Feb 19, 2006 | Uncategorized |
JA Konrath is talking over at his site about segregation on the shelves. The conversation stems from another post by Bestselling Author about his/her own (sorry, not sure because the author is anonymous) experience as an African-American author. Sad to say, but it seems as if AA authors get shelved in the AA section whether they want to be there or not. I never thought of this before, which shames me. I assumed there was an AA section because folks wanted it. I never stopped to think which folks. Can it be possible that African-Americans weren't clamoring for their own section in the bookstore? Is it merely a publishing/bookselling decision that leaves the people most affected out of the process? Why aren't there Irish-American sections? Or Jewish-American sections? Or Catholic-American sections? Has white America become so sensitive to the issue of race that we think having a section devoted to black literature makes us enlightened and supportive? Are we afraid that if we don't have it, we'll be accused of being racist?
I'm just asking the questions. I have no answers. For myself, I believe everyone should be taken as an individual. I don't want to be thought of as a racist because I'm white any more than a black person wants to be thought of as inferior because he or she is black. I am me, and I try my damndest to understand everyone. I know I have the privilege of race in my corner. On the other hand, I live in a state in which I am the minority. They call us haoles here. It means, basically, without breath. It also means I am white, not Hawaiian, not a local. This doesn't mean that I suddenly know what it's like to be a minority in a world where white images of power and beauty are still the norm (read THE BLUEST EYE for an idea what those images can do to someone who doesn't have a prayer of possessing them).
So, it was with some interest I went to the bookstore today. I know that at least one of the Borders here segregates literature. Today, I happened to be in Barnes & Noble, Ala Moana (Honolulu). What I found pleasantly surprised me.
The AA section was one shelving unit, and it contained non-fiction and some classic autobiographical narratives like Harriet Jacobs's INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL. Then I went into the “Fiction/Literature” section. There, on the shelves with everyone else, were the AA authors. They BELONG there, just like any other book. I expected to find Toni Morrison there. I also expected Terry McMillan and Eric Jerome Dickey. But finding Kimberla Lawson Roby and Brenda Jackson was nice too. (See Brenda Jackson shelved under John Irving.)
How about Mary Monroe under Rohinton Mistry? The purple-spined book next to Mistry was AA too, but I can't read it in the pic or remember the name.
A few other pics, just for the heck of it. I got some strange looks snapping these, but what the heck. 🙂 There were several Kayla Perrin books here….
Here are Kimberla Lawson Roby's….
And, finally, the queen of gorgeous language, Zora Neale Hurston shelved next to Stephen Hunter. We should all be so lucky as to write like Hurston.
I know it's not a lot, but it's a start. At least one store in one state has got it right. Now if we can just get the rest of them to shelve accordingly. I've never been afraid to shop the AA section for books, but it never occurred to me what I might be missing because those books weren't marketed to me (ads, reviews, displays, etc). I'd have never known about Hurst
on if not for an AA Lit class. I'd have never branched out on my own without that class, which means I'd have never read Alice Walker's POSSESSING THE SECRET OF JOY (should be required for all women–I even made my husband read it).
A good book is a good book, dammit. And it's not just AA authors we should seek out. Leslie Marmon Silko and Yasunari Kawabata should not be missed either, for example. They are Native American and Japanese accordingly. Kawabata is a Nobel winner.
Okay, just my thoughts, such as they are. I'll read anything that's good, I'll try any book (other than horror). Don't segregate the literature for me. If you want to market AA authors to an AA audience, fine. But don't leave the rest of us out of the loop once you've done so. A hundred years ago, it was women authors trying to make inroads into men's stranglehold on serious literature. The fight now is no less important. A good book is a good book. So, got any recommendations for me? I have the TBR pile from hades, but I'm always buying more books (and sneaking them in too–oops. Honey, ignore that.) 🙂
Feb 17, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Angela Knight has a great post about what to do when your book goes wrong.
It happens to every writer, no matter how skilled you are: the book from hell. This is a book that absolutely does not go where you want it to go, and which limps like a three-legged dog as it wanders away. When you read over it, you get this sick feeling in your stomach that whispers, “This book sucks.”
Have you ever had that feeling? I know I have. Like Angela, I've known when the book wasn't right, even if I didn't know how to fix it. I've often had to go away from it for a while, spend some time doing something else, and then approach it with a new attitude. I will slice and dice what isn't working pretty ruthlessly. I wasn't always this way. I used to whine and cry about keeping things just because I liked them. Scenes, descriptions, etc.
But they aren't really important in the scheme of things. It's the arc, the overall plot that matters. Took me a long time to learn that. Sometimes, I read work in contests and I know the writer doesn't know that yet. I've known people who keep polishing those same few chapters over and over and over, until the prose is lovely and shines, but the story has no life. The conflict isn't there. I get no hint of character, no idea what's going on in the story.
How do you tell someone that without crushing them? I've been there, I've written pages of beautiful nothing. But I don't know how to tell someone else when they've done it. I'm not sure they'd believe me anyway. Maybe it's something you have to discover for yourself. Reminds me of a quote:
What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish. — Thomas Wolfe
Oooh, that's a tough one. 🙂 But it's a lesson we all have to learn.
Feb 16, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Bet they don't usually have a big ol' SEAL on their parachutes when they drop behind enemy lines. 😉
[Can you believe this is Hawaii? Look at that yucky grey sky!]
Feb 16, 2006 | Uncategorized |
How soon do you know whether a book is going to deliver on its promise or not? I was thinking about this because I picked up a book that's been on my TBR pile for a while, just for something different between all the literary criticism and Woolf novels, and I knew within the first chapter that something just wasn't quite right. The book has gotten some good reviews, but it didn't take long for me to be weary of these characters and their issues. I wanted to yell at them, “Just get on with it!”
The writing is good, don't get me wrong. But something is missing, something that I wish I could pinpoint and say, “Aha!” If I could do that, I'd be bottling it and selling it at conferences (because we all feel like we're missing something in our WIPs from time to time). 🙂 Or maybe it's not the writing so much as the style. Not everyone likes the same authors, for instance. I've seen reviews lambasting Susan Elizabeth Phillips, for example, and I just love everything she writes! Even when I'm mad at her characters I'll keep reading. I trust her to deliver. And I'm emotionally invested when I'm angry. Smart lady.
But I can't even get angry at this book's characters. I'm just weary and irritated with them and I haven't even cracked 60 pages yet. I hope like hell my characters aren't this boring and wooden. But, dang it, if we knew we were writing characters this way, none of us would do it. How do we know they haven't come alive? How do we make sure they do?
If you figure it out, can you sell me a bottle? I just want to be sure…..
Feb 15, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Not me, my dears! Just got the preliminary report from my thesis chair on the first two chapters: “Well done […] I am anxious to see what you do with the remainder of your thesis.”
Yippee!
Okay, so it's not fiction writing, but hey, I've procrastinated the everlovin' heck out of this thing, so I'm tickled. I'm also ticked. What took me so long? I am so good at putting stuff off. Three more novels to analyze and one conclusion to write and man, I hope I'm finally done.
On the fiction front, do you know what the seven habits of highly effective authors are?
1. Write on a schedule.
2. Don't quit.
3. Feedback is a gift.
4. Know your audience, know thyself.
5. Have a plan.
6. Separate your work from your life.
7. When the bus stops, get on.
These seven habits come from a very thought-provoking article found on the Irene Goodman Literary Agency website. Check it out. Any others you'd add?
Feb 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
After my faboo week, first meeting Lee Goldberg and then having coffee with JAK, I've nothing exciting planned this week. But, today is Valentine's Day, a day that is at least symbolically important to romance writers everywhere. 🙂
What, then, is the quintessential romance novel to you? I have many favorites, but I'm going to have to go with Pride and Prejudice. In fact, my reading group just read and discussed this novel. I've never been a member of a reading group before, but I thought it would be fun, and since we are all actually writers first, it brings a different perspective to the work than we might otherwise find in a readers' group.
What is it about Elizabeth and Darcy that gets the heart sighing? I think it's because he is such an Alpha male, and she is so intelligent and lively. That's just my take. I love the A&E version of P&P with Colin Firth. I love that broody, angsty quality he brings to Darcy. When I reread the novel recently, I couldn't help but picture those characters in the roles. I didn't much care for the recent movie version, though it had its moments. The highly inaccurate outdoor proposal in the rain was so charged with sexual tension that I didn't care the writers had moved the venue. It worked.
What other novels do you think are wildly romantic? Which novel is your all-time favorite romance?
[Oh yes, if you check out JAK's link now, you'll see she's added the picture of the Aloha Chapter writers that I included below. Thanks, Jayne!]
