Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Healing

Last Thursday, I had a customer request for several copies of a book called Healing After Loss. The next day, I received an email for three copies of the same book from a different customer. After the last request, I decided that when the book next comes in, I’d take a look at it. The woman who ordered the latter three told me, “The book is really helpful - short meditations each day which is about all one can handle.” As it turns out, I will be getting my own copy and maybe a couple extra copies for family members. Corky Geraedts, my father-in-law, passed away on Saturday. He was 56 years old. I first met Corky in 1995, when I began to date his son Tom (my now husband). When Tom and I decided to marry, I remember being a bit overwhelmed by the fact that my family would DOUBLE. I looked forward to having sisters however, since I don’t have any. As I became more entrenched in my husband’s family, I began to realize that not only did I gain a greater number of family members, I also gained family woes. On the other hand, I have experienced more joy. Because of my relationship with Tom’s family, I have rejoiced in the births of seven babies – seven! That’s something I could not have accomplished on my own (and let’s faces it, if I did, rejoicing might not be my first reaction). There is a long, tangled road of grieving ahead for my family. I grieve my own loss of Corky, I grieve my husband’s loss of his father, I grieve my daughter’s loss of her Opa. This Thanksgiving, my prayer is thus: Thank you for the time I had with Corky.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Who are Margaret Atwood’s readers in 2009?

As a younger woman, I read Margaret Atwood’s Robber Bride. It was my first real introduction to “literary fiction”, and I was hooked. Robber Bride is the story of three women with undertones of feminism, as much of Atwood’s novels were in the 1980s and 90s. I went on to read Cat’s Eye, Blind Assasin, and Alias Grace. In the fall of 2000, my mom and I went to see Atwood speak at a library event in the Twin Cities. After her talk, she stayed to sign books. As I approached the table, I got nervous. Here was MARGARET ATWOOD!!! Unfortunately, I rambled and babbled incoherently to her. She simply smiled at me serenely. I then discovered a novel of Atwood’s that I had missed: The Handmaid’s Tale. It still was well written and had feminist undertones, but it was, well, science fiction. Science fiction? I had never read science fiction, it never held much appeal to me. Was I enjoying Handmaid’s Tale because by that time I was already an Atwood fan or did I actually like science fiction? Either way, I liked it, so I decided not to worry about it. In 2003, Atwood published a book called Oryx and Crake. Again, well written and science fiction. (Both Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx are set in the future in a rather dismal world). For me, Handmaid’s Tale was all about people, Oryx was about science, technology, and the affect it would have on all of creation. Still, I loved it. It was dark and alarming. Atwood’s latest book is The Year of the Flood. Again, the book is set in a futuristic environmental catastrophe . I read the book on audio and it was the kind of book that I really didn’t mind getting stuck behind a slow driver because it meant I could hear more of the book. I would drive home and sit in my car in front of the driveway until my family peered out the windows with the “Aren’t you coming in?” look (even from the dogs). So, I guess after three science fiction books by Atwood, I do like science fiction, or at least I like it Atwood style. It got me to thinking, have her other readers come along with her as I have? Atwood continues to be a bestseller. Is it the same readers? Much of Atwood’s non science fiction novels are rich for discussion for the books groups I have been involved in, but would my book groups ever discuss Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx, or Year of the Flood? Would they even read it? Am I wrong to assume they wouldn’t go for it? Am I too unwilling to put Atwood on the book group table, just in case the group ripped apart the book(s) rather than coddled them? Who knows if I’ll ever find out. Still, I’m curious to know, who are Atwood’s readers today?

Monday, November 9, 2009

November Means Write a Novel

For many, the month of November is about a change in seasons, the upcoming onslaught of holidays, hunting, and so on. For others however, November is all about writing a novel. A whole novel? Yes. Edited, polished, and ready for publication? Well, no. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or NaNo, is all about quantity, not quality. It's for the person who longs to write a novel, but never takes the time to sit down and do it, gets bogged down in sentence number three of chapter one, or has a hard time conceiving the whole plot. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to pump out 50,000 words in 30 days. If you do the math on this, it works out to about 1666 words per day. If you want to finish early, shoot for 2000 per day. When faced with the monumental task of producing 50,000 words, the writer quickly abandons fears of imperfect sentences. Why bother? As a writer friend of mine says, "Editing is so much easier than writing." Once you have a blob of a draft on a page, you have something to work with, something to mold, cut, re-shape, and perfect. Not everyone agrees that NaNo is a good idea. I have argued with writers about the merits of NaNo. I concede that it's not for everyone, especially well-established, published authors. (Stephen King doesn't need NaNo personally, but he's welcome to encourage the rest of us). For the pre-published (as William Kent Krueger kindly refers to unpublished writers), NaNo is a terrific exercise. The first year I participated in NaNo, I conceived of an entire series of mysteries. While I like to read mysteries, I never thought I would try to write one, let alone a series. (Unfortunately, some time in December of that year, I inadvertently brushed the memory stick containing my 50,000 words into the garbage, and so Year 1 is somewhere in a landfill). Year 2 I decided to write an epic poem. This was the worst writing idea I've ever had. I don't think I even made it to 10,000 words that year. This year, I'm off and writing again, back to the novel idea. I'm currently at about 13,000 words, which is slightly behind, but I'm not worried. I'll let you know next month if I made it.