauties has her/his own unique way of speaking and thinking the thoughts they think. Enid, being the youngest, uses a lot of youthful, ambivalent tags, such as, "whatever" "so what" and "who cares". Fern is very uptight and her cadence and the economy of her voice reflects that. Opal, being the oldest, has a way of speaking that is very unhurried, thoughtful, and strives for clarity.
I don't have a favorite word, per se, though I do love words so, so much. The bookshelf beside my writing desk is crammed full of dictionaries, thesauruses, and books of idioms and palindromes.
JK: If most of my books weren't in storage, that's what my desk would look like, too! Lauryn, thank you very much for coming by my blog and sharing some of your writing secrets.
LAL: Thank you so much, Jessica! It was fun.
Again, you can take a look at (and purchase) The Beauties here. Find Lauryn on Facebook here. 

Review/Interview: Lauryn Allison Lewis's The Beauties

My copy of The Beauties.
From the first few sentences, Lauryn Allison Lewis's The Beauties makes a serious impact on the reader. One character is in a homicidal rage, but the main character describes her victimhood with language so delicate and imagination so vivid, you won't be able to stop reading. The Beauties is a family saga, moving from a cinematic whirlwind romance during World War II through about the 1980's on the extraordinary backs of Opal, Fern, and Enid – grandmother, mother, and daughter. Each woman has a unique gift (I won't give away here) that is also her burden to bear. Each woman deals with her difference as best she knows how, and each shows herself to be an authentic character with a fully developed psychological life. Together, their differences make up a tale of survival and what it means to be human. The Beauties is a fast read at only 48 pages, but the emotional intensity and astonishing imagination of this book will not soon abandon the reader. I was able to ask Lauryn about some of the more puzzling aspects of this book, and she graciously answered.
JK: Why did you decide to release The Beauties as a chapbook?
Lauryn Allison Lewis: I decided to make the chapbook for several reasons, the first being that I wanted the experience of making a book by hand, from scratch. After so many years of writing, it started to feel strange to me that I'd never tried to put a book together. Like a chef who's never tried to write a recipe, or something. From the folded pages, to the binding, to the cover art, each one was made entirely by my hands. So when you order The Beauties, you take possession of an object made exclusively for you, which is why I've been calling them haute chapbooks.
JK: When someone orders The Beauties, what comes to them is a thing of beauty (as readers can see in the picture). The book I received was hand-decorated beyond what is portrayed on the purchase site, with a ribbon down the spine, and beads, stars and sparkly glue on the cover as well as the hand-folded pages and sewn binding. Haute is a good word for it. It's not something you see every day, that's for sure.
There seems to be a lot more to this story, and on the acknowledgments page you mention a novel-length version of it.
Lauryn Allison Lewis: There is a novel length version of The Beauties, and it's getting some exciting publication buzz, but I'm terribly superstitious and afraid to jinx the project by saying more now. Apart from wanting to craft the book, I also wanted to get the key moments of this story out to publishers and have a chance to gage what my audience's reaction would be, before laying the whole hugely strange novel on them. I've had many readers tell me that they were struck by the intensity of the stories in the chapbook, and at times surprised by its grittiness, its sinisterness. The surprise seems to double when the reader is someone who knows me personally, knows that I'm really the antithesis of sinister and gritty.
JK: The chapbook is powerful, and not for the prudish. Did you have a specific audience in mind?
I think that The Beauties will resonate with all women, but it wasn't written to be considered an exclusively feminist text by any means. If you have a mother, a sister, a daughter, The Beauties will offer insight into how they might have felt during various phases in their life, especially the more tumultuous ones; puberty, pregnancy, and growing older.
JK: Does the novel pick up where the chapbook leaves off, or flesh out the chapters?
Lauryn Allison Lewis: The novel length version of The Beauties fills out the spaces between the stories included in the chapbook, but it also expands on them and introduces many new characters. It has different plot twists and an entirely different shape. Readers of the chapbook are not going to have an identical experience to readers of the novel.
JK: And about this exciting publication buzz – not to jinx it, but what kind of feedback have you gotten? Are your family and friends supportive?
Lauryn Allison Lewis: The most common reactions are either stunned silence, nervous laughter, or mild incredulousness: "Where do you come up with this stuff?!" I'm also not shy about stories of a sexual nature, and that can make people flustered.
I think I have a definable fan base. I don't want to be so presumptuous as to define it here, though. I have a ton of support from other writers in my community. I've been given so many opportunities to share my work in a safe and generous environment, with people I really admire and respect. I've forged lifelong friendships with other writers, and I'm so grateful for them.
My family is supportive, but they'd be supportive no matter what I was doing, I think. My parents are both artists in their own right, so I think they're both delighted and not the slightest bit surprised that I chose to become a writer.
The friends I've grown up with are rather indifferent toward my writing. I don't mean that in a snarky, pouting way. To them, writing is just something I do, not who I am, and they know precisely how convoluted my imagination is, so nothing really shocks them anymore. I'm grateful for people in my life that I can spend time with when I need to escape my work or the industry for a minute.
JK: Well, they may be indifferent, but I guarantee anyone who reads The Beauties will not be!
The Beauties can be purchased at Lauryn's website: LaurynAllisonLewis.com.Come back on Wednesday for the rest of the interview! 

Six Sentence Sunday Medieval Feast

Thanks to everyone who stops by, and especially you great commenters! You're fabulous! See other wonderful excerpts here at the new site.

This is to make up for my husband's working on Memorial Day (i.e., no barbecue!). The scene is at an outdoor banquet just days before the wedding we saw doña Lambra get swept into week before last. The innkeeper offers her a choice of the cuts of a freshly roasted bull with her future husband (who is not one of the masculine lineup from three weeks ago, but their uncle) looking on beside her.

* * *She studied the mound of steaming meat, which was smothered in a parsley, fennel, and red carrot sauce made more red with beet juice that whetted her appetite at her very core. "I'll have the tail," she stated.

"Really, my lady?" the innkeeper asked as he used both carving knife and fingers to dig through the pile in search of the piece. Finding the tail, he said, "It doesn't have much meat on it."

"I don't mean that tail," she said. "I mean the other ones."
* * *
If you swing by next Sunday, you'll catch a glimpse of the actual wedding ceremony.

This week, Monday and Wednesday: the incomparable Lauryn Allison Lewis and her The Beauties. Friday: the biggest announcement in Famous Writer history!

Fashionable Historical Women Love Tree/House!

It's a timeless classic!

Also see the new cover for the Sailing Italy series!