“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” — Virginia Woolf

Recent Events

Book Expo

This past month I enjoyed being a featured author at the Barrington Library Expo. It was an exquisitely beautiful day, and most of the authors expected very little foot traffic; we figured we’d spend the day sitting around chatting with each other. Instead we were pleasantly surprised that there was a steady stream of visitors and gratified to know there are still so many engaged readers. Being an introvert, and lousy at self-promotion (I still can’t describe my novels in a short, succinct way that makes them sound in the least appealing) I usually pass on events like book fairs. Somehow, this one turned out to be a real pleasure, with lots of fun conversations with readers and writers alike. I shared a table with Rick Claypool, a writer of “absurdist horror,” a delightful person whose skewed sensibility enlivened the day for me.

The Craft of Writing: Structure

Recently I hosted a discussion at Barrington Books with Susan Buttenwieser, author of Junction of Earth and Sky (see my book recommendation in last month’s newsletter). I’d never met Susan before being asked to host this event and thoroughly enjoyed talking with her about her writing process and the inspiration for her novel.

I was particularly interested in how Susan arrived at the structure of her novel, which has alternating points of view and many different timelines. Because of the complexity of her storytelling, I suspected that she must have had the overall story and its frame in mind at the beginning and was, in essence, working backward from where she knew the main characters’ stories ended. I was wrong. Instead, Susan explained that she started with one character and a sense of a location and vague story inspiration (from the lives of her in-laws during the London Blitz of World War II). She played around with developing that character and discovering how and why she arrived at the particular moment in time Susan envisioned for her. Later in the process Susan moved the chapters around like puzzle pieces (via short notes on index cards) until a shape she liked emerged. Just goes to show that there are many ways of approaching a novel and its structure!

In writing circles, writers are often described as plotters or pantsers in how we approach a longer narrative (plotters being those who outline and have a structure versus pantsers who work from the seat of their pants). For me, though, it’s a combination of both approaches. I usually begin with a theme and take notes, basically talking to myself about what I’m trying to do and thinking through different ideas and storylines. I want only the vaguest overall structure to start (so there’s room to move within it). I don’t begin writing untiI I have found the voice of my main character, which can take quite a while. Once I begin writing, though, I work the way Susan described, seeing where a character takes me and staying as open to new possibilities as I can.

With my current work in progress, which I began working on through workshops I was helping facilitate through bookinc, I incorporated the somewhat more structured approach they espouse, while still maintaining as much fluidity as I could.

When it comes to writing a novel I think that there’s no right way, and I find I am continually refining (or discovering?) my process each time around.

Life on the Coast

The season has turned here in New England. It’s time to cut back the lavender and stow away the hammock for the winter. Here are some (very amateur) photos from some recent walks around my town this past week, plus the last remaining flowers in the garden.

Book Recommendation

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Wild Dark Shore is Charlotte McConaghy’s latest novel after the huge successes of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves. It’s a stunner, set on an island between Australia and Antarctica, loosely based on Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site and research station where scientists have been studying environmental change. McConaghy sets up the novel as a thriller, and the story is an intriguing one: For years, widower Dominic Salt has been the island’s caretaker, raising his three children in this natural paradise. But due to climate change, sea level rise is happening so fast the island will soon disappear. A boat is going to be picking the family up in seven weeks, the timeline of the novel, and the family is packing up what they can of the precious seeds that have been kept in a vault in case the world’s food supply needs to be regrown after environmental catastrophe. All the researchers have left, and the family is alone on the island. Into this tense situation a woman, Rowan, washes up on shore, just when Dom discovers the island’s communications equipment has been sabotaged, cutting them off entirely from the outside world. McConaghy slides between all five characters’ points of view, alluding to but not explaining various mysteries that pile up and keep the suspense high. I found some of the plot aspects strained plausibility, but what’s undeniable, and makes the book a must read, is how McConaghy’s plunges you into this evocative setting and her truly endearing characters, most especially the youngest boy, Orly. McConaghy writes as hauntingly of their emotional and inner lives as she does the captivating penguins, birds, and seals they live among. Thematically the book is equally rich, weighing questions like, if the world is coming to an end, do you embrace love? What do you save, the practical or the beautiful? Besides an elegy for nature, Wild Dark Shore is about families, and parenting, and choosing hope despite grief and loss. This is a gorgeous, heart-pumping, heart-wrenching and mesmerizing read.

A Musical Bon Mot

I made a discovery of a major musical talent, guitarist and composer Hwajong Jim, and want to spread the word. (I study classical guitar and occasionally write music reviews, and was delighted to recieve this assignment). Check out my review and his debut CD, “Mystery Story,” at Minor7th.com. Enjoy!