Tag Archive for: story

thinking

Thinking about Adam, Eve, and the Garden

As I’ve traveled from place to place over the past seven months talking about EDEN, it has been revelatory that many readers do not connect my novel with the metaphor of the Garden of Eden. I would have thought the book’s title would be the first giveaway. This is less a commentary about people’s comfort with biblical references, than a testament to the fact that Eden has become a common term in our society’s vernacular. It stands on its own, independent from the Bible as a synonym for paradise.

In late October, I attended the Boston Book Festival as both a presenter and an interested member of the audience. My husband and I attended a fascinating discussion with Stephen Greenblatt, author of the recent book The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. In his wonderful and scholarly book, Greenblatt examines the story through history’s eyes: from the point of view of scholars, and artists, and poets and questions what it is about the story of the Garden of Eden that proves it to be “so durable, so widespread, and so insistently, [and] hauntingly real.” From examinations of Durer’s art to Milton’s most famous work, it is a sensational book, which I recommend highly.

The story of Adam and Eve certainly shaped society’s concept of marriage: A man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh…. an ideal concept at that. The story goes on to provide imagery for what is good and what is evil. It gives us the first documentation of  sin. It provides fodder for the characterization of women as manipulative and conniving, and for men as laborers and providers. I would challenge someone to come up with a story that is as impactful as this one on how society defines our most fundamental relationships.

Its structure is ingrained in us, an archetype. There is a man and a woman. They are placed in a paradise. There is temptation. They want more. There is a decline and an expulsion. They go on.

I recently read Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, one of those books that is referred to time and again by writing teachers, while Greenblatt sat on my bedside table, and grinned at the reference to Sid and Charity’s Vermont utopia as ‘Eden’ – and of course this ‘Eden’ doesn’t last. The grand home in my novel is also named “Eden,” but in a tongue-in-cheek manner meant to foreshadow pitfalls on the horizon. I can’t help shaking my head when coming across locales dubbed “Eden” – Bar Harbour, Maine was originally named Eden, for example. Many people seem to want to memorialize paradise, possibly forgetting the second half of the story.

Instead of place, I like to think of Eden as the state of innocence one experiences in childhood; an innocence that inevitably disappears once the complications of adolescence and adulthood take hold. The Adam and Eve creation story is compelling for all it evokes around the relationships between man and woman, but its early setting, that moment of perfection is what strikes me. It is a moment with a special place in the recesses of our collective memory.

friendship tour

A Friendship Tour, Thanks to a Book

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.

Marnye Young

An Interview with Narrator, Marnye Young

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

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

 

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

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

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

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!

westerly memoir

The Westerly Memoir Project

The Westerly Memoir Project (WMP) embarks on its second summer  July 11, 2017.  The project blends top-notch instruction in the art of memoir with the long-term goal of creating an anthology of personal essays, all set in the treasured seaside community of Westerly, RI.  Grub Street, a creative writing center in Boston, has completed two such projects.  The Boston Memoir Project spanned over a decade and culminated in the publication of 5 anthologies representing various neighborhoods within the city.  Then there was the Nantucket Memoir Project, which more closely mirrors the scope of the WMP.

With the pull of the ocean, both summer residents and a vibrant year-round community share a special setting.  As such, there are a myriad of view points and diverse experiences that will make up the finished work of essays to be published as the Westerly Memoir Project.

I initiated this project last year with the help of the Westerly Public Library, the Watch Hill Memorial Library and Improvement Society, and Grub Street because I truly love this place.  My co-chair, Katie Porter, and I are excited to bring the best instructing Boston’s Grub Street has to offer to our summer home.  We are also excited about where this project might lead.  The hope is that this project ignites writing well beyond that first personal narrative.  Last summer’s sessions felt like the nascent beginnings of  Westerly’s own writing community.  Let’s keep it going ! Imagine where we can go from here.

meme-eden

Goodreads Giveaway!

Between March 21 and April 21, 2017 click Goodreads Giveaway! to enter.  There are ten chances to win a copy of Eden: A Novel.