Archive for category Literature
Susan Straight on Take One Candle Light a Room: A novel
Posted by admin in Literature on August 4, 2011
Article first published as Interview: Susan Straight, Author of Take One Candle Light a Room: A novel on Blogcritics.
Novelist Susan Straight was born in Riverside, California, and it is the city she still calls home. It is also the place that informed and influenced the city in all seven of her novels, the fictional Rio Seco. Her most recent work, Take One Candle Light a Room: A novel, was released in October 2010.
In this interview, we cover a great deal of ground, mostly her latest work. Her newest novel sets out to tell the tale of Fantine Antoine, who “is a travel writer, a profession that keeps her happily away from her Southern California home. When she returns to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of her closest childhood friend, Glorette, she finds herself pulled into the tumultuous life of Glorette’s twenty-two-year-old son—and Fantine’s godson—Victor. After getting involved in a shooting, Victor has fled to New Orleans. Together with her father, Fantine follows Victor, determined to help him avoid the criminal future that he suddenly seems destined for.”
Straight was kind enough to work with me on this email interview and, as the mark of any good writer, tried to be economic with her words. In that spirit, she chose to compile her thoughts on my final five questions into one engaging and in-depth answer. I was more than happy to adjust my questions (and chose to drop one) accordingly in the final editing, and appreciate the opportunity to interview Straight. Also my thanks to author Caroline Leavitt for putting me in contact with Straight.
After reading the interview, please be sure to avail yourself of Amazon’s Take A Look feature for the book.
Of your most recent novel, Ayelet Waldman wrote “Susan Straight is the Meryl Streep of novelists…” How does one take a compliment of that caliber?
Ayelet’s line about Meryl Streep was hilarious, because I’m a short white woman who writes about communities filled with black men from the South, teenagers selling drugs, Oaxacan immigrants trying to survive, and yes, even blonde foster moms who are raising other people’s children. So I don’t know about Meryl Streep – I’ve been told variously that I “look like” Sissy Spacek, Mia Farrow, and Reese Witherspoon. It’s a compliment based on chameleon qualities, I think.
Daryl Gregory on Raising Stony Mayhall
Posted by admin in Literature on July 13, 2011
Raising Stony Mayhall
Article first published as Interview: Novelist Daryl Gregory on Raising Stony Mayhall on Blogcritics.
Writer Daryl Gregory always provides enlightening and entertaining discussion, that’s why this marks the third time I have interviewed him about his work. Last month saw the release of his newest novel, Raising Stony Mayhall, described by publisher Del Ray as “In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda—and he begins to move. The family hides the child—whom they name Stony—rather than turn him over to authorities that would destroy him. Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret—until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.”
In addition to chatting about his newest novel, Gregory also explained how his previous novel, Pandemonium, came to be translated into Hebrew, as well as what else is on the creative horizon for him.
Tim O’Shea: In terms of this novel’s timeline, the first zombie outbreak happened in the late 1960s. What was your thinking in terms of the timeframe of when Stony was born?
Daryl Gregory: It’s a nod to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, which came out in 1968. In the world of the novel, a guy who also happens to be named Romero films the outbreak a documentary. We go on from there, and the book spans Stony’s entire “life,” from when he was discovered as an undead baby beside the highway in ’68, to his eventual second death in his forties in 2010.
NY Times: Favorite Book Story of the Year
Posted by admin in Literature on July 8, 2011
So I just stumbled across this New York Times coverage about rock stars who write books, and then the unique chaos of their book signings. Consider this hilarious snippet.
And nervous bookstore employees pleaded with eager female fans not to lift their shirts in front of Mr. Hagar when they reached the signing table.
Ron Hogan on Getting Right with Tao
Posted by admin in Literature on June 8, 2011
Getting Right with Tao
Ron Hogan has helped shape the literary/critical analysis Internet landscape since establishing Beatrice back in 2005. That’s just one aspect of his very busy career as critic and author. As an author, most recently, he released Getting Right with Tao: “a print edition of his popular online ‘translation’ of the Tao Te Ching into modern vernacular”. He also leads a reading series for Greenlight Bookstore as well as a book club for Fountain Bookstore.
Tim O’Shea: Would you say 2010 was the year of the iPad in terms of publishing technology advancements? What do you think will be the potential major technology (or non-technology) trends in the 2011 publishing industry?
Ron Hogan: I would say 2010 was a very good year for establishing the iPad’s potential usefulness to the publishing industry, and already in 2011 I’ve seen exciting new developments from independent outfits like The Atavist and Byliner.com that are using apps not just to repurpose or dress up existing content but to create new products and find new audiences.
O’Shea: The publishing industry has undergone major changes in the past few years, how much has that influenced your approach toward Beatrice?
Hogan: The changes in the publishing industry actually have very little impact on my approach towards Beatrice, which remains focused on introducing readers to new books and new writers. Although the ways I’ve written about those books and writers have evolved over the last 15 years, that’s more to do with me than with the industry.
Rochelle Jewel Shapiro on Her Writing
Posted by admin in Literature on May 18, 2011
Miriam the Medium
When writer Rochelle Jewel Shapiro and I first started discussing the possibility of doing this email interview, she was still in the midst of writing her sequel to her 2004 novel, Miriam the Medium. I am happy to note, as she acknowledges in the opening of our discussion–that she has put the new novel, Kaylee’s Ghost, in her agent’s hands. I greatly appreciated the range of questions she endured from me–and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did. My thanks to Rochelle, for her time and thoughts–and hopefully before we know it, her new novel will soon be on the market.
Tim O’Shea: You are currently at work on a sequel to your first autobiographical novel. Will the sequel stay in the autobio vein?
Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: As in my first novel, Miriam the Medium (Simon & Schuster), Kaylee’s Ghost, which is now in my agent’s hands, also features Miriam Kaminsky who is a phone psychic from Great Neck like I am, Funny how people know call me Miriam and I have grown so tired of correcting them that I answer to the name of my character now. People always ask me, with sympathy, “What did you really do when Cara ran away?” My own daughter never ran away (phew) and her name isn’t Cara. But, just as I now answer to Miriam, I accept when people to refer to my non-fictional daughter as Cara. In Kaylee’s Ghost, Miriam has a granddaughter just as I do. I will be honored if readers begin to refer to my own granddaughter as Violet. It will mean that the story I’ve written is real to them, and that’s my goal.
Daily Show Bonus: Albert Brooks
Posted by admin in comedy, late night TV, Literature, streaming video, Uncategorized on May 13, 2011
I love how the Daily Show has trended towards doing extended interviews that are posted in the site’s Green Room. This week they had a two-parter with comedic legend and new novelist Albert (2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America) Brooks. In the second part, its amazing to see host Jon Stewart in absolute worship mode and getting Brooks to talk about his lucky break on Johnny Carson (Brooks wanted to be on Dick Cavett, but they did not want him, believe it or not). Watch and be amazed.
Comedy is an art and seeing these two talk, however brief it may be, gives a glimpse of some of the history.
Victoria Zackheim on He Said What?, Editing Anthologies
Posted by admin in Literature, Uncategorized on April 13, 2011
He Said What?
Article first published as Interview with Victoria Zackheim, Editor of He Said What? Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed on Blogcritics.
Next month, writer/editor Victoria Zackheim celebrates the release of the latest anthology, He Said What? Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed (Seal Press), that she has shepherded from initial concept to publication. In a recent email interview, she was kind enough to discuss the anthologies she has edited in the past.
Her new book, He Said What?, is described by Seal Press as an anthology where “26 gifted women writers share profoundly personal moments in which a man in their life said something — good or bad, poignant or hilarious — that changed them irrevocably.”
While the majority of our discussion focuses on the editing of anthologies, we also briefly touch upon her work in documentaries. My thanks to Zackheim for her time.
Tim O’Shea: You have successfully packaged and edited four anthologies, with a fifth in development. How did you come about with the concepts for the books? Were any of the four harder to pitch for publication than any of the others?
Victoria Zackheim: The first one, The Other Woman, came to me while I was driving on the freeway and listening to NPR. I heard the words “the other woman” and immediately thought of mothers-in-law! I contacted Sandra Dijkstra, my dream agent—that is, the agent I could only dream of having—and she loved the idea and told me to research it. When I discovered that a similar anthology was about to be published, I decided to research anthologies on infidelity, expecting to find many. There was not one! I contacted Sandra, who introduced me to her associate, Jill Marsal. Jill deftly (and patiently) guided me through the process of writing the proposal. Finally, it was ready to pitch, and she did so with great enthusiasm. It sold to Warner and I was thrilled.
Susan Henderson on Up From the Blue
Posted by admin in Literature on March 30, 2011
Up from the Blue
Sometimes I get lucky. Such was the case, when Susan Henderson emailed me, wondering if I wanted to discuss her 2010 novel, Up From the Blue (the story of “a 1970s bi-polar housewife who goes missing and her daughter who won’t give up the search for her”). As described at her site: “Susan Henderson is the recipient of an Academy of American Poets award, and her work has — twice — been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her debut novel, UP FROM THE BLUE, was published by HarperCollins in 2010 and is now in its fourth printing. Rights have been sold to five other countries, and it’s currently being translated into Norwegian and Dutch. UP FROM THE BLUE has been selected as a Great Group Reads pick (by the Women’s National Book Association), an outstanding softcover release (by NPR), a Best Bets Pick (by BookReporter), Editor’s Pick (by BookMovement), Editor’s Choice (by BookBrowse), a Prime Reads pick (by HarperCollins New Zealand), and a Top 10 of 2010 (by Robert Gray of Shelf Awareness). She blogs at LitPark.com and The Nervous Breakdown. Her husband is a costume designer, filmmaker, and tenured drama professor. They live in NY with their two boys.” (In one of those happy coincidences, this interview is my 500th post for the blog. Seeing as I started the blog [back in late 2007] as an outlet for my pop culture/interview interests, I think it apt that the 500th post would to be an interview.) My thanks to Henderson for her time. Please be sure to read to the very end, as Henderson’s detailing the roads taken by first-time novelists is eye opening.
Tim O’Shea: How challenging is it emotionally/psychologically/physically to write a novel that delves on some level with depression?
Susan Henderson: You know, it’s funny. It’s not hard for me to write emotional material. I find that freeing. And it’s a little backwards from my real life, where I’m fairly guarded. The things that are challenging for me on paper have to do with plot, with trying to take my kind of circular way of seeing the world and make it into something linear, or trying to take intuitions and philosophies and translate them into characters’ actions.
Caroline Leavitt on Pictures of You
Posted by admin in Literature, Music on February 24, 2011
Pictures of You
Caroline Leavitt‘s latest novel, Pictures of You, is already in its third printing. So I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have recently email interviewed her about the book. As detailed at her site, the book can best be described as: “A mysterious car crash on a deserted, foggy road brings three people together in a collision of their own: A photographer fleeing her philandering husband and consumed with guilt. An asthmatic boy with a terrible secret. A husband who realizes that he never really knew his wife.”
Tim O’Shea: After reading your recent essay for The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review, I am left with one question. Had you ever regarded writing as a form of therapy prior to writing your latest novel–and would you agree that to some extent it is a form of therapy?
Caroline Leavitt: Great question. I absolutely agree. I think I knew early on that writing made me feel better. I was a tense, moody, unsettled kid with terrible asthma, and I started out writing when I was most unhappy or felt most alone. I could lose myself and my problems in the work, and I quickly became addicted. I also quickly learned that to be any good, I had to write when I was happy, too—every day, in fact. I also knew somehow that I could be a happy, silly person in everyday life IF I got out all my demons in my work.
Great Ideas: New Yorker Calls for First-Person Anecdotes about JD Salinger
Posted by admin in biography, Literature on February 10, 2011
I love the New Yorker for their constant intellectual curiosity. Consider Richard Brody‘s flagging of Macy Halford’s suggestion regarding J.D. Salinger.
“Reading [Blair] Fuller’s piece [in Paris Review Daily], it occurred to me that a general call for first-person anecdotes about Salinger should be issued, and the sooner the better. It has been reported that an authorized biography will probably never be allowed, and as noble an effort as an unauthorized biography may be, I think I’d prefer to hold in my hand a collection of personal remembrances like Fuller’s—each one a pearl, no digging required. Or maybe the Paris Review could be convinced to apply the George Plimpton Oral Biography treatment to Salinger’s life (like this wonderful one of Truman Capote): “J.D. Salinger: In Which Various Goddam Hot-shots and Phonies Recall his Strange and Wonderful Career.”
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/02/a-night-with-jerry.html#ixzz1Dd75NIuE
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