surrender and patience

Summer Balance – Surrender and Patience

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This summer, like most summers, is passing too quickly. There never seems to be enough time to fit in all the things I’ve dreamed about over the winter. Today, for example, I have many projects that need attention; however I haven’t been to my favorite yoga class in a while and my son is here for the day and wants to “play.” A writer’s life, I’ve learned, is one where there is always something hanging overhead, the sensation there is always homework due tomorrow.

A teacher advised me last spring that writing is all about patience and surrender. Spending time with the words on a page, with a story, and with characters, the writer is a witness to what emerges.

As I’ve discussed EDEN at several book events in the past three months, there is one question that invariably arises from the audience: “Are you working on another book?” And the answer is YES, and I even have a third in the back of my mind. After a brief description of what is in store, I can’t help but feel a sense of urgency to get home and finish up book number two and deliver it as quickly as possible to the marketplace. That desire to please and perform is an inherent part of my nature.

And even though the manuscript is strong, like a good tomato sauce, it can’t be rushed, needing to simmer for the characters to develop and for the story to take on a depth that I can be proud of. My challenge will be to deliver something timely without sacrificing quality. I know it will get there, not magically, not passively sitting on the stove, but with my stirring in the herbs and tending to it lovingly.

This morning, my garden needs attention, and there is an interview I should write up, but I also crave quiet in order to take on deep work. Yesterday’s solar eclipse was one of those events that got me thinking about the grandiosity of the solar system and the universe and the scope of my life within it. And so today, I am going to reset, say goodbye to frenetic, book promoting energy, and slow down. I am going to enjoy my beloved yoga practice and approach the day with surrender and patience. After all, I’ve already written a blog post this morning.

friendship tour

A Friendship Tour, Thanks to a Book

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Promoting a book is almost as hard as writing one. Especially the first time, especially for an indie author without access to the big marketing machines behind books published by the big five.

In anticipation of my May 2 pub date, sometime last winter, I began scheduling a book tour that would stretch throughout the summer months and touch a variety of New England summer communities. EDEN has universal themes and a storyline that stretches well beyond the typical “summer read” genre, but because it is set in a New England summer enclave and the meat of the drama occurs over the Fourth of July weekend, my promotion strategy was to hit the New England coastline during the summer months.

Now, this might have seemed logical and obvious during the dreary months of March and April, but now that I am in the midst of summer, and my tour, I have had many personal realizations. Never before would I have imagined being happy about not being in Watch Hill 100% of the time. Like some of the characters in EDEN, I’ve been loathe in summers past to ever leave my bubble. My children came home and filled the house with activity and I nurtured and nested and enjoyed our routine, our “special place.”  In summers past, in fact, I have declined many invitations to visit friends because of all the engagements at home.

I’m reminded of the years I spent converting to Judaism. One of the steps in the process that my rabbi prescribed was making a trip to Israel. I was fine with the other dozen requirements, but how could he expect me to go to Israel?  It’s far, it would be expensive, and in reality I thought it seemed a little bit scary. Fast forward to the weekend of my final conversion step – on Friday afternoon I immersed at the mikvah, and on Saturday morning I made my first aliyah. Then on Sunday evening I received a call from the captain of the US Maccabiah squash team asking if I would represent the US at the games in Tel Aviv that summer. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance, brought my family and enjoyed my time in Israel immensely.

Similarly,  the unintended benefit of promoting EDEN is that it’s gotten me out of town. I’m visiting  beautiful places and friends in their beautiful places, their “Edens.” Between 2009 and 2012 our family lived in Switzerland where we traveled extensively. Not only to other countries, but we’d often get in the car and just drive to small towns in Germany or France. We would wander, maybe following a map, maybe inspired by an article or suggestion, but we’d usually get lost or totally miss the place suggested in the guide book and end up finding our own destination. I loved it. And I vowed to continue that spirit of wanderlust when I returned to the states. There were, I reasoned, so many beautiful places in my own country, even in New England, that I’d never seen. Well, easier said than done.

For example, I have skied a lot in Maine, but had never visited its beautiful coastline during the summer. I had spent the early summers of my marriage on the Cape, but in recent years had written it off as too crowded. There was always something, some reason I couldn’t leave Watch Hill in the summer – Martha’s Vineyard? Nantucket? The Hamptons?  New Jersey? Good for you, but not for me….

So this summer, I’m leaving my comfort zone and seeing more of our beautiful coastline, and islands! But more importantly,  I’m seeing friends and making new friends, sharing stories and laughing. I’m receiving the wonderful generosity and support of the people in my life. They are attending my readings and hosting events for me in their homes. It’s beyond anything I could have imagined during the planning stages. People have been asking me if  it’s exhausting, and the answer is “no”: this trip is just the charge I needed.

The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick

Jack’s Audiobook Picks

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The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick

My 23-year-old son likes to listen to audiobooks as he gets ready for work in the morning, and he continues to listen during his 40-minute commute. I’m not surprised, as he always loved to be read to as a child. He came up with a list of his favorite audiobook recommendations – we hope you enjoy them as much as he did!

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
The Razor’s Edge, by W. Somerset Maugham
The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis
Nutshell, by Ian McEwan (I also loved this one – the narration is excellent!)

Marnye Young

An Interview with Narrator, Marnye Young

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Jeannie: How did you get into narrating?

Marnye: I am an actor who was trying to figure out a way to spend more time with my twin toddlers and a friend of mine who has done very well for herself in the audiobook business told me I would be perfect for it and that was it. I produced my first few books on my own and then I got so much work that I teamed up with a few producers and continue to work with them.

Jeannie: Where do you work?

Marnye: I work in the studio I built at the back of my house.

 

Jeannie: How many hours do you put in for a 10 hour produced work?

Marnye: It depends. I read the text and take notes on character accents, plot points, ideas for vocal silhouettes, etc, so perhaps about 13 hours to do that and then if I am producing it I need about two hours for every hour I narrate to edit proof and master. If I hire a producer than it takes me about 11 or so hours to narrate a ten-hour book and then my producers work their magic 🙂

 

Jeannie: What are your favorite kinds of books to narrate?

Marnye: I love, love mysteries! I also love historical fiction–that was my second major in College and the curiosity and fascination with history has stayed with me, and of course fantasy. (I get to play in an extremely different world than the one we are in today.)

 

Jeannie: What are the most challenging sections to narrate?

Marnye: Highly emotional scenes: sometimes you need a bunch of takes to get to the best one.

 

Jeannie: How do you take special care of your voice?

Marnye: I don’t. I’m too busy narrating. Lol! No seriously hydration, hydration, hydration, and a lot of throat coats tea.

 

Jeannie: What is the most interesting thing about narrating?

Marnye: I think what people may not realize is that narration really is acting. I get to step into many people’s shoes from all walks of life and live their lives, their failures and their triumphs, shed tears and laugh out loud. I breathe with the characters–as the characters. It is thrilling.

 

I so enjoyed working with Marnye. You can learn more about Marnye’s work here.

book trailer

The Making of a Book Trailer

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I have learned so much in the process of promoting EDEN. Since it was published by an indie press, I have been on the frontline marketing it. I’ve learned about soliciting bookstores, organizing events, and seeking publicity from any number of channels. One of the most important assets for all of those endeavors is a media kit. Even better is an electronic media kit, one that includes video trailers and hyper-links to reviews and big media hits. Multi-media can add texture when pitching a book – whether it be audible, or visual, these are the things that stoke the imagination of agents.  Digital magazines were also delighted to have access to my video in order to enliven spots about EDEN.

But when I first heard of video trailers for books, I was dubious. However I did have an inkling that if I was able to capture the misty, melancholy, mood of a foggy morning on the beach, then I could convey something about EDEN in a way that a two sentence log line never would. (BTW did I mention learning about a two-sentence logline?)

In order to bring EDEN to life on screen, I reached out to Anna Chesire Levitan, founder of 5th Street East, to produce a series of video clips. The shots were filmed over three days in early May, on location in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and it was great fun to work along side the film crew, witnessing EDEN take visual shape, choosing which lines I would read for the voice overs (turning my laundry room into a sound studio), and learning how everything really is better in slow motion! Plus, we got lucky with the weather, as the sun was trapped behind low hanging clouds most of the time. The fog really did add to the film’s emotional richness and spoke of the confused and lonely state my main character found herself in. Lucky for me, local redheaded talent was abundant!

The final products took several weeks to put together, but I was able to share two videos with guests at my launch parties, which was a fun way to get people in the mood before reading. Now that the EDEN book tour has begun, the whole series of videos is rolling out on social media.

“Hurricane” – Eden by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg from Jeanne Blasberg on Vimeo.

Summer Reading & Literary Calisthenics

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In EDEN, Rachel has a habit of doing literary calisthenics every summer morning. Her book of choice is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. She’s memorized passages and her paperback is so tattered the pages are on the verge of becoming unglued from their spine. In EDEN, bookshelves are stuffed with favorite novels and lots of books are read, from Sarah’s favorite E.B. White to Thomas’s favorite Tom Clancy.

Summer is traditionally a time for reading. We can thank the habits instilled in us by school systems that handed out reading lists every June with the expectation that those books held the key to success for the coming year and the understanding that, come September, there might be a test….

Reading in bed in the morning has got to be one of life’s greatest indulgences, a luxury I admit to lavishing upon myself every once in a while, especially in the summer. However, I don’t reach for Melville. I have a stack of new titles at my bedside. But there are a couple of books that are perpetually there, because this is when I’m deep into revisions. One of those books on craft is STORY by Robert McKee. Its subtitle is “Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting”, but don’t let that fool you. STORY is not for screenwriters alone, but for storytellers of all genres.

STORY is written so clearly and breaks down the tenets of any successful narrative. It serves as a reference book, yet includes many wonderful examples and anecdotes. It is great the first time then serves as an important refresher.

For a writer, reading as much as possible is an important part of the work. So in addition to books on craft, I have re-read several classics during past summers including East of Eden, The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, and Jane Eyre. I’m not sure what classic is in store for me this summer. It’s usually a spontaneous decision! If you have any suggestions, please pass them along.

How Squash Powers my Writing

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I’ve been touched by the way my squash community has supported the launch of  EDEN: A Novel (and my new writing life, for that matter).  I’m also extremely grateful for the thoughtful review James Zug wrote in June’s Squash Magazine and the support of Ivy Pochoda and Louisa Hall, world class squashers who played for the Crimson in the 00’s, for reading advance copies of EDEN and writing its first endorsements.

Besides that demonstration of support, and the fact that I’ve approached this publishing journey with the determination of an athlete, I thought I’d use this blog to describe the other ways my new writing life has been shaped by the sport I love.

Squash and writing can both be solitary pursuits, but to approach them as such is a shame. Both are done better with the support and encouragement of community. My experience with US Squash taught me to seek out a writing community and to get involved. Thank goodness for the comradeship of Grub Street, or I’d still be puttering away at a draft of EDEN, alone in my house, wondering if it would ever be good enough. And without the feedback and challenges of fellow GrubStreet work-shoppers, it wouldn’t have been!

Excellence in athletics requires a consistent practice and desire to improve. Not that every time I go out and play, I play my best, but it’s knowing the potential exists, that my talent can be summoned, that keeps me going. Same with writing, sometimes I feel like a day’s output is no good, but it’s the knowing that cleverness and insight can be summoned in future drafts that pushes me along.

When it comes to squash, I’ve lost way more matches than I’ve won. Nevertheless, I am a highly ranked player and have won two National Championships. Still, it is the knowing that, in the arenas in which I choose compete, I will face very tough competition, which drives me to practice.

I’ll equate all those squash defeats with the multitude of rejection I faced trying to get my book published. Thankfully, squash made me relatively immune to taking set backs personally. I treat rejection like feedback which can dictate what my next course of action should be. Rejection is not a judgment on my worth as a person, but makes me rethink and improve my writing.

In squash you learn to never give up, because it only takes a couple of smart, well-executed shots to win a series of points. Those points can result in the momentum of a entire match swinging, and maybe an unexpected win. And it only takes a couple of great wins, strung together, to win a tournament.  Similarly for all the rejections I experienced during the publishing process, it only took a few well timed “wins” to change everything, shift momentum, and create some buzz around my book.

Even though I am a good squash player, I enter most tournaments as a huge underdog. As the great Canadian player, Jonathan Power, likes to say, “There are lots of levels of good.” In other words, you can be good and there will still be somebody better, and then somebody better still. Sometimes I’ll be reading one of my favorite authors before bed time and the writing can be so moving, so spot on, I’ll close the book and start to think, “What right do I have to even try?” I gather up my courage again by remembering there are a lot of levels of good, and just because I’m not going to “win” a Pulitzer prize doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be part of the field which colors the landscape.

Squash has taught me courage and how to be a positive inner coach. I guess this is why the sport has been such a powerful tool for teaching our SquashBusters students life lessons, and why junior squash is a great training ground for mental toughness. Its lessons are transferrable in myriad ways – a satisfying writing life is really just the least of them.

audible-screenshot

Audiobook Faves

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I spilled the beans in my last blog post that
I’m a huge fan of the audiobook and that with the diminishing time I find to sit down, I’m devouring books through my ears instead.  I especially enjoy listening to books that have a lot of dialogue and/or accents (even when reading with my eyes is an option).  One such example of a great “listen” is Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Another  I recently enjoyed with a myriad of voices from three generations of a family was Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I also loved listening to Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale because it was narrated masterfully by Claire Dane of “Homeland” fame.

Tomorrow morning I begin my roadshow!  Driving to the New York area for three days of EDEN book events.  I’m already excited to wake up and start the drive because I just downloaded Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi…

Here’s a screen shot of the last 6 books I’ve listened to …   Let me know in the comment box below what your favorite audiobooks are.

Eden Audible

EDEN: The Audiobook

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Having a book in my hands is a luxury.  That is, sitting upright in a chair and reading an actual book is a luxury. Reading by daylight is almost a holy enterprise, the things vacations are made of.  Even so, my consumption of literature has never been greater.  When I’m driving, walking my dog, or doing housework I’m usually taking in an audiobook.  Yes, it’s efficient, and who doesn’t love being read to?

The selection on Audible has become outstanding over the past seven or eight years, and I’ve been known to buy a book in multiple formats (i.e. Kindle with audio) so that I can finish up before a book club meeting. I confess I’ve even (I might sound totally crazy now) gotten used listening to books at 1.5x speed. It’s still possible to linger over the language… I’ll rewind in order to listen to favorite chapters over again.

So, is it any wonder producing EDEN as an audiobook was a high priority?  My followers requested audio early on, and I could relate.  I just hadn’t prepared myself for how FUN it would be.  A fellow She Writes Press author, Anjali Mitter Duva,  spent a lunch explaining her experience with the Audio Creation Exchange (ACX) platform.  Sometimes that’s all it takes – a demystification of the process – and somebody else’s positive report, to get you going.  ACX is an Audible platform that matches up authors and audiobook producers.  It provides a standard contract with several transactional options, and simplifies the process to give authors access to hundreds of actors who do voice work for a living.  I indicated whether I wanted a male or female, the age, and type of voice.  I had about a dozen options such as: intellectual, serious, comedic, sexy, versatile, sarcastic and so on. (My wise guy husband suggested EDEN in a sexy voice.) After uploading a five minute script onto ACX (I chose scenes with several characters and a lot of dialogue), the project was out for  audition.

That’s when the fun began. Within hours I was receiving emails, asking more information about the characters’ relationships in order to do the best possible audition. It was like being in the theatre giving direction. Within 24 hours, I received about 25 auditions. Listening to the auditions was amazing. Hearing my words come to life was powerful. The transition from the written word to the spoken word (and not in my own voice) expands the imagination. Scenes took on color, accompanied by a voice, a baby step toward a visual medium.

It took about five days for me to listen to all the auditions and narrow them down to a final 4 or 5. ACX  provides the opportunity to check out an actor’s past work. So I spent time with some of the other books that my finalists had narrated. This was helpful. After pulling the trigger with a narrator, they have a day or so to read the first chapter for approval, then commit to a deadline for the entire project. I designated 6 weeks out for the completion of EDEN. My book is about 100,000 words and the final audiobook was estimated to be approximately 10 hours. I paid my narrator a rate per produced hour upon satisfactory completion of the recording. The other contractual option is to share future royalties.

I had a great time working with Marnye Young, EDEN’s narrator. We immediately started an email exchange and followed each other on social media.  Is was fun to see her enthusiasm for EDEN through her posts.  Once she provided the completed audiobook on ACX, I listened intently in order to give final approval. Listening to my book in its entirety was amazing. An avid audio customer myself, I’d be walking down the street listening on my iPhone, and know the next line that was going to be spoken a funky combination of hearing mixed with memory… because oh yeah… it’s my book!

After ACX completes quality control, EDEN: A Novel will be available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Voila!

a-tree-a-son

A Tree, A Son, and A Book: A Different Take on Mother’s Day

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I published this article on Huffington Post on May 9, 2017.

Renowned Cuban poet Jose Martí underscored the human need for creative expression when he wrote, “There are three things every person should do in his or her life — plant a tree, have a son, and write a book.” You don’t have to take Marti literally to understand the crux of his message : CREATE! To create, and more importantly to leave a legacy, whether it be with plants, people, or art and ideas, is critical. Martí’s quote suggests that creating something where nothing had been before is at the core of a life’s purpose. As we approach Mother’s Day, a day sometimes filled with more longing than joy, it helps to reflect on the spirit of Martí’s quote and celebrate the grander, creative impulse swirling throughout the universe, which is accessible to everyone, all the time.

I lost my mother thirteen years ago, and I lost my grandmother and mother-in-law each about two years ago. Since then, I’ve had nobody to send a Mother’s Day card to. A weird way to think about my loss, but still, a socially imposed loss to pile on top of the real grief. And, as for being a mother myself, there was nothing quite as humbling. I never felt as if I “created” my children, that I could take “credit” for them, but that they were placed in my loving care until maturity. Of course they were conceived inside my body, but they emerged such strong individuals, I was sometimes put off balance. It’s an oversimplification, but my role was to tend to them: water them, pull some weeds, for sure, but mostly provide fresh air and sunshine. Akin to the realization that comes after any all-consuming endeavor, my children shaped me as much as I shaped them.

On Mother’s Day 2015, thirty days after my mother-in-law’s passing, my husband and I planted a sugar maple tree in her memory. I planted tulip bulbs about her base to bloom in May and we enjoy her fiery red foliage in September. As for my own mother, I remember her while toiling in the flowerbeds, her energy humming about like an insect in my ear.

Now in my back fifty, I’m fortunate to have sent my adult children off into the world. I’m fortunate to have cultivated a garden and planted trees. And now I’m equally humbled to have published a novel, EDEN, which was just released last week.

EDEN is a family saga, but it’s also a book with some important ideas. It’s a book I wrote to honor the mothers who came before me: my mother, mother-in-law, and both of my grandmothers. It’s fiction, but I hope it also puts a voice to things they were not able to speak about during their own lives. It’s a story whose ideas are also important for our daughters to read, so that they don’t take their opportunities for granted.

And so the cycle continues. The nurturing I received from the “gardeners” of my youth instilled in me a desire to cultivate another generation: of children, trees, and stories. And I have been blessed. “To plant a tree, have a son, and write a book” results in a life filled with love, loss, heartache, ideas, art, and a connection to the earth. That’s what I plan to celebrate on Sunday.