Irene Ziegler's Blog, page 20

In Which I Figure Out What to Say at my First Book Signing Event

One week from today, I leave for Ann Arbor, MI, where I'll be signing Ashes to Water at Aunt Agatha's Book Shop. I want to be pretty and witty and bright, but this is hardly enough time to get liposuction or a face lift. I can, however, work on my presentation.

In order for you to appreciate how important it is that I get this presentation right, allow me to set the scene. Thanks to a few VERY good friends and generous help from the alumni association at Eastern Michigan University, the people...

In Which I Figure Out What I've Spent So Far in Time and Money

Last week on #litchat (a Twitter group that takes place in a chatroom with other like minded lit types), the topic was on self-pubishing or "indie" publishing. (If there's a difference between the two, I don't know what it is. Anyway, a person in the chatroom kept asking others for specific ways to promote her book without spending money. She was sort of being ignored, so she direct-messaged me and asked me what I was doing to promote my book.

And it hit me.
Everything. I'm doing EVERYTHING...

Review of Ashes to Water from The Richmond Times Dispatch

Four mysteries with Richmond connections
By Staff Reports | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: June 27, 2010Buzz uMYSTERIES
Anyone who has lived in a small town knows that the Norman Rockwell veneer is just that -- an idyllic façade covering a multitude of sins.
Richmond actress, playwright and author Irene Zieg ler, who was raised in Florida, peels the surface away in her first novel, Ashes to Water (394 pages, Five Star, $25.95).
Annie Bartlett grew up on a lake...

In Which We Discuss the Elements of a Scene

I got to spend some time with Valley Haggard this week. Lucky me. We met at Becky's and over coffee and chocolate chip scones, talked about Ashes to Water for an article Valley is writing. The barista was watching USA vs Algeria on his laptop, but we got him to snap a quick pic before Landon Donovan performed his now historic miracle.

Valley also runs the Writing Show, a monthly program sponsored by James River Writers, and fueled by Valley's creative energy, which is formidable in a way most...

In Which Aunt Agatha's Book Shop Recommends Ashes to Water

ASHES TO WATER, by Irene Ziegler (Five Star, $25.95), recommended by Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's, Ann Arbor, MI, www.auntagathas.com < http://www.auntagathas.com/ > :

I had no expectations when I picked up Irene Ziegler's book Ashes to Water, but I was very pleasantly surprised as I read more of her fine first novel.  It's a flat-out good read, with great...

In Which I'm Interviewed by Intern'l Thriller Magazine

Ashes To Water by Irene Ziegler
By Debra Webb

Wow! I'm very pleased to be talking to Irene Ziegler this month about her new book, Ashes to Water, from Five Star Publications.

Ashes to Water explores a very emotional situation with a protagonist who must make a very difficult decision. Please share your journey of how this plotline came to you and developed.

Let me start by saying thank you so much for your interest. Ashes to Water is my debut novel, and while it stands alone, it continues the story of Annie Bartlett who grows up in my collection of linked short stories, Rules of the Lake, both set in Florida. In Ashes to Water, Annie returns to her small home town to bury her father, who has been murdered. His girlfriend, accused of the crime, is in jail awaiting trial. Annie finds reasons to fight for the woman's innocence even though a not-guilty verdict would have a devastating effect on her erratic and unwell sister, Leigh.

The plot line came to me while I was performing a heart transplant.

Kidding.

I think it came to me when a good friend was going through a divorce, and his teenage daughters didn't talk to him for about three years. When I saw how their estrangement was killing him, I thought how easily time might get away from those girls, until one day, after they realized that life is complicated and love is messy, their dad might not be there anymore. I thought how profoundly sad that would be for them, to have missed out on that relationship. So I put Annie and Leigh in that situation, and played it out. The theme of difficult family relationships and the struggle to forge a lasting peace with loved ones soon began taking shape and posing interesting questions. Is blood always thicker than water? In morally ambiguous situations, where do loyalties lie?


What was the hardest part of writing this protagonist?
I didn't want Annie to be a goodie-goodie. Annie makes some bad choices under pressure, and I knew this might turn some readers off, but I'm not interested in fictional worlds where true love always triumphs, and right and wrong are never painted in shades of gray. So that was hard; making Annie both human and sympathetic.

And what an outstanding job you did! Pinckney Benedict said of your novel: A marvelously accomplished first novel, and a pitch-perfect literary thriller. What a fantastic review! Please share your writing journey. When did you decide to write? Did you begin with screen plays then novels? Was acting your first love?

If I go back as far as grade school, writing was my first love, but acting was my first profession. I'm lucky in that my two artistic passions fuel one another. I create characters I'd love to portray, put words in their mouths I'd love to say, make them tall and skinny with straight white teeth. Very empowering.

Like many a student of creative writing, I began with short stories, and still love reading them. In fact, I produce an event that features short stories written by Virginia writers called Virginia Arts & Letters LIVE. I've never written a screenplay, but I have written two plays, (one a winner of the Mary Roberts Rinehart award), and have begun a third. If you know a theatre producer looking for a good 8-woman comedy with a simple unit set, send her/him my way.

I'd love to hear more about the work you do with Virginia Arts and Letters LIVE.

Thanks! It's a neat event. If you're familiar with NPR's broadcast of "Selected Shorts", you'll see the ideas I ripped off...I mean, the ideas that influenced me. VALL features Virginia actors reading short stories by Virginia writers, accompanied by Virginia musicians. It's an annual event now in its seventh year. Pat Carroll (so wonderful as the voice of Ursula in "The Little Mermaid") will guest host in October, and read "The Happy Memories Club," by Lee Smith, a story, not so coincidentally, about writing.

What are you working on next? Please include your next novel.

The next novel is another Annie Bartlett mystery/thriller, The Face of the Deep (water is a major, recurring symbol in my work). And I'm working on a play, Miss Palmer's School of Penmanship and Civil Behavior. It's about penmanship and civil behavior.


Debra Webb wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn't until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain and within the confining political Walls of Berlin, Germany, that she realized her true calling. A five-year stint with NASA on the Space Shuttle Program reinforced her love of the endless possibilities within her grasp as a storyteller. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Debra has been writing romantic suspense and action packed romantic thrillers since.

In Which I Become an Excellent Parallel Parker

An ex-boyfriend taught me how to parallel park. This same ex-boyfriend also taught me how to hand roll a tight spliff, but my father reads my blog, so this will be about parallel parking. (Hi, Dad. Cough.)
If you went to high school when I did, you probably learned to parallel park from overweight football coaches, and what a fine job they did, too! Perhaps football players respond well to humiliation, but when large men yell and threaten to bump me off the honor roll, I tend to go catatonic.
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In Which You Get to Meet Michael Bailey

I met Michael Bailey when we were both at Eastern Michigan University. I was getting an M.A. in Dramatic Arts; he was finishing a B.A. in theatre and English lit. When his kids were little, Michael supported his young family doing stand-up comedy. He was REALLY good, the only comic I'd seen who combined in his routines poetry, theatrics and a fiercely optimistic world view. He eventually left stand-up for the more stressful and equally lucrative field of teaching. When we re-connected many...

In Which I Contemplate Writing About Things I Know Absolutely Nothing About

 I've begun researching a new book, in which the main conflict plays out around an open adoption. I don't know jack about adoption, which is very inconvenient, but there I am. A friend introduced me to a LCSW I'll call Pam, who was the executive director of an adoption agency in town.  She agreed to meet me for coffee and answer a few questions.

I wished to understand the details surrounding the adoption process from the social worker's POV, which is of most interest to me. I asked Pam if the ...

In Which I Post My TV/Film Demo

Some TV and film stuff I've done.Ta da.


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