Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 39
March 31, 2011
March 30, 2011
March 28, 2011
Eight Ways of Looking at a Question
Interviewers always seem to want to know: How much of Shiva's Arms is autobiographical? Here are a few ways I've answered the question ---
1) Everything and nothing – the irony of literary fiction since Flaubert ! The set up, unsuitable American bride marries Hindu NRI , parallels my life. But the characters are fictional, not portraits of people I know, although some may fancy they see themselves in the story. After all, it speaks to a universal conflict. Everyone known an Amma, right?
2) Only the broad outlines were drawn from my life--American girl marries Hindu Brahmin. The characters and their struggles grew organically out of the story as it developed through several years of revisions. My own truth, being stranger than fiction, wouldn't necessarily have fit in with the themes, motifs, and symbolism of the book. Fictional truth is so much more malleable.
3) It's fiction. I gave my characters qualities of certain people, or put them through experiences drawn from life. The little Ganesh on the chain Amma gave to Alice is modeled after the one my own mother-in-law sent to me, for example. She melted down her marriage bangles for a daughter-in-law she never met. Amma would never have done that!
4) I had just married a South Indian when an Indian family moved in next door to us. Suddenly I was immersed in the culture from all sides. I had a bird's eye view of the neighbors' lives as immigrants, and the walls between our townhouses were thin enough so I could even hear what they argued about. Before I knew it, I had been pulled into samsara, the important householder stage.
Armed with the basics of acceptable behavior—don't touch the men, no shoes in the house, have a fry pan uncontaminated by meat handy-- there were still an overwhelming number of ambiguities to sift through, from the comic head-shaking that looked like No but meant Yes, to the serious conflict between freedom and family. I began to imagine a novel built on the swirl of relationships around me.
5) I gave Alice my long hair and quirky fashion sense, and Ram inherited my husband's job; but Shiva's Arms is no roman a clef. Didn't Flannery O'Connor remind us that the novel is an art form, and when you use it for anything other than art, you pervert it? I am not Alice, although I know her very well.
6) The characters and the trouble I get them in are all fictional. While I was composing, I'd assign tics of people I knew to my characters, mostly for my own amusement, but also to help me find a reaction to a made-up situation that would ring true. "I like to put real toads in my imaginary garden," the great poet Emily D. once said.
I liken shaping a narrative to sculpting. (I know, I know –more metaphor!) With each revision, I chip away at what is NOT the statue, until each character emerges as itself, with its own reality and fictional truth. Each detail of a character has to earn its place, so in the end, there's little overlap with actual people. The types sure are familiar, though! Don't we all know an Amma, sari or no sari?
7) The action in the story certainly could have happened to me, if I had married a more traditional guy. In our social circle, there are plenty of attitudes similar to those I write about, and I've witnessed the results in real life, from my place as observer.
8) My book went through so many changes, the details I drew from life were more often objects rather than people or actual events. But it is funny when people go from "you'd better not talk about that!" to "let me tell you exactly the way that happened," isn't it?
How do you answer the How Much of Your Story is True question?
1) Everything and nothing – the irony of literary fiction since Flaubert ! The set up, unsuitable American bride marries Hindu NRI , parallels my life. But the characters are fictional, not portraits of people I know, although some may fancy they see themselves in the story. After all, it speaks to a universal conflict. Everyone known an Amma, right?
2) Only the broad outlines were drawn from my life--American girl marries Hindu Brahmin. The characters and their struggles grew organically out of the story as it developed through several years of revisions. My own truth, being stranger than fiction, wouldn't necessarily have fit in with the themes, motifs, and symbolism of the book. Fictional truth is so much more malleable.
3) It's fiction. I gave my characters qualities of certain people, or put them through experiences drawn from life. The little Ganesh on the chain Amma gave to Alice is modeled after the one my own mother-in-law sent to me, for example. She melted down her marriage bangles for a daughter-in-law she never met. Amma would never have done that!
4) I had just married a South Indian when an Indian family moved in next door to us. Suddenly I was immersed in the culture from all sides. I had a bird's eye view of the neighbors' lives as immigrants, and the walls between our townhouses were thin enough so I could even hear what they argued about. Before I knew it, I had been pulled into samsara, the important householder stage.
Armed with the basics of acceptable behavior—don't touch the men, no shoes in the house, have a fry pan uncontaminated by meat handy-- there were still an overwhelming number of ambiguities to sift through, from the comic head-shaking that looked like No but meant Yes, to the serious conflict between freedom and family. I began to imagine a novel built on the swirl of relationships around me.
5) I gave Alice my long hair and quirky fashion sense, and Ram inherited my husband's job; but Shiva's Arms is no roman a clef. Didn't Flannery O'Connor remind us that the novel is an art form, and when you use it for anything other than art, you pervert it? I am not Alice, although I know her very well.
6) The characters and the trouble I get them in are all fictional. While I was composing, I'd assign tics of people I knew to my characters, mostly for my own amusement, but also to help me find a reaction to a made-up situation that would ring true. "I like to put real toads in my imaginary garden," the great poet Emily D. once said.
I liken shaping a narrative to sculpting. (I know, I know –more metaphor!) With each revision, I chip away at what is NOT the statue, until each character emerges as itself, with its own reality and fictional truth. Each detail of a character has to earn its place, so in the end, there's little overlap with actual people. The types sure are familiar, though! Don't we all know an Amma, sari or no sari?
7) The action in the story certainly could have happened to me, if I had married a more traditional guy. In our social circle, there are plenty of attitudes similar to those I write about, and I've witnessed the results in real life, from my place as observer.
8) My book went through so many changes, the details I drew from life were more often objects rather than people or actual events. But it is funny when people go from "you'd better not talk about that!" to "let me tell you exactly the way that happened," isn't it?
How do you answer the How Much of Your Story is True question?
March 26, 2011
Forever Will End On Thursday
Just about to dive into Nic Sebastian's new poetry collection, Forever Will End On Thursday. These edgy portraits of missed connection, "places of happiness," and dysfunction are offered in several different formats -- MP3,CD, free PDF, an at-cost print version -- published by Lordly Dish Nanopress. Read about the history and inner workings of the new publishing paradigm here.
March 25, 2011
Flannery O'Connor
Since it's her birthday, I thought you might like a few of her memorable quotes:
Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.
I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.
It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.
It seems that the fiction writer has a revolting attachment to the poor, for even when he writes about the rich, he is more concerned with what they lack than with what they have.
Manners are of such great consequence to the novelist that any kind will do. Bad manners are better than no manners at all, and because we are losing our customary manners, we are probably overly conscious of them; this seems to be a condition that produces writers.
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.
The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location.
Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/aut...
Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.
I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.
It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.
It seems that the fiction writer has a revolting attachment to the poor, for even when he writes about the rich, he is more concerned with what they lack than with what they have.
Manners are of such great consequence to the novelist that any kind will do. Bad manners are better than no manners at all, and because we are losing our customary manners, we are probably overly conscious of them; this seems to be a condition that produces writers.
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.
The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location.
Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/aut...
March 24, 2011
Houdini's Women
I forbade them to speak to each other
across the quarrel of edges that is this box.
I have enough knots to untangle. I hear
stilettos scrape the floor as they pirouette,
for an audience holding its breath.
To thwart the next step, I could refuse
to move a corpuscle. Every escape has drawbacks—
last minute wing-beats in the ears, a lung
collapsed or drowning. The women, black-veiled,
would turn to each other with proof that my exit
had not been easy, and with a rattle of keys,
break down the locks put between us.
(first appeared in Whistling Shade)
March 23, 2011
Interview
Q Welcome to Cheryl. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Shiva's Arms. I enjoyed it immensely and feel I also learnt something from the reading experience.
Before reading Shiva's Arms I had assumed the subject matter would lend itself most to a female audience. I was surprised to find there was something in there for female and male, young and old. Did you write Shiva's Arms with a particular audience in mind?
A I never write with an audience in mind. I find it hobbles my progress into the story. There are false starts, and it takes a steely attitude to 'kill your darlings' in order to find the work's true voice.
Q Shiva's Arms is a story that has meaning and message on multiple levels. At what level did you first form your story – broad symbolism or character/plot driven?
A The elements all work in tandem, shifting and slippery as they might be.When I wanted to explore the stage of life called sanyasi, when a person "goes into the forest" and renounces the world in preparation for death (and his next birth), I needed a metaphor to underscore that. I thought the ache that underscores an act of immigration would be a good match. And I needed people to dramatize these themes, so the Sambashivan family was scribbled into being. It's a juggling act sometimes.
Q How long did you spend working on this novel before approaching publishers? Was it difficult to find a publisher that suited the message you wanted to convey?
A Literary fiction is always a hard sell, but I didn't have much trouble getting publishers' interest in Shiva's Arms. The manuscript had placed in every contest I'd sent it to, so that was encouraging, and I worked on it for a few years before I submitted it to a publishing company.
The first publisher I sent it to accepted it, but the business folded before the ink was dry on my contract. The second publisher decided after accepting it that co-publishing was the way to go, but I didn't agree. so that fell through. The third time was the charm.
Q What was the editing process like? How close is what we read today to your original story/vision?
A My editor liked the power struggle between Alice and Amma and suggested that I make Alice's story the focus. Earlier versions of the book spanned several generations of the Sambashivans and focused more on broader, more sociological themes. The story you read is more intimate, and I was able to transplant most of the good bits into it.
Q A high percentage of readers that have entered my giveaway of a copy of Shiva's Arms currently reside in India or countries in that geographic region – does that surprise you at all?
A Not really. One of my husband's childhood friends said my book made him homesick for India, and he enjoyed that sensation!. The brain may crave novelty, but we are drawn to the familiar, aren't we? I still get a little thrill when I see DC monuments on TV shows, just because I know them "personally" and they represent Home.
Q What made you decide to write your first novel, having specialised in poetry to date?
A I've always written short stories as well as poetry. In fact, Shiva's Arms began as a short story, so to develop it was an organic natural thing. I like to switch genres in my writing life – it's my talisman against writer's block, and the disciplines nourish one another.
Q Other than promoting this book release, what is the next project you are working on? Another novel/subject matter?
A Yes, I've got a novel featuring Nela, and I'm making progress on a third. I guess I've got a little series going! I'm also working on another collection of stories, with quirky post- modern characters and an edgier sensibility.
Thanks Cheryl. I look forward to reading your next work published!
(previously published in
Booklover Book Reviews
Before reading Shiva's Arms I had assumed the subject matter would lend itself most to a female audience. I was surprised to find there was something in there for female and male, young and old. Did you write Shiva's Arms with a particular audience in mind?
A I never write with an audience in mind. I find it hobbles my progress into the story. There are false starts, and it takes a steely attitude to 'kill your darlings' in order to find the work's true voice.
Q Shiva's Arms is a story that has meaning and message on multiple levels. At what level did you first form your story – broad symbolism or character/plot driven?
A The elements all work in tandem, shifting and slippery as they might be.When I wanted to explore the stage of life called sanyasi, when a person "goes into the forest" and renounces the world in preparation for death (and his next birth), I needed a metaphor to underscore that. I thought the ache that underscores an act of immigration would be a good match. And I needed people to dramatize these themes, so the Sambashivan family was scribbled into being. It's a juggling act sometimes.
Q How long did you spend working on this novel before approaching publishers? Was it difficult to find a publisher that suited the message you wanted to convey?
A Literary fiction is always a hard sell, but I didn't have much trouble getting publishers' interest in Shiva's Arms. The manuscript had placed in every contest I'd sent it to, so that was encouraging, and I worked on it for a few years before I submitted it to a publishing company.
The first publisher I sent it to accepted it, but the business folded before the ink was dry on my contract. The second publisher decided after accepting it that co-publishing was the way to go, but I didn't agree. so that fell through. The third time was the charm.
Q What was the editing process like? How close is what we read today to your original story/vision?
A My editor liked the power struggle between Alice and Amma and suggested that I make Alice's story the focus. Earlier versions of the book spanned several generations of the Sambashivans and focused more on broader, more sociological themes. The story you read is more intimate, and I was able to transplant most of the good bits into it.
Q A high percentage of readers that have entered my giveaway of a copy of Shiva's Arms currently reside in India or countries in that geographic region – does that surprise you at all?
A Not really. One of my husband's childhood friends said my book made him homesick for India, and he enjoyed that sensation!. The brain may crave novelty, but we are drawn to the familiar, aren't we? I still get a little thrill when I see DC monuments on TV shows, just because I know them "personally" and they represent Home.
Q What made you decide to write your first novel, having specialised in poetry to date?
A I've always written short stories as well as poetry. In fact, Shiva's Arms began as a short story, so to develop it was an organic natural thing. I like to switch genres in my writing life – it's my talisman against writer's block, and the disciplines nourish one another.
Q Other than promoting this book release, what is the next project you are working on? Another novel/subject matter?
A Yes, I've got a novel featuring Nela, and I'm making progress on a third. I guess I've got a little series going! I'm also working on another collection of stories, with quirky post- modern characters and an edgier sensibility.
Thanks Cheryl. I look forward to reading your next work published!
(previously published in
Booklover Book Reviews
March 22, 2011
FAQ
Writers all need a one sentence summary of their book to hook a publisher. What was your elevator pitch for Shiva's Arms?
Will the power struggle between a Brahmin matriarch and her American daughter-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney?
What if the elevator stops between floors?
I'd add this: when Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law. Namesake of a god, Amma reigns over Alice's household until a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything. It is up to Alice to heal the rift, as Shiva's Arms opens into an exploration on cultural identity, the power of reconciliation, and the meaning of home.
How do you negotiate with those in your real life when portions of them appear in your work?
Deny, deny, deny. After all, everyone knows an Amma, an Alice, a Ram, so if a person thinks they see a bit of themselves floating around my pages I chalk it up to a guilty conscience.
What's something your readers might not know about you?
Let's see. Do they know that I've played the piano with a symphony orchestra? A law in physics bears my family name? That a boat was named after me?
Describe yourself in three words
Fluent in subtext.
The imagery you create of India is amazing! How many times have you been there?
India came to me in the form of my husband, his friends and relations. I did plenty of research however –read the books, cooked the cuisine, learned a bit of the language, celebrated the feasts, fasts, and festivals.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." (Samuel Beckett)
What is your true subject?
In all my work, the past is present, and the future is, too. Outside or within the mortal there is always the immortal. That conflation is my true subject.
Will the power struggle between a Brahmin matriarch and her American daughter-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney?
What if the elevator stops between floors?
I'd add this: when Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law. Namesake of a god, Amma reigns over Alice's household until a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything. It is up to Alice to heal the rift, as Shiva's Arms opens into an exploration on cultural identity, the power of reconciliation, and the meaning of home.
How do you negotiate with those in your real life when portions of them appear in your work?
Deny, deny, deny. After all, everyone knows an Amma, an Alice, a Ram, so if a person thinks they see a bit of themselves floating around my pages I chalk it up to a guilty conscience.
What's something your readers might not know about you?
Let's see. Do they know that I've played the piano with a symphony orchestra? A law in physics bears my family name? That a boat was named after me?
Describe yourself in three words
Fluent in subtext.
The imagery you create of India is amazing! How many times have you been there?
India came to me in the form of my husband, his friends and relations. I did plenty of research however –read the books, cooked the cuisine, learned a bit of the language, celebrated the feasts, fasts, and festivals.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." (Samuel Beckett)
What is your true subject?
In all my work, the past is present, and the future is, too. Outside or within the mortal there is always the immortal. That conflation is my true subject.
