Matthew Pearl's Blog, page 3
September 14, 2011
Upcoming Events in New England
Hi Goodreads-ies.
I haven't been on top of keeping things updated here, but I'm going to try to do better.
I'll be posting an event reminder for each of these as we approach, but I wanted to let all you New Englanders know about three events I've just posted on my site that will be over the next three months. One of these comes with a homework assignment! That's the Newton event: Newtonville Books has something they call "Celebrity Book Club" where a local author leads a discussion of a book written by someone else, often a classic. I've chosen Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in time for Halloween week. It's a good excuse to read or reread a terrific thriller that's had a huge impact on literature and pop culture. Everyone is welcome! Please note the other two events, in Worcester and in Salem, are fundraisers and so attendees do need to purchase tickets.
WORCESTER, MA
A reading, Q&A & signing
Matthew Pearl will appear with fellow authors Anita Diamant, Andre Dubus III, and Jock Herron
Thursday October 6, 2011, 7:00pm
A Celebration of Authors
Worcester Public Library
3 Salem Square
Worcester, MA
(508) 799-1656
note that tickets are required and all proceeds go to benefit the Worcester Public Library
NEWTON, MA
A special bookclub discussion
Matthew Pearl will facilitate a discussion of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson,Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Thursday October 20, 2011, 7:00pm
Celebrity Book Club
Newtonville Books
296 Walnut St.
Newtonville, MA
(617) 244-6619
everyone is welcome, though of course reading Jekyll and Hyde in advance is suggested; Newtonville Books will be offering copies at a discount
SALEM, MA
A reading, Q&A & signing
Matthew Pearl will speak about The Last Dickens
Saturday December 3, 2011, 1:30pm
Dickens bicentennial celebration
Hawthorne Hotel
18 Washington Square
Salem, MA
(978) 744-4080
note that tickets are required and all proceeds go to the Make-a-Wish foundation
I haven't been on top of keeping things updated here, but I'm going to try to do better.
I'll be posting an event reminder for each of these as we approach, but I wanted to let all you New Englanders know about three events I've just posted on my site that will be over the next three months. One of these comes with a homework assignment! That's the Newton event: Newtonville Books has something they call "Celebrity Book Club" where a local author leads a discussion of a book written by someone else, often a classic. I've chosen Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in time for Halloween week. It's a good excuse to read or reread a terrific thriller that's had a huge impact on literature and pop culture. Everyone is welcome! Please note the other two events, in Worcester and in Salem, are fundraisers and so attendees do need to purchase tickets.
WORCESTER, MA
A reading, Q&A & signing
Matthew Pearl will appear with fellow authors Anita Diamant, Andre Dubus III, and Jock Herron
Thursday October 6, 2011, 7:00pm
A Celebration of Authors
Worcester Public Library
3 Salem Square
Worcester, MA
(508) 799-1656
note that tickets are required and all proceeds go to benefit the Worcester Public Library
NEWTON, MA
A special bookclub discussion
Matthew Pearl will facilitate a discussion of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson,Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Thursday October 20, 2011, 7:00pm
Celebrity Book Club
Newtonville Books
296 Walnut St.
Newtonville, MA
(617) 244-6619
everyone is welcome, though of course reading Jekyll and Hyde in advance is suggested; Newtonville Books will be offering copies at a discount
SALEM, MA
A reading, Q&A & signing
Matthew Pearl will speak about The Last Dickens
Saturday December 3, 2011, 1:30pm
Dickens bicentennial celebration
Hawthorne Hotel
18 Washington Square
Salem, MA
(978) 744-4080
note that tickets are required and all proceeds go to the Make-a-Wish foundation
November 22, 2009
James James BoBames: The Historical Fiction Name Game
Writing historical fiction makes some things easier and some harder. Because some of your characters are likely historical, it saves you the trouble of thinking of names.
But sometimes you get stuck with the challenge of repetition. You would never intentionally name two or three characters Frank, for instance, unless that has a point in your story (most writers even avoid having characters whose names have the same first letter!). It would be a constant hassle for you and your readers to distinguish the characters in dialogue. It reminds me that when I was in law school, there were too many Matts (that's when I transitioned to Matthew, actually, so to family and pre-law school friends I'm still Matt). I sometimes hear expecting parents deliberate names based on whether too many people would have the same, though obviously not everyone is concerned with that. In The Dante Club, two of the members of the historical group of Dante translators were named James. Poet James Russell Lowell and Publisher James T. Fields. My solution was to refer to Fields only as J. T. Fields or just Fields.
Little did I know I'd have the same doubling with my third novel, The Last Dickens. This time I focus on the publishing house that is set to publish Dickens's final book. When Dickens dies, they must search for the ending of the novel before their adversaries beat them. The two partners in the firm? You got it, James and James. My old friend James T. Fields and his junior partner, James Ripley Osgood. I reused my "J. T. Fields" trick from The Dante Club, since Osgood is the true hero of the book.
For fictional characters, I sometimes make a name a tribute. In The Dante Club, I named fictional Patrolman Nicholas Rey after Octave Rey, a groundbreaking African-American policeman during reconstruction. In The Poe Shadow, Quentin Hobson Clark, the narrator and protagonist, is named after Faulkner's troubled Quentin Compson as well as superb Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn.
By the way, how nice it was in writing The Last Dickens to have a hero, an all around good guy, named Osgood. Here's where historical fiction works in your favor. If I had invented the name, I'd probably be accused of being too obvious, or too Dickensian.
Have you ever been around too many people with the same name, or your name?
But sometimes you get stuck with the challenge of repetition. You would never intentionally name two or three characters Frank, for instance, unless that has a point in your story (most writers even avoid having characters whose names have the same first letter!). It would be a constant hassle for you and your readers to distinguish the characters in dialogue. It reminds me that when I was in law school, there were too many Matts (that's when I transitioned to Matthew, actually, so to family and pre-law school friends I'm still Matt). I sometimes hear expecting parents deliberate names based on whether too many people would have the same, though obviously not everyone is concerned with that. In The Dante Club, two of the members of the historical group of Dante translators were named James. Poet James Russell Lowell and Publisher James T. Fields. My solution was to refer to Fields only as J. T. Fields or just Fields.
Little did I know I'd have the same doubling with my third novel, The Last Dickens. This time I focus on the publishing house that is set to publish Dickens's final book. When Dickens dies, they must search for the ending of the novel before their adversaries beat them. The two partners in the firm? You got it, James and James. My old friend James T. Fields and his junior partner, James Ripley Osgood. I reused my "J. T. Fields" trick from The Dante Club, since Osgood is the true hero of the book.
For fictional characters, I sometimes make a name a tribute. In The Dante Club, I named fictional Patrolman Nicholas Rey after Octave Rey, a groundbreaking African-American policeman during reconstruction. In The Poe Shadow, Quentin Hobson Clark, the narrator and protagonist, is named after Faulkner's troubled Quentin Compson as well as superb Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn.
By the way, how nice it was in writing The Last Dickens to have a hero, an all around good guy, named Osgood. Here's where historical fiction works in your favor. If I had invented the name, I'd probably be accused of being too obvious, or too Dickensian.
Have you ever been around too many people with the same name, or your name?
Pop quiz
Here is my latest guest post, at the blog Steele on Entertainment, a bit on the stranger side of writing. While you're there, please check around her blog and bookmark it. Thanks Amy!
http://www.steeleonentertainment.com/...
http://www.steeleonentertainment.com/...
Why I Never Read (at readings)
Here's a new guest post on the blog for Porter Square Books, a great indie bookstore in my area.
http://portersquarebooksblog.blogspot...
http://portersquarebooksblog.blogspot...
October 29, 2009
The Top Five Myths about Edgar Allan Poe
I have a new post on Huffington Post about the top five myths about Edgar Allan Poe.
Please check it out, and please post a comment if you have any on Huffington Post's page since this is my first post there.
Please check it out, and please post a comment if you have any on Huffington Post's page since this is my first post there.
Dickens and Chicago: A Host of Disagreeables
In my latest guest blog post, I give some details to the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row blog about the secret shame of the Dickens family buried in Chicago.
My writing space
In another guest post, I talk about creating my writing space. With photos!
Thanks to the hosting blog, Savvy Verse & Wit--poke around Serena's blog while you're there.
Thanks to the hosting blog, Savvy Verse & Wit--poke around Serena's blog while you're there.
Cut it out: the editor's role in The Last Dickens
I'm often asked what it's like working with an editor at a publishing house. So here are my thoughts in a guest post at the blog Beth Fish Reads. As with all my guest posts, thanks to the hosting blog, please check it out while you're there, and if you like what you see, bookmark it!
Win a postcard!
Grub Street is having an auction for postcards by authors. One of them is mine. Grub Street is "a non-profit creative writing center dedicated to nurturing writers". If you'd like to bid on my postcard, please go here and follow the instructions.
Writing & animals
The latest guest post for the publication of The Last Dickens is about the use of animals in storytelling. Check it out, and check out Musings of a Bookish Kitty while you're there!
