Best Books (I Read in) 2021

 

Best Books (I Read in) 2021

 

Another year of good reading, and after I drafted this write-up, I noticed how often I used the words “in conversation with,” which is one of my favorite ways to think about books and about art in general, as a wide-ranging, open-to-all, free-flowing, connect-the-dots, ongoing conversation in my own head. So here’s a randomly-ordered list of favorite books I read in 2021, culled down in a cold, agonized sweat to 10(ish).

 

I long ago determined that I won’t include a book by a friend in my top 10, so I’ve moved those books to a separate list (which I stress over nevertheless because I’m not always timely about reading a friend’s book in the same year in which it was published).

 

Finally, I should note that in the spirit of honesty, here’s the place where I can mention that, ahem, another book that I liked this year is my OWN book, published in 2021 by Unnamed Press—ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE, linked(ish) stories about “official” DC—so it seems silly not to mention it or to point out that it got some very good reviews. You can buy it through the press, at your fave indie bookstore, or Amazon.

 

Anyway: you’re here for the books, not shameless self-promotion. Do I mean “best,” or do I mean “favorite,” or do I mean “book that was exactly right for the moment I read it”? Maybe I simply mean that each of these is a “book I literally and truly recommended to others at least once over the year.”

 

~~~

 

BEST BOOKS

 

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride [novel]: I watched (and loved) the Showtime limited series and had to immediately read the book, which I also loved. John Brown is a fascinating, complicated pre-Civil War character, and as with many larger-than-life people, he’s best viewed through the POV of someone else, and here it’s a young Black boy called Onion (mistaken by the whites for a girl) who travels with John Brown’s militia. This voice-y book is funny and provocative, and here’s one time where I can’t quite say the book is significantly better than the show because the show is so excellent. Honestly, try to carve out time for both.

 

Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’Farrell [novel]: Hmmm…do you think that “A Novel of the Plague” might have been added by the marketing department?? Nevertheless, this book is an immersive look at 16^th century England, when a writer we know to be Shakespeare (he’s never named) is working on plays as his wife tries to keep the family surviving and thriving. Then…a great loss. The writing is gorgeous, and I’m a sucker for a book where art and grief are intertwined. One favorite section is the set-piece that follows the path of a plague-carrying flea, shows how a global pandemic winds its way toward intimate (a lesson we’re now all too familiar with).

 

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker [nonfiction]: What a big and terrible and terribly sad and rippling story about a single family in the 50s and 60s in which 6 brothers out of 12 kids are afflicted with schizophrenia. Despite the vastness of these events, the book is perfectly organized and structured; the family’s bravery as they sift through the secrets and family myths will break your heart; and you’ll emerge with a deeper ache over the toll of mental illness. One bright spot is the usefulness of this family as a case study in medical research.

 

*Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Raddon Keefe [nonfiction]: I knew only the broad parameters of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and this book was riveting. Again, perfectly structured and organized, especially given a massive cast of “characters” and long-time span and, well, a big, huge history of several cultures and countless events. If you’re someone who thinks you only like novels, this book reads like one. Note: There are many lenses through which to view The Troubles, and this book focuses on the IRA…not that this is a rosy view, not in the least. I remembered reading an early, chilling piece of this book in The New Yorker that never left my mind. *One of my most-recommended books this year.

 

Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football by Nicholas Dawidoff [nonfiction]: Football?! Remember, I’m working on a novel about a football player, so reading this book started as research and ended up as pure pleasure. Journalist Dawidoff embeds himself with the coaching staff of New York Jets during the 2011 season, back when the Jets were enjoying glorious times with Rex Reed as head coach. Full access means fascinating observations and insight into an extraordinarily stressful life, where everybody gets a collection of elite, talented athletes to work with, yet only one coach emerges on the top of the heap come Super Bowl Sunday.

 

11/22/63 by Stephen King [novel]: I’m sure Mr. King will be as surprised as I am to find his book on my annual list. My husband and I watched the Hulu production of this book, which was enjoyable, and my husband—who cares deeply about all things JFK—kept telling me that I would really like the book. “Yet again, honey, (spoken in sing-song), you’re right, and I’m wrong.” This time travel book asks if one man might stop the assassination of JFK. How, and at what cost? The plot was compelling, smart, and well-built as I’d expect from King, but I actually responded more to the emotional storyline of the characters, and their depth and complexity. A clear case of the book being superior to the show. (Note: this one’s a doorstop at 849 pages!! Feel free to award yourself credit for reading 3 books as I did!)

 

*Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny [novel]. Cross Anne Tyler with Laurie Colwin and set this smart rom-com in small-town Michigan, and you get this charming, funny, joyful book that’s elegantly written without being show-offy. As I said when I recommended this novel at least 1000x, do NOT pay attention to the jacket copy, which is dopey. Just read this book if you want to feel happy! *One of my most-recommended books this year.

 

A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed by Jason Brown [short story collection]: These multi-generational stories are linked, though not so much so that one really needs the (admittedly scary-long) family tree in the front of the book; I suggest no more than a quick glance. Here’s a “good” but bedraggled, OLD—like, Puritan-old—family in Maine, trying to crawl out from under that historical burden of being “special” in that “shining city on a hill” Puritan founding fathers way. If you like reading work set in Maine, the author captures that rugged beauty and seems to know and understand the landscape and the culture. Sparse, elegant, cutting: every moment of triumph comes at great cost.

 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw [short story collection]: Often there’s a reason that “everyone” is reading a book all year, and the reason everyone has been reading this book about Black women is that it’s INCREDIBLE. These stories aren’t linked per se, but they’re in important conversation with each other, adding layers to the collection as a whole. It’s a smart and deeply-rooted world; a super-voice-y book; and the author creates ordinary-yet-extraordinary characters living novel-deep lives in 20-30 pages.   

 

**Hell of a Book by Jason Mott [nove]: Is it “in conversation with” or a straight line from Ellison’s Invisible Man through Toni Morrison’s Beloved to the here and now, with maybe a nod to Huck Finn, if Jim had been allowed to take charge of his own story? There’s definitely plenty of humor here in this sharp and stylish story about a best-selling Black author traveling on book tour, reckoning with the life he’s lived and the life Blacks, especially Black men, live in America—but mostly there are worlds of pain and an insatiable ache. **I haven’t recommended this book much—only because I just finished it. (In fact, I held up writing this list, certain after 5 pages that this book would end up on it.)

 

~~~

 

A HALF-BOOK I’M ADDING TO THIS LIST BECAUSE I’M IN CHARGE AND I CAN

 

The first 3 stories of The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones [short stories]: Blistering stories about Vietnam; the kind of writing that makes you want to grab someone and say, “Read this right now.” I enjoyed many of the other stories, especially the voice, though too many felt dated to my contemporary eye and out of synch with modern times.

 

~~~

 

BOOKS I LOVED BY WRITER FRIENDS/FRIENDS-ISH

 

Woman Drinking Absinthe by Katherine E. Young [poetry]: These poems about an affair are dark and disturbing, mesmerizing and memorable, in exactly the right ways.

 

This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Fiction from DC, Maryland, and Virginia edited by Caroline Bock and Jona Colson [anthology]: Okay, I admit that there’s an excerpt from ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE in here, but setting that aside, this book captures the mood of the moment, in all its nuances.

 

The Escape Artist by Helen Fremont [memoir]: An honest and searing account of being disowned by one’s family following the publication of another memoir. So much emotional work for the writer to dive so deeply and cleanly into a tangled family and these secrets; I’m in awe.

 

Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey by Karen Salyer McElmurray [memoir]: Lyrical and lingering, infused with loss and longing. This book about giving up a child for adoption burrows into your soul.

 

I Grape, Or the Case for Fiction by Brock Clark [craft book]: I’m a fan of books about the craft of writing, and these essays made me ponder and (re)consider my own work. Also, these essays made me laugh out loud.

 

Made to Explode by Sandra Beasley [poetry]: Lots of places and people familiar to citizens of DC and Virginia, and a poet asking lots of uncomfortable (but necessary) questions of herself and making uncomfortable (but necessary) observations about race and white privilege in these superb poems.

 

All These Hungers by Rick Mulkey [poetry]: Elegantly structured and thoughtfully organized, this collection of smart and dynamic poems speaks to hunger—for food, of the flesh—and every inexpressible hunger we all feel.

 

The Hive by Melissa Scholes Young [novel]: Four sisters in blue collar Missouri have financial worries and emotional woes as the family pest control business is threatened and their mother is retreating into survivalist prepping. An empathetic exploration of life outside the coastal siloes.

 

What Happened Was by Anna Leahy [poetry chapbook]: A stellar example of the small but mighty form of the chapbook; poems about chilling and complicated interactions women have with men, inspired by the #metoo movement.

 

Children of Dust by Marlin Barton [novel]: Set in the late 1800s in Alabama, a white mother may have murdered two of her own babies fathered by her hateful husband. Or perhaps her husband’s mixed-race mistress did the deed? Or…? Not a whodunnit, but a deep and affecting exploration of the interwoven complications of race and gender during Reconstruction, of how an uncomfortably shared past informs the present—still.

 

~~~

 

BLURBED BOOKS

 

This may be cheating?? I wrote blurbs for 2 books that will be published in 2022, and I hope you’ll keep an eye out for them:

 

The Other Ones by Dave Housley [novel; January 2022]: What happens when some of the people in the office are in the winning lottery pool but others aren’t? I’m a fan of books set in the workplace, and I love ensembles of characters. This crisp, funny book contains lots of heart.

 

You Have Reached Your Destination by Louise Marburg [short stories; fall 2022]: New Yorky stories with pitch-perfect dialogue that reminded me of Grace Paley and a forlorn ache that’s in conversation with an Edward Hopper painting.

 

TBR: Admit This to No One by Leslie Pietrzyk

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.

 

Editor’s note: Why, yes, I’m interviewing myself for my own blog interview series! Seems about right when I’m the all-powerful editor here and the author of a book of short stories that examines power….

 

 

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

 

ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE is a collection of linked-ish short stories set in official DC. Recurring characters include (an imagined) Speaker of the House, his two daughters from various marriages, and Mary-Grace, his personal fixer. Family estrangement, race, gender, abortion…nothing is off the table as these characters grapple with the ways the pursuit of power ripples and informs personal, work, and societal relationships. Can anyone emerge unscathed?

 

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

 

I love all my characters, especially because they’re each uniquely complicated and uniquely flawed and maybe a tiny bit annoying from time to time, just like the people I know in real life, just like I am in real life. Maybe my favorite to work with was Mary-Grace, the all-powerful, all-knowing fixer in the Speaker’s life (also known as the She-Beast). It was fun to contemplate someone who is so skilled yet content to remain in the shadows. She showed me the value of hiding one’s power and reminded me that yielding is sometimes the more powerful move.

 

The Speaker was tough to write. I didn’t want him to be a cardboard villain, and I didn’t want him to be what readers think of when they think “politician.” Nor did I want him to be some sort of idealistic hero. All that, and then I couldn’t find my way into first person POV with him, which meant I had to push myself to use third person, the POV that I find the most challenging to write.

 

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

 

I don’t exactly have highs and lows with this book, but I do have a journey. First, some of these stories come from a failed political novel that I started working on in early 2015. I could never quite get to a plot, but I wasn’t overly worried because I loved the characters and the milieu. Then—you guessed it—Trump was elected, and in the spring of 2016, I realized that I didn’t want to be immersed in fictional politics (and I wondered whether readers would want to be either). What a relief when I decided to shelve this book, though I salvaged parts for short stories, one of which won a Pushcart Prize, giving me a boost of confidence.

 

Fast forward to late 2019.

 

I thought I had a book of random short stories—some published, some not; some from the failed political novel, some not—that I could enter in contests. Contractually, I was required to show the next book to my SILVER GIRL editor at Unnamed Press…who saw that the stories were linked more closely than I’d envisioned. I was intrigued. We were at the precipice of hammering out a contract and talking more about a vision when—you guessed it—the pandemic struck. As you’ll recall, that wasn’t really the time to be putting together book deals! Needing to surround myself with comfort, I decided to pull together some half-written pieces about some of these characters and themes and finish them, writing toward an evolving vision of how this book could coalesce into something more than a book of “random short stories.” In the fall of 2020, I reconvened with my editor, who was ready to talk about a future and ready to read what I’d done over the past months. She was excited about the direction the book was taking, and in the fall and winter of 2020-1, I wrote more stories, filling in the gaps…my book emerging as the vaccines were inching closer to general availability. Feels weird to say this, but the isolation and slowed-down life of the pandemic definitely helped me find the focus for this book, and working on this book definitely helped me cope with the pandemic.

 

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

You’ll see it below when I play interviewER, so instead I’ll offer one of the most concrete, useful bits of writing advice I’ve picked up along the way, about writing dialogue: when revising, always try taking off the first few words of each line of dialogue you’ve drafted. The result usually is tighter and truer to life.

 

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

 

The last story, “Every Man in History,” surprised me with its hopeful note. I had in mind a whole involved plot with a bunch of difficult twists and turns and hidden (likely pompous) commentary about various social ills, but in the end, Madison, one of the Speaker’s daughters, demanded a better outcome for herself and, really, for the reader and the collection. I’ve never in my life been a writer to say that characters “take over,” but in this case I remember thinking as I typed out the draft of a scene, “Wait, what? This is the ending? Could this really be the ending? OMG…this IS the ending.” I do feel that Madison found this surprising yet inevitable perfect ending for me (though she was nowhere to be found when I spent an entire afternoon wrestling with the last paragraphs, eventually adding two words that finally clicked everything into place).

 

How do you approach revision?

 

I love revision, which is good, since this book required a lot of it—yes, even though many of these stories had been published already. I had to revise stories that I considered finished, needing them to capture the tone of the overall book and link in with the vibe of people working in “official DC”; it was hard re-entering a world I thought was complete. I also had to revise because various technologies and/or events and/or references were outdated or because some new and horrible thing happened that I wanted to acknowledge or because wily teenagers and their interests shift by the minute, affecting the POV and voice of a story. The structure of “Kill the Fatted Calf” almost killed me, trying to organize a non-linear, impressionistic story that contained the core of Lexie’s relationship with her father. Most of all, and most importantly, I did a lot of revising and hard thinking and listening because I wanted to get right the stories that involve race.

 

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

 

This is my absolute favorite question on this list that I myself created, so it’s going to haunt me that though there’s plenty o’ food in this book—tuna tartare, overcooked fish, crab cakes, arena popcorn, an orange, a secret to frying chicken (that I’ve not yet tested), bagels, doughnuts, beef jerky, Talenti, shrimp, lobster at The Palm, Triscuits, martinis—there are no truly notable meals. In my real life world, good food is the highest currency, but these characters have a different agenda. Everyone here is on the run with no time to focus on cooking, which I hadn’t noticed until now. I suppose that’s how it’s going to be in a book that’s exploring power dynamics. In contrast, here’s a very humble recipe that I must admit comes from a surprising source:

 

https://www.lesliepietrzyk.com/books/admit-this-to-no-one/

(scroll to the bottom to learn how to make “Boys Town Chicken”)

 

*****

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.lesliepietrzyk.com

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS PUBLISHER: https://www.lesliepietrzyk.com/books/admit-this-to-no-one/

 

BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: I’m not going to get worked up if you prefer the ease of ordering via Amazon, but if you’d like to support independent bookstores, try your favorite or Bookshop— https://bookshop.org/books/admit-this-to-no-one-collected-stories/9781951213411 -- or if you’d like to support small presses, order from Unnamed Press here— https://www.unnamedpress.com/books/book?title=Admit+This+to+No+One

 

READ A STORY, “Hat Trick”: https://www.storymagazine.org/hat-trick/

 

 

 

 

 

TBR: Thoughts and Prayers by Lee Anne Post

 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?

 

When Lily Jeong—smothered by her parents and ignored by classmates—unwittingly aids her secret boyfriend in a school shooting, she struggles to hide her complicity from investigators. Forced to face the devastated survivors, she hides in plain sight as their grief turns to vengeance.

 

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

 

Who wouldn’t enjoy Caitlyn Moran, the girl with a pink stripe in her hair whose dreams of becoming a fashion designer are cut short by the shooting? Her irrepressible spirit won’t be denied.

 

Joe Hernandez, the first police officer to enter the school his daughter also attends, gave us a little trouble trying to find the balance between his backstory and his current choices. A widower, Joe’s motivation springs not only from his love for his daughter but also from his continuing sense of insult from childhood traumas.

 

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

 

Four co-authors (writing under the pen name Lee Anne Post) started this project on a lark in January 2018. A month later, the Parkland school shooting occurred, and we became highly motivated to complete the novel and see it published. The story is told from multiple points of view, with each of us drafting two characters. The most challenging part of co-authoring was agreeing on edits without killing each other!

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist.” --Isaac Asimov

 

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

 

The gun show loophole. It astonished us and our publisher that it is legal for unlicensed individuals to sell guns to unlicensed buyers without any limitations or record keeping in 33 states in the US.

 

On the writing side, although we didn't set out to upend any genre conventions, magical realism crept into the story.

 

 

What’s something about your book that you want readers to know?

 

Because we wanted to focus on the survivors, both students and adults, the shooter gets the least attention, only two short scenes toward the end of the book. The setting of the story is a typical American suburb, but we did not specify the city/state where the action takes place, because mass shootings can and do occur anywhere.

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK: www.thenovelthoughtsandprayers.com

https://www.sunburypress.com/collections/all-books/products/thoughts-prayers

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK:

https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Prayers-Lee-Anne-Post/dp/1620064979/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1626726138&sr=1-1

 

 

READ AN EXCERPT, Chapter 1:

www.thenovelthoughtsandprayers.com/book

 

 

TBR: Until We Fall by Nicole Zelniker

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?

 

Isla Logan's history teacher Morgan Young is arrested for conspiring to take down the dictator that rules over the United States. The arrest sets off a chain of events that will lead to Isla, her fellow refugees from the U.S., and their allies partaking in the fight of – and for – their lives.

 

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

 

This is such a hard question. Different characters were fun to write at different points, and for different reasons. Zoe’s voice was awesome to develop, while I really enjoyed writing Isla’s story arc. As for the character that gave me the most trouble, that was probably Adam, for reasons you’ll have to read the book to find out!

 

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

 

The high was working with Jaded Ibis Press. They were so thorough in the editing process (I’m not ashamed to say the initial manuscript needed a lot of editing, as first drafts almost always do) and I love working with a press that has the same values as I do. The lowest low for this book was the same as the last few books I’ve worked on – imposter syndrome. I have a hard time seeing my own writing as worthy of publication, even if I think it’s a story worth telling. I think a lot of writers, especially young writers, feel this way.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

“Write what you know.” A lot of people I’ve spoken to dislike this advice because they interpret it as only being able to write characters exactly like them in situations they’ve experienced in real life. But I interpret it as, write stories based on what you care about. In this case, I’ve never been in a situation like the characters in Until We Fall experience, but I find American political history fascinating and pulled from my knowledge of that.

 

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

 

My characters sometimes get away from me, so it’s always surprising how the story changes as I write. I’ll be writing a character one way, and then it’s almost like they’ll tell me they need to be written another way, if that makes sense. They’re never stagnant in my head.

 

What’s something about your book that you want readers to know?

 

It’s important to me that these characters be diverse, that they come from marginalized communities, and that they’re stronger for it. So often I see cis white people from privileged backgrounds star as the protagonists of a dystopia, like in Divergent or The Fifth Wave. If a totalitarian government were to take over, the first people targeted wouldn’t be the Tris Priors of the world, even if she was divergent.

 

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

 

N/A. Sorry, foodies!

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://nicolezelniker.com/

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/until-we-fall-nicole-zelniker/1139740533?ean=9781938841996

 

WATCH A TIKTOK VIDEO ABOUT THIS BOOK:  https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdTJA8X3/

 

 

TBR: They Always Wave Goodbye by Katie Sherman

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?

 

They Always Wave Goodbye is about women: the choices they make, the children they shape, and the lies they tell in order to survive. These award-winning stories are set in the heart of Appalachia.

 

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

 

None of them were easy to write. But I would say “The Easiest Thing” was the quickest story I wrote within the collection. It’s about a mother who has a momentary compulsion to leave her family. I think you would be hard pressed — especially given the recent pandemic — to find a mother who hasn’t had one of those days where they thought, I could chuck it all and move to Mexico. “The Easiest Thing” perfectly encapsulated that rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the idea of looking at a myriad of small frustrations rather than one explosion of anger. So, to me it was the story and the character I most identified with.

 

“Love, Mom” was incredibly difficult to edit. This story is told in letter form with advice for future generations. There are so many things within the story directly from my life. The scene where the daughter has seizures was especially difficult as it’s something my daughter, Addie, struggled with. As I was putting together the collection, it was suggested that I dig a little deeper on this story and it didn’t feel as if that was possible. Thankfully, it was. I am truly proud of the end result. So proud, in fact, it was the story I read for my graduate thesis. (Editor’s note: link below.)

 

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

 

I like to say this book was always a bridesmaid and never the bride. It got flagged for a number of contests and named as a finalist in open reads but wasn’t ever picked up. I sent it to agents who would write back saying they loved the voice but couldn’t sell a story collection. After about two years, I was going to hang up my hat and call it. Then, I saw six different calls for presses looking for quality collections. I thought, why not? I submitted to all of them and was thrilled to hear from Finishing Line Press.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

I love Anne Lamont’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts.”  I sometimes need a reminder that no one writes a masterpiece on the first go round. My fear of creating something awful can often be paralyzing and keep me from writing at all. I read that essay once a month as a reminder that writers write, even when it’s bad.

 

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

How personal I allowed it to get. Many of the characters had a fragment of myself within them.

 

What’s something about your book that you want readers to know?

 

Parenthood is complicated and this project started as a way to vocalize taboos, the things women never felt comfortable saying aloud. You’ll find stories about work/life balance and societal expectations. Hopefully, I have created characters women relate to and understand.

 

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

 

In one story, a father and daughter are trying to recreate their matriarch’s fried cauliflower. Luckily, that is a recipe my family would never lose.

 

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower

(12) Large Eggs

2 ½ cups Parmesan Cheese

½ cup Cracker Meal

1 ½ Tbsp. Parsley

Vegetable Oil

 

Cut the leaves and stalk off the cauliflower. Separate the florets into medium sized pieces. Bring a large pot of water to rapid boil. Add the salt and florets. Cook for 5 minutes. The cauliflower should be fork tender but still firm. Beat eggs well. Then beat in cheese, cracker meal, and parsley. Dip each floret into the batter. Heat vegetable oil (about a quart) or deep enough to cover half of the florets. Drop florets into the oil. Fry at 365 degrees until golden brown.

 

*****

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS AUTHOR:  www.katiepsherman.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/they-always-wave-goodbye-by-katie-sherman/

 

 

READ A STORY, “Love, Mom,”:  https://literarymama.com/articles/departments/2018/11/love-mom?fbclid=IwAR35BNZByVI19xtr8JHeXYzAn4GeUQmirDXMDCgBQA_SQ7chIA07FCkaKPE

 

 

TBR: Children of Dust by Marlin Barton

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 1880s Alabama, Melinda Anderson gives birth to her tenth child who does not live a full day and dies under somewhat questionable circumstances. Melinda thinks her husband’s mixed-race mistress, Elizabeth, killed the child, and Rafe, the husband, thinks Melinda killed him. A century later, in short chapters interspersed throughout the novel, descendants, one white, one Black, who are also cousins, attempt to understand not only what happened but how to relate to one another.

 

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

 

The husband and wife in the novel are based loosely on my great-great grandparents. I know a good deal about my great-great grandfather but very little about my great-great grandmother. So I most enjoyed creating Melinda because as I wrote the chapters that are in her point of view, I felt as if I were getting to know my ancestor in a way I’d never been able to. It may sound odd, but I feel I know her now and know how she struggled and survived what had to have been a difficult life. She is so much more real to me, despite the fact that I was creating a fictional character.

 

The most difficult character to write was Rafe because he is such a hard man, and though I would not call him evil, he has a capacity for evil that manifests itself in some quite horrible ways. What made the writing so difficult was that he is also a point of view character. So I had to enter into his mind and develop him as a fully three-dimensional character and convey his rationale behind what are really some evil acts. Writing from his point of view was often unpleasant, but I did it for two reasons. First, I want the reader to feel in a complete and visceral way what Melinda is up against. And second, I think examining evil from the inside looking out instead of always from the outside looking in is a valid undertaking that can make for a more complex character. I do want to make clear here that Rafe is no psychopath. I’m not interested in writing about a psychopath because they are one-dimensional, by definition, it seems to me, incapable of empathy and what we think of as normal human emotions.

 

 

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

 

Ah, where to begin? I decided at the outset that I would query up to fifty literary agents, which I ended up doing without getting an offer of representation. Some of them, after reading my query and maybe a first chapter, let me know they weren’t interested. Others asked to read more of the novel or maybe all of it, and some of them responded and some didn’t. I also, through somewhat unusual circumstances, managed to have two editors at major publishing houses read the novel early on. One seemed to genuinely like the book but said he didn’t feel he had enough clout at his press to push the book through because of its difficult subject matter, which I took to mean race. The other editor wrote a detailed critique, and though I didn’t agree with much of what she wrote, there were points I took to heart when I wrote another draft. So she did help make it a stronger book. After I felt I’d exhausted possibilities in New York, I began querying and submitting to smaller, independent publishers. After about eight rejections, Regal House Publishing in Raleigh, NC accepted the novel in January of 2020. (I thought, Wow, 2020 is going to be a great year! Boy was I wrong about that.)

I’d found Regal House when I carefully scouted out the book fair at the AWP conference in Portland. And here’s something I didn’t notice about them even after looking at their website—my wife Rhonda had to point it out to me: the press is owned and staffed completely by women, which I thought was pretty cool.   

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

I sometimes have students tell me they’re stuck in the middle of a story and don’t know how to move the story forward. My advice, which I’ve used myself and found it works, is to think about the situation the character is in and to think about what the character wants, which is always a central question. I tell the student to then think about what a person (not their character so much but a real person) might do in that situation. In other words, what actions might a person perform in order to obtain what he or she wants. I tell the student to list all the possibilities and after looking at the list, choose the one that feels most unexpected but still right for the character. I did this with Melinda in my novel. After she loses her child, I wasn’t sure what she might do. One of the choices on my list for her was going to see a conjure woman. And that’s the one I picked. Without the list, I wouldn’t have made that unusual choice.

 

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

 

When I first began writing the novel, I thought I knew exactly how the child died and exactly who was guilty of the death, which I would reveal late in the novel. What surprised me most is that I slowly found I didn’t know exactly how the child died or if anyone was guilty of its death. What became much more interesting to me was who the other characters thought was guilty and what that revealed about them. Even the mother of Rafe’s mistress, whose name is Annie Mae (and who is the midwife who delivered the child), believes strongly that her daughter Elizabeth is guilty, which made for an interesting and conflict-filled dynamic between the two characters.

 

How did you find the title of your book?

 

I’d had the idea for the novel for some time and had been doing research on the period, but I hadn’t begun writing yet and hadn’t even thought about a title. Then one Sunday in church we were all singing (well, I was at least mouthing the words because I can’t quite bring myself to sing) the hymn “O Worship the King,” and I read the phrase “children of dust” in the lyric and knew immediately that was my title. Melinda, I’d already decided, had lost four earlier children in either infancy or at very young ages, which of course was common then. So the phrase from the hymn seemed right. I actually wrote an opening line for the novel right then and there on the church program, though it later went by the wayside.     

 

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

 

I’m not really a foodie, so I can’t say food plays any kind of central role in the book, but I do describe a few meals that Annie Mae prepares (in addition to being a midwife, she is also the cook and live-in maid for Melinda and Rafe’s family). One staple of their meals is cracklin’ bread, which is cornbread cooked with cracklings inside the cornmeal. Cracklings, for those who might not know, are fried pork rinds rubbed with salt, and they crackle when you bite into them. (And no, you won’t find cracklings at the health food store.) By the way, I have sometimes had “cornbread,” usually outside of the South, that has the texture and sweetness of poundcake. Cornbread should never look or taste like a piece of cake. My grandmother sure knew how to cook it. What I’d give to have some of her cracklin’ bread right now.

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://marlinbarton.com/

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: https://www.regalhousepublishing.com/product/children-of-dust/

 

TBR: How to Survive a Human Attack: A Guide for Werewolves, Mummies, Cyborgs, Ghosts, Nuclear Mutants, and Other Movie Monsters by K.E. Flann

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?

 

Did you know human attacks account for a staggering 100 percent of premature deaths for witches, swamp monsters, cyborgs, and other supernatural, mutant, and exceptionally large beings? How to Survive a Human Attack provides critical information at a critical time with chapters specifically tailored to their target audience.

 

 

 

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

 

The chapter that proved the most challenging was the survival guide for mummies, which, like mummies themselves, transformed many times, through epochs and incarnations. It began as a short story published in Monkeybicycle. Then it became a graphic novel script for a while when I thought that maybe a graphic novel was what this book wanted to be. Then, it became a prose survival guide that, frankly, didn’t quite work. It finally came to fruition when I thought, What is a mummy’s fundamental problem? And I thought, at its heart, it is one of security. Humans break into the tomb over and over again, all through time. What would put an end to this? The chapter finally came together when it became an instruction manual for the Third Eye Tomb Security System, which is like a Ring Doorbell powered by the Astral Portal.

 

 

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

 

This project began when my husband was watching "The Walking Dead" in the other room, and there was so much screaming. Those zombies were getting slaughtered! Someone should really help them, I thought. I wrote a short advice piece for zombies, and it got published quickly. Pretty soon, I started to suspect there were a lot of monsters that needed help. I wrote a few more and had those published. Then, it seemed natural to think about a book, and I drafted a proposal. The agent I had at the time wasn’t interested, and I sought out someone to represent it. The agent I found really loved it and worked hard place it. We took a break for a while and worked on other things, and then circled back to it a few years later. In that time, the world had changed. For better or worse, audiences now are perhaps ready to view humans through an “antagonist” lens. They say timing is everything.

 

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

Keep going.

 

As simple as it sounds, I can manage my fears and questions about projects by devoting time and attention to the work. I need to repeat the advice to myself because it so often doesn’t seem true that doing the work is getting me anywhere.

 

 

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

 

I had never written a book that had been accepted on a proposal. I imagined the “bird in hand” commitment from a publisher would be reassuring, but it was scary. I didn’t want to let them down. What surprised me was that I took risks creatively, in spite of the anxieties, letting the project get just as weird as each monster in terms of voice and structure. Maybe terror was the right motivation for this particular project.

 

What’s something about your book that you want readers to know?

 

What readers won’t know until they crack it open, is that the book’s interior features many illustrations by the incredible Joseph McDermott. There’s a retro style to his depictions, as exemplified by the cover art. I had a clear visual interpretation of this book, and it was almost as if he could see into my head. He’s got supernatural powers. I can’t wait for people to see “Swamp Monster Makeovers.”

 

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

 

There’s a recipe in the chapter entitled “The 6(66) Habits of Highly Successful Witches.” An incantation does accompany the recipe. However, replicating it here would amount to pulling the pin on a grenade, so I probably shouldn’t share it. It’s only for witches.

 

 

Combine:

Lavender

Honey

Water buffalo tooth

Eyelashes

Ground turtle shell

Graveyard dirt

 

Directions:

Boil this potion, removing scum from the surface. Rub on your face.

 

Dosage: Dollop the size of a big toe

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: http://www.kathyflann.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: https://www.runningpress.com/titles/k-e-flann/how-to-survive-a-human-attack/9780762472543/#

READ AN EXCERPT, "Appendix 1: A Compendium of Human Repellents":  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_zp_1rU0tS0cjMnvbtHTjmjKBqoDHh-s/preview

TBR: Jane of Battery Park by Jaye Viner

TBR [to be read] is an invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released, 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 Los Angeles nurse with a dark past tries to start life over with the man of her dreams only to discover he’s as much a part of her past as her present.

 

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

 

The character I most enjoyed creating was the blockbuster movie star Steve. I read several Hollywood bios and autobios (Rob Lowe, Tab Hunter), I watched Entourage, and then I built on those sources with my own imagination. I think readers will hate Steve, but he’s just as complex as the main characters. He wants to be loved in a genuine way, but being a beautiful person has conditioned him to certain behaviors and he feels pressure to perform.

 

Rhea, Steve’s mother, was the most challenging character I wrote for the book. She’s a secondary character, but she’s also really important to the texture of the story. Many early drafts her voice felt off, and then she felt stereotypical. I really struggled with giving her life without having it take over the book.

 

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

 

I started writing this book in 2012 and thought it was finished in 2014. I went through three rounds of sending queries to agents, then workshopping in an MFA, then more agents, and no one picked it up. I knew Kate Gale, the editor at Red Hen, and, when agents felt the big publishers couldn’t sell it, she picked it up.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

The difference between thinking you’re a writer and being a writer, is making space for writing. If you don’t make space for it, no amount of wanting is going to help you.

 

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

 

How much my idea of what the story was supposed to be changed over the drafts. I started out thinking I was writing to help coastal people understand the appeal of home-grown conservative religion in the Midwest. But the book ended up being much more about the process of deconstructing fundamentalist belief and how a person figures out who they are when they want to come from a different place.

 

How did you find the title of your book?

 

The title refers to the main character, Jane’s, desire to remake herself as a woman from place different than where she comes from. A foundational scene takes place in Battery Park in New York City. It changes the direction of her life. She thinks of herself as Jane from Battery Park because of that moment, claiming the park and the events there as her foundational homeplace.

 

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

 

Sadly no recipes, but there’s a lot of sushi in the book. One of the things Jane wants to learn is how to eat sushi correctly. Much of what happens in this article is in the book. https://www.insider.com/sushi-mistakes-americans-get-wrong-2018-6#while-were-at-it-please-also-stop-mixing-wasabi-into-your-soy-sauce-2

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.JayeViner.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK:  https://bookshop.org/a/177/9781597091176 

  

READ AN EXCERPT, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6skntgleEQ_AH-75B_pwakG3IppJTj9dIH0G53tPj0/edit