Jennifer Petkus's Blog, page 12
September 11, 2012
The Royal Crescent museum closing
September 8, 2012
The Five Orange Pips
August 27, 2012
Either side of the pond
After completing the first draft of Jane, Actually, I felt a little guilty about how American it reads. Most of the book takes place in the United States and the climax (such as it is) is set at the JASNA AGM in Fort Worth, Texas. The halfway point of the book is set at the Jane Austen Society AGM at Chawton House and the London book launch is a fun scene, but still, most of the book tour takes place in the U.S.
So I decided, with some trepidation, to switch to the U.K. spelling dictionary for the book, forcing myself to spell color with a “U” and remember that parking lots are car parks and that the Brits say “titbits” instead of “tidbits.” It was a lot easier to write My Particular Friend from a British perspective because it was a period piece.
In Jane, Actually, however, I have the interesting mental exercise of writing American dialog with a British omniscient narrator. I’m hoping the British narrator will counterbalance the American setting and not be jarring. Changing the nationality of the narrator, however, may prove to be a challenge.
What I’m reading: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes
August 26, 2012
The Fort Restaurant
Another big scene in Jane, Actually is at the Fort Restaurant, shortly after Jane addresses the Annual General Meeting at Chawton, England, and consequently, shortly after the anniversary of her death. She’s understandably feeling a little depressed, both by the memory of her death and a little let down after the excitement of addressing the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom.
And her avatar is suffering from a toothache and is unable to accompany Jane to a special dinner at the Fort with members of the Denver-Boulder region of the Jane Austen Society of North America. So Jane travels with the regional coordinator and another member to the restaurant and celebrates with about ten women, including some from the Pikes Peak JASNA region.
The Fort, incidentally, celebrates birthdays by bringing out a buffalo-shaped hat, much to the amusement of fellow diners and the embarrassment of the celebrants. And many disembodied view the day they died as a sort of second birthday, so the women at the table take turns wearing the hats for Jane and fueled by a modicum of good cheer, Jane’s spirits improve.
The Fort is a fairly expensive restaurant on the edge of the foothills with a magnificent view of Denver. The specialities of the menu include buffalo prime rib, elk steaks and Rocky Mountain oysters. It’s a great place to take out of town guests.
The Strand Bookstore
The first stop for Jane during her book tour is Strand Book Store in New York City, and although I’ve never been, it was recommended by several people as a place where she might try out a sneak peek book signing and reading. In Jane, Actually, Melody Kramer, Jane’s agent, thinks it would be a good idea to hold an unannounced event in advance of their book launch parties in London and NYC, and picked Strand books. It’s a sort of dry run to see how well Jane and her avatar work a room.
Of course, never having been inside, I’m confused as to the layout of the store. I know it spreads over several floors and has a basement. I’ve seen pictures of a central staircase and hope, for my purposes, that some readings take place on the second floor. I figure Jane’s reading would be a semi-secret affair and wonder if a closed-off room might be used for this purpose. Jane is a little worried when only seven people show up, but that’s because by accident an overflow sign has been set up and there are a bunch of people waiting outside the store.
It sounds like a wonderful store with just the right amount of clutter. As much as I love the Tattered Cover in Denver, it’s definitely a clean, well-lighted place for books, whereas the Strand basement looks like a maze of boxes and shelves with lots of little fans to stir the musty smell of books.
So if you have any knowledge of the book store and can comment whether that’s a likely scenario, I’d appreciate hearing from you.
PS There’s a four-hour C-SPAN show from 2004 about Strand that I am watching and it might tell me everything I need to know.
