Melissa Lenhardt's Blog, page 2

Newsletter News & Other Odds and Ends

This blog title reminds me of the Committee on Committees that my dad was on one time at church. But, seriously! There’s news about my newsletter! Click here to read the latest one. If you’re interested in getting a chatty, informal, and brief newsletter in your inbox every two weeks, subscribe here.

In other news:

HERESY is on sale for $2.99 across all digital platforms for the next THREE DAYS ONLY! It’s a great beach read! Trust me! Click on the “view price” button to pick which digital platform you prefer.

That link takes you to Book Bub. Are you familiar with Book Bub? It’s this great website that lets you know when digital book deals are happening. You can follow authors you love and see what books they recommend. You can recommend your own books. (You can also follow me, if you like. I’m working on adding book recommendations of my own.) But, most importantly - DEALS! Fill up your e-reader for the dog days of summer!

I should have linked to this in my newsletter, but I forgot. Barnes & Noble has been bought out by a hedge fund. That’s not always good news, but it really might be in this case. They’ve tapped James Daunt, of Daunt Books and recently the big Waterstones (England) turnaround. Daunt’s objective: make B&N more like independent bookstores and give the booksellers the ability to craft their inventory to the community it’s in. It’s been trendy the last few years to encourage readers to purchase books from independent bookstores. You totally should! But, we shouldn’t forget Barnes & Noble. As the only large bookstore left in the country, it’s success is critical to the health and profitability of the publishing industry. Read the entire article, for sure, but here’s the crux:

“Support your local corporate behemoth bookstore” may sound like an odd rallying cry. But Mutter notes that the fate of the entire book industry is intertwined with that of Barnes & Noble. “If B&N disappeared, publishers and wholesalers would have so many fewer brick-and-mortar stores to sell to, which would mean all kinds of cutbacks in sales, marketing, distribution, warehouses, etc., that service indies and B&N,” he says. In other words: Everyone who wants the US to have a thriving book trade should be rooting for Barnes & Noble to stick around.

So, buy your books from IndieBound or Barnes & Noble.

Not just another voting essay.

When Colorado became a state in 1876, there was a provision in the state’s constitution that women’s suffrage could become law through a popular referendum, which only required a majority vote, instead of a constitutional amendment, which required two-thirds, as well as the promise the referendum would take place within a year. In 1877, the referendum came to a vote and the suffragists lost.

“Although they put up a good fight during the 1877 referendum campaign, suffragists in the new State of Colorado had only established their Colorado Woman Suffrage Association the year before and did not have a broad base of organized support upon which to draw. Instead, they relied upon the efforts of a relatively small group of activists, including prominent national suffrage leaders and organizers—which did not go over so well with local Coloradans.”

— Why Did Colorado Suffragists Fail to Win the Right to Vote in 1877, but Succeed in 1893?

The suffragists regrouped and reorganized, creating coalitions of supporters across Colorado society. Still, it took sixteen years for the referendum to get on the ballot again. This time, due to better organization, a clear message, a unified national suffrage movement, the support of newspapers and multiple organizations, and an uncertain economy with voters willing to “try something new”, the referendum passed 55-45. It was the first case of women’s suffrage being approved by popular vote instead of legislatively.

Why am I telling this story? I’m not trying to draw any sort parallel to today’s US election. This election is unique in American history, in my opinion. But, I do think some of the lessons learned by the Colorado suffragists in 1877 that led to success in 1893 will be borne out today.

Politics is local.

It’s telling that one of the mistakes the 1877 referendum made was bringing in outsiders to pitch their cause. Of course, this was 1877, the end of reconstruction, and the country was tired as hell with outsiders coming in and telling them everything they were doing wrong. (In the case of the Southern states, they needed to be told, and they should have listened, but that’s another essay.) Even now, people look askew at outsiders. The 1893 referendum succeeded with a focus on local grassroots support.

If the 2016 election did anything, it was motivate grassroots organizing. I would say look to the results in Texas for proof that focus on running locally instead of nationally will make a difference. But, I live in Texas and I know what lengths the GOP state leaders have gone to to repress the votes of minorities and the poor. Instead, look to Florida, where Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson are focusing on state issues, especially climate change.

Candidates with a clear message will win.

In the 1893 referendum, the suffragists focused on two ideas that seem contradictory, but are not. One, is that women are equal to men and should be afforded the same voting rights as men. The second is that women are different than men and would bring their expertise from the home and allow them to extend their care-taking abilities by voting to help reform society. In short, they played the gender card and actually won. No word on if men realized women were inferring they didn’t have the morality required to reform society.

I’ve seen Beto speak three times now and he is nothing if not focused on a message that more unites us than separates us, civility, and working together for a common good. His policy ideas are progressive, and unapologetically so. He hasn’t shied away from answering tough questions, and his answers to those questions increased his support, contrary to what consultants and talking heads would have told you.

Candidates who don’t deviate from their message will win.

Though their message was apparently contradictory, the suffragists didn’t shy away from it. Democrats across the country (except in states Trump won) are doing the same. They are sticking to progressive ideas and policies when common sense would have them move to the middle to snatch some left leaning republicans. It’s almost as if they’ve realized they shouldn’t be going after those people, but instead are going after the people who agree with their policies and don’t typically vote, such as 18-29 year olds. The voting participation of that group is way up from other elections, so it’s working. Here’s hoping the Dems see that as a new way forward, and keep the momentum in the 2020 elections.

Building coalitions is critical to winning elections.

The left is full of different groups rowing the same way now. The goal is to create a check on Trump, try to defeat him in 2020, and possibly win back Congress, too. I think it can be done; everyone is pretty fired up. The test will be how well all these factions work together when that happens.

Sometimes, there needs to be a disaster to wake people up.

The disaster in 1893 was an economic turndown. The disaster in 1932 was a deepening of the Depression. The disaster in 2008 was the Great Recession and the Bush wars. All economic based. This year it’s different. The economy is doing well. The disaster is Trump and the GOP and the very real threat of our country turning into a fascist, authoritarian, minority rule government. Voter participation will be off the charts, which means that Trump, Pence, Sessions and every republican secretary of state that Dems win will cry voter fraud. (They’ve already planted the seed.) I’ve believed for over a year that there is a real chance that the true constitutional crisis will start tomorrow, the day after the election. I hope I’m wrong, but that is my biggest fear.

If that happens we all need to be up to challenging it. Our ancestors worked too hard to earn everyone the right to vote for one political party to try to hijack a free and fair election because they’ve lost. Vote today to make your voice heard, and be ready tomorrow to keep yelling.

The 1877 referendum is the frame for my novel, HERESY. While the success or failure of the referendum doesn’t affect the story, it is used to show how women were fighting against the patriarchal society in the public sphere, while my characters were fighting against it in the private sphere.

Today, I'm celebrating all of the people who helped me create HERESY.

Today isn’t about me selling you a book. Today is about me celebrating an accomplishment with the dozens of people who made this book possible. Writing might be a solitary pursuit, but no books would be on a bookstore, library, or personal bookshelf without the work of many, many people. Today, I salute and celebrate each and every one of you and say thank you for all you do.

Acknowledgments

It’s nothing short of a miracle this book is out in the world today. This was a difficult book to write, for many reasons, some of which have to do with writing, some of which do not. There were many times I thought about quitting, about giving back my advance and admitting the story was too big for me, that I wasn’t good enough, that I was beaten. Basically, I suffered from imposter syndrome for most of the year I spent writing Heresy.

Well, guess what? I won. This book is a big middle finger to imposter syndrome, among other things, and, in the end, it’s my best work to date.

I didn’t do it alone.

Thanks to my agent, Alice Spielburg, for being my biggest champion.

Thanks to Lindsey Hall, Anne Clarke, Tim Holman and the Orbit/Redhook team for having faith in me that I could deliver this book based on a very thin idea. I can admit now how very thin this idea was. Razor thin. Almost nonexistent. Hence the Year of Difficulties. Their belief in me, not wanting to let them down, is what made me keep going.

Thanks to Bradley Englert for picking up my little orphan and offering wonderful editorial insight, and for loving it as much as I do. Thanks also to Ellen Wright for being the best publicist in the world.

Thanks to my tribe of writers and pub professionals, who pick up the phone and answer my calls and texts and listen to everything from my “I don’t have a process! Why don’t I have a process yet!” rants (Brooke Fossey) to all my crazy plot ideas (Jenny Martin) to “This book is going to kill me. Will you be sad?” (Mark Hoover) to “Remind me when I have a Great Idea to keep it to myself” (Kendel Lynn/Lindsey Hall/Alice Spielburg). Thanks, too, to everyone at DFW Writers’ Workshop and Sisters in Crime North Dallas for keeping me motivated.

Thanks to historian Laura Ruttum Senturia for your invaluable help with Colorado history, to Ashlee Clark Thompson for help with the representation of Hattie LaCour, to Mark Hoover for your constant love and support and being the best first reader a writer could ask for.

Thank you to all the readers who have reached out to me, excited about my work and eager for this book. I hope the wait has been worth it! To Suehyla El—Attar, Suzanne Owen, Christy Ramirez, Diane Fenci, Jennifer Mason—Black, Blake Leyers, Carin Thrum, Heather Wheat, Terry Matthews, the Winnsboro Book Club and all of my other friends who have offered support in various ways in the last year.

To my extended family for loving me, believing in me and looking past my faults and our differences to the soul beneath.

Last, but never, ever least, to Jay, Ryan and Jack. Whenever things are darkest, I look to you three—my beacons, my true north—on the other side of the doubt, the challenges and the setbacks, and know that your love is there, waiting to embrace me.

About Heresy:

They were the first and only all-female gang in the American West. Though the newspapers refuse to give them credit, their exploits don't go unnoticed. Now, they've got a rival male gang on their trail and an old score to settle.

Margaret Parker and Hattie LaCour never intended to turn outlaw.

After being run off their ranch by a greedy cattleman, their family is left destitute. As women alone they have few choices: marriage, lying on their backs for money, or holding a gun. For Margaret and Hattie the choice is simple. With their small makeshift family, the gang pulls off a series of heists across the West.

Though the newspapers refuse to give the female gang credit, their exploits don't go unnoticed. Pinkertons are on their trail, a rival male gang is determined to destroy them, and secrets among the group threaten to tear them apart. Now, Margaret and Hattie must find a way to protect their family, finish one last job, and avoid the hangman's noose.

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Read the first chapter of HERESY!

With the US holiday weekend coming up, I thought I'd share the first chapter of my upcoming novel, HERESY, with my readers! Happy reading, and please share this with your book loving friends and family!

Leave a comment on this post, or on social media, to let me know what you think, and/or ask me questions!

HERESY will be released on 10/2/18. I will be doing book events in Dallas, Houston, Austin, & Asheville, North Carolina. Check the events page of my website or my Facebook Author Page.

Pre-order link to Malaprops Books below the chapter.

 

Buy local when you can. When you can't, use IndieBound.

 

Pre-Order a Personalized/Signed copy of Heresy

HERESY available on Net Galley

Hi Book Reviewers & Bloggers! HERESY is now available to request on Net Galley!

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo...

Go forth and request, read & review!

Mel

I'm on a reading binge. Here are five books I've read and loved so far this year.

I go through reading droughts. Last year was a particularly bad one. I started and put down many more books than I finished. Part of the reason was I was writing HERESY and most of the time when I'm in the writing weeds, I feel guilty taking time to read. I need to be working! But, there's also another issue I've had since becoming a professional writer: it's tough to read for enjoyment anymore. I'm too busy 1) figuring out the ending 2) wondering why the writer made a particular choice 3) lamenting that an editor swallowed their red pencil, especially for Big Name Writers. It's tough to get lost in a book once you know how the sausage gets made.

This year has been different. First, I'm not working on a book at the moment. Oh, sure. I've started a couple of projects but can't seem to stop procrastinating long enough to make much progress. So, I've been reading and listening to audio books. Below are five that stood out.

(Links below support independent bookstores. Buy from local bookstores where you can. This is why.)

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal; narrated by Meera Syal (womens fiction/audiobook)

Firstly, believe this title. It does not lie. Second, this book was an incredibly enjoyable listen. Meera Syal gives a great performance and the writing is sharp. I'm trying to read outside my culture as well as marginalized voices, and this book was a great look inside London Punjabi culture.

The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell (Non-fiction/WWII)

We've all heard about the Nazi looting of priceless artwork, but the looting and destruction of Europe's libraries and literary inheritance have been largely overlooked. This book was enthralling, fascinating, horrifying and disturbing. A must-read for lovers of WWII history and historical fiction (though this is non-fiction).

The Underground Railroad by Coleson Whitehead

 

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent; Narrated by Morven Christie (historical fiction/audiobook)

I've wanted to read this book for years and I decided to listen to it because I knew I would butcher the Icelandic language in inner monologue, and I was so glad I did. Morven Christie is phenomenal. Her alto voice gives necessary gravity to the subject - the last execution in Iceland. You need to listen to this novel. Give it a few chapters. It'll be well worth it.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (romance)

I've been on a romance kick since I bought a Julia Quinn novel at a second-hand bookstore on vacation. I'd seen this book all over social media and read it based on the recommendation of Miss Haley on Twitter. I'm so glad I did. This book is pretty darn sexy for upmarket romance, though in all fairness, I haven't read upmarket romance in a long time. Is that even a genre? Maybe not. I'm calling it upmarket romance. Anyway. The heroine is on the spectrum and the hero has a full body dragon tattoo wrapping itself around his torso. Sold.

For a full list of books I've read this year, visit my Goodreads bookshelf

While you're over there, feel free to add my upcoming novel, Heresy, to your Want to Read shelf!

 

Sally Hawkins deserves the Best Actress Oscar

Full disclosure: this movie did not appeal to me until it started getting Oscar buzz. A mute woman falls in love with a fishman? There's nothing about that that intrigued me. Then I heard Sally Hawkins was the star. Yeah, I like her a lot. Octavia Spenser as her best friend? Richard Jenkins? Michael Stuhlberg. Michael Shannon? Okay, fishman love story, why do you have to pull me in like that?

My friend, Suzanne and I took ourselves to the movies Tuesday to see this because there was no way our husbands would walk into that theater. You either like this kind of story or you don't. And, a few years ago I'd kinda sorta tricked them into seeing a subtitled movie and I'm not sure they trust my judgment 100%. Suz, well, she's game for anything. So, off we went.

The movie was beautiful. The set direction stood out without being distracting. The ongoing motifs (the color green) and callbacks (advertising art) were ridiculously satisfying and fun. It was grounded in our past, but it was also a comical idealized version (Michael Shannon's character at home with his family). The acting, of course, was superb throughout. It was also a little gross and bloody. 

And, the love story? The only way that was believable was because of Sally Hawkins. I'm sure Frances McDormand will win the Oscar, but I've seen both performances in the last week and I'm here to tell you that every single A-List actress could sell that female rage since November 8, 2016. But, making you fall in love with a merman? That's all fucking Sally Hawkins.

Give Sally Hawkins All the Oscars. She's brilliant.

Definitely worth your time.

 

Distract me, please - What I read, watched and listened to this week

Last week was all about publicity/marketing and researching a potential writing project. It's astounding how much time the non-writing part of writing takes up on a weekly basis. But, it all needs to be done, by me, until I can make enough money to pay someone to do it. So, buy my books or leave a review. Those are the top two ways to support an author. Any author you love.

But, I still found time to fill my entertainment bucket.

 TV & MoviesJessica Jones (Netflix)

I'm over two years late to this party, but am enjoying the hell out of a series about a complex female heroine. Jessica Jones could be considered an anti-heroine, not that she's inherently bad (she's not) or that she's a female stand-in for a bunch of male characteristics. But, she does subvert the female heroine cliche in that she doesn't try to make people like her. Her driving motivation for the first season is to help people who have been harmed by Kilgrave because of her. Guilt more than an inherent sense of goodness drives her, and that, to my mind, is revolutionary for a female character. There is one person she loves above all others, who she would do absolutely anything to protect - her best friend and adoptive sister, Trish Walker. That was another thing I loved about this show, the wonderfully complex and satisfying friendship between these two.

The new season starts on March 8, and I'm here for it.

Inch'Alla (Amazon video)

Another Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black) movie. It might be a little too opaque about the main character's motivations, but for viewers who only see the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the lens of Western news, it's an essential glimpse into the lives of the everyday people.

 

 

 

 

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (in theaters & streaming)

I am mentoring a high school student in writing and I have been talking to him a lot about story logic. How the story has to make real-world sense, how characters' actions and motivations have to square with their personalities and pass the real-world sniff test. That characters drive the plot. It's understandable that an 18-year-old who is new to writing would need this lesson. That Martin McDonagh would is unbelievable.

Spoilers below

Sam Rockwell's character, a dirty cop with a temper (as well as a freaking moron), loses his job about halfway through the movie. He gets a call from the sergeant, saying that the dead Chief of police left the dirty cop a letter. The sergeant suggests the dirty copy come by after hours, uses the PD keys he hasn't turned in to get into the station, get the letter, and leave his keys on the way out.

Does any of that make sense? Just on its face it's ridiculous that someone would suggest a guy that was fired to enter with his keys and leave them on the desk. When you know that Ebbing has been presented as if it's a small town, it makes even less sense that the sarge wouldn't take five minutes out of his day to drop the letter off, and pick up the keys. Then, when you also remember that the wife of the dead chief took the time THE DAY AFTER HER HUSBAND SHOT HIMSELF to personally deliver a similar letter to Frances McDormand...well. You realize the story logic here is nonexistent.

So, why did the writer make that choice? Because he needed Sam Rockwell to be in the station when it gets firebombed so the black inmate torturing moron can complete his redemption arc.

There are other, pretty freaking blatant, weaknesses to this script, but I'll end on the most egregious weakness - McDonagh uses black pain as a footnote for Sam Rockwell's redemption arc. He uses unjustified black incarceration as a character point for Frances McDormand's character (where she doesn't come out very well; her black friend is arrested in retaliation for the billboards and McDormand's character does nothing to help her).

Don't even get me started on the content of the letter from the Chief to the dirty cop. 

This screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and if it wins it will be a travesty. This movie is overrated as brilliant because Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwall are independent film darlings, and they do give stellar performances. Too bad they are overselling a terrible script.

Music St. Vincent - Masseduction

I went to this concert last night at The Bomb Factory in Dallas. The show was great, despite the fact that St. Vincent was alone on the stage, just her and her guitar, for the entire show. I guess her backing band was behind the curtain? I don't like all of St. Vincent's music, but I love seeing an enormously talented women freaking rocking it on an electric guitar. 

This was our first time at The Bomb Factory and we give it a thumbs up. We went to Adair's, a Dallas institution, after and listened to a local band, Mitchell Ferguson. They said they were country, rock and tinged with a little gospel. No. They're a dang rock band, and they were good.

Also, Deep Ellum was insane. I thought it was struggling due to some robberies and assaults (these seem to come in waves for Deep Ellum, and businesses come and go as a result), but it looked like Bourbon Street, or Sixth Street in Austin. It was awesome.

Books & Longreads Stillwater & The Fisher King

Gee, I wonder why I'm boning up on my mysteries...

Distract Me, Please - What I read, watched, and listened to this week

Sometimes there are just weeks you need to escape. I think this week qualifies. Unfortunately, for the last year, most weeks have qualified.

There are so many entertainment choices out there, and if this week's list of distractions is any indication, I pretty much choose them all. You may wonder when I sleep or how I get anything done. I don't have a project I'm working on right now, so I have more free time. That should change soon, though.

Movies & Television

Black Panther (in theaters)

Five stars. Go see this movie. Seriously. It is amazing.

Polytechnique (Amazon Video)

I put this on my watch list a few weeks ago because Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black) is in it. When I decided to watch it on Wednesday night I didn't really realize it was about a school shooting in Montreal in 1989. But, it was. It was horrifying. Highly recommended.

Marvel's Runaways (Netflix)

I've been meaning to watch this since last year and just decided to jump in. Then, on Monday night I stayed up until 1 a.m. finishing it. It's part teen drama, part family drama. I didn't read much of the comics but I know they've taken liberties with it. I think the choices they made were good, but YMMV. 

Podcasts

Stuff You Missed in History Class - "Mary Breckenridge and the Frontier Nursing Service" & "Pauline Sabin."

This podcast is exactly what it says it is, and it's amazing. There are years and years worth of archives covering pretty much every historical era.

Uncivil - "The Deed"

Uncivil is a podcast "where we go back to the time our divisions turned into a war, and bring you stories left out of the official history." This is the podcase you need to listen to if you want to hear about American history from the African American perspective. "The Deed" is about the federal program, 40 Acres and a Mule, and how it wasn't the success the history books like to pretend.

Books

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

I only read portions of this book in high school. I like to stretch my reading muscles from time to time and read outside of my comfort zone. An entire book written in verse is definitely out of my comfort zone.

 

 

 

The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell

This quote in the forward struck a nerve: "Robbing people of words and narrative is a way of imprisoning them."

Online Marketing for Busy Authors by Fauzia Burke

Gee, I wonder why I'm reading this.

     Miscellaneous Updates:

Lone Star Literary Life voted Badlands the Best Concept & Creative Hook and the Best Western for 2017! Blood Oath was a runner-up for Best Creative Concept & Best Hook! Thank you so much, Lone Star Literary Life!

BiblioSanctum included Laura and Kindle on their Top Ten Sci-Fi and Fantasy Couples list. I know Sawbones isn't sci-fi...well, just see what she said about including them: "Still, I had to include Laura and Kindle on my list, because these two make me melt. Their love story is a fantastic one, featuring a forbidden romance that is at once passionate and convincing. From the moment Laura saves the life of Captain William Kindle, they set off an undeniable chemistry."

You know what? I couldn't agree more!

 

Finally an answer to the question: What the heck does #TLM7 mean?

I know I've been teasing you with the hashtag #TLM7 for the last year on social media. Not only does this post reveal what that was code for, but it also reveals what you really want to know: the title, cover and book description of the feminist Western I've been working on for the last year!

#TLM7 stood for what I pitched to the publisher: Thelma and Louise meet the Magnificent Seven, and the final product has lived up to the description. All books go through changes from idea to publication, but the heart of the story—two women and their makeshift family of outlaws determined to go it alone in a man's world—is definitely intact. And, I have to admit: I love this novel to pieces.

So, without further ado, HERESY.

The Parker-LaCour Gang. The first and only all-female band of outlaws in the American West. Ignored during their time. Written out of history. 

Margaret Parker and Hattie LaCour never intended to turn outlaw. 

After being run off their ranch by a greedy cattleman, their family is left destitute. As women alone they have few choices: marriage, lying on their backs for money, or holding a gun. For Margaret and Hattie the choice is easy. With their small makeshift family, the gang pulls off a series of heists across the West.

Though the newspapers refuse to give the female gang credit, their exploits don’t go unnoticed. Pinkertons are on their trail, a rival male gang is determined to destroy them, and secrets among the group threaten to tear them apart. Now, Margaret and Hattie must find a way to protect their family, finish one last job, and avoid the hangman’s noose.

HERESY goes on sale October 2, 2018!Click the link below to pre-order.

Pre-Order HERESY

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