Betsy Lerner's Blog, page 3

Turn and Face the Strange

Anonymous, on September 2, 2024 at 1:02 pm said: 

If you could be so kind Betsy, share the key. Mine is stuck in the G D lock.

The key for me was this: editors who turned the book down said that my main character, Amy, didn’t change enough by the end of the book. There is an obsession today of having characters change (and that generally means for the better). It is my deeply held belief that people don’t change all that much. In fact, time reveals who they really are and often they get worse, harden, ossify. My editor said, Amy doesn’t have to change, but she has to learn. That turned the key for me. All the disappointment she experiences needs to impact her, but no she doesn’t get the guy, the job, the rainbows and unicorns. I want to find out who a character is layer by layer; that’s all. That’s enough for me.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? OR, what did you do on your summer vacation?

Photo: France revisited

I Gave Her My Heart But She Wanted My Soul

It’s exactly one month until publication date for Shred Sisters. I started it three years ago with the following sentence: Here are the ways I could start this story. It didn’t write itself, but for the next seven months I couldn’t stop writing. Then two years of revision. LOL. I had the help of many astute and generous readers and finally the best editor I could have hoped for. She took me through two rounds of editing that blew my mind. She helped me re-structure the book, she “alerted” me to my propensity for overwriting, she made sure every emotion tracked. She had big picture notes and incisive line edits. And then with a single piece of advice, she gave me the key.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?

When You Ain’t Got Nothing You Got Nothing to Lose

When I wrote Shred Sisters, I didn’t tell anyone I was writing it. (Except my husband who saw me get out of bed every morning at 5:00, brew a pot of coffee, and head up to my office.) I felt a bit self-conscious as I’d always been a non-fiction person. Who was I to try my hand at a novel? I also deeply believe something Spike Lee said in an interview (and I’m paraphrasing), that the more he blabbed about whatever he was working on, the less likely he would get it done. I think it’s almost essential that you build a wall around your projects. Not for fear that anyone will take your ideas, but because you need to protect the work and the relationship you have with it. Talking about it dilutes it, lets the air out, subjects it to the elements.

Agree, disagree, thoughts?

I Can See All Obstacles In My Way

I’m thrilled to share that my novel Shred Sisters has been long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. I’m going to wager that I’m the oldest girl on the list. I should have written the book when I was 24 instead of 64 but I just didn’t have my shit together. Who says you have write your coming of age story in real time? This post is dedicated to all the late bloomers out there. I love us.

Summer’s almost over – how’s the writing coming?

How Bout Me Enjoying the Moment for Once

Really happy to report that the Publisher’s Weekly review for Shred Sisters is also positive. Phew. I know this isn’t my first time at the rodeo, but getting these early reviews is reminding me of a few things. 1) It’s fucking scary putting yourself out there. 2) Getting good/bad/no reviews is as much luck as anything else. 3) The only antidote to anxiety is working on a new writing project.

How’s the page a day challenge going that we started on May 9? Be honest! I have 50 new pages. Just saying.

I Can Buy Myself Flowers

Since my mom is dead, I thought I’d share my first review for Shred Sisters with you all. Yes, I want more pats on the head, gold stars, orchid leis around my neck, more ribbons, trophies, carrots, high fives, rainbows and pots of gold. I’m a middle child and a writer. There is no end to my need for validation and adoration. But you know all this. Indulge me!

 [KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW] 
The younger of two siblings grows up in the shadow of her beautiful, reckless, mentally ill sister. “Here are the ways I could start this story,” Amy Shred says, offering three choices in a brief prologue to memoirist and literary agent Lerner’s debut novel. “Olivia was breathtaking.” “For a long time, I was convinced that she was responsible for everything that went wrong.” “No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister.” The engaging, thoughtful voice established here goes on to unfold the story of Amy’s childhood, coming of age, and early adulthood, all profoundly shaped by the wild trajectory of her older sister: a rebel, a runaway, a mental patient, a dropout, a thief, a missing person. Amy herself—called Bunny or Bun in the family—is the classic supersmart miserable outsider, bullied at school, friendless, always bewildered at the utter unfairness of life. What could be a nice normal Connecticut Jewish family is anything but as Amy’s parents are pushed far beyond their ability to cope, and ultimately their ability to stay married. Amy finishes a science major at college in three years and throws herself into graduate work at a lab at Columbia University, zigzags into publishing, finally loses her virginity, meets the man she will marry, and goes into therapy. The story unfolds with the verisimilitude of a memoir: Amy’s nuanced relationships with her mother, her father, and her partners are all utterly convincing and relatable. Her mother, Lorraine, is a particularly fine creation, both a very specific East Coast Jewish type and an archetypal maternal presence. “In the months and years after she died, I often saw the world through her eyes, as if I had inherited her mantle of judgment, her scoreboard in the sky.” Many of us know that feeling exactly.

A seamlessly constructed and absorbing fictional world, full of insight about how families work.

How ‘Bout Me Enjoying the Moment for Once

Dear Beloved Readers of this Blog: I’m gearing up for the publication of Shred Sisters this October. I take P.T. Barnum as my inspiration for marketing. Meaning I’ll do anything and everything. I’ve been writing letters to indie bookstores, sending galleys to BookTok influencers, writing essays to place pre-publication, working on contact lists, planning a launch event, assembling lists of potential podcasts. I’ve honed my pitch, I’ve sent galleys to movie producers, and most important I’m trying to lose weight. I’m thinking I can realistically lose 10 pounds by pub date.

How many pounds do you think I can lose? Also, I’d be super grateful if you’d consider pre-ordering the novel. Pre-orders really help get the book launched.

Look at all the Lonely People

I’ve been in London this week. Coincidentally, I’ve been reading my diaries from my junior year abroad. It’s 43 years later and here are all the things I can’t believe: I can’t believe I survived my depressive and manic episodes. I can’t believe I’ve been stable for 30 years. I can’t believe I married at all and that I’m still married. I can’t believe I have a daughter and we are close. I can’t believe I’ve published three books and have just written, at 63, my first novel. I can’t believe this blog helped me develop my voice and bring a community of like-minded writers to my door. I can’t believe I cherish life no matter the slings and arrows I still aim at myself. I can’t believe this city holds so many sad and lonely memories and that I’m around to indulge.

Where are you saddest memories lodged?

You Left Your Typewriter at my Apartment

It’s a fine line between advocating for yourself and being a douche bag. And it’s really important to know when you’re crossing it and I’m speaking to myself right now. My efforts on my book are fully in the marketing now, which means pushing, pushing, pushing. Writing letters, emails, sending galleys, doing my social media, blah blah blah. In other and much better news, I’m sticking to the challenge of writing every day and I’m not saying it’s pretty, but it’s something.

Are you with me in writing bootcamp or what? Progress reports please!

Chapter Two: I Think I Fell in Love With You

I started a new project, felt all buzzy and real stepping out onto the diving board. Then I stopped. Two things happened. First, i showed it to someone too soon. Didn’t get the encouragement and admiration I was seeking. Second, I let a vacation, then work, then ennui get in the way. Do not do this. Do not skip a single day of writing. If you want to write something, write every single fucking day. I know this, I preach this, I believe this. As a fitness trainer on YouTube recently said, “I love intensity, I worship consistency.” So with this post, I am committing to a page a day.

Anyone want to come with?