Writer Envy

Sheer Playfulness and Deadly Seriousness are my closest friends.
– Philip Roth

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I wish I was her, or him-- what current writer do you envy and why?

I saw this topic over at The Longstockings a week or so ago and I thought it sounded like so much fun. I wasn't sure which writers I'd choose as "the current writers I most envy" because I love so many authors for so many different reasons.-- Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovich, Diana Gabaldon, Loretta Chase, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende, Marian Keyes, Rebecca Wells, Elizabeth Gilbert, Megan McCafferty, Lois Lowry, JK Rowling, Judy Blume, Laurie Halse Anderson, Phillip Pullman, and so on and so forth. . . so many amazing writers to choose from. And then, there's the people like Nora Roberts, who I may not consider my personal faves, but who are so dang successful, such icons, it makes my head turn.

I didn't over think the question because it's been a busy week and I've been preoccupied with other things. Plus, I like to be spontaneous, to keep things "fresh. " So, when I sat down this morning, I was surprised-- the first writer that popped into my head was Philip Roth.

Philip Roth?

I mean no disrespect. Quite the opposite. He's a brilliant, celebrated, prolific writer, so, in that respect, it's not "odd." I've read three or four of his books and I've loved, loved, loved each one. However, it wasn't what I expected. I write nothing like him! He's brilliant and literary and , and, and . . .

I'm not.

But maybe, deep down, I want to be. Or maybe, there's something else to take away from this.

Philip Roth first achieved fame with GOODBYE, COLUMBUS (1959), a novella and five-story collection describing the life of a of Jewish middle-class family. Ten years later PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT was published. The book became a great, great international success. I remember being blown away by it. I'd never read anything like it. It's a "masturbation story" in which Roth yokes wild comedy, guilt and rage together as the narrator searches for freedom by using sex as his way of escape. Wow.

Roth says, "In 1969, I wrote Portnoy. Not only did I write it - that was easy - I also became the author of Portnoy's Complaint and what I faced publicly was the trivialisation of everything."

According to Aaron Ascher, Roth's dear friend and editor, "the attacks were horrible and disheartening, especially from the Jews. He had to cope with the nightmare of a smash hit. It made him angry and defensive, so he closed up. But maybe it did him good. The setback of great success changed and improved him as a writer. Without it, he'd have been different."

He continued publishing outrageous novels in the vein of his commercial breakthrough, eventually introducing Nathan Zuckerman, his literary altar ego, in My Life as a Man. The well received Zuckerman Trilogy (The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman Unbound, and The Counterlife) parallels Roth's career, unfolding with characteristic poignancy and unforgiving humor.

As this article in the Guardian points out, for the last decade, at an age when most writers are beginning to lose interest, Roth has produced a series of books more powerful and accomplished than any he has written before. And he shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe that's what I find the MOST amazing. It gives me hope that it's not too late, that the ship hasn't necessarily passed me by.

"Even now, he doesn't relent," says Aaron Ascher. "This is a 70-something-year-old writer who is still going uphill and keeps getting better. He has back problems which give him great pain, yet he's always working. He never stops, even in his worst periods."

I love this about Roth--

"He works standing up, paces around while he's thinking and has said he walks half a mile for every page he writes. Even now, when his joints are beginning to creak and fail, energy still comes off him like a heat haze, but it is all driven by the intellect. It comes out as argument, mimicry, wild comic riffs on whatever happens to turn up in the conversation. His concentration is fierce, and the sharp black eyes under their thick brows miss nothing. The pleasure of his company is immense, but you need to be at your best not to disappoint him."

He's one of the mad ones, no? In a way? Despite his monklike privacy? Other books by him that I love are The Zuckerman Trilogy, American Pastoral and Human Stain.

Since Macy picked three, I was going to be a copy cat and pick three as well, but I can't choose. However, I can say this-- what I noticed amongst the authors jockeying for position is that they are all successful, they all win awards, they all entertain me immensely and write page-turning series with characters I just can't get enough of. . .

Hmmm. Is there a series in my future?

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Thought for Thursday . . . on Friday

At my Alys on Love blog, I started doing a thought for Thursday a couple weeks. ago. Since Macy's out of the country, and I'll be gone all weekend, I decided to put long one up here. Here's some food for thought from the amazing Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. You can also read it at this link--

Sometimes people ask me for help or suggestions about how to write, or how to get published. Keeping in mind that this is all very ephemeral and personal, I will try to explain here everything that I believe about writing. I hope it is useful. It's all I know.

I believe that – if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression – that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns. I made a vow to writing, very young. I became Bride-of-Writing. I was writing’s most devotional handmaiden. I built my entire life around writing. I didn’t know how else to do this. I didn’t know anyone who had ever become a writer. I had no, as they say, connections. I had no clues. I just began.

I took a few writing classes when I was at NYU, but, aside from an excellent workshop taught by Helen Schulman, I found that I didn’t really want to be practicing this work in a classroom. I wasn’t convinced that a workshop full of 13 other young writers trying to find their voices was the best place for me to find my voice. So I wrote on my own, as well. I showed my work to friends and family whose opinions I trusted. I was always writing, always showing. After I graduated from NYU, I decided not to pursue an MFA in creative writing. Instead, I created my own post-graduate writing program, which entailed several years spent traveling around the country and world, taking jobs at bars and restaurants and ranches, listening to how people spoke, collecting experiences and writing constantly. My life probably looked disordered to observers (not that anyone was observing it that closely) but my travels were a very deliberate effort to learn as much as I could about life, expressly so that I could write about it.

Back around the age of 19, I had started sending my short stories out for publication. My goal was to publish something (anything, anywhere) before I died. I collected only massive piles of rejection notes for years. I cannot explain exactly why I had the confidence to be sending off my short stories at the age of 19 to, say, The New Yorker, or why it did not destroy me when I was inevitably rejected. I sort of figured I’d be rejected. But I also thought: “Hey – somebody has to write all those stories: why not me?” I didn’t love being rejected, but my expectations were low and my patience was high. (Again – the goal was to get published before death. And I was young and healthy.) It has never been easy for me to understand why people work so hard to create something beautiful, but then refuse to share it with anyone, for fear of criticism. Wasn’t that the point of the creation – to communicate something to the world? So PUT IT OUT THERE. Send your work off to editors and agents as much as possible, show it to your neighbors, plaster it on the walls of the bus stops – just don’t sit on your work and suffocate it. At least try. And when the powers-that-be send you back your manuscript (and they will), take a deep breath and try again. I often hear people say, “I’m not good enough yet to be published.” That’s quite possible. Probable, even. All I’m saying is: Let someone else decide that. Magazines, editors, agents – they all employ young people making $22,000 a year whose job it is to read through piles of manuscripts and send you back letters telling you that you aren’t good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. Don’t pre-reject yourself. That’s their job, not yours. Your job is only to write your heart out, and let destiny take care of the rest.

As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness (which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love). The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it, as per my vows.

I have a friend who’s an Italian filmmaker of great artistic sensibility. After years of struggling to get his films made, he sent an anguished letter to his hero, the brilliant (and perhaps half-insane) German filmmaker Werner Herzog. My friend complained about how difficult it is these days to be an independent filmmaker, how hard it is to find government arts grants, how the audiences have all been ruined by Hollywood and how the world has lost its taste…etc, etc. Herzog wrote back a personal letter to my friend that essentially ran along these lines: “Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work.” I repeat those words back to myself whenever I start to feel resentful, entitled, competitive or unappreciated with regard to my writing: “It’s not the world’s fault that you want to be an artist…now get back to work.” Always, at the end of the day, the important thing is only and always that: Get back to work. This is a path for the courageous and the faithful. You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place.

Here’s another thing to consider. If you always wanted to write, and now you are A Certain Age, and you never got around to it, and you think it’s too late…do please think again. I watched Julia Glass win the National Book Award for her first novel, “The Three Junes”, which she began writing in her late 30’s. I listened to her give her moving acceptance speech, in which she told how she used to lie awake at night, tormented as she worked on her book, asking herself, “Who do you think you are, trying to write a first novel at your age?” But she wrote it. And as she held up her National Book Award, she said, “This is for all the late-bloomers in the world.” Writing is not like dancing or modeling; it’s not something where – if you missed it by age 19 – you’re finished. It’s never too late. Your writing will only get better as you get older and wiser. If you write something beautiful and important, and the right person somehow discovers it, they will clear room for you on the bookshelves of the world – at any age. At least try.

There are heaps of books out there on How To Get Published. Often people find the information in these books contradictory. My feeling is -- of COURSE the information is contradictory. Because, frankly, nobody knows anything. Nobody can tell you how to succeed at writing (even if they write a book called “How To Succeed At Writing”) because there is no WAY; there are, instead, many ways. Everyone I know who managed to become a writer did it differently – sometimes radically differently. Try all the ways, I guess. Becoming a published writer is sort of like trying to find a cheap apartment in New York City: it’s impossible. And yet…every single day, somebody manages to find a cheap apartment in New York City. I can’t tell you how to do it. I’m still not even entirely sure how I did it. I can only tell you – through my own example – that it can be done. I once found a cheap apartment in Manhattan. And I also became a writer.

Isn't that inspirational? I, of course, wasn't as deliberate in setting up my own training program to become a writer, but I do think that's what I did. I traveled, worked a zillion different jobs, partied, observed people, pondered life and the human predicament, explored love and limits. The only way my life will make any sense at all is if, in the end, I can say, I'm an artist, a writer. I love that she was thinking This Sucks throughout the writing of Eat, Pray, Love-- an amazing book that will be adapted into a film. I love what she says about commitment and devotion, doing it for the love of it, contradictory information, and about it never being too late. Oh, and I totally cracked up about discipline being overrated. Thank God, because I can't manage to do the daily word count thingy to save my life. I change goals and processes hourly!

This passage, in particular, spoke to me--

"It’s not the world’s fault that you want to be an artist…now get back to work.” Always, at the end of the day, the important thing is only and always that: Get back to work. This is a path for the courageous and the faithful. You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place.

I also could relate to this-- I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it, as per my vows.

It's definitely a calling.

Cheers and happy writing,

Alyson

Alyson's Stalker-Geek-Fan List

As Macy explained in her post, this week we are listing the people we hope to see and somehow manage not to be total stalker-fan-geeks about when we go to the RWA conference in July. The Rita and Golden Heart Contest finalists were being announced when I came up with that and I was feeling the excitement, hoping to join their ranks in the future, preferably sooner rather than later. I also had finally come full circle and embraced my inner Romance Writer Diva. A writer is what I am -- a romance writer. No ifs, ands or buts.

Now, I'm having an impossible time choosing six. How can I limit it to six? There are icons. Favorite authors. Beloved teachers. The amazing blog writers. The chick lit phenoms who pulled me into this gig at long last after I had avoided writing for years -- to whom I will always be grateful. But Macy kept it to six so I am going to try to do the same.

1. Kathleen Woodiwiss
It all starts with The Flame and the Flower and Shanna-- the first two romance novels I ever read. Back in January, I did a Saturday Sixteen of favorite intermediate fiction/young adult novels and I mentioned them because they introduced me to rollicking romance in my early teens. This woman was a ground-breaker with tenacity. I haven't read those two books in many, many years but they rocked my world.

2. Nora Roberts
Sixteen Million a year. A gazillion books. Movie deals. Need I say more? If that sounds familiar, it's because I copied it word for word from Macy. I will add a couple of things -- Nora is cool. She loves writing. She advocates for romance every chance she gets. She's an icon.

3. Susan Elizabeth Phillips
My biggest influence. My romantic comedy writing goddess. The one whose books I have on a special easy-access shelf. The recipient of the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. I love her books. Love them! My fave is her latest. You haven't read it? You haven't read Natural Born Charmer?

You're missing out. Here are a handful of reviews--

Flawless writing with sassy wit and a rich cast of complex characters blend together brilliantly in Natural Born Charmer, a romantic sexy, literary confection...." —Chicago Tribune

"Combine a bunch of misfits carrying emotional baggage with lots of humor, and you have another Phillips masterpiece. The dialogue, emotions and offbeat scenarios elevate this book to genuine reading joy. Phillips not only plucks at heartstrings, she plays a full concert." —Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times BOOKclub

"Phillips has penned another sexy, funny, but deeply touching romance. ...one of the best yet." —Kristin Ramsdell, Library Journal

"...splendidly satisfying tale of love, family, and redemption. Generously seasoned with plenty of tart humor and snappy dialogue, and graced with a delightfully amusing pair of protagonists trying desperately not to fall in love. Natural Born Charmer is simply irresistible." —Booklist

I'll probably be a bit nutty-kooky around SEP should the opportunity arise.

4. Diana Gabaldon

Awe-struck. She's the true blue original in the group. Heck, no one in the industry even knew how to categorize and market her complex and compelling series (that starts with Outlander) blending history, time travel, romance and high adventure. She's amazing, and she has a cult-like following. The comet.

5. Julia Quinn

She's like a warm, witty, brilliant friend who never fails to delight you. I was so thrilled when I discovered her. I had just finished pouring through all of Jane Austen's work for the umpteenth time and I needed something . . . anything. A regency. Someone recommended Amanda Quick so I went to the bookstore and pulled out a couple of titles, read the back, wasn't sure, kept browsing, discovered Julia. Her heroines stand out. I love her heroines. The witty, warm banter between her characters is soooo good. You can feel the love growing between the hero and heroine and you totally buy into the happily ever after. When all is said and done, you just know that she's really, really smart-- and she is. Don't believe me? Read her bio. Plus, she won the Weakest Link! How fun is that?

6. Uh oh.

All day between playing with toddlers, doing potty training, walking dogs, grocery shopping, watching Dancing with the Stars and other exciting stuff, I've been jotting down names, crossing them off, jotting them back down again. I thought I'd know what to do when I got here.

I don't.

Should I list Janet Evanovich whose humor is another huge influence on my writing and who is wildly, wildly successful? She cracks me up like no other and her heroes are phenomenally hot. Hmmm. Good idea, but . . .

What about Marian Keyes, who turned me on to chick lit with Rachel's Holiday and who is another huge influence on my writing? I love, love, love her. At times, I've wondered if we're astral twins.

Then there is Jennifer Crusie who wrote Katrina's fave, Bet Me, which I also liked very much. I'm addicted to her online writing workshop and her cherry forums. She's a phenomenal teacher and a witty chicka. I know I'll be starstruck if I see her.

I can't forget Barbara Samuel. She writes great women's fiction and romance, and her workshop changed my life. She's like the soulful best friend you wished lived next door.

I'm tempted to include J.R. Ward cuz the woman writes with a dark, gritty, razor-sharp edge that gets me all pumped up despite the fact that I'm not into vamps. At all. But I read all her books and gain super-charged energy from them. How fun would it be to go out clubbing with her? Pretty fun, I bet.

I can't decide between those five so instead, let's just say I'd be geeked to meet any of them, and hopefully I will.

Oh boy! Double uh oh. It's the day after I posted everything above this and I absolutely have to add Eloisa James. I read my first book by her last night, and I devoured the thing like a box of chocolates. She's a Shakespeare professor who writes delicious regency novels and blogs with the Squawkers. Wow!

I am such a cheater on this six thing!

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Stalker-Fan-Geek

I’ve tried avoiding this blog for three days. As Alyson so aptly put it, this blog is about the people you hope to see and somehow manage not be total stalker-fan-geek over at the RWA nationals.

We’ll get to why I’ve been avoiding it in a minute.

First, I have to tell you that four of us (maybe 5) here at Affairs are headed to our first RWA National Convention in Dallas this July. We’re going to be roomies. I’m sure it will be eye-opening (the conference, not being roomies) to our little pre-published group.

We’ve discussed a few times the authors we’d love to meet there. And I can just see us sneaking around corners to get close enough to maybe get an autograph from the likes of Nora. (Not really. None of us are stalkers. Calm down, Nora.)

However, having been a big book geek my whole life, I do have a few authors who I’d love to meet. Some of them aren’t necessarily the ones whose books I rush out to buy on release day. They are, however, women who’ve made a mark on a challenging industry, who are successful, and from whom I’d love to hear some words of wisdom.

Who are they? See this was the hard part – the avoid-the-blog part. I’d love to meet several writers, but since this is The Six, I’ve finally managed to narrow it down.

1. Nora. Sixteen Million a year. A gazillion books. Movie deals. Need I say more.

2. J.K. Rowling. It is unlikely she'll be there since this is a Romance Writers’ Convention, but maybe she’ll be there getting ideas for an adult series. (Right. But a girl can dream.) (Ok – and if she is there, just for the record, I might be total stalker-geek-fan.)

3. Sherilyn Kenyon. She’s built her own little Dark Hunter empire. And she writes historicals under the name Kinley McGregor. She was essentially black-balled early in her career (at least that’s the story I heard or read somewhere). I’d like to meet someone who persevered through all that to become as successful as she is.

4. J.R. Ward. I’ve never met anyone with an imagination like hers. I’d love to know how she built her world. Was it established before she began to write or does she build as she goes? And just how many books was her contract for? Oh, and what a unique voice.

5. Suzanne Brockmann. She’s brilliant. She has brilliant characters that I swear must be real. ‘Nough said.

6. Karen Marie Moning. I just want to tell her how much I love her books.

There it is. If I can only meet 6, that’s them.

Who would you pick?

Macy