We lived in a tiny town on the coast of Oregon for only a year, but I miss it a lot. It seemed to rain all the time, yet I never used an umbrella. Clouds sat on the ground, so walking to work was hazy and misty, like a dream. Sometimes the wind whipped the rain right up your nose and you had to cover your face to avoid choking. We lived a five minute walk from the beach, down a steep hill that at the end of an hour’s walk we had to climb back up. At the beginning of the year, I thought I would die. At the end, I was chattering all the way up to the house. I forgave that little town everything for the tidal pools, the ocean vistas, and the consistently cool weather.
Monthly Archives: July 2018
Katherine Center—New York Times Bestselling Author
I received an ARC of How to Walk Away from the publisher St. Martin’s Press and fell in love with Katherine’s writing. Although never having had to face such a challenge as the main character, I could definitely relate to her constant bewilderment at other people’s actions. After following Katherine’s book tour online, I gathered my courage and asked her for an interview. She graciously stuffed my little blogblogblog into her bursting schedule. I’m excited to share a little insight into the life of this bestselling author. Check out her website (below) and follow her on social media.
Tell me about your writing process, including schedule, environment, and strategies, techniques, and nuances that keep you moving forward in the craft.
I’m just always thinking about stories. Whether I’m working on one of my own, or reading someone else’s, or watching a movie, or reading a news story, or talking to my kids—stories are just kind of the lens that I bring to everything that I do. When I’m not writing, I’m reading fiction, or reading about fiction, or writing about it in a journal. It’s fun for me to take stories apart and figure out what makes them work (or not work). As for schedule, I’m not a person who writes every day. When I have a story going, I write obsessively, but then I take breaks in between to focus on something else and let the well fill back up. I am very chatty and sociable, and I find hanging out with my cute family almost irresistible, so when I have a big deadline, I leave town for several days so I can really concentrate. My mom has a sunny little beach house on Galveston Island in Texas, and I’ll spend four or five quiet days there several times a year so I can get big bursts of writing done. But I think the time when I’m not writing is as important as the time when I am—letting the story “drain,” and letting myself get distance from it, is important, too. My main strategy for getting better—and I am always trying to get better—is to try to get clearer and clearer about what I love in a story, myself, as a reader, and then to get smarter and more skilled at how to do those things for readers when I write. Whenever I read a story that I fall in love with, I try to figure out what I loved about it and teach myself how to do that. I really find, in writing and in life, that it’s best to focus on what you love.
I love your philosophy of resilience, always getting up no matter what happens. This makes me think of Sophie Kinsella’s work, with the feel good, happy, yet realistic and pragmatic, endings. How do you maintain that sense of joy and positivity, and trust in your work—what inspirations do you have in your work environment and in your head?
Humor is a coping mechanism for me, and I’ve always had a wry sense of humor, but I wouldn’t say that I’m naturally sunny, exactly. I’ve had to really work at it. Growing up, I had a strong tendency to focus on everything that was wrong in any situation—usually out of an earnest desire to fix it. I had this idea that we could only be happy if nothing was wrong. But of course, the older you get, the more you realize that you can never fix everything. Things are always going to be wrong—and right—all at the same time. The trick is to learn to savor life’s joys even among all the hardship. It’s never just one or the other. It’s always both at the same time. So the way I embrace joy is hard-won—and very deliberate. And that’s what I do in my stories, as well. I try to put joy on the page. I try to write stories that are infused with pleasure and laughter—even among all the struggles and troubles. In fact, you can’t write about joy without also writing about suffering. You need the contrast. We tend to think of comedy and tragedy as being opposites, but I think they’re two sides of the same coin. They live side by side—in real life and in fiction.
Describe the process of publishing, from final draft to final product, including your publishing team and all your cheerleaders, and all the promotional work you do yourself.
That’s a big question! Honestly, it’s different for every book. For How to Walk Away, my publishing house worked very hard to get the word out. They printed a gorgeous tri-fold brochure and a first chapter sampler. They designed a phenomenal cover that was so eye-catching and totally captured the book’s vibe. Then they printed up Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), which are like a paperback version of the final book, to send to reviewers and book bloggers and Instagrammers. With How to Walk Away, I was very lucky to get some beautiful blurbs for the ARC from many bestselling authors, including Emily Giffin, Nina George, Elinor Lipman, Karen White, Graeme Simsion, Jill Santopolo, Brené Brown, and Jenny Lawson. In the months leading up to pub date, my publicist and marketing team at St. Martin’s Press (The most amazing, fun, hardworking people!! Love them!!) sent out advance copies and worked to get the book out there as much as possible! My part of it has been to say YES to everything! I visit book clubs, chat with readers on Instagram, post on Facebook, answer Q&As, do podcasts, write guest posts. It’s very busy around book launch time—we call it “book season”—but I just go and go, because I want to do everything I possibly can to help my books take flight and find the readers who will love them.
I can imagine that you’re a powerful and inspirational speaker; I’ve enjoyed following you online on your book tour for How to Walk Away. Who arranges your speaking engagements, where do you speak, and what specifically are your speaking topics?
I love to speak! I’m a talker from a long line of talkers, and going up on stage is one of my favorite parts of my job. Sometimes I set up the details of speaking events myself, and sometimes it’s a speaking agent, depending on the kind of event it is! When folks email me, I route them to the right person. I usually talk about some aspect of stories—how they work, why they matter, how they make us better at life. I’ve also spoken about why telling great stories helps businesses, how failure is good for you, and how to learn to look for the good stuff in life. I gave a TEDx Talk this spring about how stories teach us empathy—and why we need to encourage boys to read stories about girls.
How does your life influence your writing, and vice versa, and what do you love most about your creativity?
Creativity is joy for me. I am always happy when I’m making things. And I love to make lots of different things. I love stories and writing, but I’m also very visual. I almost went to art school, and I love making collages, doing hand-lettering, doing embroidery, and painting. I did black and white darkroom photography while I was in grad school for creative writing. In college, I made art books—using art papers and sewing my own bindings. Leave me alone for any amount of time, and I’ll start making things. As for how my life influences my writing and vice-versa, I’d say that both my books and my life exist as a kind of search for joy. Not short-term thrills, but the slow deepening pleasure that comes with understanding and wisdom. My characters are always struggling to learn the same things that I am struggling to learn—what really matters in life and how to savor every disappearing minute.
Connect with Katherine:
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage—pub date July 17, 2018
Suzette is convinced that her 7-year-old daughter Hannah is trying to kill her. The child is non-verbal, talking only through an invisible friend, the last “witch” burned in France, a piece of trivia she researched online. Alex, her husband—Hannah’s father, struggles to believe that anything beyond selective mutism is wrong with his beloved daughter, who adores him as much as she abhors her mother. An incident forces him to confront the truth, and they must take drastic measures to save their daughter from herself.
Alternating perspectives of mother and daughter show exactly where communication is misconstrued, and the mother’s Crohn’s disease is woven into the story well as a contributing factor to her fear of being a bad mother. Though the author represents the main characters well, the father is flat and comes across as whiny and simplistic. A sense of ambiguity as to the child’s true problem and the mother’s true feelings is not achieved; rather, it feels made of conflicting storylines, with vague references left unexplored. The therapist recommended by the pediatrician seems to be poor at her job, crossing ethical lines (specifics here would be spoilers). The last line is killer!
I received a digital ARC of this story from the publisher through NetGalley.
The NeverMind of Brian Hildebrand by Martin Myers—pub date July 17, 2018
Brian Hildebrand becomes conscious a few days after a bizarre car accident involving him and his car after he stepped out of it. However, this conscious state does not equate to him awaking from a coma. Though psychic, his mother cannot reach him, but her mother’s intuition tells her that he’s in there, aware and listening. An unreliable narrator, he enlightens the reader upon his favorite caregiver, a mysterious stranger, ghosts, psychic connections, and the various new and unorthodox treatments to unlock him.
Myers creates a colorful character, haphazard in his sharing, building tension as a man locked in with his constant thoughts, seeking aid everywhere, even psychically and through spirits of the recently and not-so-recently deceased. His supporting cast comes through his tunnel vision—well-developed characters as seen through the lens (literally, as his eyes are open, doubtful in real life) of his limited vision: mom, mysterious stranger, amaaaazing caregiver, and various possible saviors. Having invested oneself in the possibility of recovery for this locked in protagonist, and slogged through the frustrated attempts and helplessness of him and his cheerleaders, the morphing of this story into metafiction disappoints. I was fortunate to receive this fantastic story turned metafiction from the publisher through NetGalley. Maybe it was all a dream after all.
Heather Burch—Bestselling International Author of Contemporary Fiction and YA
First, let me say thank you for having me, Lael! I love visiting with reader friends and new readers who may not know me yet!
Describe your writing process, including subject, schedule, environment, inspirations, and techniques / strategies.
I have an office in my home that is the backdrop for most of my writing. It’s a large space filled with things I love. But I do change up and write outside sometimes or cart my computer to Starbucks. Change is good. As for my schedule and process, I am an early riser so I do my best work in the mornings before the world is awake. I usually write for a few hours, then take a break. Sometimes I go back to the computer; sometimes I get busy with social networking. When I’m working on a book, I try to stay really close to the project—it’s never far from my thoughts and is always working in the back of my brain. I don’t let it totally dominate, but I do allow that creative magic to flow so that it’s there when I need it!
Walk me through your publishing process, from final draft to finished product; include your publishing team, who does what.
I’m always amazed at how many hands are on any particular project. I send the final draft to my editor (each publishing house has their own way of doing things, but these steps are fairly universal). The editor will read, offer suggestions, give feedback, then it’s back to me to decide which elements help make the book stronger and which may not. Round two, she reads again, then passes the project to another editor who will also read—this time for smaller content issues and continuity. A third editor will read for typos and the like. Each editor may go through a manuscript more than once, and the author will tweak with each editorial pass. (By the end, we’ve read our books 6-8 times.)
In the meantime, a creative team is working on items like cover, back jacket copy, marketing strategies.
The author has their hands in each of these processes—which is fascinating! It’s incredible to see your project come to life with so many talented people doing what they are gifted to do!
How did you get your novels in so many different languages? That is awesome! I want to know step-by-step and who does what for that to happen, and how your work sells in other countries.
I started getting contacted by international publishers when my book, One Lavender Ribbon released. It’s a contemporary story, but has a WWII tie-in, in the form of love letters from a soldier. Well, the book released over the 70th anniversary of D Day, and I think the world really came together over the events of WWII.
The first time I was contacted, I thought it was a joke. But I sent the email on to my agent and she sent it to my US publisher. Next thing I know, I’m signing a foreign contract. I’m now in about 12 languages—which is just surreal. I sell extremely well in Italy and was named one of the top authors in three Italian cities. Crazy! I’d love to go to Italy and do a book tour! I also sell quite well in Turkey. Fun fact: My book titled In the Light of the Garden is titled The Willow Tree in Turkey. What is fun about that fact? My original title was The Weeping Tree, but the publisher felt like it wasn’t the right title.
Tell me how your art (writing) and life influence each other; what other talents do you have?
I spend a lot of time “searching” for the perfect story. Everything that comes into my mind is viewed through a writer lens. There are tiny seeds of ideas lurking everywhere! We just have to look around and notice them.
I love to cook, but I wouldn’t call it a talent. My husband and I love to travel. We spend our leisure time dissecting movies and talking about what could have been done differently to strengthen the story. If the story is perfect, we talk about why.
What do you love most about your creativity, and how does it play into teaching the craft of writing?
Freedom! When you’re writing, you’re free. Free to change the world or create a new world. Free to roam through the tunnels of time and land anywhere you choose. Reading is the same way. When you’re reading, you’re free. One of the strongest points I make when teaching about writing is to never ever, ever lose your childlike wonder. View the world through a different lens, then write it so we can all come along on the journey with you.
I’d love to stay in touch. Here are the places you can find me.
Website https://www.heatherburchbooks.com/
I hope you’ll add your name to my newsletter list on my website. There are usually at least one of my books on sale for $1.99, and I give the direct links for those in a monthly newsletter. Also, when you sign up, you can request a link to a free book! It’s a story that was written for Princess Cruise Lines.
Other ways to stay in touch…
https://m.facebook.com/heather.burch.50
https://www.facebook.com/heatherburchbooks
https://twitter.com/heatherburch
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-burch
Ana Rocha: Shadows of Justice by Ammar Habib and Detective Glenda Mendoza
Ana believes the only way to move past her sister’s murder is to find her real killer, the powerful figure behind the cartel’s low-level felons who went to prison for it. Feeling invincible, she joins the police force to clean up the streets, with the secret agenda of tracking down the mysterious murderer. In this endeavor, she misleads her family and oversteps her rookie authority with her new partner. Everyone has their own way of working through grief—Ana’s is exceptionally brutal and insular.
Again, the author partners with a field professional to ensure accuracy, so that the larger-than-life Ana stays within the boundaries of a law enforcement role, called on her maverick behavior by her partner and superior. Tension created by Ana’s personality elicits sympathy for her, even as her actions make the reader cringe. It is a bit of a stretch that she takes out three drug cartel criminals on her first day, but when it comes time to take down the leader, her superhero persona takes the reader beyond the realm of pragmatism. The story flows well, with writing sufficient to evoke imagery, but it could have gone another round with a more diligent proofreader. It’s a good read for fans of kickass heroines, and I was fortunate to receive a copy from the author for an honest review.
One Lavender Ribbon by Heather Burch
Adrienne leaves an abusive relationship and divorce in Chicago and buys a fixer-upper in Florida, where she starts her new life of independence on the Gulf. A box of eloquently written letters from a WWII soldier in her attic sets Adrienne on a journey to friendship, potential romance, and matchmaking. She exposes decades-old secrets, changing lives and mending relationships while building strong bonds with her new “family.”
Burch’s novel reads like a Lifetime or Hallmark movie, with the romance of a soldier’s yearning juxtaposing the horror of his experience in war. The story veers away from the trope of the emotionally intelligent woman succumbing to the stubborn man, when Adrienne informs the romantic interest that his controlling behavior isn’t acceptable, a feminist move proving she learned from her previous relationship. Adamant in this assessment, she continues to nurture the friendships of (his) family. Read this novel to discover a treasure chest of secrets and to find out if the romantic interest redeems himself. I was fortunate to receive a copy from the author for an honest review.