An unsent letter

by Joan

My writing directory includes a What Women Write folder where I store half-written blog posts. Some will be finished one day, others leave me baffled at why I imagined others might be interested. I like running Q&As because we get to peek inside our favorite authors' minds, learn about their motivations and interests. Sometimes my requests come from book signings, like with Vanessa Diffenbaugh and Jamie Ford, or, when I feel brave, email introductions, like with Kate Morton, Adriana Trigiani and Dani Shapiro.

A while back I began a note to one of my most beloved authors, first to tell her what her books have meant to me, second to invite her onto the blog. I’m not sure why I was so intimidated or why I hesitated, but the half-written invitation lingered in the someday folder.

I deeply regret not sending my invitation to Maeve Binchy. She died July 30 in Dublin at the young age of 72. But I will share my note here.

Dear Ms. Binchy,

My letter is long overdue—your books have lined my shelves ever since my oldest sister suggested I’d enjoy Light a Penny Candle over twenty-five years ago. She was right. Since that first book, I’ve read (and own) your sixteen novels and two of your short story collections. When I settle down with one of your books, I know I’m in gifted hands.

My letter stopped there, but today I finish it. 

Though I didn’t know you personally, my heart goes out to those who did. I will mourn you, but luckily for the rest of us, your characters will live on.

Through you, Ireland came to life for me on a glass lake, in a working-class pub, a convent school, a tailor shop, an Italian class. Through the characters you managed to draw as both ordinary and extraordinary at once. Thank you for your novels, for your Night of Rain and Stars, your Glass Lake and Circle of Friends, for your Firefly Summer. For your Heart and Soul that you shared with us so generously.

Maeve Binchy's inspirations were the people she saw on the street, the conversations she eavesdropped. She said she got some of her best material from riding the bus or listening on the old party telephone lines.

Over the last few days, I’ve read many touching obituaries, lovely tributes, and interviews and here. For those who’d like to hear her lovely voice and spirit, here’s a lovely 25-minute interview with Gay Byrne about her feelings on spirituality, life and writing.

When I met Elizabeth, she knew we'd hit it off when she learned we shared a favorite author. And Julie is a big fan, also. If there’s a silver lining to Ms. Binchy's untimely death, it’s that she had submitted another manuscript to her editor and they will set a release date for publication. 

What's your favorite Binchy book?

Our Best Reads of 2011

By Kim

All of us at What Women Write are compulsive readers as well as writers. As 2011 comes to a close we thought it may be fun to share the books we loved most this year. As you will see, our taste is varied. There are only two books we have all agreed on. The first was The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and the second is a book that won't hit the bookstores until sometime in 2013 - namely Calling Me Home by our very own Julie Kibler!

Have you read any of the books we mention below? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Inspired to run to your nearest bookstore and pick one up? We’d love to hear that, too.

Susan Poulos

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett- (probably one of the best books I have ever read.)
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht
Bent Road by Lori Roy
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I would classify all of them as literary fiction, although Lori's is probably considered a literary thriller. I also think that all except for State of Wonder are debuts... imagine that!!

Kim Bullock

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - I devoured this historical mystery in two days!

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland – I picked this one up because I love everything by Susan Vreeland, and this one happens to take place in NYC in the same year my great-grandfather was there. He even knew Mr. Tiffany. Clara was unforgettable – very ahead of her time.

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman – This was a beautiful novel about three WWII soldiers and their wives.

The Truth About Delilah Blue by Tish Cohen – I love books with artist protagonists, and there are so many Canadian authors who are neglected in US markets.

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin - I challenge anyone to forget Vinnie! What an incredible life.

Bloodroot by Amy Greene - Very unique voice, and a haunting narrative.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton – The woman is a genius. Any of her books are wonderful.

Elizabeth Lynd

Sally Gunning! She has three, The Widow’s War; Bound; and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke (which I think came out in 2011). All are absolutely perfect.

Joan Mora

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
22 Britannia Road, by Amanda Hodgkinson
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
The Persimmon Tree, by Bryce Courtenay
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks (1/2 way finished!)

What do all these books have in common? Stellar character and voice!

Pamela Hammonds

My reading choices tend to be all over the place--humor, memoir, women's fiction and more. But my most memorable reads for this year are:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Unplanned by Abby Johnson
Stop Dressing Your Six-year-old Like a Skank by Celia Rivenbark
Another Man's War by Sam Childers
Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

But I'll have to say, my greatest source of reading pleasure this past year came from my fellow What Women Writers. I read Julie's manuscript in early 2011, just finished Susan's and will soon finish Joan's. Next year, I plan to read Kim's and Elizabeth's completed manuscripts. And hopefully they will be reading mine before too long as well.

Julie Kibler

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - Each time I read a book set in England, I want to go back. Immediately. This was a quiet book with a big message.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I waited too long to read this. Loved it/hated it. Was sucked in and could barely climb out when finished, but have somehow managed to not read the second and third in the series yet. I can't wait for the movie.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum - I believe we will read holocaust stories forever and never comprehend the horror of all that happened.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo - I wonder, when I read a book like this, what took me so long to pick it up.

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan - Like my novel, this explores pushing racial boundaries to the point of danger. Another one I waited too long to read.

How to Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway - I loved this even more due to getting to know Margaret in person beforehand and recognizing the bits and pieces of her heart that are hidden in this story.

Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr. - I read this based on Carleen Brice's recommendation while researching point of view for my manuscript, and I couldn't put it down. A heartrending father/son story.

Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman - My fellow Backspacer reissued this digitally after the rights reverted back to her. It's not for the faint of heart, and if you are a child of divorce, you will recognize your own heart on every single page.

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal- Because I read Barbara's new stories every single year and love them every single year.

Barbara's was the only one on this list originally published in 2011! Many I've listed have stood the test of time—they aren't newly published, but they've stayed on the shelves and gone back for printing after printing and appear on many lists. The reasons are obvious when you read them. But when I consider my books-read list, I see many 2011 books I loved, too! It's hard to choose "favorites."


What are your favorite books of 2011? We'd love to hear from you!

Big Sprawling Plots

By Joan
I love reading books with big sprawling plots. Books with secrets and teases, dropped-in trinkets that ultimately lead to clever endings. And if they feature paintings and jewelry and headstones, all the better. Stories that lure you into the past, drop you in the present, and tug you back again. Take any Kate Morton novel, for example. Not only is she a master of plot, but there are little gems like scarves and storybooks and brooches that appear at the beginning, go missing, and end up on different continents perhaps decades later. It’s no secret that I’ve pulled apart her books, mapped her chapters by character and setting. Because I write what I like to read, and why not learn from a master?

I’m writing my fourth manuscript. Which by now should make me an expert. But, of course, I’m not. Confession: I’m feeling like this needs to be “the one.” Not that I would give up if it weren’t—I love writing too much—but it’s time. Julie’s success is surely motivation for all of us, but it’s more than that. I’ve worked it, really worked it. Revised, edited, put it out there for critique, revised, and edited again. I’ve backloaded sentences, cut extra words, freshened my dialogue, twisted clichés, moved chapters forward and back. But is it ready?

Keeping track of the details can be difficult. Not only the little trinkets—where is that Wexford Cutty clay pipe or the key to the mantle clock?—but also the characters. Did Luca know Janey’s name in Chapter 5 or Chapter 8? In this last round of revisions, I found ways to heighten the tension, add unique details, turn two characters into one (Hello, Simon! I knew you were a rat, but I only just realized you were other things, too!), change a scene from sneaky to emotional. (Thank you, Kim, for the advice on what to do with those hand bones!)

Have I manipulated it too much? Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. I’ve been writing notes on slips of paper to remind myself of my genius ideas. Of course the ghost would react when her relative shows up. Hello, I need a wrap-up scene for her, too. Charles Dickens just happened to write an article about the Great Exhibition, which features prominently in The Architect at Highgate. But if anyone can tell me what “only from walls” or “reflect—Luca seemed like museum” means, I’ll send you big thanks.

At some point my big sprawling manuscript must be launched. Am I hesitating because I don’t want to make the mistakes I made with the earlier books, by sending them out too soon? Or in the wrong publishing climate? Or both? Maybe I’m afraid this won’t be the one. What then?

Kate Morton on What Women Write

by Joan

As a contributor to this blog, there is no greater joy than introducing authors and books to our readers. When we started this What Women Write journey, I never thought I’d be lucky enough to correspond with some of my favorite authors--prolific authors who have been most generous with their valuable time.
Kate Morton is hardly someone who needs my introduction, nevertheless, I am thrilled and honored to be able to share her words with you. If you haven’t read her books, they are wondrous forays into family secrets, tragedy, and lost love, all delicately crafted stories connecting present and past. You'll want to add them to your bookshelf. Stowed inside my copy of The Distant Hours is a handwritten notecard from Ms. Morton, a nice treat I'll reread when next I take it off the shelf.

From her publisher:
A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn't been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother's past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in 'the distant hours' of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Q& A with Kate Morton

WWW: In The Distant Hours, you have created an atmospheric novel rich with details, yet the setting never bogs down the narrative. As readers, we are dangerously close to your characters – in Milderhurst castle, stumbling over worn carpet and cobwebs, on the grounds of the castle, teetering by the filled-in moat, or sipping tea in the dining room at the Birds’ farmhouse. What are your thoughts on weaving setting into narrative?


KM: Weaving setting into narrative is one of the great joys of writing for me. Unless the world of the story feels real, and the black marks on the white page disappear completely when I’m writing, I lose faith in the story. (I’m sure it must be that way for readers, too?) Before I start a book I spend ages imagining the setting and characters into being. I read everything I can get my hands on: look at pictures; watch films; listen to music; speak with people; surf the internet; make actual visits wherever possible; scribble questions to myself, draw arrows between them, try and uncover answers. I need to feel as if the story taking shape inside my head is a true one and I have simply been charged with recording it. Once I reach that point, it’s as if a wave sweeps me away and I’m compelled to begin writing.

My favourite novels to read are those with a rich sense of place: they’re the ones that stick in my head for a long time after I’ve turned the last page; the sort that give me a strong and definite ‘feeling’ when I think back to their stories; a deep longing to go back, to be reabsorbed into their world. I think sense of place is about more than setting, though; it’s a happy blending together of setting, characters, plot, atmosphere and language, so that the whole is a rich and textured world without holes. A story one can live within.

WWW: Readers who are also writers can learn so much about plot from reading your books. I have dissected and studied your first two novels and plan on doing the same with The Distant Hours. I am continually awed by the intricate way you weave your stories, how every character, major or minor, is not only distinctly drawn, but also serves an important role. How do you do that?

KM: Well, thank you. I take great pleasure from devising structures for my novels (which isn’t to say they don’t tie my head in knots at times; like trying to assemble a great big jigsaw puzzle minus the solution picture!). One of my obsessions, as a writer and as a person, is the layering of time: the way the past never really goes away, coming back instead to haunt the present. Along with the plot and the words themselves, structure is a terrific way to explore this theme further.
In The House at Riverton, for instance, the past and present storylines start out as clear and distinct strands: Grace is telling a story and we, the present-day readers, are listening to it. As Grace’s health deteriorates, however, and she becomes less aware of the barriers between now and then, the structure shifts so that the two storylines begin to merge—Grace’s memories jump into present tense, the individual segments are shorter, and the scene breaks and transitions become increasingly subtle.

For The Forgotten Garden I envisaged a plait of the kind women wear in their hair; three story strands weaving together to form a single narrative in the same way family generations are inextricably tied. Initially, I planned to adhere to a strict tripartite structure—each chapter divided into three parts, each part containing a point of view scene of one of the three main characters—but I found that I was adding scenes to serve the structure rather than the story itself. I resisted loosening the tight formal shape for a long time, but as soon as I let it go the story felt freer and I was able to follow the characters rather than forcing them to fit my preconceived structural ideas.

WWW: Thanks for that--you've just confirmed my fears about my WIP, and now I will reevaluate the structure. You mentioned that early in your writing of The Distant Hours, the sisters Blythe took over. How much preplanning do you do (I’m thinking lots!) and were you able to keep some of your original work?

KM: The Sisters Blythe took over when I was 60,000 words into another story, but much of their world had been sitting in the back of my mind (and in superseded notebooks) for some time. As I mentioned, I do a lot of reading and thinking and jotting beforehand and don’t start the actual writing until the story has grown real enough inside my head to pull me after it. Figments of Milderhurst Castle had been lurking quietly, waiting for characters and a plot to attach themselves, and when that happened—when Edie, Thomas and the sisters presented—I simply had to follow. (Which is not to say I knew all the twists and turns when I set out; I certainly didn’t. I knew Raymond Blythe’s Mud Man tale was important to the Blythe Sisters’ story, for instance, but I had no idea what it was actually about until the final weeks of writing The Distant Hours. I like a certain amount of discovery along the way. It keeps the process interesting, if a little scary at times...)

Often the novel I’m working on has origins that reach back years. I keep copious notebooks and record all sorts of random ideas and thoughts in them: I take notes even when I’m reading for pleasure; I draw big boxes around anything strong enough to maybe-possibly-one-day develop into a plot; I jot down interesting characteristics of real people ‘just in case’. When I’m seriously looking for a new idea though, this process intensifies and my head becomes a crazy, busy place: hundreds of different ideas—settings, characters, plots, emotions, atmospheres, structures—buzzing around, trying to connect with one another. They can be very exhausting.


WWW: It sounds exhausting, but I'm selfishly thrilled you have so much more to write. Although the novel focused on Juniper, to me, Percy was the most complicated and mysterious of the sisters. Which sister did you most enjoy writing?

KM: Percy was my favourite! (But I’m always loathe to tell that to people who haven’t yet read the book in case it directs their reading of the story.) I loved writing her; I’m so glad you found her complicated and mysterious.

WWW: Something you mentioned in an Australian publication struck me, that is, you prefer to write for one person whose tastes are exactly like yours, instead of imagining millions of readers, which would be 'creatively crippling.' Yet millions read your books. Are you still able to keep your focus on one reader?

KM: It can be difficult, but for me it’s essential. I suspect I’m a hedonist at heart – unless I’m intoxicated by my imaginary world, I can’t seem to conjure the necessary enthusiasm to keep going. Besides, it’s impossible to please everybody and I believe trying to do so must compromise the story in some way; each novel involves so many tiny decisions and inspirations that it can be hair-tearing enough deciding what I think is best, let alone allowing for a million different opinions. A writer can’t control what other people think of her novel, but she can at least aim to please herself.

Readers, if, like me, you are fascinated by Ms. Morton's novels and her writing process, check out her journal and FAQ section of her website. And please feel free to share this interview with all your FB and Twitter peeps.

Which of her novels is your favorite?

Photo credit: Russell Shakespeare

An Audience at the Allergist's

By Kim

A few days ago I got my allergy shot. Typically, the most exciting part of this adventure is the mystery of whether or not the lab technician will hit a nerve and how large the lump on my arm will be by that evening. This particular shot was painless, and I settled down in the waiting room with my new color Nook preparing to lose myself in Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours for the required 20 minute wait.

Maybe 30 seconds passed before an elderly gentleman asked me how much I liked my Nook. Turns out that he has one as well and his wife has an iPad. We conversed a few minutes about how the devices have turned both of them from occasional readers to voracious ones. A woman sat beside me with her Kindle and declared she reads at least four times as much as she used to. I admitted that I’m a new convert because I adore the feel of a real book in my hands, the smell of the ink and, as a writer, part of me feels guilty paying the lower price for an e-book, knowing that likely converts to a smaller royalty for the author.

“What do you write?” the woman (her name is Jeanette) asked.

The question is one I hear a lot and, depending on my mood and how genuinely interested the audience, invokes either terror or glee. In this case it was glee, because she declared herself a writer, too.

Despite that our genres couldn’t be more different (more on that later) we shared many of the same perspectives about being a writer. It is not a hobby but a compulsion. If you can do anything else and be happy, do it. The process of composition is painful with the exception of those few times the muse smiles and world outside the novel vanishes. Compulsive editing is our mutual biggest weakness. “All the books say not to do it, but it works for me,” she said. Considering that she’s been successfully publishing and selling books for a couple of decades, I’ll gladly follow her advice to keep plugging away as I have been without apologies.

As I told Jeanette about The Oak Lovers and how I came to write it, I noticed a woman behind her anxiously glancing at her watch, yet remaining in her seat. When I met the other woman's eyes, she jumped in.

“I’m so sorry, but before I go I have to ask you where I can buy your book? I must read this.”

I sheepishly admitted that I still have about 70 pages to write.

“Well, what’s the title? When do you expect it to be out?”

I explained that it may be awhile, given that I need to find an agent and a publisher first. I gave her my business card and directed her to my website. I promised to contact her when it was out.

By this time I had been in the waiting room well over the required time, but I didn’t even consider leaving. I resumed my conversation with Jeanette, thrilled to have found someone who speaks the same language in this city of technology, finance and insurance. Gradually I became aware that the people who had been in the waiting room when I arrived were still there, including the elderly gentleman and his wife. Even the lab technician ignored her computer, perhaps because no one was in line to be jabbed.

The gentleman grinned at me. “I must say this is the most fascinating conversation I’ve ever heard.” A few others nodded.

We had an audience, and the storyteller in both of us leapt to attention. I expanded on how sometimes, when I write, it’s as though the characters are standing over my shoulder shouting at me that I have it all wrong. This drew a curious expression or two. “We hear voices,” Jeanette added in the same clear, direct tone she used when she announced earlier that she writes gay romance. “All writers—”

“Are mildly insane,” I finished.

I left the allergist’s office an hour after receiving my shot with a new friend, none of my own business cards and a sincere wish that I had a dozen or so copies of my book I could have sold out of the trunk of my car.

I also left with the motivation to make that happen. Carl and Madonna are waiting. I have a book to finish…


Don't forget to come by and meet us at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 17 at the Richardson Library as What Women Write are featured at The Writer's Guild of Texas monthly meeting. Rumor has it chocolate might be involved! All welcome, no admission. Hope to see you there.

The Distant Hours

by Joan

I’m looking forward to an upcoming Q&A with Kate Morton because I’ve just finished her most recent novel, The Distant Hours. Ms. Morton wrote, “The novel brings together many of my favourite things. A crumbling castle, a family of sisters, a love of books and reading, the haunting of the present by the past, thwarted love, ghostly shivers, mystery and memory and secrets.”

If these are also your favorite things, you’ll be crazy about this book, or in fact, any of her novels. The Distant Hours builds slowly, unfolding with each intricate bit of plot. But the suspense grows and to the last sentence, the reader is caught up in the mystery of a daughter trying to understand her mother, three eccentric sisters trying desperately to protect their castle and themselves, a family cemetery, and love forsaken.

From Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review. A letter posted in 1941 finally reaches its destination in 1992 with powerful repercussions for Edie Burchill, a London book editor, in this enthralling romantic thriller from Australian author Morton (The Forgotten Garden). At crumbling Milderhurst Castle live elderly twins Persephone and Seraphina and their younger half-sister, Juniper, the three eccentric spinster daughters of the late Raymond Blythe, author of The True History of the Mud Man, a children's classic Edie adores. Juniper addressed the letter to Meredith, Edie's mother, then a young teen evacuated to Milderhurst during the Blitz. Edie, who's later invited to write an introduction to a reprint of Raymond's masterpiece, visits the seedily alluring castle in search of answers. Why was her mother so shattered by the contents of a letter sent 51 years earlier? And what happened to soldier Thomas Cavill, Juniper's long-missing fiancé and Meredith's former teacher? Despite the many competing narratives, the answers will stun readers.

A quote I read on Ms. Morton’s website really struck me. She wrote, “I prefer to write for one person whose tastes are exactly like mine, instead of imagining millions of readers, which would be ‘creatively crippling.’ ”

Out of all the advice on writing, this seems about as sensible as it gets. The interesting part is that her books are not only intriguing to her, but they are huge sellers, in her native Australia and worldwide.

Fellow writers: Do you write with your own tastes in mind, or do you write for others? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Our Best Reads of 2010

By Kim

All of us at What Women Write are compulsive readers as well as writers. As 2010 comes to a close we thought it may be fun to share the books we loved most this year. Have you read any of the books we mention? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Inspired to run to your nearest bookstore and pick one up? We’d love to hear that, too.

Kim’s favorites:

For fiction, our readers probably already know I loved Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell, Days of Grace by Catherine Hall, Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin and Room by Emma Donoghue. A few more that I did not review were Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and the one I am currently reading, The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.

For non-fiction the hands-down winner was Defiant Spirits by Ross King, which was about the Group of Seven, a band of painters who worked and exhibited together in the early part of the 20th century. Much has been written about them before, but more often than not they are portrayed as almost mythical figures in Canadian history. King’s version of the story is meticulously researched and feels much closer to the truth. I picked up this book as research for my own novel, thrilled to find that my great-grandfather, Carl Ahrens, was NOT reduced to a mere footnote as he so often is in art history books. I was pleasantly surprised that King turned the myths back into men, exposed their flaws, and did so in an entertaining way. (Note that Joan also recommends one of his books in her list.)


Pamela's favorites:

This year I read far fewer books than normal, so my basket from which to pluck a favorite is pretty small. My fiction reading tends to be mostly middle grade, spending time each evening curled up next to my daughter as we share her recent selection. (I'll spare you the titles unless you're a fan of books featuring horses or sassy eight-year-olds.)

As far as adult fiction, my favorite for 2010 is The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle. My sister recommended Kittle, a Dayton resident like her, and I quickly read three titles of Kittle's. The Blessings remains my favorite. (There's a horse on the cover, so no wonder, right?)

My non-fiction reading surprisingly outweighed my fiction choices--by at least five-to-one. Therefore my choice of a favorite is a little tougher. Based on a book I recommended multiple times, I'd have to choose Open by Andre Agassi. I'm not a huge tennis fan but remember Agassi's days on the court and, unlike many pro athletes who make the news, he seems to have kept a fairly low profile, choosing the road of family man and philanthropist today. He has a love-hate relationship with the sport--hated playing it, hated it for robbing him of his childhood, but loves where it's brought him today. And because it's told in present-tense, Open makes for a very compelling read.


Elizabeth’s favorites:

Fiction:

I See You Everywhere by Julie Glass is about two very different sisters who become closer over the years, even as geography pulls them further apart. Compelling, well-written, I have no negative comment for this book. A+. Got from library, will likely add a copy to personal library.

Me and Emma, by Elizabeth Flock shows an amazing mastery of craft in addition to just terrific writing.

The book I might have recommended the most this year is one Joan suggested to me: All Other Nights, by Dara Horn. This is the story of a Jewish Union soldier in the Civil War, and his journey through the war. An excellent and edifying read.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender - Eating the chocolate frosted lemon cake her mother makes for her ninth birthday, a young California girl discovers she can taste emotions in the food people make, and cannot escape the gift. Her brother is an oddity, and her mother sad and driven to an affair, her father remote. This was a weird, compelling read, and the end made me cry. Brilliant work, I thought, beautifully written as well. Will likely purchase a copy and be on the lookout for her next.

Non-Fiction

I read a few this year, and the best, and most thought-provoking, too, was this:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Four meals traced back to their roots, from industrial to “organic” and another kind of organic sans government sanction and labeling, to hunted and gathered. Really made me think, a lot. Started at my friends' house while on vacation (they are vegetarians). Engaging voice and though probably an agenda, very fair. Will likely seek out more of Pollan’s work. A meaningful read, an important book, and timeless, at least for the time being.

Joan’s favorites:

I don’t read too much non-fiction, but this year I researched a fair bit. One of my favorites was London, A Pilgrimage, a mid-Victorian tromp through the great city’s fashionable, working-class and truly seedy areas, by Gustave Doré and Blanchard Jerrold. I read a truly engrossing tale, Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome, about Filippo Brunelleschi and his genius design for the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore’s Il Duomo in Florence. The book reads more like a novel, touching on personal jealousies, traumatic setbacks, political rivalries, and fierce determination.

For fiction, it was even tougher to choose. I’d have to say All Other Nights, Dara Horn’s brilliant civil war spy thriller was the page-turner of the year. Two others blew me away; the tragic, yet beautiful Caspian Rain by Gina B. Nahai and Away by Amy Bloom. I book-ended the year with two novels from one of my favorite authors, Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours.

Susan’s favorites:

Fiction:

Little Bee by Chris Cleave. Genius, genius, genius. I also loved Incendiary, his debut novel, which I read after Little Bee.

Non fiction:

Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr. A brilliant writer. She simply writes beautiful sentences and is a joy to read.


Julie’s favorites:

Looking back at my list of books I’ve read this year, I was surprised to see how many I loved. It was hard to choose. I attempted to branch out in my reading this year, not only to expand my own personal horizons, but also to study the writing in books beyond the usual suspects. I fell hard for a few. Like Susan, I was blown away by Chris Cleaves' Little Bee and Incendiary, and like Joan, I loved Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden.

Right after the new year, I read Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger. This dark story is genius in its use of setting as character. The creepy old English estate is as active and integral to the story as the human characters. It’s a ghost story of sorts, and I’m a big chicken. I found myself looking over my shoulder a few times while reading!

One of my very favorite professors from college, Dr. Delores Washburn, continually challenges me since we reconnected on Facebook. She mentioned Carson McCullers’ Member of the Wedding in response to my post about the Dog Days of Summer, which inspired me to pick up a copy. Thanks to Delores’s influence, I can’t get enough Southern fiction, but I also love discovering or rediscovering classics that still have much to teach us. This story was no exception.

I didn’t read much nonfiction this year, but I’m in the process of reading Donald Maass’s The Fire in Fiction. The timing couldn’t have been better as I’m diving into revisions on my recently completed manuscript, All the Things You Are, and am already finding so many ways I will be able to improve my story. I’m about four chapters in and can tell this hands-on resource is going to be another one I keep in my writer’s toolbox.

So what are your favorite reads of 2010?

Disappointment

by Joan

I’ve had a file lingering for a while in my blog folder. The title is Disappointment and the page is blank. Somewhere on my messy desk are notes where I fully expected the idea to flourish and mature, with just the right amount of cleverness and humility worthy of the topic.

But I don’t need notes to remember the hours spent writing, revising, editing, critiquing. The joy about an idea or scene I wanted to write and the pain at my inability to get it just so. Who am I to call myself a writer? Dani Shapiro is a writer. Dara Horn is a writer. Kate Morton is a writer.

I’m minutes away from putting my third manuscript in the drawer. Even now, I can't describe my disappointment at this decision. The anguish of leaving behind not only a story I've spent so much time with, but characters I will mourn and a setting that won't fade from my mind, no matter how hard I try. Just the other day I got another Bodleian Friend's Newsletter, and in it, a eulogy on one of the Bodleian's first women librarians, there at just the same time as my character Gigi Dottie.

A recent post by Janet Reid linking to Tawna Fenske’s blog post got me thinking: I’m not alone in my disappointment. And I’m not embarrassed by it either. There are probably thousands of writers just like me, putting endless hours and painstaking devotion into their manuscripts. Honing their prose, chasing the perfect word or phrase. Searching for the perfect agent. Tawna Fenske found hers and so will I.

Some might think I’m wrong to share my stats, but here's how they played out:

Manuscript #3: 104 queries or conference pitches resulting in 11 full and 12 partial requests

Manuscript #2 (co-written with Pamela): 127 queries or pitches resulting in 15 requests (full and partial)

Manuscript #1: 45 queries or pitches resulting in 5 full and 4 partial requests

There were plenty of non-responses to queries, but most disappointing were the non-responses to partial and full submissions, six months, a year, two years later. Like many writers, I’ve moved on to my next project. And although I’m deep into the story, I still hold out hope that I'll get the chance to resurrect one or more of my earlier manuscripts--or that the sole outstanding full submission on #3 will turn into a yes.

Yes, receiving rejections is disappointing, whether they're non-answers, form rejections, or no-thank-yous based on a partial or full. But mostly I’m disappointed in myself. That I sent out my manuscripts before they were ready. Sent them out before they could have been the best that they could be.

Instead of wallowing in my disappointment, though, I’m going to use it. I’m going to harness the negative energy to fire up my current WIP. To take my joy and excitement about number four and make it just so.

Multiple Mania!

By Julie

I'm taking a crash course in my latest manuscript. I'm writing not only from different points of view, but in different settings and times in history. I've written from at least two points of view in each long manuscript I've written or dabbled in, but the multiple setting and time periods thing is new and certainly a challenge.

For research, I've been checking out relevant online articles and studying the books I'm reading carefully to see how the authors handled similar challenges. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite resources so far with our What Women Write readers.

As Joan mentioned in her personal blog the other day, Donald Maass posted a series recently on Writer Unboxed. Like Joan, the series couldn't have come at a better time for me, especially Part III, posted just last week.* In this installment, Maass discusses how using multiple points of view can enhance your story. He says, ". . . readers respond powerfully to a sense of vastness, a depth and sweep, being transported, journeying far and yet feeling at home. It may be easier to evoke all that with multiple points of view."

That was enough to reassure me my current process is worth the effort. But Maass went on to say that just having multiple points of view is not enough, that "To create a true sense of scale, every characters' storyline must be equally absorbing."

And he could have just left it at that, but he doesn't. He provides a series of questions I've copied and pasted at the bottom of my current manuscript. Each time I contemplate them, I make notes and dig a little deeper into the multiple points of view I'm attempting to write. In Maass's words, I'm building scale into the story. I hope.

Then, last week, I happened upon a link posted by my friend Lisa on her Facebook page. On the surface, this article, Strategies for Writing About Loss (by Robin Black, author of IF I LOVED YOU, I WOULD TELL YOU THIS, guest posting on Beyond the Margins), sounded like a good resource almost any way you look at it. Most of us choose to write about loss in some form or fashion. Black's focus in the article is on how to write about loss in such a way that makes it unique and different. But the deeper I dug into the article, the more I realized how much it spoke to me about my multiple POV/setting/time period challenge. She suggests:

"There are also strategies for defamiliarizing stories that might sound, in summary, like a million others stories that have come before. . . . One possibility to consider is an intertwining, secondary plot line that both contrasts and resonates with the central one."

Aha! and Oh, yeaaaaah! I thought as I read those sentences. That's why I began writing my modern day point-of-view character to begin with in ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE, my current manuscript! I just needed a little reminding when things started to feel a little confused and overwhelming. And that whole article is packed full of some good stuff.

Finally, I recently polled my Facebook friends, asking what books they'd read that used multiple points of view in different time periods and preferably different settings. Joan was spot on again with her recommendation of THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN, by Kate Morton. I gobbled up this hefty novel last week and came away from it thinking, well, if she can do it and make it work, so can I. She juggled even more POVs and time periods than I'm attempting, all to good effect. She talks about the process here on her fascinating website.

With a little help from my friends, some excellent articles, and the best research for writing fiction ever – READING – I feel like I'm well on my way to wrapping my head around this challenge.

What about you? Any additional words of wisdom or resources or just feel like commiserating because you're attempting something similar? We'd love to hear from you.

* Any writer at any stage could benefit from reading all three installments of Maass's excellent series, The Elements of Awe -- Part I here; Part II here; Part III here.
Photo credit: Daniela Vladimirova's Flickr photostream by Creative Commons License