Authors Joshilyn Jackson, Jane
Smiley, Tatjana Soli, event organizer Robbie Wright, and authors
Josie Brown and Eileen Goudge
Last week’s “Between The Pages”
event on Bainbridge Island wasn’t perfect, as you’ll see below …
but it was a success. (Let me check that: Once things got
to Bainbridge, things were perfect.) But an enthusiastic crowd
of about 75, paying at least $50 a ticket, came out to support the
Kitsap Regional Library system and listen to a powerhouse lineup of
female authors — Jane Smiley, Josie Brown, Eileen Goudge, Joshilyn
Jackson and Tatjana Soli — read from their latest books.
And when I asked Josie Brown to reflect on the evening, here’s
what she had to say:
It was a great adventure, for sure. We had plenty of time to
get to the ferry. Too much, apparently, because we got onto the
wrong one: the Bremerton one as opposed to the Bainbridge — and
didn’t realize it, until we almost docked and my husband, Martin,
timidly asked me (because he thought I’d faint): “Hon, um, wasn’t
this ferry ride supposed to be a half-hour, tops?”
A mad rush by taxi (we had a colorful driver — Anthony,
originally from Buffalo, and the topic with him jumped from his
tenure in the armed services to his job as a masseuse, to hemp
clothing) and we were there, only fifteen minutes late. Jane was
laughing because she’d made it over earlier that morning to visit a
pal — and she was the one we thought would get lost or be late, as
she’s always the one texting, “I have to be where? When?”
It was a wonderful crowd! Friendly, inquisitive, and
obviously avid readers. What I love, too is that there were quite a
few teachers and librarians there as well.
Eileen calls us “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Books.”
Most of us met face-to-face for the first time just the night
before, but you’d think we’d known each other for quite some time,
the way everyone got along. Joshilyn is a consummate performer: you
can tell she was an actress in her previous profession. Tatjana
gives an eloquent read. Her book is serious, but she is
lighthearted and fun. She and her husband, Gaylord, dance the
tango!
The way back — this time the RIGHT ferry — was too short. It
was fun just to sit together and recapped the fun. I hope everyone
in the audience had as much fun as we had.
If you want to know how quickly and surprisingly the business of
publishing books is changing, look no further than the third floor
of Sharlene
Martin‘s house on north Bainbridge Island.
There, the offices of the Martin
Literary Management are a nearly nonstop buzz of activity. But
it’s not buzzing just with the business-as-usual of the literary
agency, which represents mostly inspirational memoirs, celebrity
biographies, true crime and other commercial nonfiction — three of
which were New York Times bestsellers in the past year.
It’s buzzing because Martin and her crew are getting ready to
publish their first book.
Wait a minute. A literary agent publishing the work she
represents? Is this how the publishing industry is supposed to
work?
Not normally, no. But what’s normal these days in book
publishing, which is undergoing a seismic shift in how books are
developed and distributed?
The Salahis are the high-society Washington D.C. couple who made
headlines back in November 2009 when they got past the Secret
Service into a White House state dinner. The so-called “White House
party-crashers” stirred up a lot of controversy and curiosity —
more so the latter of late since Michaele Salahi joined the lineup
of the reality TV show, The Real
Housewives Of D.C.
It’s that latter fact that drove Martin to make the unusual
choice to publish the Salahi story on her own, in cooperation with
Amazon.com, because she wanted
the book to come out in time to capitalize on the latest rise in
profile for the couple. In particular, she wanted a product ready
to buy before the TV series ended Oct. 7.
“It’s a decision I consciously made. I did not shop this to
traditional New York publishers,” said Martin, a Connecticut native
who relocated to Bainbridge a few years ago with her partner,
author Anthony Flacco.
“There was no way they could accommodate the window of sales
opportunity for this book — it would have been obsolete by the time
they could have gotten it ready.” (Generally speaking, it takes
about two years from the time a book is sold to a publisher for it
to appear on bookshelves.)
So what was Martin’s alternative? In her view, to publish it
through the CreateSpace
program offered by Seattle online book giant Amazon. That took care
of preparing and distributing print and electronic versions of the
book. Everything else fell to Martin and her crew.
“All the decisions a publisher had to make, I made,” she
said.
And then some.
First, she had to bring a writer on board, and a natural choice
was Dimond, her longtime client. Then came editing, legal vetting,
cover and interior designing, promotional strategizing and a
zillion other chores big and small. Almost everything a big New
York publishing house would do was handled in the lovely home
overlooking the island’s Sand Spit. (Flacco, for example, was
dragooned into duty as the project’s content editor.)
Another unusual quirk: Everybody involved is taking whatever
financial rewards may result on the back end of the book’s release,
in lieu of the advance-money arrangements commonly made with
traditional book deals.
“We’re calling it a sweat-equity book,” Martin said.
The Kindle as well as trade paperback version of Cirque Du
Salahi became available Sept. 15. A promotional blitz, largely
centered on the East Coast where interest in the Salahis is
strongest, will follow. In lieu of a traditional book tour with
on-site signings in bookstores, Martin and Co. are arranging for
“Virtual Book Chats”
in which, at scheduled times, people can log on for a live chat
with Dimond and the Salahis and participate in live
question-and-answer sessions.
Martin, ever the promoter, says that the book reveals
information heretofore unknown about the Salahis, gleaned through
Dimond’s exhaustive fact-checking, interviews and research. She
calls many of media stories about the couple “urban myth,” and the
book’s jacket copy echoes that thought:
This journalistic autopsy reveals how one event can capture
a ravenous media’s attention, become the fodder for bogus political
drama, and with razor-sharp and misplaced attention, ruin the
reputation of a politically connected couple who did little more
than attend a White House function for which they believed they had
an invitation.
Later, Martin, a frequent writing-workshop instructor, will try
to use her self-publishing experiment as a teaching moment. “We
want to set up a program at colleges around the country for
journalism students, about how they can do this kind of project
themselves,” she said.
It’s a talk that Martin has walked for herself, having taken her
first foray into author-dom last November with the release of
Publish Your Nonfiction Book, co-written with Flacco
and published by Writer’s Digest Books as a how-to guide for
preparing would-be authors for publishing success.
Working on an unforgiving deadline for their publisher made
Martin feel “like every day, I was taking my SATs,” she said. “I
have a whole new respect for how hard authors work.”
It should be noted that Martin’s foray into self-publishing
hasn’t burned any of her many bridges with the traditional
book-publishing establishment. As usual, she has several projects
in play — most recently, she’s been working on a memoir by Hillary
Williams, daughter of country music legend Hank Williams Jr. — and
many are being published through big New York houses.
But that doesn’t mean that Cirque Du Salahi is a
one-shot deal.
“We’ll apply this paradigm in the future,” Martin said, “where
it’s appropriate.”
My guess is that she won’t be the only one.
Said Martin: “We’re been playing a new game with old rules. And
that has to change, or a lot of people are going to go out of
business.”
Are you on Facebook? Of course you are. The entire world is on
Facebook.
So is Reading Kitsap. I’ve created a Facebook page for this
blog. If you’re on Facebook as much as I am, then you’ll like how
it gives you a much easier way to keep up to speed on new blog
posts. Also, I like to survey people there on various book-related
topics, and post links to other items I think you might find
interesting. Plus, there’s the whole
connect-with-other-people-in-your-community-who-share-your-interests
thing.
And there’s the interactive component. I’ve decided to be pretty
lenient about letting anyone who wants to share a link, a news
tidbit or some media about the Kitsap literary scene — or the
literary scene in general — do just that. If you’re a writer,
book-club leader, or whatever, I’m pretty open to letting you
promote your work on the Reading Kitsap wall as long as you’re not
crass about it.
So … go to your Facebook account, type “Reading Kitsap” in the
search field, click “Like” once you get there, and join in the
conversations. There’s 53 of already there, as of this writing, all
of whom like, generally, the same things you do.
Thanks for reading Reading Kitsap. And thanks for reading
Kitsap. And thanks for reading.
Debbie
Macomber will be the featured speaker when the Peninsula Chapter of the Romance
Writers of America meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Sylvan Way
Branch of the Kitsap Regional Library in East Bremerton.
Macomber, who helped found the chapter in 1986, will do a
Q&A with attendees, and she’ll also be celebrated by her home
chapter for her receipt of the national organization’s
Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. (She formally received
the prestigious prize at RWA’s annual conference in late July,
following in the footsteps of romance-writing legend Linda Lael Miller, a former
Kitsap resident, who received the same award in 2007.) The award is
given “in recognition of significant contributions to the romance
genre.”
The meeting is open to anyone interested.
The Peninsula RWA chapter, with 70 members, covers the Kitsap
and Olympic peninsulas, as well as the Tacoma area. “We support all
writers in all genres, not just romance,” said Jennifer
Conner, chapter president. “We bring in speakers, editors,
agents and other authors to help our members hone their craft and
become stronger writers.”
And Conner, a 1979 South Kitsap High graduate, is proof that it
works. Her first published romance novel, Kilt By
Love, will be released Sept. 27. (It was her seventh
manuscript.) Congratulations, Jennifer.
Here’s the summary from Conner’s blog:
When Sasha Nolan loses her job as an events planner, she
decides to take her dream vacation to Scotland. Her plan is to find
out what Scotsmen wear under their kilts, but instead, she’s stuck
on a tour bus of senior citizens. When she meets Allister
MacTavish, a modern day laird, all that changes.There’s
one simple rule for her vacation, kilt, conquer and leave. Can
Sasha follow her rule when Allister asks for her help in creating a
plan to rescue MacTavish Castle from financial ruin? Suddenly Sasha
finds that she’s tempted to abandon her old life, help Allister,
and indulge in every sexual fantasy she’s ever had. Because now,
she’s found out what Scotsmen wear under their kilts…nothing at
all.
Way behind on this stuff, but trying to catch up a little at a
time over the next few days.
I’ve talked plenty about the
Between The Pages event Thursday night on Bainbridge Island,
but there’s another literary heavy hitter in town that evening as
well: Rick
Bass, a Mississippi-bred author who now lives in Montana, will
be reading at 7:30 p.m. at Eagle Harbor Book Co. from
his first novel after nearly a decade of nonfiction writing,
Nashville
Chrome, a 1959 tale of Southern music, family, rivalries
and secrets. Publisher’s Weekly loved it: “Like the sound
Chet Atkins pulls from the Browns in the studio, the narrative has
a pitch-perfect chorus of longing and regret, with an undertone
that connects and heals.”
I wish I could be there; Bass sounds entirely too interesting.
From his Wikipedia page: “He started writing short stories on his
lunch breaks while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson,
Mississippi.” So let that be a little sunburst of inspiration to
everyone who thinks they’re too busy with their everyday lives to
write a book. Because you’re not.
Authors of literature are usually valued in society as
philosophers, sages and teachers. Oh, and quality drinking
companions (in my experience, anyway).
To that list, add superheroes.
It’s in the latter mode that five highly regarded fiction
writers from all over the United States are coming Thursday to
Bainbridge Island for a public reading and reception. Their
mission: To raise money for the cash-strapped Kitsap Regional Library system.
Jane Smiley
The $50-a-ticket “Between The Pages”
event, at the Bainbridge Performing Arts center, features one
marquee name: Jane
Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand
Acres, a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s King
Lear which was later made into a movie starring Jason Robards,
Jessica Lange and Michelle Pfeiffer.
For 90 minutes, they’ll read from their latest novels (more on
those below), interview each other and possibly take some questions
from the audience, Wright said. They’ll stay for another 40 minutes
after to chat and sign copies of their books.
“My karmic way of giving back is to come up with ideas in which
the sales of my books can help good causes,” said Brown, a Bay Area
author who helped spearhead the event. (She even arranged for
copies of her newest novel, Secret Lives Of Husbands And
Wives, to be included in the ticket price.)
Brown is friends with Robbie Wright, a corporate events planner
who lives on Bainbridge. When Wright told her last spring about the
library system’s woes — budget cuts, past levy failures and the
theft of children’s books from the Port Orchard branch — Brown came
up with the fundraiser idea.
They quickly enlisted Peter Raffa, director of the Kitsap
Regional Library Foundation, and the three drew up a wish list of
names. One glittery name at the top of their list — show-business
novelist Jackie Collins —
initially committed to the Between The Pages event.
Joshilyn Jackson
But, Brown said, Collins had to drop out when when the date for
the London premiere of a movie based on one of her books shifted
from summer to fall. Also having to drop out was novelist Lisa
Rinna, who saw the release of her latest novel shifted to
October.
They got Smiley, their other top name, to come up from her
Northern California home, however. Goudge, a New York author with a
second home in the Puget Sound area, came on board next, followed
by Jackson, a Georgia resident, and Soli, who lives in Southern
California.
Tatjana Soli
All write what could be labeled literary, issue-driven women’s
fiction.
“They are heavy hitters, all of whom have have books that
resonate with library patrons all over the country,” Brown said.
“And there are no more avid readers than those in the Seattle metro
area. That’s a known statistic in the book industry.”
And, she added: “Any excuse to get out into the incomparable
Puget Sound area is a writer’s joy. Which is why so many great ones
live in your neck of the woods, right?”
*****
Sad disclosure: As things stand now, I
won’t be able to attend the event, as I must punch in for my
regular Thursday swing shift at the paragraph factory in Bremerton.
However, if you’re going and bringing a camera, would you mind
sharing some of your shots with me so I can share with everyone?
E-mail me at thomsen1965@gmail.com. And please share some of the
funny anecdotes and other highlights of the evening. And cake, if
there’s any.
*****
A little about each author and their
latest books:
• Jane Smiley, who has published 13
novels, three nonfiction books and a short-story collection over a
30-year career, came out earlier this year with her latest,
Private
Life, which follows one Midwestern woman’s life in
marriage from the 1880s to World War II. Said Booklist:
“Smiley casts a gimlet eye on the institution of marriage even as
she offers a fascinating glimpse of a distant era.”
• Josie Brown is a journalist who
specializes in celebrity interviews and relationship articles. Her
previous novels include True Hollywood Lies and
Impossibly Tongue-Tied; her latest release, just out in
June, is Secret Lives Of
Husbands And Wives, which examines the dramas of two
vastly different Silicon Valley couples. Wrote Booklist: “These
women inside their fishbowl are fun to peer in on despite being
caricaturish, and the momentum of Brown’s writing and plot keeps
the pages turning.”
• Eileen Goudge broke into book
publishing by contributing to the crazily successful Sweet
Valley High series for young teen girls in the early ’80s. She
published her first adult novel in 1986, and her latest, released
last October, is Once In A
Blue Moon, a tale of two tempestuous sisters and their
secrets. Said Publisher’s Weekly: “A touching story with
wide appeal, Goudge’s novel is a sharp example of dysfunctional
family fiction.”
• Joshilyn Jackson, a Florida native
and former teacher, broke into book publishing with a splash, with
2005’s gods in Alabama. Her fourth book, released in June, is
drawing her biggest notices: Backseat
Saints, a Southern-fried tale of an abused woman who runs
from the husband who will never let her go. Said Booklist:
“Jackson peels back Rose’s hard edges and resignation to reveal a
smart, earnest, brave, and surprisingly hopeful young woman who
yearns to make a better life for herself.”
• Tatjana Soli, born in Austria, wrote
and published short stories for years before breaking out this
spring with her debut novel, The Lotus
Eaters, an exhaustively researched story of a female
wartime photographer in Southeast Asia at the close of the Vietnam
War. Wrote Kirkus Reviews: “Graphic but never gratuitous,
the gripping, haunting narrative explores the complexity of
violence, foreignness, even betrayal. Moving and memorable.”
*****
Between The Pages: A fundraising event for the
Kitsap Regional Library Foundation
Who: Authors Jane Smiley, Josie Brown, Eileen
Goudge, Joshilyn Jackson and Tatjana Soli
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts Center, 200
Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island
Tickets: $50 (includes copy of Brown’s novel,
Secret Lives Of Husbands and Wives), with discount
available for groups of eight or more; and $150 for “VIP” access,
which includes a catered pre-event reception with the authors and
copies of each of their latest novels. Purchase at Liberty Bay
Books, 18881 D Front St., Poulsbo.
More Info: For ticket info, Peter Raffa, (360)
475-9039; for event info, Robbie Wright, (206) 390-1989
If Carol Cassella
had her way, you would not be able to buy a copy today of her new
novel, Healer.
Not today, and maybe not any time soon.
“I really had to struggle to discover the heart of this story,”
Cassella told me over a recent lunch at the Treehouse on Bainbridge
Island. “I started out with such a clear idea of where the plot
should go, but the characters I was developing and the emotional
impact I was going for kept taking me in a different direction.
“Writing it was a very difficult two years. Just before my
deadline, I wanted to rewrite it as a whole different story. But
then I had to turn it in to my publisher.”
That being said, Cassella’s editor was happy with what she
turned in.
“And sometimes the editor sees that way before the author does,”
she said.
And that being said, Cassella had good reasons for her
second-novel jitters.
Healer, much like Oxygen
before it, started as a medical mystery — almost a genre exercise,
she said. Cassella, an anesthesiologist at Virginia Mason Medical
Center in Seattle, started it when she found herself intrigued by
the shadowy world of big money and biotech research. But while
Oxygen dwelled in a world she intimately knew — her main
character was an anesthesiologist, after all, and the story was
split between Seattle and her native Texas — Healer
dragged Cassella far out of her self-confessed comfort zone.
For one, the story is set in a fictional Eastern Washington town
(basically, a stand-in for one of the more touristy villages in the
Methow Valley). For another, Cassella may be a physician, but she
said that going into the writing of Healer, the biotech
world was as big a mystery to her as it probably is to you or me.
Three, the narrator is a doctor who gave up medicine fifteen years
before, and because she lacks board certifications, works in a
small clinic that handles migrant laborers on a sliding scale.
Cassella, by contrast, still works (albeit part-time), and today —
release day — is just another day in a white lab coat for her.
More about the story: Claire Boehning, at 43, sees her upscale
Seattle world turn upside-down when her biotech-researcher husband,
Addison, loses all his venture and personal capital to a gamble on
an anti-cancer drug that flunks its early trials. The couple, who
have a 14-year-old daughter, are broke. They sell their tony home
on Lake Washington and retreat to their ramshackle second home in
the tiny town of Hallam. Faced with a looming inability to pay even
the most baseline of bills, Claire hauls her medical license out of
mothballs. But all she finds is a job of last resort, at a clinic
run by an aging, ailing and overworked old doctor. Meanwhile,
Addison is desperately traveling the country, meeting with venture
capitalists, trying to revive interest in a drug he’s convinced was
unfairly derailed. Suspense looms over some big questions: Was the
drug flawed, or were the trials flawed? Will big money trump big
science? Will some key characters do the easy thing … or the right
thing?
As readers of Oxygen know, Cassella doesn’t tilt toward
happily-ever-after endings. Nor does she fatalistically throw up
her hands in the face of what seems like an impenetrable ethical
and moral quagmire. What usually happens in her work, just as in
real life, is a tense and deliberate detangling of some serious
gray areas. And so, in a sense, the mystery that Cassella said she
started out to write remains intact after all.
“I may have started out one way, but I never wanted to write
just a black-and-white story,” Cassella said. “I find that the gray
zone is a far more interesting place.”
Finding her gray zone came through years of craft development,
much of it through Bainbridge’s Field’s End and critique partners
in the author community around Kitsap County. As difficult as
Healer was to finish, the making of Oxygen,
Cassella makes clear, was much longer and harder. She started as
one of probably a zillion people in middle age who wanted to write,
but had no idea what … or how.
“If you get to midlife and you’re not going to buy a Ferrari or
argue the bigger questions, you’ve got to do something,” she said
with a smile. “It became obvious that I had to write because I
wasn’t going to stop beating myself up for not writing.”
That said, Cassella was generally happy in her career and in her
family life, as a wife and mother of two sets of twins, ages 14 and
15. And her motivation for writing at the time was to finish a book
so she could say that she’d finished a book … and then put it on a
shelf. “I wanted to write, but everything else got in the way. Like
folding laundry,” she said. “I learned that I couldn’t wait for
time to write. I had to make time to write.”
But, with the encouragement of author friends, she spent three
years writing the book, and used Oxygen to shop for an
agent, and after that, a publisher. There were rejections along the
way, but the book found its home, and continues to be a big success
over two years after its release. It’s had about 10 foreign
translations, and just recently made a big splash in Canada as
Wal-Mart’s “Read Of The Month” up there.
The book’s success meant that Cassella, soft-spoken in person,
had to develop a public persona for signing and touring. “It’s not
in my natural grain,” she admitted.
But, like thousands of other authors who have likely said the
same, she’s found her way. And Kitsapers can see for themselves
when Cassella appears 3 p.m. Sunday at Eagle Harbor Book Company to
read from Healer and sign copies. (She’s also appearing at 7 p.m.
Thursday at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.) After that, she hits the
road out of state for nearly three weeks before making some more
stops at bookstores up and down Puget Sound. (Click here for her
schedule.)
And then it’s back to work on book No. 3, already in
progress.
“My next book will be a medical mystery, about a woman who’s a
doctor,” she said. But then she hastens to add: “It’ll have
different voices, a different feel and a different theme.”
Just like Healer does. Oxygen it isn’t. And
while I’m no critic, I’m confident in saying that it, like the book
itself, is a good thing.
Even if Cassella isn’t quite able to admit that yet.
Gregg Olsen, the Olalla
author of fiction thrillers and true-crime books, was kind enough
to send me the cover (above) for the paperback release next spring
of his latest nonfiction work, A Twisted Faith. It
is, to say the least, a pretty startling departure from the
hardcover version that came out this spring (below). (Bainbridge
Islanders, at least, will note that the church in the cover is most
definitely not the church at the center of Olsen’s tale.)
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the hardcover says: “This
is an ambitious work of literary nonfiction that stretches beyond
the genre.” And that the paperback cover says: “Downmarket
true-crime book-of-the-month fare.” (I’m not badmouthing Olsen
here, by the way; like most authors, he’s not involved in the
cover-design process. It’s my understanding that very few authors
have that veto power.)
One can only speculate about what changed in the thought process
at the New York offices of St. Martin’s Press between the selecting
of the respective covers.
In fact, one can only speculate why publishers change the design
from hardcovers to paperbacks at all. Seems like a needless
expense, doesn’t it?
What happened with Gregg Olsen’s book also happened, to a less
extreme but somewhat similar extent, with the late Bainbridge
Island author Jack Olsen
and his literary crime masterpiece, Salt Of The
Earth, in 1996 and 1997.
Compare the hardcover (above) with the paperback cover
(below).
Now, while I wouldn’t call this paperback cover “ugly,” I do
think the term “downmarket” applies here as well. Note the
hallmarks of the mass-market true-crime book here: The ripped
photographs, the blood-red type and the much bolder title type.
(And I’d bet a serious amount of money that Jack and his publisher
fought like hell over whether the background color would be black
or white … and that Jack won.)
And the change in quotes is quite telling, too. The hardcover
features a lovely quote from fellow Bainbridge Island author
David
Guterson: “A literary achievement of the highest order.” For
the paperback, the publisher switched to a quote from Salt Of
The Earth‘s review in The New York Times: “Pulls you along
irresistibly.” Note the change in appeal from the head to the
gut.
Speaking of Mr. Guterson, as his former students at Bainbridge
High School called him, let’s take a look at the contrast between
one of his hardcovers and the paperback edition. Here’s the
hardcover of his 1998 second novel, East Of
The Mountains ….
… and the paperback cover.
If you’re like me, you’re thinking: “They’re both beautiful
covers … but why did the change need to be made?” And maybe: “I
wonder how much in royalties David Guterson lost because someone
decided they needed to shell out for a new cover design for the
paperback?”
Well, that’s why the geniuses all live and work in New York, and
we’re just idiot readers in Kitsap who ought to keep our mouths
shut and just buy books unquestioningly, right?
This book has been accompanied by an unusual level of fanfare
and backlash. The New York Times gave it not
one but
two reviews that all but hailed it as the most important
American literary novel to come along since … well … The Corrections, by Franzen. Much importance as well
was attached to the fact that last week, Franzen was the first
living novelist to grace
the cover of Time magazine in quite some time.
So, with all that buildup, let me throw some questions at you to
discuss:
1. Did you pre-order Freedom, or buy it today?
2. Do you plan to buy Freedom at any point?
3. To what extent do reviews and publicity, good or bad,
influence you to buy a book?
4. What’s your opinion of Franzen and his work?
5. In today’s fractured, scattered, multi-media world, can there
still be such a thing as an Important American Novel that gets
everybody across all age, class, ethnic and gender stratas talking
about it and its themes?
6. Did all this chatter fly right past you … and you find that
you couldn’t care less about Franzen and his book?
A look through Kitsap’s September literary calendar:
• Friday, Sept. 3, 9 a.m. through 4 p.m.: Stillwaters
Environmental Education Center, 26059 Barber Cut Off Road in
Kingston, begins its annual fundraising book sale. At least 15,000
new and used books, covering all genres and subjects, will be sold
each Friday through Sunday, through Oct. 3. During the sale’s last
weekend, books will be sold by the grocery bag ($5 on Friday, $3 on
Saturday and free on Sunday). All proceeds go to support
environmental education. For more information, contact Naomi
Maasberg at (360) 297-1226 or at naomi@stillwatersenvironmental
center.org.
• Sunday, Sept. 12, at 3 p.m.: Eagle Harbor Book Co. on
Bainbridge Island hosts Carol Cassella, the Bainbridge
author whose second novel, Healer, will be
in bookstores Sept. 7. Those wanting a signed copy can order it in
advance through the bookstore. (Full disclosure: I was lucky enough
to score an advance copy, am about 150 pages in, and can say it so
far is every bit the equal of Oxygen … and
probably a lot more than that. I’m working on an interview with
Carol for this blog ahead of this reading; stay tuned for
details.)
• Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m.: Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo
hosts Erica
Bauermeister, the Seattle author of the novel, The School Of
Essential Ingredients. (Of the book, Publisher’s
Weekly says: ““In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates
a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of
sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean
indulgence…Delivering memorable story lines and characters while
seducing the senses, Bauermeister’s tale of food and hope is sure
to satisfy.”) Bauermeister is a founding member of Seattle7Writers, the
literary-and-literacy promotion collective, and will participate in
The Novel:
Live! fundraising event in October.
• Thursday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.: The Kitsap Regional Library Foundation hosts
Between The
Pages, an evening with five authors — Eileen Goudge, Jane Smiley,
Joshilyn Jackson,
Josie Brown and Tatjana
Soli — at the Bainbridge Performing Arts Center. Tickets are
$50 for the event, a fundraiser for the foundation, and includes a
copy of Brown’s novel, Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives.
VIP tickets sell for $150; that price gets you an invite to a
catered pre-event reception with the authors; the latest books bu
all five authors and an opportunity to have them signed, among
other good stuff. Click on the above link for ticket and other
info; tickets can also be purchased through Eagle Harbor Book Co.
and Liberty Bay Books. (If, like me, you’re wondering how Kitsap
lined up so many literary rock stars for one evening, rest assured
that I’m looking into the story behind this event and hope to have
a blog soon on that subject. I’m dying to go to this myself, but
that damned work thing appears to be getting in the way. Hint,
hint, boss.)
• Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m.: Field’s End hosts
Bainbridge resident Tom
Tyner, aka The Latte Guy, who will speak on “The Ins And Outs
Of Writing A Weekly Column.” A land-conservation lawyer, Tyner has
written his humorous observations on coffee, parenting and island
life on and off for The Bainbridge Island Review since 1993. His
earlier columns were collected in a book called Skeleton From
Our Closet.
• Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7 p.m. (and continuing for the next four
Tuesday evenings): Field’s End hosts novelist and University of
Washington English professor Shawn Wong, who will
offer a workshop
on “Beginning Fiction.” (From the website: “Nearly everyone
says or overhears someone say, “I have a great idea for a novel.”
How do fiction writers get from idea to written pages? How do you
give yourself practical writing assignments to meet your goal? What
tricks can you play on yourself to move your writing ability from
one level to another? How can you be an objective editor of your
writing? There is no tried-and-true path to writing fiction, but
Shawn Wong’s students for the past 26 years at UW have gone on to
write and publish short stories and novels and win writing awards.
What he tells them will be compressed into four sessions. In other
words, let’s skip the apprenticeship and get straight to the
writing.”) Wong is the author of the novels Homebase and
American Knees, both literary novels stemming from his
Chinese-American experience. The latter book was adapted into
Americanese, an independent movie being release this year.
Cost for the four-week workshop is $160. For registration forms and
other information on the classes, which take place at the
Bainbridge Public Library’s meeting room, go to Field’s End online.
Know of any September signings, readings or other literary
events in Kitsap County you’d like to publicize here? Drop me a
line at thomsen1965@gmail.com.
