TBR: We Love Anderson Cooper: Short Stories by R.L. Maizes

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe! 

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

In We Love Anderson Cooper, characters are treated as outsiders because of their sexual orientation, racial or religious identity, or simply because they look different. A young man courts the publicity that comes from outing himself at his bar mitzvah. When a painter is shunned because of his appearance, he inks tattoos that come to life. A Jewish actuary suspects his cat of cheating on him with his Protestant girlfriend.

Which story did you most enjoy writing? Why? And, which story gave you the most trouble, and why?

I had a lot of fun writing “A Cat Called Grievous.” The humor is so dark and it bumps up against magical realism, though a blogger recently included it in a list of realist stories about animals. It’s a feminist story, but never lectures the reader.

“Ghost Dogs” is about a woman who has lost hope and was very hard to write. A colleague who read an early draft told me it lacked contrast. She compared the story to a painting that is so dark you can’t make out the images. Following her advice, I found ways to lighten up the story. In some cases that meant flashing back to times in the main character’s life when she was surrounded by love.    

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

A particularly low day was one on which I got rejections from three agents who had read the full manuscript. I had high hopes for each of those agents, and the rejections body-slammed me, especially coming together. One of the agents said I’d never find representation because there was no market for short story collections. That made me determined to press on, but only after eating most of a vegan chocolate cake. I saved one slice in the freezer, telling myself I would eat it when I signed with an agent.

A high point was when my agent sent the manuscript out on a Friday and three publishers expressed interest in acquiring the collection on Monday.

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

A teacher of mine once said he couldn’t think of any student who stuck with writing over the years, working at it and honing her craft, who didn’t find success. I love this because it shows that writing is not an inborn talent that either you have or you don’t. Instead, writing is a skill that you develop over time with great effort.  

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

Putting the collection together, I chose from stories I wrote over a ten-year period. I was surprised by some of the older ones. They possess a rawness that I like and perhaps have moved away from as revision has become the focus of my writing. I was careful not to over-revise the older ones I included, not wanting the original impetus for them to get lost, or for them to present with perfect manners.

How did you find the title of your book?

In the title story, “We Love Anderson Cooper,” a boy comes out as gay at his bar mitzvah service. Later that day, his mother says to him: “Why didn’t you talk to us first? We would have understood. We love Anderson Cooper.”

                                                                                                                     

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book?

In “The Infidelity of Judah Maccabee” food is an important character in the story, which takes place during Christmas and Hanukkah. Fragrant latkes (potato pancakes) remind the main character, Barry, of his childhood. When his girlfriend, Anette, bakes Christmas cookies, Barry feels as if her holiday is taking over the house. Barry’s cat falls for Anette when she prepares fish stew.

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READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.RLMaizes.com

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR SHELF: https://www.rlmaizes.com/book-we-love-anderson-cooper

READ AN EXCERPT, “A Cat Called Grievous”: https://electricliterature.com/how-to-become-a-cat-lady-4f81290d7bd9

TBR: A Girl Goes into the Forest by Peg Alford Pursell

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe! 

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

A Girl Goes into the Forest is a collection of hybrid stories and fables that examine the mythos of the American girl. Immersing readers in forests both literal and metaphorical, this book illuminates love and loss by exploring the complex desires, contradictions, and sorrows of daughters, wives, mothers, and those who love them.

Which story did you most enjoy writing? Why? And, which story gave you the most trouble, and why?

“Goodbye, Roller Coaster” was one of those rare stories that wrote itself, the first draft, that is. The experience of transcribing what comes out of nowhere and then later reading and taking it in, is one of those fundamental pleasures: to see a momentary texture of one’s mind. In contrast, “You Can Do Anything” was a story that I grappled with for ages. I wanted to get across the emotional pain and suffering underlying the fussy, cautious, and controlling nature of the male protagonist, to make him if not lovable at least relatable, and I found this challenging to the degree that I wanted to give up on him—but I couldn’t.

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

There’s been a straightforward path to publication that’s been singular and wonderful. I wanted to publish A Girl Goes into the Forest with Dzanc, and showed the manuscript only to that publisher, who quickly read and accepted it, to my profound pleasure. My publisher has been beautifully supportive and I couldn’t be happier. It’s been a realization of a dream, and I know how lucky I am.

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

One of my mentors, Kevin McIlvoy, once spoke of how necessary it is to have more than one writing project going at any given time, and while he might not think of that as advice, I took that idea in and it’s served me well. With all of the activities and work that go into supporting a book as it makes its way out in the world, I need to have the making of art to return to, to keep me grounded in what’s most important. Having projects underway to turn to is a lot like picking up the partially knit sweater to work on without having to plan—what should I make: scarf, hat, other? What kind of yarn, what color, what gauge needle, and so on. The story is there, begun, waiting for me to pick it up.

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

Initially, once I understood that I was writing about the mythos of the American girl in our patriarchal system, I was surprised to find seeping into the book stories about the damage done to boys in this destructive system. That’s what led, I believe, albeit unconsciously, to my incorporation of lines from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” to structure the book.

How did you find the title of your book?

I wish I had a good story to tell about how I came to the title, but I don’t recollect that part of the process, and perhaps it was a deeply submerged process. I can say only that when it came to me, I couldn’t let it go. I liked that it shared a similarity to jokes that begin like so: “A dog walks into a bar . . .” This was pleasurable because of that implicit lightness and the playfulness since, of course, there is also the shadow of that playfulness implicit in the act of a girl going into any forest. We’ve all internalized the dangers of “Little Red Riding Hood,” for example: According to an article published in the Smithsonian Magazine that discusses how scientists used phylogenic methods normally reserved for studying the origins of species to analyze the tale, there exist at least 58 versions of similarly themed stories around the world, from Japan to Africa to Korea.

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

It turns out that even when I think I’m not thinking much about food in this book, I’m thinking of food! There’s fudge with marshmallow and nuts, there’s roast beef, a cake with pink frosting, gingerbread man cookies, tomatoes, apples, hazelnuts, margaritas, key lime pie, smoothies, white Russians, vegetable soup. The story “Confection” centers on lemon sherbet, so here’s a recipe: https://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonSherbet.html

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READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR & BOOK:

www.pegalfordpursell.com

BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR SHELF: https://www.dzancbooks.org/our-books/girl-goes-into-the-forest

READ A STORY, “A Girl Goes into a Forest”:

http://www.theotherstories.org/episodes/episode-204-a-girl-goes-into-the-forest-2-by-peg-alford-pursell/

TBR: The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe! 

  

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

My debut novel follows a seventy-five-year-old Southern woman as she writes an inventory of her family’s heirlooms. Those possessions end up telling a different story than the one she intended, about her family’s troubled history in rural South Carolina. My book explores the way we often engineer family narratives to suit our personal needs, and it examines how the objects around us that we imbue with meaning have stories to tell about us, too.

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

The voice of my first-person narrator, Judith Kratt, was a pleasure to create. She’s a sharp-tongued, compellingly flawed older woman. Frankly, she’s difficult. And I consider that a compliment. Early on in my life, growing up in South Carolina, I had decided that if you were a Southern woman, it was in your best interests to be difficult!

Judith’s father, Brayburn Kratt, was an uncomfortable character for me to write because he does some pretty awful deeds. I tried to approach him with empathy, to understand why he moves through the world in the way he does and why Judith still admires him.

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

My novel is based on a piece of my family’s history—a murder that happened in my family two generations before me. In early drafts, I attempted to write a faithful retelling of that story. But the problem was that I knew how that story ended. There was no sense of discovery, and it showed in the manuscript. Once I freed myself from the details of the real-life event, my revised manuscript took off. I had sent one of the early drafts to agents and ... crickets. But once I overhauled the manuscript, I signed with my (wonderful) agent almost immediately.

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

To follow your intuition when writing as if you’re composing a piece of music. Kazuo Ishiguro offered this advice when he gave a craft talk at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, a literary arts nonprofit in Denver.

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

I was surprised by how much my first-person narrator’s voice evolves over the course of the novel and how she comes to see that, even if her voice is the predominant one, she’s not necessarily the center of the story.

Who is your ideal reader?

My ideal reader is one who isn’t afraid to slow down and savor a book. I hope that my novel’s plot will keep readers wanting to turn the pages, but I also hope that readers will feel compelled to slow down and enjoy the measured Southern pace of the prose.

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

There’s a family dinner table scene in the middle of the book that is fraught with tension. (Aren’t all family dinner tables fraught with tension?) That meal has a citrus-inspired Southern menu, including pork tenderloin glazed with orange marmalade; asparagus with flecks of orange zest; and a dessert called Orange Supreme or Orange Fluff, which is a concoction of mandarin oranges, crushed pineapple, and cottage cheese. I’ll include the recipe for the dessert, but I’ll admit that it might be an acquired taste! [See below…]

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READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR AND THIS BOOK: www.andreabobotis.com

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK:  https://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9781492678861

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Orange Supreme, or Orange Fluff

A Southern citrus dessert, perfect for summertime

Featured in the novel The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 package orange-flavored gelatin (like Jell-O)
• 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 8-12 ounces cottage cheese, small curd (may want to drain)

Instructions

Pour all ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine.

Refrigerate for several hours before serving.