October 2011 - LII

This is it! After far too long a wait, Under the Skin hits the shelves on October the 18th. And, much like your friendly public radio station, I'm here to ask for your support. 

The sales figures for the first six weeks that a book is out are tremendously important from the publisher's point of view -- and that makes those sales important to the author.

 So I'm hoping that lots of you will purchase my latest offering right away -- either as a classy-looking, larger format and much easier to read trade paperback or as an ebook.  To tell the truth, I'm hoping some of you will purchase multiple copies -- as a head start on holiday shopping. 

Those of you who support your local independent bookstores may find copies there -- or you could always ask them to order some. And of course Under the Skin is available for pre-order on line from the usual sources.  If you're a library user, it would be terrific if you asked your library to order a copy. Everything helps.

If you're in western NC, I'll be at various bookstores, talking about the new book. My schedule is over there in the sidebar. I'd love to see you there!

 

Under the Skin may read a little differently to you.  A few early readers remarked on this but couldn't say what it was. Well, it's that the point of view has shifted. After writing  four Elizabeth Goodweather books in third person point of view (Elizabeth opens the door; Elizabeth thinks about Harice,) I braved up and decided to write Elizabeth in first person (I open the door; I think about Harice.)

You see, in the early books, I was trying to distance myself from Elizabeth -- after all, the woman lives in my house, looks at my view, sits on my blue bench, pats my dogs -- third person seemed necessary so there shouldn't be even more confusion between the widow Goodweather and me.

But after four books, it seemed to me that Elizabeth was very much her own person  and she could speak for herself. And that's what she does in Under the Skin. The odd thing was that, as she spoke, I found that she was a little. . .  well ... bitchy. And after a few chapters of snarky comments, I really had to take measures to rein her in.  

I hope you'll find the results interesting.  There's an excerpt from the first chapter HERE

and another that shows the really bad effect Gloria has on Elizabeth HERE

BOOK REPORTS

Ruth says:  I just finished reading The Help and loved it. We had maids when I was a kid, but not the every-single-day sort. I think they must have been filling in their work week when they came to our house once or twice a week...so they weren't all that sweet mostly. Some were grumpy like Rosalie. But my cousin Sally's family had a maid that came every day and was the most big-hearted woman in the world (Essie). She would grab you up every time she saw you and give you a big hug as she was saying "Hay Baby, how ya doing?". She had impatiens and begonias all over her yard...she was the only person I knew that had flowers in coffee cans sitting on her steps and all around the yard. 

Also just saw Midnight in Paris...this you must see on the big screen (so that you fall in love with Paris) because I am pretty sure you will love the movie. I would have sat through it all over again if there had been another showing.  .

Ann says: I saw THE HELP movie.  I didn't mind the book but the movie left a bad taste in my mouth.  I felt like, not only did we whites enslave black people but gosh darn, we liberated them, too!  Had we not instigated freedom, they would have been too scared to.

 Deana: Re "The Help;" I will probably see the movie in spite of my not liking the book, because I've read such good things about Violet Davis's performance, and also because so many women have roles. Gotta support our sisters! … reading "Let the Great World Spin." I just started it this morning and find it extremely well-written.

Donna says:  Many of the books that you and your readers suggest end up on my ever growing reading list. Some of them are ones I've considered and just haven't had time to read or even to add to the list. But, today, I added 3 or 4 to the list. THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is among them.

I recently finished Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE. Just like her CITY OF LIGHT, which I read years ago, I had trouble putting it down when I needed to. [I steal reading time during rides to/from work, during my 1/2 hour lunch break, etc.]. Not a fan of historical fiction, I still found myself drawn into her novel of a young magazine photographer, her life here in the US during WWII and her involvement with the people working on the the discovery and development of penicillin as a weapon of war. I read it cover to cover and lamented coming to the end. I wish I could say the same for two other books that I felt I wanted to read last month, SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM and A GOOD FALL. Both story collections sounded intriguing, but I couldn't get past a couple stories in either one of them.

Still plugging away with THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN. Although I enjoyed reading it earlier this summer, I set it aside for a time when I could read uninterrupted because it is requires more concentration on my part.

Liz G - I just finished a wonderful book Bonnie Jo Campbell's "Once upon a River". It was breathtakingly beautiful. Lyrical and vivid. A must read!

And Vicki has been reading too : The Passion of Artemisia and Luncheon of the Boating Party, both by Susan Vreeland - wonderful imagined glimpses into the live of two very different painters. I said more about these two OVER HERE. 

I also read a fascinating fantasy called Among Others by Jo Walton. I'll be looking for more by this author. 
 
Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land  by Janisse Ray  is  non-fiction about the fight to preserve a wild area in southern Georgia.  I blogged about this one HERE.

I reread The Nanny Diaries -- funny and sad at the same time. Some people just have too much money. 


All Cry Chaos is a terrific read -- a thriller and the debut of a series I will look forward to following. And now I know just a tiny bit about fractals and chaos theory.

 

XLVII - May 2011

At last I can share the cover of the next book -- no foolin'!  Except that it's not the final one -- the blurb will change -- that's just a place holder.

You can click over HERE to read an excerpt from Under the Skin, the next Elizabeth book.

April was a beautiful and busy month -- we began to ready the garden, potatoes were planted, the Easter party and all that entails occupied us for several weeks -- getting ready, family coming to visit, the preparty and the party -- and the cleanup. Yesterday I returned the last quilts, finished washing the guest room bedding, and put my notes and shopping list for next year's party in a safe place.  

A new batch of chicks arrived as well as a second milk cow. And the flowers kept delighting me -- one bright new face after another.

I was honored that Kathryn Stripling Byer, North Carolina's  past Poet Laureate, included Miss Birdie and me on her Poets of the Day blog series. Kay does a wonderful job of bringing contemporary poets to our attention . . . 

Reading List

I've been reading for research -- for the next book. Lots of Civil War in western North Carolina stuff. And, in other reading  (or re-reading in many cases) let me mention the following:

Tepper's Not Going Out by Calvin Trillin. I've always adored Trillin's food books. This is something different -- and endearing. I wouldn't have expected to enjoy a book about a New Yorker's quest for a parking place but I did, I did! Highly recommended.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. My goodness, this woman can write! A slender novel about an English village besieged by the Plague. Effortless historical detail and a female protagonist who comes to life on the page.

High Tide in Tucson --by Barbara Kingsolver. Probably my fourth or fifth time to reread this book of essays by a writer I feel as if I know. Witty, wise, and wonderful!

You all have been reading too. I'd love it if more of you shared your opinions and recommendations. I've been told of one librarian who uses your comments to get ideas for what to order. . .
 

One commenter said, re THE HELP:  I loved "The Help" and so did my daughter!. Since my Mom had TB, we had a maid whom we called Edgie. I loved her and her cooking. In the 60ty's, she got a job in a mill.This book helped my explain to my daughter why I am old fashion about some of the things that happen today. For many of us that is the world we were born into. And as the saying goes :When we knew better, we did better. 

Another liked it too: I read THE HELP.  I liked it and can see why it's such a book club hit.  It's Civil Rights Lite (and I mean that spelling).   Plenty to talk about and it's all so safe ---  doesn't raise many messy issues.  Of course, I did have trouble believing all those black women did all that housework and then came home and did more and never seemed to have a solitary ache or pain.  But it's an entertaining read nonetheless, and you get to feel good about yourself for being so liberal and understanding.

I just read an Irish thriller, WINTERLAND, by Alan Glynn, that I really liked.   The Irish have a nice way of writing this tightly focused, small scaled thriller I don't think Americans do as well.  But then the Irish, if their lives depended on it, couldn't write a big scale crazy-wild-out-there thriller like Josh Bazell's BEAT THE REAPER, which is pure nutsy and all out fabulous Americana.  If I told you the plot you'd say, no way can that work, but it does, man it does.

Liz G shared her reading list: Just finished - Just Kids by Patti Smith - I think that fact that I worked in radio and thus around lots of musicians added to my enjoyment of this National Book Award winner.

Started the new Maisie Dobbs book from Jacqueline Winspear - A Lesson in Secrets - I enjoy the simplicity of these books and all things British.

Finally bought Saving Ceecee Hunnicutt - but haven't started it yet.

I have been reading Master and Commander (in the john for the past six months!!) and am finally enjoying it - so many people - you included - have told me how much they love this series. But it took me a long time to get into it (and I am an avid sailor). I think I might enjoy it on tape as you have said.

I enjoyed a Dean Koontz book - Breathless - I haven't read much of his - except for his four Odd Thomas books - but I liked this strange little book.

 A very happy May to all of you!