Connecting

Now Jennifer Weiner is tweeting me!

You guys, it almost looks like I'm becoming friends with real writers. They say getting published is all who you know ...

The book in question in the above tweet, is Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue. It was released this year, and up until a few days ago when Jennifer Weiner started stalking about it, I'd never heard of the book or the author.

ROOM sounds like exactly the kind of book I'd be interested in: I mean, come on. Mysteriously trapped in a room by someone? Sounds a lot like what I just wrote about in Awake!

As selfish as this sounds, the more support we give our female writers now, the better luck I'm going to have in the future. So, good job, ladies!

Here's a short list of fiction written by women, which I've enjoyed:

Love pt. 2

As far as making contact with published authors is concerned, it's been a very good week or so.

The latest installment involved Kyra Davis' contest for a $100 gift card to Starbucks -- which I won!

I think my first order is going to have to be a Caramel Brownie Frappuccino in honor of Sophie Katz (a drink she mentions a few times in Sex, Murder and a Double Latte).


When I'm not on Twitter ...


I'm getting critiques on The Silent Treatment. So far, the new version of the first chapter is getting really good response, so I'm working on getting the rest of the novel finished and off to some more agents. I should get to work.

Love

You guys, I think I've found my fictional match.
In 2008, I wrote a novel called The Silent Treatment; the next year, Exchange, both starring the same main character, Kat Shergill. She's spunky and sarcastic--sure she still needs a little work (and representation), but the start is there.

This afternoon, I finished reading a novel called Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis. For the past 3 days, I've been thrilled that I finally found something similar to what I want to write. Sophie Katz, our heroine, is spunky and sarcastic (like my creation), but she's also sexy and has quite a mouth on her. She's bi-racial (like Kat, but not the same two races), and has the word "Kat" in her name (which I hope I won't have to change now!).
Instead of being jealous that I hadn't thought of the story first, I was happy I found another author I could identify with. (And lest Ms Davis stumble upon this blog and get creeped out by my fandom ... it's just regular, nice fandom.)

One thing this book has definitely done is given me renewed interest in editing The Silent Treatment, and possibly starting a third adventure in the series.

Another book I finished was I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. Like David Sedaris, it's best to have her read the stories to you. I'm sure she's got a busy schedule, so I got the audiobook instead.
Besides the amusing stories and laugh-out-loud moments when she said she experienced something I thought only I went through (like finding it annoying when a movie character shares my name), I was impressed by her writing ability. It was smooth, easy, and very smart. Looking forward to her next book!

So basically this week, I've been shown up by two different people: two people who write in very different styles, very different topics. Much love to them both - maybe one day I'll be able to buy them a coffee and pick their brains. Kyra, Sloane, if you're reading this, I'm serious. I have $5 with your name on it.

Nice!

Jonathan Franzen tweeted me.

Coming up with titles is hard

It's Sunday. Statistically speaking, this is the most boring day of the week for me -- and why? I slave the entire week and end up staring at the walls when I could be hanging with my famous troupe of friends? (I say "famous" but I guess I really mean "imaginary")

Getting some critiques on Awake and The Silent Treatment. Having one's work critiqued is extremely good; however, after getting the notes, it's not so good to sulk and contemplate giving up writing altogether. It's a hard process -- it's all subjective, which makes it even more difficult to give or receive critiques.
But a word to any other budding authors out there: always say "thank you". No one wants to say anything harsh; every time I have to tell someone, "I didn't connect with the main character," I feel bad - and the person who says it to me feels bad too. We're all trying to better each other, not be mean.

That being said, my manuscript is now RIDDLED with revision suggestions (which could actually make the revision easy), so I'll be busy with that for a while before I submit it anywhere else.

Still reading, too

Finished listening to Carrie by Stephen King. Boy oh boy, the man can tell a story! I love the suspense technique he used through the whole novel - I've never seen the movie or read the book before, but basically from the first chapter you know what's going to happen at the end. That's what makes it scary, though, because you're left guessing exactly how it's going to happen, or when. I'm also really impressed with the way Mr. King portrays his characters: in this story (haven't read all his stuff, so I don't want to make a blanket statement), everyone is very human. Carrie is picked on and humiliated -- oh yeah, and has telekinesis. The story ends at the place the characters logically take it, without anyone suddenly turning into a freaky monster, void of any emotion.



Music is also very good

As I may have mentioned before, music is a big help to me either while writing or just walking around the city. My favorite artist just released a new album, so I'm all over it right now. If any of you are interested in music without English lyrics, check out Tarkan's Adımı Kalbine Yaz.

Reading lots

From what follows in this post, one might assume I have loads of free time on my hands, which is not true. The majority of the "reading" I'm getting done lately is in the form of audiobooks, which I use to make my workday more palatable.

Let's begin.

First, I finished David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I absolutely love his essays, but when he branches into fiction (as he does in one title), he exaggerates so much that the story becomes difficult to relate to (at least for me). But listening to him read his own work is half the pleasure - I'm not sure I can read one of his books to myself anymore because I've been so spoiled. In fact, have a listen here.

Second, I listened to Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries). I've read her other books, The Namesake, and Interpreter of Maladies, and this collection was comparable with those. Nice descriptions of the emotions of everyday people, but sometimes those emotions run pretty dark; one story (Only Goodness) left me pretty drained and wanting to be out of that situation at the end. Luckily for me, it was just a story, not something I'd actually experienced, so I went about my day as though it never happened. That's the beauty of Lahiri's work, though -- she can really make you believe you've gotten your heart broken.

Still working on The Sleeping Dragon by Miyabe. It's entertaining, but it's old-fashioned words-on-paper reading, so I've got to find time during non-working hours.

Also in the "read it to me" vein, I attended an author reading at the Philadelphia Free Library last night, and saw Sloane Crosley. The first time I'd heard her was listening to her story "The Pony Problem" online, and ever since I've been a fan. Had a great time - didn't stay for autographs, though, because I've yet to buy one of her books. Bad, I know.

But it hasn't all been roses and tea-parties. I listened to about a third of Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen, and decided I'd rather listen to ambient office noises than continue with the story. I borrowed the audiobook on the recommendation of a colleague of mine. She told me Evanovich was funny and interesting; I wanted to like it. The humor seemed forced, and the characters didn't seem real - almost like a cartoon or stereotypes. Anyway, the series is certainly popular, so she's hitting the right spot for someone -- just not me.

humph.

Apparently, blogging isn't a priority of mine.

I have been editing a lot, blah blah blah. I'm also living in my little dream world, designing my future home in Europe. *

Also got hooked on a German band called ich + ich


So there went most of my day. Not sure what the creepy clown is doing in this video, but it's a nice song.

I have been reading. I gave up on The Girl Who Played With Fire because it was pretty confusing with all the Swedish names and places (and then it got started with drug people and and lesbianism, and most importantly, I couldn't figure out where the guy was going with all of it). Then I ran across this parody from The New Yorker, and it addressed most of my complaints.
More enjoyable, and just as exotic, is Miyuki Miyabe's The Sleeping Dragon. Her images are very real - like when the characters are outside in a typhoon. Without being redundant, she reminds the reader just how drenched everyone is.

Finally working on part 2 of Awake, and I'm having probably too much fun writing about an office environment. Grievances will be aired - but any resemblance to any persons, places, or events, living or dead, blah blah. Feels extremely good to get this stuff out in a "safe" environment. Not that I'm writing about personal experiences. NO! All fiction.



*note to self: figure out how to live in Europe.