Reading Short

By Susan

Like most writers, I'm also a reader. Over the past six months, I've tackled several new short story collections that I can't help but pass on.

Here's a list of some of the compilations I've read so far this year.

The Tenth of December, By George Saunders
I cannot praise this compilation enough. Beyond his innovative style, incredible devotion to point of view, and his boundless imagination, George Saunders is a genuinely friendly, normal, and totally cool guy (I met him at his Dallas book signing last month and was impressed with his kindness.) Allow yourself the pleasure of reading all of the stories in this book. Once you understand Saunders, you can't help but love him. He's a writer's writer, and I can't speak highly enough about the perfection of his work.

Dear Life, by Alice Munro
She's simply fascinating. The 81 year old writer is a powerhouse when it comes to the short. I wish I could explain how she does it, but somehow each short story encapsulates a world that feels simple and familiar yet also incredibly complex. If you can only read one short story from this collection, I'd recommend "Corrie."

Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Ron Rash
If you don't know of Ron Rash's work, you will soon. He's the kind of writer I'd only dream to one day become-- a prolific poet, short story writer, and novelist, with five published novels, five published short story collections and four volumes of poetry to his credit. This September, the movie version of his novel Serena will be released with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the lead roles. His latest short story collection feels so real and raw it's as if you've met these characters before. This entire collection will break your heart. He's got a great gift for ending each story with a turn the reader doesn't expect, yet appears so effortless you wonder how you didn't see it coming.

Guest and Giveaway: Amy Sue Nathan on The Glass Wives

By Julie

Amy Sue Nathan's debut novel, The Glass Wives released Tuesday, and I've been looking forward to sharing about this novel for months. Amy and I met through Backspace years ago, and eventually both found ourselves in Book Pregnant, a group of debut novelists who blog together and celebrate the ups and downs of giving birth to first novels together. We've become dear friends over these many months since we sold our novels, chatting frequently on Facebook messenger about kids, dogs, cooking (or lack thereof), or anything else to procrastinate writing ... or cooking. It's been fun.

I was thrilled when Amy asked me to read her manuscript and consider giving a blurb—my very first! And, as it turns out, my very first to be printed on the cover of a novel. What a privilege for me. I loved the story. Here's what I said in that blurb:

“In The Glass Wives, Amy Sue Nathan examines what it means to build an unconventional family when the original families shatter suddenly and irreparably into pieces. Nathan's adept writing, wry humor, and authentic emotion carried me effortlessly from the beginning of this tender and hopeful debut novel to its satisfying end.” — Julie Kibler, author of Calling Me Home

(OK, I had to leave that last bit ... it still gives me a little ego boost to see that "author of" thing!)

Here's more about Amy:
Amy Sue Nathan lives and writes near Chicago where she hosts the popular blog, Women's Fiction Writers. She has published articles in Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune and New York Times Online among many others. Amy is the proud mom of a son and a daughter in college, and a willing servant to two rambunctious rescued dogs.

About The Glass Wives (St. Martin's Press, May 2013):
When a tragic car accident ends the life of Richard Glass, it also upends the lives of Evie and Nicole, and their children. There’s no love lost between the widow and the ex. In fact, Evie sees a silver lining in all this heartache—the chance to rid herself of Nicole once and for all. But Evie wasn’t counting on her children’s bond with their baby half-brother, and she wasn’t counting on Nicole’s desperate need to hang on to the threads of family, no matter how frayed. Strapped for cash, Evie cautiously agrees to share living expenses—and her home—with Nicole and the baby. But when Evie suspects that Nicole is determined to rearrange more than her kitchen, Evie must decide who she can trust. More than that, she must ask: what makes a family?

I wanted to do a special interview with Amy, much like what I did with Sere Prince Halverson last year. As I read and contemplated The Glass Wives, certain themes and ideas emerged. I gave Amy a handful and asked her to choose what resonated with her. She talks about them here, and I love how her responses give the reader an idea of what is contained in this lovely novel!

photo by Jiri Hodan

Motherhood

Motherhood is a theme in The Glass Wives, for sure. Every major character is a mother, and how she parents her child is evident, even if it’s not the focus. Even Beth, whose college-age son is only off-the-page (although in an earlier version of the novel he comes home) it’s clear that when he was younger, Beth was an active part of the school and sports community in Lakewood, the fictional Chicago suburb where The Glass Wives is set.  It’s more obvious to look right at Evie, who might like to close the door on Nicole but won’t, because she knows it wouldn’t be what is best for her kids.  I tried to strike a balance for Evie that isn’t always present in my own life, and that was fun. Although it’s her priority, Evie doesn’t really lose herself in motherhood, and I know I’ve been guilty of that.

photo: Kicksave2930's Flickr photostream

Grief

Forget about stages. Grief sucks in any stage. What I wanted to accomplish in The Glass Wives was to be realistic, but to encapsulate the grief and healing process to show that it can get better, but maybe not in ways you’d expect. 

Photo: Christina Matheson's Flickr photostream

Compromise

Compromise has two meanings to me. A compromise can be meeting someone in the middle so both people benefit. A compromise can also be giving up, letting go, or undermining—yourself, your ideals, your morals, or your beliefs. I’d like to think that in The Glass Wives I don’t allow Evie to compromise herself in a negative way, but that she compromises and meets Nicole in the middle to make life better for herself and her kids.

Coffee

To me, coffee is something I do, not just something I drink, and I tried to incorporate that into The Glass Wives for Evie, Laney, and Beth.

Photo: Amy Sue Nathan!

It’s more of a label for getting together with girlfriends and talking, whether there is really coffee involved or not.  For the friends in the novel, they have their own special cups in Evie’s kitchen. I remembered a woman I was friends 

with years ago whose best friend lived far away.  They each had the same mug and that’s what they used for their coffee (or maybe wine?) when they chatted on the phone. I loved the comfort implied by Evie’s friends having special mugs in her cabinet. 

Forgiveness

Photo: Fammy's Flickr photostream

I hate admitting I had an “ah-ha” moment while watching Oprah years ago, but I did. I realized that what I’d heard was true. Forgiveness is for the victim, if you will, not for the perpetrator. In The Glass Wives, Evie is able to close the door on a portion of her life (when she can) to move forward for the sake of her children. She knows that if she holds onto what makes her angry and hurt she won’t be able to see the good things around her.  I like to think Evie inherited that from me, but maybe I’m being too generous.

Photo: Ehud's Flickr photostream

Holidays

I love holidays, especially Jewish holidays that include big family meals. I loved imagining the Seder at Evie’s house.  The beauty of fiction is creating something from scratch that you might wish was real but plenty of the fun of fiction is also writing what you’re glad isn’t real. As someone who lives far away from family and spends a lot of holidays at friends’ homes, it was wonderful to write for Evie a big holiday with family and friends at her own house. I don’t often have the chance to do that. 

Photo: cobalt123's Flickr photostream

Glass

Glass is strong, yet fragile; transparent, yet dirties easily. It’s also easy to clean and start over. No, this isn’t a Windex commercial; it’s how I saw the characters in the book and in retrospect, why the last name Glass fit them so well. I chose the name because it was one-syllable, Jewish (but not overly ethnic), and worked with the name Evie, which was always the name I preferred for the main character. 

I didn’t realize until well into the writing process how the last name Glass had multiple meanings.   To me that is beshert—meant to be.

GIVEAWAY:

One lucky reader is going to get a paperback copy of The Glass Wives. Simply leave a comment here before Friday at midnight, telling what resonated with you while reading Amy's answers. We'll randomly draw and notify a winner Saturday. Please leave an email address or link your comment to your website so Amy can notify you in some way, as I will be out of the country and unable to update the post itself. Your copy will be shipped as soon as possible!

Thanks for stopping by What Women Write. I hope you'll find and read The Glass Wives! 

Sliding In

By Pamela 

My softball girl (R) with her teammate.

Last week at my girl's softball game, as the third inning was about to start, the opposing team's catcher hurled the ball back to their pitcher, who wasn't looking, and it hit her in the head. Granted, the catcher didn't have an arm at all and it was more of a lob, but the pitcher was understandably upset and grabbed her forehead and cried. Possibly a little due to shock that the ball didn't bounce first before reaching the mound.

The pitcher's mom was apparently one of the five coaches in the dugout (it takes a village to herd a team of ten-year-olds), and she flew onto the field to assist her daughter. Mom's sprint to the mound ended as she slipped on the pitching rubber and wiped out, twisting her knee and ankle thus assuring she needed help off the field. After the game we saw her husband carrying her fireman-style to the car to take her for X-rays. Her daughter? She recovered enough to stay on the field and pitch. At the next game, Mom was wearing a boot--just one and it wasn't made of leather. 

This made me think about how we sometimes overreact to feedback when it comes to our writing. Someone we entrust with our manuscript doesn't like one of our characters, and so we storm into morphing her from a wallflower to a social butterfly. Another helpful early reader thinks our story would be better told from first-person, and so we slide headfirst into changing every 'she' to 'I', every 'they' to 'we'. The next person in line suggests the setting should take center stage, and we spend hours dropping in elements related to the weather, the landscape, the regional colloquialisms.

In the end, our critics think our story is much improved while we're the ones stuck sporting an ugly blue boot with noisy Velcro straps--not to mention the pain of living with a manuscript that isn't really ours, but the product of those around us.

I know my manuscripts have improved greatly from the advice of the women on this blog, but have I employed EVERY suggestion offered up? No, not at all. And I hope I take a moment to consider the changes before diving in with edits. Like the mom in the dugout who should have waited a moment or two or five before seeing if her still-standing daughter would be just fine without her assistance (a lesson I think would serve them both well later in life), as writers I think we're better served if we take our time in weighing the opinions of our early readers.

'Tis the Season

Photo by Deborah Downes

By Kim

There are two seasons of chaos in the Bullock household, not including summer, which deserves a stronger word. Pandemonium comes to mind.

The first season is comprised of those six weeks between mid-October and Thanksgiving called Nutcracker Madness. During this time, weekends are devoted to auditions, rehearsals, costume fittings, picture days and volunteer hours in wardrobe. (Since I can’t actually sew, I am the go-to woman for attaching halos to the heads of angels and paws to the hands of mice.) After this comes dress rehearsals, four performances, and cast parties, oh my! We have run this gauntlet twice now and I can honestly say I look forward to doing it again.

The second season starts as soon as we enter the homestretch of the school year. So far this week we have had three after-school Pre-AP-prep math classes, two major project/presentations, a teacher conference, field day, picture day, reading assessment tests, and two late nights of dress rehearsals for the spring dance recital. Tomorrow we may as well set up cots at the Eisemann Center because we are there from one to nine. (For any folks in the Dallas/Richardson area, Chamberlain puts on a great show and tickets are reasonably priced. The majority of dancers are seasoned performers in complex ballet, jazz, tap and modern routines. Show times are at 2:00 and 7:00.)

Photo by Deborah Downes

It can be a challenge during these times to get any writing done, though writing is often the best outlet to relieve the stress. This morning I looked over what I’ve accomplished for the week and was astounded to see I wrote about 4,000 words in four days. I generally don’t rack up that kind of number even on weeks when I have nothing planned. Here’s how I’ve done it:

1) Other than for dishes and laundry, I’ve let the house go. I don’t care that it looks like a tornado hit it. I’ll clean on Sunday, when everyone is home and I’ll get no writing done anyway.

2) If an errand or chore can be put off until tomorrow, I’ve waited.

3) If an e-mail does not require an urgent reply, I haven’t responded, even if it would only take a minute. Those two or three sentences could be in my manuscript instead.

4) I time breakfast and lunch preparation for those times that the puppy is outside and must be frequently checked on. No work will get done then anyway.

5) Any time I feel the urge to leave my chair, I remind myself that summer break starts in 27 days.

I’m sure other writer mamas out there have their own seasons of chaos and methods for carving out time to write. We’d love to hear from you and learn about your coping strategies.

Tired and Grateful

by Elizabeth

You know when you are really, really tired? Not necessarily sleepy, although that can be a part of it, but just deep down tired, like your bones need to sleep? That's how I feel right now. And I'm not even the one who really did anything.

Oh, I suppose I didn't do nothing. (Can I use that negative/negative structure? Who cares? I'm tired!) I've had some work being done at my house for the past couple of weeks, and the guys who fixed my floors and replaced baseboards and installed new tile obviously have way more right to claim exhaustion than me. Finally, yesterday, their part of the job was finally over, and my part really kicked in. Did you know that tearing out carpet and replacing it with tile means dust? A lot of dust. Stubborn, sticky, pervasive dust. Everywhere.

I armed myself with brooms, mops, microfiber cloths, spray cleaner, and went at it. And now, after a long day of tackling the dust, I am happy to report...that there's now less dust.

The good news is, the floors really look great. There was one glitch, though, and it involves...dust! Well, it sort of does: the flooring store accidentally put the wrong color grout on my contractor's truck, and no one noticed until after it was nicely set.

Instead of the chocolate-colored grout I'd selected to go with the wood-appearance tiles, they loaded up mocha. Which is, as you can see, the exact color of...dust!

Luckily for me, turns out there is a product that you can dribble into fresh grout to change its color and seal it all in one go. I'm going to tackle that project myself in the coming days. Hopefully, it will take.


In the meantime, I realize that this tiredness is really kind of a gift, dust and all. Having the good fortune to have the means to have someone else install lovely new floors, having the leisure to write fresh words while they toil in creation of dust, even the blood-tiredness I feel now after a day of attacking the by-product of that good work--it's all a reminder that being able to call writing work is really a blessing.

I'm tired, sure. It feels good to sit. Aren't I lucky? Something to remember, especially if the grout stubbornly clings to its color. Which really isn't all that bad once the actual dust is gone.

Can you believe that is tile?

Transformation

By Joan

Hair scraggly and dull, you slide into the swivel chair and peek at your neighbors, who, after all, are after the same thing you are. For a trim, highlighted locks or maybe an updated cut. A transformation.

While in the midst of lathering and snipping and drying, you hear lots of shop talk. Often you come out with a funny or tragic story, an appreciation for your own life, or some damn good advice.

I’ve been going to the same stylist since I moved to Texas. She’s changed salons a few times, but I follow her to wherever she hangs her blow dryer and flat iron. She does wonders with my crazy hair, is reliable and joyful, and tells engaging stories. After most visits, I leave the salon jaunty and uplifted, wishing my hair could look this good every day. 

Crazy 90s hair

While in her chair, I’ve heard about ghosts, heartbreaking events, hilarious holiday traditions and great one-liners. (“Anyone who uses the word suffer is mental.”)  

Today’s nugget from a neighboring stylist: 

“You can't please everyone. You have to remember who you are–don’t try to change for anyone.”

There’s a reason clichés are cliché. They are true. But sometimes I am brave and tell my stylist I want a new look.

As writers, what makes our writing unique is our own truth. We can’t change our past, can’t change our experiences that trickle into our own writing. But we can grow. We can change our future, if we are brave. 

As a writer still learning her craft, I know I must read widely and stretch out of my comfort zone. Susan recently introduced me to two brilliant authors: George Saunders and Cheryl Strayed. Talk about voice. Talk about change of style. I feel as though my hair has been tugged and braided and dyed platinum.

In the hands of a masterful author, your mind can be transformed just as an accomplished stylist would transform your hair. You learn truths and heartache, stretch and question your world view. Leave the chair with a new point of view.

Judging Books By Their Covers

By Susan

I look at novels differently now, now that I have invested in writing them myself. I have a hard time going into a bookstore and simply wandering. I end up looking for friend's books, or friends of friend's books. I move them around for better placement, I judge the covers of new releases, I read spines to judge the publishers. I snoop through the acknowledgements to see who writers thank, or don't thank.

I judge books by their covers. In fact, I now overly judge books by their covers, because all I've learned about marketing and writing tells me that the cover is just as important for sales as is the content (this can be disputed in another post.)

I was intrigued; to say the least, on a recent trip a bookstore, when I came across this:

The first, The House Girl by Tara Conklin (William Morrow, 2013), is described as "an unforgettable story of love, history, and a search for justice, set in modern day New York and 1852 Virginia."

The second, A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee (Random House, 2013), is considered by Jennifer Egan to be "a rare thing: a genuine literary thriller. Eerily suspenseful and packed with dramatic event, it also offers a trenchant, hilarious portrait of our collective longing for authenticity in these overmediated times."

The third, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri (Riverhead, 2013), tells the story of twin sisters growing up in the 1980s in Tehran who are split up, eventually living very different, yet parallel lives.

All three are set in different eras and locations, printed by different publishers, and were released in the past three months. They share one glaring similarity: strangely similar covers.

My first reaction was to seek out their commonalities besides the covers. As it turns out, all three are agreed to be literary fiction, but the similarities stop there. My second question was whether the similar covers hurt or helped their book sales. My third puzzle was if it mattered at all. This is Tara Conklin's debut. Did she wonder about her cover opitons? Did the publishers, themselves, have any idea they were each releasing similar artwork at the same time as their competitors? Did booksellers group these covers together, or purposely set them apart?

As I considered the challenges these three novels face with similar jackets, I came across this:

Same title, same month and year of release, both considered literary fiction by two very different well-established and respected authors, Jill McCorkle (Algonquin) and Kate Atkinson (Reagan Arthur Books).

            

I suppose all this means is that authors can only control what they can control, and that is the words they put on the page. Covers are chosen by the publishing house's marketing team and the author has very little say so. An author's title is their decision primarily, but who's to say another author may pick the same title, at the same time?  

            

As for me, I can only hope that the similarity in jacket design for these three books increases the visibility for all of them. In fact, I discovered the fabulous Tobias Wolff many years ago by looking for the novel Boy's Life, by Robert R. McCammon, a book referred to me by a friend. Instead I found This Boy's Life, Wolff's memoir. That find opened me up to a whole new world of writers I wouldn't have found on my own.

As for Life After Life, I hope both authors gain new audiences by sharing the same title. Reading isn't a competitive sport. The more people read, then all authors win, right? So here's to all authors writing the best book you can, and here's to all readers reading the best books you can find.