And Word Nerd Calls Herself a Reader

The list of the NYT 100 Most Notable Books of 2006 is out.

Here's the shocker: Word Nerd hasn't read a one of them.

Mark Danielewski's Only Revolutions is on the list, and she read about 50 pages of that, before getting wildly lost. And once, at the library, she looked at Allegra Goodman's Intuition on the shelf.

She did read, The Stolen Child which got lots of good critical acclaim and is not on the list. Same with A Brief History of the Dead.

2006 for Word Nerd though might be the year of the backlist as she worked through early Robert Parker books, ditto with Donald Westlake, started in on Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles and finished reading all of Janet Evanovich's 12 Stephanie Plum novels, plus catching up on some other already-on-the-shelf novels from Susan McBride, Nancy Martin, and others.

Adding insult to injury, the list of the 10 Best Books in 2006 (culled from the whole 100 notable list) includes 10 titles that Word Nerd hasn't even heard of. Just for comparison's sake, Word Nerd looked at the 10 Best Book picks by the NYT for 2005, 2004 and 2003. Word Nerd never heard of any of them either.

But still, Word Nerd feels like she doesn't deserve the "reader" moniker since she missed all these books the NYT has decided are important.

On the other hand, maybe this is why awards like the Quills are a good thing since those are a better reflection of what real people read. The Quills include books like Mitch Albom titles and Christopher Moore titles.

Word Nerd will do her own list later this month of the 10 best books she read this year. Who needs the NYT? (Word Nerd ducks as the gods of journalism are sure to hurl lightning bolts in her direction for that flip remark.)

November Bibliometer

Another month, another set of stats.

November's bibliometer reading is as follows:
8 books
2,764 pages
92.13 pages/day.

That bring the 2006 YTD totals to:
86 books
28,274 pages
77.5 pages/day

Word Nerd is easily setting a new record this year for most books read in a year, since she started tracking these stats back in college. She doesn't think the count's been inflated that much by short easy books (ie, reading shorter kids or YA books) either, save for some Neil Gaiman Sandman comic volumes.

The November books were:
Home to Harmony, Philip Gulley
Which Brings Me to You, Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott
Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny
Twelve Sharp, Janet Evanovich
God of the Fairy Tale, Jim Ware
Invader, C.J. Cherryh
Mysteries of the Middle Ages, Thomas Cahill
The Guns of Avalon, Roger Zelazny

One Year Anniversary

So Word Nerd blew right past her one year blogging anniversary. She thought it was in December.

Nope. It was Nov. 21.

In the year-plus-an-extra-week-and-a-half she's been doing this, she's had more than 7,300 hits on the site. How many of those are spammers from Kuala Lumpur is unclear, but a big thanks to those of you who've become regular readers.

Also, since it's a December 1, a big congratulations to those of you who completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge and got your 50,000 words written in the last 30 days. If you all can work to move elections to some other time than the first Tuesday of November, Word Nerd would join you in this pursuit.

Hope you NaNo'ers and others stick around for year two of Word Nerd.

Book Banter -- The Guns of Avalon

Title: The Guns of Avalon
Author: Roger Zelazny
Length: 180 pages
Genre: fantasy
Plot Basics: Corwin of Amber continues his quest to take the throne of Amber. Currently, his brother Eric rules. Unbeknownst to Corwin, in the time from the end of the last book (Word Nerd doesn't want to give away too much) a new threat is rising up against Amber that has nothing to do with the on-going familial infighting for the crown. Corwin again makes an attempt for the seat of Amber and in doing so, leads the evil right to the magical kingdom.
Banter Points: Zelazny has more sharp, tight, fantastical prose. The fantasy elements are unique and intriguing. Zelazny creates a great fantasy world sans map and sans other language.
Bummer Points: Again, though the book ends, the story doesn't.
Word Nerd recommendation: Like with the first book (Nine Princes in Amber) if you are a fan of the fantasy genre and have never read these books, push them to the top of your required reading list.

Author Answers with J.T. Ellison

File this author away in your memory -- J.T. Ellison's first book will hit shelves in Nov. 2007. Ellison is one of the founding members of The Killer Year, a group of debut mystery and thriller writers who banded together to help each other out.

For more about Ellison, check out her website and the Killer Year site. Also, stay tuned here with the Word Nerd -- many of Ellisons' Killer Year colleagues will be featured in future interviews.

WN: Since "All the Pretty Girls" comes out 12 months from now, what should readers know about this book so that they remember to pick it up next year?

ELLISON: ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS is the story of a reluctant serial killer, one who has the best intentions and motivations for his actions, and introduces Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and FBI profiler John Baldwin. I’ve just begun sending the book out for some preliminary blurbs, and I’ve gotten two doozies. Robert Fate, the author of my favorite book this year, BABY SHARK, says that I "wrap white knuckle moments in impeccable, seductive prose."
That’s the kind of endorsement that rocks a writer’s world. Add to that another from Tasha Alexander, author of AND ONLY TO DECEIVE, who writes, "ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS could well put Ellison and Taylor Jackson on the track to become to Nashville what Laura Lippman and Tess Monaghan are to Baltimore."
I hope this is the case, not simply because Lippman is such a talented author, but for the longevity of the series. The setting of the book, Nashville, Tennessee, is unique, and I hope Taylor Jackson resonates with readers. She is a tough young cop who is walking the edge of darkness, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Couple the characters and setting with a murderer who leads them on a heart pounding chase, and I hope I have created, as Mr. Fate so eloquently put it, "…mystery magic."

WN: What was the process like for you from having the idea for "All the Pretty Girls" to getting it picked up by a publisher?
ELLISON: I had a dream. No, I’m serious. I woke up from this convoluted dream about two characters in the book, identical twin sisters, and realized I should write it down. I wrote the entire plot synopsis at 3 in the morning, then went back to bed. When I woke up, it was still fresh in my mind. I wrote 50,000 words of the story in a month, then put it aside. I had another novel featuring these characters under submission by my agent, Scott Miller of Trident Media Group. Scott and I met on Publisher’s Marketplace, where I’d built a website and declared myself in search of an agent. He was shopping the first book, yet it didn’t sell. He told me to write him a new one, so I used the chunk of ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS that I’d started, gutted most of the story, and finished it. Scott gave some great editorial advice, I made the changes and he submitted it around New York. Mira Books showed excitement about ATPG immediately, and I was thrilled to accept their offer. The whole submission process took about a month.

WN: You're a part of the Killer Year - What is this group and how has it helped you as a writer?
ELLISON: Ah, Killer Year. We are 14 debut suspense novelists who’ve banded together to help promote each other’s work. At the beginning, it was simply that a few of us were coming out in paperback, and since it is sometimes difficult to get reviews for mass market, we wanted to find a way to get the word out on our books. Suddenly, there were 14 of us, all very exciting novelists. When it became apparent that the industry was interested in us, we ramped it up a notch. Through MJ Rose, International Thriller Writers kindly offered to "sponsor" us, setting us up with mentors including such authors as Lee Child, Jeffrey Deaver, Gayle Lynds, Tess Gerritsen, Duane Swierczynski and many more. Having the community behind us is immeasurably exciting.
It’s still shocking to me that no one has done this before, and in 2007 there are three such groups that I now know of – Killer Year, The Debutante Ball, led by Kristy Kiernan and featuring 6 women’s fiction authors, and a young adult group. It is so difficult to get on the radar when you’re a debut author. By working together, we all benefit.
For me personally, the camaraderie and support has been amazing. We’re all experiencing the same growing pains, learning the ropes, and feeling our way. Each of us has an area of expertise, and we work together to create media campaigns, our website and blog, promotional material – all the accoutrements that we would have each been doing individually.
And today, our efforts have come to fruition. We’ve sold an anthology of our short stories to St. Martin’s for publication in winter 2008. Lee Child will edit the anthology, and it will feature 14 original stories for the KY Members, stories by Ken Bruen, Duane Swierczynski, Allison Brennan, and introductions from MJ Rose and Laura Lippman. It’s very exciting news.

WN: When you're not writing, what else do you do?
ELLISON: I’m a big reader. I find my writing improves when I’m reading, so I try to get a few books a week in. During the warm months, I’m often found on the links. I began golfing when I was five and have been addicted ever since, though you’d never know it from my scores. I have a wonderful husband, and we try to sample Nashville – lots of great concerts and clubs here in town, good food and wine. I’m trying to build a wine cellar, and am always on the lookout for a good red wine.
Then there are the writing related activities, like Murderati.com, a blog of 7 mystery writers that I write for on Fridays, the Killer Year blog, and various other marketing and advertising "stuff" that I dabble in. I’ve gotten a little busy these past few months.

WN: If you got stranded on a desert island with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
ELLISON: Hmmm, that one is actually easy. Dr. John Baldwin, my FBI profiler, is quite the handsome man, has a brilliant mind, speaks several languages, is a student of human nature and a psychiatrist to boot, so he could deal with whatever lingering emotional issues would arise if one were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I know I should say my protagonist, Taylor Jackson, because she’s tough and feisty and a very down to earth woman. But she has a major drawback – she’s afraid of spiders. And since overly large arachnids populate most island getaways I’ve ever seen, she’d be useless. So Baldwin it is – he could keep me safe, and satisfied intellectually.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
ELLISON: I’m a big Ayn Rand fan, and a big Plato fan. I think my favorite must be Rand’s slim volume ANTHEM, which is a parable for Plato’s Allegory of the Cave – humanity is shackled in a dark room and only shown interpretations of what reality is. One man (Socrates) breaks out of the Cave and sees reality for the first time: the blue of the sky, a real chair, a real piece of grass, and returns to tell humanity that they are being lied to. Of course, they can’t handle that truth and murder him. ANTHEM takes this timeless story and creates love out of hate, beauty out of ugliness, and freedom out of horrendous captivity.
It’s beautifully written and inspiring.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?
ELLISON: All of them. But there’s a few that stand out – Defenestration, serendipity, onomatopoeia, callipygian, juxtapose, persnickety, balderdash and kerfuffle. I think kerfuffle tops the list because it’s easily used in every day conversation. And love. It just can’t be misinterpreted.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
ELLISON: I have a sign on the door to my office that reads: There are no rules except those you create, page by page.
Stuart Woods said that to me in an email, and it freed me as a writer.
I’d been so constrained by the "proper" usage of words and sentence construction that my writing was stilted. Once I quit following the rules, things improved dramatically. And John Connolly, author of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS, once told me that all good books find a home. That kept me in the game to get published.

Book Banter -- Mysteries of the Middle Ages

Title: Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
Author: Thomas Cahill
Length: 317 pages
Genre: non-fiction
Summary: Cahill, in the fifth volume of his Hinges of History series, takes on the early part of the Middle Ages. Far from being the dark times for culture as widely thought, Cahill shows how the early Middle Ages gave rise to art, science, politics and feminism through some notable personalities including Eleanor of Aquitaine, Thomas Aquinas, Dante Alighieri and St. Francis of Assissi, and how their contributions continue to influence Western thought.
Banter Points: This series that Cahill is doing is a great read because it provides a relevance to all the history. Rather than tracing series of dates, coronations and battles, Cahill traces the history of ideas. He's also a good story-teller, so the prose becomes more like a novel at times and less like a history book. The book is also liberally peppered with pictures of medieval art which helps break up the text.
Bummer Points: This book wasn't quite as good as the first four in the series. It leapt around more and at times seemed to lose focus as he delved into the life stories of some of the players (Eleanor and Dante, in particular.)
Word Nerd recommendation: Cahill is the only non-fiction author, really, who Word Nerd gets excited about when he has a new book hitting shelves. Though this one wasn't as good, she still enjoyed it. Since each volume in the series is only 250-300 pages, they are easily accessible books for someone who may not be a frequent reader of history.

Because November's not over yet

Word Nerd met her November goal for editing/revising part of the novel before the end of the month.

She thought about getting a jump on the December goals to help make sure it's done before the holidays. But, then she decided, rather than doing that, she was going to pull out an older, unfinished story and find out what happens next.

The revising part of working on the novel isn't anywhere near as much fun as writing it. Word Nerd is deciding that going back to a story where she can just plunk words down for a time was a really good move.

The story she's currently in has never had an outline, never an over-arching plot idea in Word Nerd's head, but somehow, things keep happening there. To fully understand, this story began as a class assignment in a fiction writing class Word Nerd was in. It was the last of the stories she had to write that semester and she was stuck for an idea so she took two disparate free writes from her journal, mashed them together and discovered what happened. The story has progressed in largely the same way.

It's fun to go back to characters that Word Nerd first thought up almost 4 years ago. Maybe it's because it's around the holidays, and in a literary way, it feels rather like going home. It's also enjoyable because she doesn't have to be so focused or analytical. She can just write and find out what happens, at least until Dec. 1.

Book Banter -- Invader

Title: Invader
Author: C. J. Cherryh
Length: 422 pages
Genre: sci-fi
Plot Basics: Bren Cameron is barely home long enough for treatment of his injuries before he's recalled to continue his work as the translator for the atevi. The atevi world is in turmoil because of the reappearance of the human spaceship Phoenix and Bren's successor who was sent to fill in for him when he disappeared (see Foreigner for the back story). Bren's life is still in danger from those, but he gambles to keep peace by starting negotiations with the ship.
Banter Points: Like Foreigner, this is high-quality sci-fi. Aliens that behave in an alien way (not like the Star Treks where aliens were pretty much human but with bumps on their heads.) The plot continues to be a good mix of politics and action
Bummer Points: Also like Foreigner, the plot gets bogged down sometimes in the layers of Bren's thinking as he tries to wrestle with the atevi-human translations and the consequences of his actions.
Word Nerd recommendation: Word Nerd's still enjoying revisiting this first trilogy so that she can read the new books about Bren that Cherryh has written. If you're a sci-fi fan, you really should read them, but if you're looking for entry books to the genre, this series isn't it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Word Nerd's putting down the books tomorrow in favor of turkey and all the rest of the traditional Thanksgiving foods.

Hope you all have a great holiday with friends and family.

Author Answer with Kit Frazier

Author Answers this week gets the scoop from Kit Frazier about her new book, "Scoop" and other insights to the writing life. Frazier is also a journalist and lives just outside of Austin, Texas, where "Scoop" is topping the local best-seller lists.

For more info on her, check out her website.

WN: Your novel, “Scoop”, came out this fall. What’s the scoop readers should know about “Scoop”?
FRAZIER: SCOOP is the first book of the series it turns out I was born to write. In the beginning, I wrote a romance--it won all kinds of contests and won me an interview with an agent at William Morris. She said she loved my characters, loved my voice, but could I get rid of the man and the baby? I said, "Well, no, but I could write you another book."

On the way home, sassy, sexy obituary writer Cauley MacKinnon came to me wholly formed and ready to tell me her story. I went home that night and hammered out 60 pages.

WN: You do research and training with the FBI and the Austin Police Department… does what you learn there provide material for books?
FRAZIER: Absolutely. The FBI particularly. I'm actually certified in Search and Rescue and have participated in missions and exercises with the APD and joint efforts with the FBI. Both branches of law enforcement have been crucial to writing the Cauley series, not only in the events and procedural stuff in the book, but also in the way cops walk, talk and think. Plus, it never hurts to hang around a bunch of hot guys and call it working...

WN: What’s the best part of being a writer to you? What’s the most challenging part of writing for you?
FRAZIER: The best part of being a writer is that when you're on, you're really on. You're totally present in that character and the words come gushing like water from a spring and there's no other feeling like it in the world.

The worst thing for me is my natural resistance to writing. On some days, I would rather cover myself in honey and roll around in a fire ant pile than look at that blank page. Even though I love writing, it's hard. Every time I come to the work it's like being at sixth grade summer camp for the first time. Standing on the high dive, cold and nearly naked in front of a screaming crowd. I creep up to the edge of the wobbling board, everyone watching and waiting from the gray, cement safety deck. You know the water below is bone-chilling cold, and part of you resists the jump. But once you've made that leap, it's the most exhilarating experience in the whole world.

WN: How did you feel when you saw your name on the cover of a book?

FRAZIER: It was better than a lifetime supply of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate New York Chunk and almost as good as a hug from my dog.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?

FRAZIER: I adore To Kill a Mockingbird. The honesty and earnestness of that book still breaks my heart. I read it at least once a year, and have read it to all my nieces and nephews, even when they are babies. I keep a copy of it under my pillow hoping some of Harper Lee's genius will seep into my sleeping brain by osmosis.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?

FRAZIER: Faith. I think faith is just hope with wings and direction. I think faith in yourself is more important than even talent, and it fuels persistence.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
FRAZIER: Ah, other than just keep writing, it was "Always write with your clothes on." The author who told me that meant that I should treat this like a business. She is right, but I often compromise and go for a bathrobe...

Word Nerd has the power

Word Nerd and her cohorts in the Oshkosh Area Writers Club have been working on the club's first anthology.

We developed submissions guidelines. Set deadlines (which have been liberally broken by all parties involved, including Word Nerd). We're coming to the end of this process and on Saturday, Word Nerd was given Power.

Let's back up, for a moment.

Word Nerd was not at the meeting when the club decided to put together an anthology. Like all good decisions, Word Nerd was nominated to the committee in charge of this project because she wasn't there to protest said appointment. Turns out, she was appointed to the post of editor.

She's going to get help though. We're having an entire club meeting to edit the stories for the anthology.

This past Saturday, though while discussing the anthology's progress Word Nerd's fellow committee member who is in charge of layout and format, says, "While we're editing, Word Nerd will have final say on any disputes."

She will?

Gulp.

Word Nerd likes good grammar and is pretty good at catching mistakes -- good enough that it earned her the moniker of "Grammaticus" once at another Writers Club meeting -- but good enough to have final say on any disputes? She's not that good.

She's already making some decisions; there will be no use of serial commas, unless, of course, it's an "eats shoots and leaves" thing. Em-dashes should only be used in specific situations. She's making a list of books that the group will need on hand while editing: Strunk and White; Chicago Manual of Style; a dictionary; the AP Style Guide for its punctuation section; Eats Shoots & Leaves because it's helpful and funny; and possibly Lapsing into a Comma because it makes Word Nerd feel good, even if it's not a real practical book for this kind of editing.

If anybody has a Roman helmet Word Nerd can borrow -- or an extra box of red pens -- Word Nerd has a hunch she may need those, too.

(Thanks to poynteronline.org for the copy-edit graphic).

500 words.... gone*

*also known as, the Revisions to Chapter 8.

Word Nerd continues to plug away at the revisions on the novel.
This weekend's project was supposed to be chapters 8 and 9. That was until she realized how much work needed to be done to chapter 8. It wasn't even the whole chapter that needed fixed, just one small scene in the chapter.

Sometimes revising is just tweaking -- a word here, a word there -- and fixing some grammar and sentence structure mistakes. Other times, revising was like this weekend. Cut the whole scene, rewrite.

This scene in particular had bugged Word Nerd from the get-go. It was a flashback, but she didn't use long flashback scenes anywhere else in the novel. This scene felt out of place stylistically. The problem was, how else to convey this information to the reader without the scene being an info-dump. (Info-dump = several paragraphs or more that an author uses to kerplunk information into the story that the reader needs to know).

A few paragraphs from the original version survived. The flashback got reduced to three short dialogue lines -- specific things the protagonist remembers her father telling her. The rest was reworked into her thoughts and dialogue with the other character in the scene.

Word Nerd feels better about the changes. Hopefully, the next time she gets back to these chapter in the second go-'round for revisions, she'll feel the same way.

To Do List

Yesterday, Word Nerd got tagged by Raspberry Latte to continue this post.

So, being a good sport, she's obliging. This isn't really about books, or writing, very much. Apologies.

Five Things Word Nerd wants to do, someday, in no order of importance.

1. Visit the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Egypt stuff is fascinating to Word Nerd -- all the mummies and whatnot. Plus, the Pyramids are the last surviving of the 7 Wonders of the World. She thinks it'd be worth seeing them for real and not just on the cover of National Geographic.

2. Cover a presidential election. Word Nerd has heard this is a grueling thing to do, but she wants to be one of the reporters in the press pool that follows a presidential candidate around for the campaign, files stories from all over the country and doesn't get to sleep much/well for that election cycle.

3. Learn how to fence. Fence, as in fencing, as in the Olympic sport, not the shady sales of stolen goods, just to be clear. Word Nerd likes to write stories involving sword fights and she thinks that knowing how to do that might help make those scenes better. Plus, it always looks nifty in the movies.

4. Speak a foreign language fluently. Word Nerd took many years of French class, but never became fully proficient. Now, she's just got bits of vocabulary tucked away in the back corners of her brain after all those classes. Whether it's that language or another one, Word Nerd would like to reach the point where she could think in that language instead of constantly trying to translate in her head.

5. Be guest star on the Muppet Show. Yes, Word Nerd is well-aware that the Muppet show isn't on TV anymore and that Kermit no longer sounds right, like he did when she was a little kid. Some dreams die hard, folks, and Word Nerd's not giving up on the idea of getting to do the show and have Kermit wave his puppet arms and throw back his head and do his froggy "yay" as part of the introduction of her first number.

Word Nerd is going to try and keep this post idea going by tagging a few more people:
Mandy at Serving of Life
Krista at Conversation with Myself
The Fox Valley Geeks guys
Worderella (cuz Word Nerd just discovered the link to her blog there... THANKS!)
and
Jay, aka, Histrion.

Book Banter -- Twelve Sharp

Title: Twelve Sharp
Author: Janet Evanovich
Length: 310 pages
Genre: mystery/chick lit
Plot Basics: Ranger, Stephanie Plum's uber-cool and suave bounty hunter friend, is suspected of kidnapping. Stephanie is sure he didn't do it and undertakes another series of hapless bounty hunting adventures to prove he's innocent.
Banter Points: As usual, more fun Stephanie-Ranger-Morelli banter. Evanovich still knows how to write a page-turner.
Bummer Points: After twelve books, it's time for something to happen to move these characters along. Stephanie is stuck in this love triangle with Ranger and Morelli and nothing's happening. Moreover, she's stuck going through the same series of bounty-hunting mishaps (again).
Word Nerd recommendation: It's a dozen books now in this series. Word Nerd has a hunch she's going to spend some quality time with some other sleuths (maybe not so hapless... Lord Peter Wimsey? Inspector Maigret? Spenser? Anyone?) before going back to Evanovich.

Author Answers with Lauren Baratz-Logsted

This week's author is Lauren Baratz-Logsted, hereafter referred to as LBL, because her last name is long to type. She also says on her website that however you are trying to pronounce her last name, it's probably wrong. She is the author of Vertigo and How Nancy Drew Saved my Life, among other titles, and also recently was the editor for the This is Chick-Lit anthology.

For more about LBL, you can check out her website.

WN: You have four books scheduled to hit shelves within a few months of each other, how did you juggle that many projects as a writer and meeting deadlines for them all?
LBL: By being an insane person? Seriously, I belong to what I consider to be the Stephen King/Nora Roberts school of writing. This to me means treating my career like any other fulltime job. I guarantee you, if you park your backside in a seat in front of the computer for forty hours a week - or more! - the pages will pile up, the books will get written, the deadlines will be met. In my case, it's helped that the four books are so wildly different from one another: a contemporary comic-gothic, a Victorian suspense story, a serious Young Adult, and an anthology. The differences keep me fresh. I suspect if I had to write four books of the same kind in one year I'd go truly insane and the work would suffer.

WN: Angel's Choice hits shelves in December... what should readers know about this book or why should they read it?
LBL: It's an earnest novel about teen pregnancy featuring a high school senior on the fast track for Yale who getpregnantnt and about all the decisions she makes afterwards. I've been told by my Simon & Schuster editor that she considers it to be an "important book" - words I guarantee you I never dreamed I'd hear in my writing career - and early readers have said it's an appropriate read for adults and teens. I would like readers to know I don't intend the book to be a cautionary tale scaring teens away from sex nor do I intend it as a prescription for behavior - none of my books are that; it's merely an exploration of how everything we do is a choice and it all matters.

WN: You edited the "This is Chick Lit" book in response to the "This is Not Chick Lit" book. Why has this chick lit designation created such a hubbub in the literary world?
LBL: I'm afraid it's like any form of prejudice: people seem to always have the need to hate something. My guess is that the people who heap denigration on Chick-Lit haven't read any of the books or have only read a few, which is about as silly as forming an opinion of all mysteries based on having read a few cozies or discounting all literary fiction because Ulysses bored you bonkers. One of the reasons I put together This Is Chick-Lit was to dispell the Manolos & Cosmos myth, showcasing instead the wide variety of storytelling styles - mystery, futuristic, satire, romantic comedy, even metafiction and magic realism - that fall under the umbrella heading of Chick-Lit.

WN: How did your time as a book reviewer and book seller help you as a writer?
LBL: I've always been a huge reader and those jobs only served to underscore that. Reading with a critical eye - learning what works for you or doesn't in others' writing, what you admire and what you despise - is a great education for a writer.

WN: If you got stranded on a desert island with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
LBL: This may be the best question an interviewer has ever asked me...and a very tricky one for this particular author to answer! You see, many of my lead characters are sociopaths or odd, at best. For example, fun as she'd make things, it wouldn't do to pick Jane Taylor from The Thin Pink Line/Crossing the Line, because if food got lean she'd eat me. So I guess I'll pick Emma from Vertigo. As Chance Wood says in that story, she's not ever boring, plus she's resourceful: I have the feeling she'd find a way to keep us alive.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
LBL: This is harder than the last question! But if I can pick my favorite book it goes to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. I love the giddy sense of romance and it's an example of everything good that language can do in service to story. If I have to pick the book that most makes me want to be a writer, it's F. Scott Fitzgerals's The Great Gatsby.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?
LBL: Jackie - it's my daughter's name and you never said it couldn't be a proper noun.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
LBL: We're entering the season where we're told it's better to give than to receive, so if it's all right, I'd rather give the best advice I can give to would-be authors here: Stay alive, keep putting one writing foot in front of the other and always remember, the only person who can ever take you out of the game is you.

Help for Reading Classics

Word Nerd, as many of you know, doesn't really like reading classics. She looks at as the literary equivalent of eating salad -- not something she really loves, but feels she has to do for her health. She has whined in the past about slogging through Count of Monte Cristo and feeling a bit disappointed by Picture of Dorian Gray.

She's trying to read the next classic in a new way and it might work.

DailyLit.

Word Nerd signed up last week with DailyLit and chose to read Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche. It was one of the classics that was on her list of I-really-should-read-this-someday books. Over the next 153 business days, one chunk of the novel will be delivered to her email. By April, or so, she should be done with it.

The selection is growing at DailyLit, but their early offerings aren't too bad. Want to read more of the Bard's plays? They have those. Want to tackle War and Peace? It'll take two years, but that's an option too. Want something short? You can get through all of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass in 41 installments. Want to read a classic Word Nerd truly liked? Sign up for The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The only problem, as Word Nerd sees it, is the lack of a tangible book. Word Nerd has always held that part of the joy of reading is holding the book. Still, she'll keep at it and see how this format goes for reading the classics.

Book Banter -- Nine Princes in Amber

Title: Nine Princes in Amber
Author: Roger Zelazny
Length: 188 pages
Genre: fantasy/sci-fi
Plot Basics: Corwin of Amber wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of who he is, only that the accident that put him there likely wasn't so accidental. He makes his way to one of his sister's houses and then starts a fantastical journey to find his memory and his way back to the land of Amber where he challenges his brother, Eric, for the throne.
Banter Points: This book reminded Word Nerd of reading Nick Sagan or Steven Brust. It's likely, though Word Nerd has no proof, that both of those newer authors were influenced by Zelazny since he was writing earlier than that. The book is fast-paced, descriptive and fun. Zelazny does what good sci-fi fantasy authors do best -- he creates a world that's just slightly different than ours so it's not hard for a reader to understand. There's something like magic, and lots like politics and a main character with a great POV.
Bummer Points: The first book doesn't really end, and so now Word Nerd must go find book two to find out what happens to Corwin.
Word Nerd recommendation: Obviously, foundational books in the whole fantasy/sci-fi genre that Word Nerd hadn't read until now. These should be required reading for anybody who says they are a fan of sci-fi or fantasy.

Book Banter -- Once Upon Stilettos

Title: Once Upon Stilettos
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: chick lit/fantasy
Length: ~300 pages
Plot Basics: Katie Chandler is getting content in her new job at MSI, Inc. as a non-magical and vital part of the company. She's trying to be happy with lawyer-boyfriend Ethan and not let herself think too longingly about the chief wizard in R&D, Owen Palmer. But things go wrong and Katie starts to lose her magical immunity.
Banter Points: This book was cute, like the first one.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd just didn't like it as well as the first one. Maybe it was the plot hinging on shoes, or maybe she just wasn't as enchanted. Moreover, the ending seemed too easy.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Neutral. Read it. Or not. Word Nerd can't really make a good call on this one.

Book Banter -- Which Brings Me to You

Title: Which Brings Me to You
Author: Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott
Length: 300 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: John and Jane meet and nearly hook-up at a wedding. They decide not to get together and instead, agree to write each other a series of confessions about their failed relationships as a way to figure out if they belong together.
Banter Points: Word Nerd picked this book up because it was epistolary fiction. She's always loved this format for a book, starting first with Dear Mr. Henshaw in third grade (followed by her one first break-out story about traveling to outerspace) and continuing most notably through Griffin and Sabine. The letters have distinct styles between the two writers.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd was kind of bummed that the letters between these two characters were only about their past relationships. Their voices were so distinct and clear, she would have liked to hear more from them about other topics. The letter format also sort of broke down for the beginning and ending of the book.
Word Nerd recommendation: Pretty good, overall. The letter format kept things conversational. Word Nerd may go looking for more books by both authors.

Author Answers is Absent

... if you're looking for Author Answers, well, check back next week.

Word Nerd feels bad about the lack of writing wisdom here today, but covering the local elections took precedence.

But, Word Nerd will take this space to again plead for suggestions of authors.

She's got the start of a list from her great writers club friends, but will always always take other suggestions from readers.

Not Dead

In case you were wondering, Word Nerd isn't dead. Just covering elections.

Also, she's digging out from the dearth of comments that she got back on the first few chapters of her novel that were critiqued by Writers Club on Saturday.

The major rewrites started today. Major ones.

First one -- a minor character is now not dead. In the original, he was dead. Dead from page 2 where he met his untimely demise. Now, not dead. Hurt yes, mortally wounded, in fact. Dead? Nope. His non-death resulted in rolling changes, and Word Nerd doing a "find" command in the file to locate every instance where he or his demise was mentioned and figuring out what needs to change on a variety of pages.

Being not dead, Word Nerd thinks, will be a major step up for this character and an improvement to the plot overall.

Because the revisions are now not going in a very linear manner, Word Nerd is taking down the revision meter. It's realy not a good device for tracking progress. Expect more little reports like this instead.

Book Banter -- Home to Harmony

Title: Home to Harmony
Author: Philip Gulley
Length: 215 pages
Genre: inspirational fiction
Plot Basics: Sam Gardner is a Quaker pastor who moves back to his hometown, Harmony, Ind., to take over the pastorate of the Harmony Friends Meeting. What follows is a series of heart-warming and humorous vignettes about small-town church life, from the near-disaster of the Friendly Women's Circle annual Chicken Noodle Dinner to the ill-conceived ideas of conspiracy theorist and church elder Dale Hinshaw.
Banter Points: Gulley does for small town Indiana what Garrison Keillor has done for Lake Woebegon, Clyde Edgerton for Listre, North Carolina and Jon Hastert for life in Minnesota. Harmony is an endearing little place and Gulley's insights are fantastic salt-of-the-earth prose, offering nuggets of wisdom about how people in churches behave and treat each other while keeping readers turning pages for the next funny anecdote.

Bummer Points: There's not an overarching plot, per se, to this book. This seems a bit odd to Word Nerd since it's the start of a series.
Word Nerd recommendation: If you are looking for a cheerful book, this is it. Word Nerd often steers clear of inspirational fiction because it's either so poorly written or so contrived that it's painful to read. Gulley manages to capture heart without being cheesy. Word Nerd's not going to run straight out and check out book two, but will definitely go back to this series for a light-hearted break from crime novels and the like.

October Bibliometer

Another month gone, another post of reading statistics.

October's total for books read is 8. Word Nerd has been tracking at 8 books a month since August and is starting to see a suspicious pattern here.

The 8 books breaks down into 2,535 pages or about 82 pages/day.

YTD, Word Nerd has read 78 books (which is tracking ahead of her normal books read in a year total). 78 books read equals 25,510 pages.

At present, the TBR (to be read) pile on her floor is nine books deep; six from the library, two on loan from Raspberry Latte and one that Word Nerd actually owns. (Thanks to the Monroe County, Ind., Red Cross chapter for having the book sale while Word Nerd was there and for having a copy of Steven Brust's "Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill").

Author Answers with Deirdre Knight

This week's featured author is actually a double-threat -- Deirdre Knight is a literary agent and a novelist.

She's the founder of the Knight Agency and is the author of two books -- Parallel Attraction and Parallel Heat (with a third forthcoming in April 2007). For more on her agency, click here and for more on the books, click here.

WN: You’ve worked for a long time as a literary agent before becoming a novelist yourself – how did that background help you as a writer?
KNIGHT: The most interesting aspect of agent and writing is that your skills improve simply as a result of the sheer volume of hours you spend reading submissions. It teaches you what works and what doesn’t, gives you a better appreciation for strong pacing and emotional scenes. It’s like the old saying about the tennis player who improved just by practicing tennis in his head. I took a few years off from writing, and when I came back to it in 2000, it was almost miraculous how much stronger my writing had become.

WN: How did you come up with the idea for the Parallel Series?
KNIGHT: I’ve always been a fan of big epic stories, particularly sci-fi ones like STAR WARS. For some time I had been growing a world in my mind, particularly about an alien hero who had two definitive forms, one of which was pure fire. For me, stories come together with bits and pieces from various corners of my mind, then it all finally gels. I know I got part of the idea for the book while watching PETER PAN with my daughters, hence how PARALLEL ATTRACTION begins. I thought of Jared as being Kelsey’s Peter Pan when I began conceiving the series.

WN: It seems like there’s a lot of gloom-and-doom talk about the publishing industry – how hard it is to break in as a writer, how fewer books are purchased now, etc – from your perspective as an agent and a writer, is the picture really so bleak for wannabe writers?

KNIGHT: Well, I can say this: I have two deals in the works right now for first-time authors. I did a four book deal for a first-timer earlier this year based solely on proposal—and, more than that, at least half of our clients are authors we discovered as unpublished writers. I think that publishers are always looking for fresh talent, and so are agents, but it’s a matter of making that manuscript shine and sparkle by going over it and over it. Too many writers submit work that really isn’t ready for an agent or publisher, and then that’s how the market gets blamed. I’m not saying it’s easy out there—it’s definitely tough—but I think new writers still have some strong chances to reach their dreams if they work hard enough.

WN: A lot of authors are turning to blogs, myspace pages, etc., to get the word out about themselves and their books – is it working? Has it helped you as an author?
KNIGHT: Absolutely. I think that the Net is the biggest shining light in the “tough market” we discussed just above. E-publishers, blogs, and so forth all put the writer and the reader in the driver seat without so many middle men. There’s an immediacy that fans enjoy and creates loyalty, but more than that, the readers can also get more of what they want. Amazon Shorts, for instance, are easy and short downloads often from bestselling authors. Before, the reader might have waited a year for a book from an author; now in that same year they can read a daily blog, get a short, visit a myspace page, receive an e-newsletter. There are more goodies for the reader, and there are more ways for the author to reach out to their audience.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?
KNIGHT: Great question, but a tough one. The word that came to mind is “ethereal.” I think because it’s beautiful and intricate sounding; makes me think of a spider web with early morning dew on it. In other words, the word itself has as much elegance and mystery to it as what it might describe.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
KNIGHT: To write every day, day in and day out. I think that’s the key—to persevere and try to be consistent.

Book Banter -- The Picture of Dorian Gray

As promised, Word Nerd read Dorian Gray, since you all voted that it was the next classic she should read. If you've read it too, post your thoughts on the book as well. Word Nerd's interested in some other reactions.

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Length: 210 pages
Genre: literature/classic fiction
Plot Basics: Dorian Gray, a young, up-and-comer in British society has his portrait done by painter Basil Hallward. Basil's friend, Lord Henry Wotton, insists on meeting Dorian. Henry praises Dorian greatly about his youthful good looks and sets Dorian on a self-destructive path. Only outwardly, it's not Dorian who shows the physical effects of his lifestyle, but the version of Dorian in the painting.
Banter Points: Well. Word Nerd thought she knew what happened in this book. She was partly right, but there was a lot more to it that she realized. She's a fan of the movie versions of Wilde's plays (Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband). He was quite the social critic as a writer and clearly well-read himself based on the allusions he makes to other texts.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd was expecting this story to be scarier. Again, Word Nerd thought she knew what was in this book. The philosophy about life and art wasn't really what she was expecting.
Word Nerd Recommendation: For a classic, it's nice and short. It would also probably make a nice foundation for an academic paper of some sort about changing attitudes and philosophies and art and life.

Book Banter -- Foreigner

Title: Foreigner
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Length: 373 pages
Genre: sci-fi
Plot Basics: Generations have passed since the human space ship the Phoenix went terribly off course and colonists first landed on the world of the atevi. There is a fragile peace between humans and the atevi and one man, Bren Cameron, the paidhi, or interpreter for the two races is charged with keeping the balance. But when a rogue assassin's bullet rips through his apartment one night, Bren is whisked off -- presumably for his safety -- in to the atevi countryside. There he wrestles with what the cost is for peace between the two society and tries to unwind an ever-twisting pattern of betrayal.
Banter Points: Word Nerd first read this book when she was in high school, and remembered liking it. Since Cherryh is coming out with new books in this universe, Word Nerd decided to refresh her memory on what happens. It had been long enough since the first reading that Word Nerd felt like she was reading something new and thoroughly enjoyed this again. Cherryh does a great job of capturing the unease that Bren feels as he tries to interpret the atevi.
Bummer Points: Sometimes Cherryh gets a bit long in the descriptions or Bren's internal dialogue and it takes away from what could be faster-paced action.
Word Nerd Recommendation: This is great sci-fi. If you are a fan of the genre, this series should be a must-read.

It's Friday and...

...Word Nerd's brain is tired.

So today's blog post is largely going to depend on you, yes, you, faithful readers.

Word Nerd recently read at least one blog post of people not believing parents when their kids asked for books for Christmas or birthday presents. Word Nerd always asked for books... and often still does.

What books -- new releases or otherwise -- are on your wish list for your library?

Word Nerd will start:

• Truck: A Love Story, by Michael Perry. Word Nerd's read it, but it's very much worth having on her shelf.
• Morning Star boxed set, by Nick Bantock. This is the second Griffin and Sabine Trilogy... since she's got the first set, the second one would be nice too.

Quill Awards

Books and authors recently got their night on the red carpet with the 2006 Quill Awards.

Unlike other book awards, these are decided by readers, not critics or literary gurus.

The award ceremony was recently held and here's a run down of some of the winners:

Book of the Year:
Don't Make a Black Woman Take off Her Earrings: Medea's Unhibitied Commentaries on Life and Love, by Tyler Perry.

Audio Book:
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, by John Grogan

Children's Chapter Books/Middle Grade
The Penultimate Peril, by Lemony Snicket

Young Adult/Teen
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini
(An aside from Word Nerd... Markus Zusak's The Book Thief didn't win in this category. Clearly, the awards are rigged. ... kidding... )

General Fiction
Dirty Job, Christopher Moore

Author Answers with L.A. Banks

This week's author is L.A. Banks, but you might also know her as Leslie Banks, or Leslie Eisdale Banks, or Leslie Eisdale. Banks writes across several genres, but is currently in the middle of the Vampire Huntress series.

For more about her, check out her website.

WN: You write under several pen-names… why?
BANKS: That was really a marketing decision because I began in romance--and people who read that genre want to know for certain when they purchase a book that there will be a happy ending, whereas, folks who read what I will call "the darker genres" know that anything goes. I wound up having to have multiple personnas! Romance = Leslie Esdaile. Crime/Suspense Thrillers = Leslie Esdaile Banks. Special Projects (like the Soul Food TV series books) = Leslie E. Banks -- which is a one-time-only name use just for that series. Anything Paranormal and oddly, also the Scarface series books) = L.A. Banks. It's a branding strategy, so that people know what they are getting when they pick up a certain name to go with a title.

WN: You have a background in marketing. What made you decide to become a writer and how has that background helped you?
BANKS: I fell into writing, literally, because my child was involved in a tragic daycare center accident whereby she was severely burned with an iron. The kid went through 17 surgeries and I was home, unemployed, and needed an income--something I could do from home. The sales rep in me knew that being an entrepreneur was feasible, I just needed a product. Novels became that after a short story contest in a magazine piqued my interest. It was a process becoming a full-fledged novelist, however. But the background of having strong marketing acumen meant the world. In today's market with all the competing entertainment choices, you cannot afford to sit back and hope to get noticed. I've heard staggering numbers like 60,000 new book titles come out annually. To that I say, you'd better get out there and hustle or get smothered by the sheer volume of choices people have!

WN: You are one of the authors in the paranormal fiction genre… Why did paranormal and vampire stories become so popular?
BANKS: I think people have always been titillated by the paranormal, the dark, the mysterious, the forbidden eroticism of the vampire... and the concept of immortality with a price, all of that creates a very seductive content. I'm not sure that the market is more interested as much as the entertainment industries (including publishing) have embraced the genre and put more choices out there for an already hungry market. If you look back, every time a good vamp flick came out it did well. The bad ones didn't. But people always gravitated toward the subject matter with almost "closet curiosity."

WN: If you got stranded on a desert island with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
BANKS: Carlos Rivera! Sometimes that guy makes me just shake my head, ha ha ha! Then, again, I could be really happy with Kamal, or Shabazz, or Big Mike--Rider, or Jose...Hey, what can I say? I like the men in the series--they all (to my wicked sensibilities) have a lil' somethin' somethin' to offer a girl :)

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
BANKS: The autobiography of Frederick Douglass. My mother read this to me as a kid versus Grimms Fairy Tales. She basically wanted me to understand real horror at an early age, and to use that to propel my ambition to read--because as you know, in that era, it was illegal for folks like me to read. As a kid, I couldn't wrap my brain around the concept that you could be killed, maimed, tortured, blinded, all because you dared to read. That book also told of the indomitable human spirit to rise above whatever circumstances... talk about REAL heroes and heroines. That book made me hold my head up, put "the straight in my back" as my grandma would say, and every time I felt like complaining about what I couldn't do, all I had to do was think back and do a reality check. That book was the monster for me. Whew!

WN: What is your favorite word and why?
BANKS: Can. It has no limitations.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
BANKS: I was telling someone an idea once and they said, "Write it down. If it is not on paper, it doesn't exist." That was Gospel. You cannot believe how many people "tell" the most profound, wondrous stories in the oral tradition of many cultures--but because it isn't captured by a chronicler on paper, it doesn't exist... and it could very well be that person's NY Times Bestseller--had they written it. So, my advice is "writer on!" Do it every day, something, anything, just like an athlete exercises daily to stay fit. Write!

NaNoWriMo -- 7 days and counting

NaNo-what-oh?
National Novel Writing Month. Also known as November. It starts in 7 days.

Never heard of this? Here's the basic idea.

During NaNoWriMo people sign up to write a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of November. The basic idea is to write quantity, not necessarily quality.

Some people do this every year. Seriously. Word Nerd has yet to participate in this event, but not for lack of thinking about it.

Here's the skinny. If you want sign up, go to NaNoWriMo website.

Also, if you're here in the Fox Valley region of Wisconsin, there's going to be a kick-off party for local NaNo crazies (er, participants) at 7 p.m. on OCt. 28 at the Barnes and Noble in Appleton.

Maybe Word Nerd will be there. Maybe.

A book for the more ambitious reader

If you pay attention to Word Nerd's "Currently Reading" post, you might have noticed that for a week or so, Mark Z. Danielewski's Only Revolutions was listed. Then it vanished and with no subsequent Book Banter post.

Word Nerd is admitting something she doesn't do often: She gave up on the book. Cuz frankly, she was lost.

When Word Nerd saw that Danielewski had a new novel out, she was excited because she enjoyed his breakout debut novel, House of Leaves, with it's very creepy story, four layers of plot and the word house (just like that in blue type, everytime).

She knew his new book, Only Revolutions, would be strange. After 50 pages (or maybe it's 100) Word Nerd was completely lost.

The Washington Post Book World has a review of Danielewski's new offering. It's a pretty good explanation of how the book is laid out and some of the plot.

The book has its own website, too. Have earphones if you're in a public place.
If anybody else has taken this book for a spin, Word Nerd's interested in the reaction.

Ready or Not

*Deep breath*
Ok. The first four chapters of Word Nerd's novel are going to be put in the hands of Oshkosh Area Writers Club members tomorrow morning. They will then have two weeks to douse the pages in red (or some other colored ink).

Word Nerd's excited about having some readers. She's also just a tad bit nervous. Tad here means, she wonders what kind of faked illness the rest of writers club would believe she has so she doesn't have to go.

After discovering that her deadline for these chapters going for a critique was sooner rather than later, Word Nerd spent a good deal of time over the weekend working on polishing them. But not as much as she'd liked to have.

So, ready or not, the pages are going out tomorrow.

Book Banter -- Windflower

Title: Windflower
Author: Nick Bantock (with Edoardo Ponti)
Length: 215 pages
Genre: literary/illustrated fiction
Plot Basics: Ana, a young Capolan dancer, leaves her tribe to go to the city Sedona to find a man named Felix who can teach her the dance that can save her people. While she's there, she finds herself keeping the company of four, very different men from the fatherly Mr. Hattaman to the rakish Boreos. When they start making claims on her affections, Ana discovers what she came to Sedona to learn.
Banter Points: This is a Nick Bantock book. Because it is, that extends a lot of grace to the story because Word Nerd's been so captivated by his books in the past.
Bummer Points: The story needs a lot of grace because though it's a Nick Bantock book, it just doesn't ring like the others. Word Nerd was expecting a book with more art to propel the story along and more pull on the reader. (If you've read the Griffin and Sabine books, you'll understand.). Those things just weren't there. The chapters flipped between first person and third person and Word Nerd just didn't think that really added much to the telling of the story -- a consistent POV may have been better. Moreover, some things in the plot were just kind of glossed over about who the Capolan were and what the structure of this world was where all this whole story was taking place.
Word Nerd recommendation: Since the book is fairly short, if you're a Bantock fan, Word Nerd says read it. If you've never heard of Bantock, do yourself a favor and go start with the exquisite Griffin and Sabine trilogy and then maybe read this one.

Author Answers with Michael Perry

Heads up Midwesterners, this week's author -- Michael Perry -- is one of us. Perry is from New Auburn Wisc., and his first book, Population 485 got lots of regional accolades for capturing the characters and voice of the Midwest (and particularly, northern Wisconsin.).

Perry newest book, Truck: A Love Story hit shelves yesterday.

For more about Perry and to see a his itinerary on book tour, go to his website. If he's coming to your corner of the world, take the time to go see him.

WN: What's your writing process like from when you first start writing things down to getting a finished book?
PERRY: Organic, to put it politely. I start jotting notes and fragments and throw them all into one big file. These can be three-word scribbles from a gum wrapper or an 800-word brain dump. Then I print them all out and try to sort them by some sort of topical means. For instance I draw little triangles beside everything having to do with trucks, circles by everything having to do with gardening, squiggles beside everything tied to existentialism, and so on. Then I cut and paste so all the triangles, circles, squiggles, etc., are clustered. Then I begin to write what I call "chunks," which is a rare literary term. Then I print the chunks out, over and over, cutting them apart with scissors and moving them around on the floor like a giant sad game of solitaire. Eventually the chunks enlarge and cohere, and I start finding chapters. Once I have chapters, then I get to revise and polish, which is actually my favorite part of the process. I love to polish and polish. My editor finally demands that I turn it all in. In short, my writing process is unpretty and more like grunting than singing.

WN: "Truck" ranges from seed catalogs and trucks to chicken dinners, the staff of NPR to politics and dating... how do all these disparate topics work together in one book?
PERRY: Well, I am forever running off on tangents. I simply can't keep my head straight. It's like Rain Man in there, without the aptitude for math. So I sometimes see threads that may or may not exist, but I weave obliviously along. Then you lie awake in the dark and hope it will make sense.

WN: "Truck" seems more personal than "Population: 485"... was that harder for you to write, revealing more of your own thoughts/feelings/etc?
PERRY: When it is late and deadlines are nigh, you tend to go for what's available. To choose one specific example, if a guy is losing his hair, he might as well write about losing his hair. I write that stuff after extreme sleep deprivation and much coffee, and then when I see it printed up, I get sweaty and wonder what I was thinking. The questions you are always asking yourself are A) will anyone care, and B) will anyone relate? Frankly, you never know until it's all beyond retraction or repair.

WN: There are obviously lots of real people in your books... how do they react to how you portray them in print?
PERRY: Actually, I get more grief from the people I DON'T include! It is my pet theory that fiction writers face much greater difficulty in this respect...my characters (apart from a superficial name change) are clearly identifiable, whereas every novelist who ever created a nasty mother gets that tearful phone call from Mom, and no matter how much the novelist protests, Mom never does believe that the nasty heartless harridan wasn't based on her.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
PERRY: To answer with a question, what is the best breath you've ever taken? Good, bad or sublime, they all add up to now, and leave you hungry for the next one. I should stitch that on a sampler.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?
PERRY: I've always loved the word "evanescent". It is a word that is beautiful on the page and on the eye. It comes off the tongue like a poem. Finally, I take it as a constant reminder that everything is a puff of breeze and so enough with the furrowed brow.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
PERRY: My Dad taught me to clean calf pens one shovelful (forkful, actually, but we quibble) at a time. Until you have this big pile of product. This remains my guiding principle.

WN: What's next for you as a writer? Is a new book in process yet?
PERRY: Inspired by the arrival of yet another form letter announcing an increase in my health insurance premiums, I continue to freelance whenever and wherever possible. Currently working on pieces for Men's Health, No Depression, Backpacker, and a couple of anthologies. And I have just started the next book, which is a memoir about growing up on a small dairy farm in northern Wisconsin as a member of an obscure fundamentalist Christian sect. I expect that one may generate some letters. But above all, I am a deeply grateful guy, as I never even entertained the idea of writer until I was well down other paths, and I love what I do. As I have said before, I feel like a guy that got on the wrong bus, but it's a very cool bus and I like where it has taken me.

Influence of the Fictional

Forget the 100 best photographs of the century. Or top 10 lists of all kinds.

A new list is out -- the 100 most influential people who never lived.

USAToday has a short story about the folks who put the list together here.

You can also view the entire ranking here.

The top spot? Don't get your hopes up... it's the Marlboro Man. In Word Nerd's mind, there's something wrong when a character like that gets a billing 84 spots above, oh, you know, a hero-type, like Luke Skywalker (the Jedi ranks at 85.) Word Nerd doesn't know who she'd put in the top spot, but she has a hunch it'd be somebody, well, less smoky.

King Arthur comes in at number 3, which makes Word Nerd very happy. That one could also be open to some level of debate about whether he's really fictional because of speculation about if there was ever a war leader/tribal chief/guy named Arthur in Britain who did something cool at some point in history.

Others in the list:
Sherlock Holmes, number 8
Don Quixote, number 17
Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, number 50
Kermit the frog, number 67
The Great Gatsby, number 93

Book Banter -- Firestorm

Title: Firestorm (Weather Warden, bk. 5)
Author: Rachel Caine
Length: 292 pages
Genre: Paranormal chick-lit
Plot Basics: SPOILER ALERT (There's no way around this since it's bk. 5 in a series.)

Weather warden Joanne Baldwin is still trying to save the world, but this time without the help of the djinn. The djinn are being taken over by Mother Earth, who's waking up and waking up cranky about what humans have been doing to the planet. Weather systems all over are unstable and the djinn have turned on the Wardens leaving few people left who can do anything about it. Joanne is humanity's only hope ... if she can get to one of the Oracles. But getting there has a high, high price.
Banter Points: Yeah, this series is just fun. And again, Caine leaves readers with a humdinger of a cliff-hanger. There's some interesting character development for Joanne as she wrestles with her feeling of responsibility (real or otherwise) for what's going on in the story.
Bummer Points: Not the best book of the bunch, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Word Nerd recommendation: This series won't win any kind of Pulitzer prize for fiction, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read them. They are punchy chick lit and it's nice to see a paranormal bent to a plot that doesn't involve vampires or magic-users.

Word Nerd's Deadline is When?!?

Word Nerd remembered this morning that she signed up for an upcoming Author Spotlight section with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club and thought she'd better just double-check the date on that.

Yeah. Good thing. It's two-weeks earlier than she was remembering.

A bit of explanation.

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club is a local writers critique group that meets the first and third Saturdays of the month at 10 a.m.- noon in the Oshkosh Public Library. Because many in the group are working on what they hope will be novels, the second hour of the meeting has been dubbed "Author Spotlight." For this session, at the previous meeting, the author to be spotlighted passes out a 40-50 page chunk of their work. The rest of those in the group take it and read it and write comments all over it in the ensuing two weeks and then talk about it at the next meeting.

So. Word Nerd's on the hot-seat on Nov. 4, but that means she's got to pass out her section at the Oct. 21 meeting. As, next weekend.

And that means she's got to get working to get the first three chapters or so of her novel ready for other people to read. Granted, going to Author Spotlight is supposed to be a time for critique, meaning the section doesn't have to be perfect, but Word Nerd doesn't want top just bring a section that she hasn't revised at least once already.

Why not? Because it's scary. Make no mistake. Critiquing in writing is hard, particularly when it's your piece that everybody else is reading. After slaving away to write it, you as a writer are turning over something that you created for other people to have a red-pen-heydey with.

In Word Nerd's case, this is all coming a little sooner than she thought.

Creepy Reads

If you haven't noticed, the calendar really still says October (though if you live here in WI, you're likely thinking somehow we jumped ahead to early December, given the way the temperature plummeted in the last day).

October means Halloween and Halloween tends to mean creepy stories.

It's only fair then to talk about some spooky books and what better way to lead that off than by mentioning Neil Gaiman.

Gaiman's got a new book out, Fragile Things, that's a collection of short stories. Since it's Gaiman, be prepared for the creepy or the weird or the obscure. For more on the book, click here for the USAToday story about it.

Word Nerd's not a huge fan of horror, but here are some other reads that Word Nerd has found a bit creepifying in the past.
-- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
-- The Green Mile, Stephen King
-- Threshold, Caitlin R. Kiernan
-- House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
-- Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
-- Pale Immortal, Anne Frasier
-- Various short stories by H.P. Lovecraft

Anybody else? What are some of your favorite scary books and why?

Author Answers with Charles de Lint

This week’s featured author is one of the pioneers of urban fantasy, Charles de Lint.
In his books (and there are many) de Lint frequently places fantasy elements in city settings and has done such things as update the Jack the Giant Killer fairy tale to take place in Ottawa.
His latest book is "Widdershins," one in his long-running Newford series.

For more on de Lint, check out his website.

WN: What's your writing process like from when you first had an idea to getting the novel published?

DE LINT: That's perhaps a more complicated question that you might realize you're asking. For one thing there is no one set answer because each book and story has a different history, from start to finish. The constant is that I work on my writing every day. No matter what else is going on, time is set aside at some point during the day to work on whatever my ongoing project might be. As for the rest...

The creative process is as much being a sponge as it is creating. Everything I experience and imagine goes into the mix, and when I get an idea, or a piece of dialogue, or a character comes visiting...if it doesn't fit into the current project, I write it down and stash it away. So...sometimes the concept for the next project appears full-blown and it's just a matter of doing whatever research is necessary and then sitting down to write it. Other times elements are more nebulous and then I'll go through all those odd bits and pieces of story and character sketches to see which, if any, might jump start the new project.

I don't write with an outline or a specific end in mind. I know the feeling I want to leave with my readers, but not the details of how we'll all get there. So every day it's a matter of my sitting down and discovering the story myself. It's like reading a book, only much slower. It's only when I get to the end that the real hard work begins. That's when I take the rough shape and turn it into something publishable.

WN: You continue to return to characters in the Newford series ... what's intriguing to you as an author about them that makes them still compelling to write about?

DELINT: My characters are like friends, so I suppose it's a matter of while it's always nice to make new friends, you don't want to abandon your old ones. The last few novels (The Onion Girl, Spirits in the Wires, and Widdershins) have focused pretty much on the core cast of the Newford stories, but they're the exceptions, rather than the rule. I much prefer to keep those characters in the background and focus on the stories of new ones. This way I get to keep up on the gossip of what's happening in the lives of the old characters, but still explore new territories of character.

WN: You use a lot of music in your books, how do songs/music influence your writing?

DELINT: I think whenever you exercise your creative muscles, you gain new insights into all the various mediums in which you might work. I play and write a lot of music. I also do some painting, and learn songs and tunes written by other people. How this impacts my writing, I can't exactly say, but I do know that it makes a difference. Visual art helps me see details and connections I might not have noticed otherwise. Music certainly invests my prose with rhythms suitable to the tempo of what's happening in the story.

WN: You are sometimes called one of the pioneers of urban fantasy ... how do you make sure that the mythological or fantastical elements of your stories make sense and are believable in urban settings?

DELINT: Thank you for thinking that the fantasy elements make sense and are believable in contemporary settings. As to the mechanics of that, the first thing is to make sure that the real world, contemporary setting is as realistically depicted as possible--and that includes the characters. Then, when you begin to slip in the magic, it's a matter of making sure that the reactions are believable. I tend to write my characters from inside their heads--inhabiting them like actors immersing themselves in their roles while the cameras are running. One of my main reasons for using fantasy elements in what are often really just mainstream stories is that I'm fascinated by how the revelations of other beings or other worlds will affect and change a character. Of course, it's also just plain fun to have, oh say, a herd of buffalo men running down a busy city street.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?

DELINT: That's a tough question. My favourite book remains The Wind in the Willows, but the most influential? I can't pinpoint one specific book. If pressed, I suppose it would be the poetry of Robin Williamson which spans numerous poetry collections and music albums.

WN: What is your favorite word and why?

DELINT: Us--because it's inclusive and alludes to how we're all connected.

WN: If you got stuck on a desert island with one of your characters, who would you want to be stranded with and why?

DELINT: It would have to be Jilly Coppercorn because she'd certainly keep me amused with her conversations, and she's made it her life work to see the best in any situation.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?

DELINT: Finish what you start.

Book Banter -- Truck: A Love Story

Title: Truck: A Love Story (ARC)*
Author: Michael Perry
Length: 288 pages
Genre: non-fiction/memoir
Plot Basics: (Hmm.... Word Nerd is seeing a bit of a problem with using her normal template prompts for a non-fiction book...maybe she could call this Synopsis: instead, given the genre.) Perry, author of Population: 485, brings readers back to the northern Wisconsin town on New Auburn. This time, much of the story revolves around his work to restore an old truck. But along the way, readers get to see meet more quirky characters like those that populated the first book. Like with the first book, Perry infuses the story about the truck with observations about life, love, politics, getting older and some laugh-aloud-darn-funny moments.
Banter Points: First, Word Nerd is just impressed with the writing. It's so good. SO GOOD. Wow. Second, the fact that she picked up, read and enjoyed a book where major sections were devoted to repairing a truck is a testament to the book because Word Nerd knows nothing about vehicles or vehicle parts and yet it was all still interesting. Third, the part with the NPR newscasters -- let's just say at that part of the book, the person sitting next to Word Nerd on that flight to Detroit probably wanted to switch seats because she was laughing outloud.
Bummer Points: Toward the end, there's a chapter that gets a little bogged down in politics. It's not bad, mind you, but it didn't have the ring of the rest of the book.
Word Nerd recommendation: Perry's books are a keeper. If you've never heard of Population 485, read it and then go find Truck when it releases later this month. Also, these books are great 'splainer books for anyone who wants to understand the colloquialisms of Wisconsin.
BONUS: Perry has agreed to do an Author Answers interview, stay tuned.

* Advanced Reader Copy

Book Banter -- Some Like it Lethal

Title: Some Like it Lethal
Author: Nancy Martin
Length: 310 pages
Genre: mystery/chick lit
Plot Basics: Nora Blackbird is again caught up in a murder investigation, but this time the prime suspect is her younger sister Emma. At the annual fall hunt breakfast, Nora finds her sister passed out in a horse stall, a bloody riding crop nearby and the dead body of Rush Strawcutter, a notable Philadelphian. Detective Ben Bloom targets Emma as the killer and thinks that somehow Nora is connected to her on-again-off-again boyfriend Michael Abruzzo's possible money laundering. But someone starts blackmailing Nora and others in society and the stakes get higher for them all...
Banter Points: Martin does a great job with these characters and introduces some particularly over-the-top folks for this book that work out really well. Also, finally, there's more progression in the Nora/Michael relationship.
Bummer Points: For a murder mystery, the resolution on this one is not as cut-and-dry as many.
Word Nerd recommendation: Quality series. Very entertaining. Word Nerd will keep reading them (must go find book 4) and then wait for the release of more.

Author Answers with Mitch Albom

This week's Wednesday-with-an-author is the author of "Tuesdays with Morrie," Mitch Albom.

Albom is a columnist for the Detroit Free Press as well the author of the non-fiction "Tuesdays with Morrie" and the novel, "Five People you Meet in Heaven." His latest novel "For One More Day" was recently released.

Oshkosh readers take note: Albom will be here in town on Tuesday, Oct 11 for a reading and signing at 11:30 a.m. at the Park Plaza Hotel. Tickets are required for the event. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of the new book which Albom will sign at the event. Tickets are still available by either calling or visiting Apple Blossom Books, 513 N. Main St, 230-3395.

For more on Albom, you can visit his website.

WN: How did you come up with the idea for “For One More Day?”
ALBOM: Most of it was born from readers of the last book. A lot of them came up to me and said to me, “I love that book.” What I wouldn’t give for one more day with such-and-such. A lot of time I noticed it was with a parent. A lot of time we have all this baggage with our parents.
I had a good relationship with my mother… there’s going to be a time when she’s not around. What would that really be like if you had that day, how would you spend it what would you talk about.

WN: What’s different about your writing process for writing your columns and writing a novel?
ALBOM: For one thing you don’t have to make it fit in the space.
To be honest, I look at it all the same. I really only have one ability or skill… that’s being a storyteller. I’m really lousy at everything else. I come from a family of loud storytelling relatives. There’d be 50 of us around the table at Thanksgiving and if you couldn’t hold the floor, you had to give it up.
I learned how to keep things moving and telling a story.
I always try to approach it the same way. I didn’t make it like a text book. I try to concentrate on what’s the same about them. You want to keep an audience’s attention and make them think without realizing it. The nice thing about writing a novel is if you want to give somebody a brother you can.

WN: Have you ever been to Oshkosh before?

ALBOM: I have been to Oshkosh before—a friend of mine and I drove across country. Came to Oshkosh WI and I still have in my drawer a t-shirt that says 'where in the heck is Oshkosh WI?' It’s a tan t-shirt… I thought it was a cool name. We had a piece of pie in some diner. This is like the best pie we’ve ever had. We were so proud we were in Oshkosh WI. I thought that was like really America. The pie was good.

WN: You’re on quite the tour for this new book… what’s the best and worst parts of being on tour?
ALBOM: There’s nothing bad about it except sleep. I’ll never be one of those authors that complains about book tour. It’s an honor when people ask you to come someplace. People want you to come in places you don’t live. It’s one thing to talk in Detroit… but some place like Oshkosh or Japan… that’s a great honor. I get a lot of good ideas from my readers. Sitting in the basement writing by yourself is a very lonely profession. To come out and see how your writing affects them… these are the kinds of lines that move people. I think it’s great. The only part is you don’t sleep a lot and do a lot of sleeping in sitting positions in the car or on a plane.

WN: "Five People You Meet in Heaven" has been used for One Book/One City programs and now Starbucks is encouraging the same sort of thing for “For One More Day” … do you think it’s important for communities to engage with books (yours or anybody else’s) in this way and why?
ALBOM: Any book. Mine or anybody else’s. I think anybody who writes worries that the next generation won’t be reading, they’ll be watching everything. The art of reading or sitting with a book is going to die. Anything, One Book/One City… Starbucks… they chose my book… whether it’s my book or any other [that's] better that than video-gaming or text-messaging. I’d rather see 10 people with a book than tapping on their text messages. All those kinds of things are critical.

WN: What’s the best/favorite book you’ve ever read? Why?
ALBOM: I’ve read so many great books as an adult that they blur together.
[As a kid] I read a book called the “”Royal Road to Romance” written by Richard Halliburton who took off around the world and wrote about his adventures.
As a kid who’d never really been anywhere, I found that book and just cherished it. I think it was an important book for me is because it made me think about a world larger than my own an dit made me dream. It took me places I would never go. That’s the core of all good reading and all good stories.
While I’m sure there are better written ones… that one stands out because it was my first hook into the joy of reading.

WN: Best piece of advice you were given as a writer? Why helpful?
ALBOM: When I was just starting out as a journalist [I was assigned] a story on a photographer… went to his studio and I asked him the same question. What was the best advice? He said, when I was young, I thought I was a hotshot photographer and [I took all these pictures and] sent them off to the biggest photographer in the world. The guy sent him back a note that said You've mastered the basics of photography now surround yourself with the best music, art, dance, theatre and books and all the rest will take care of itself. I learned that's one of the ways you become a good writer is to appreciate the other arts. Read other great books… let it soak you in it. Somehow, you manage to pick up things.
It’s true – if you surround yourself with that, you get better.

WN:What’s it like to play with the “Rock Bottom Remainders?” (An aside from WN: ... the Rock Bottom Remainders is a music group featuring Stephen King, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Dave Barry and other writers).
ALBOM: [I've been their] Piano player, singer. We’re all good friends at this point. We’re not very good musicians but we’re punctual. How many rock bands can you say that about.
As long as we’re entertaining, I think we distract people from the fact [that we're not very good].
If you know more than three chords, you can’t get in the band. If you exceed the maximum, you can be in the audience and can’t be in the band. Raised over $1 million for literacy.
It’s a good cause. For one week a year we get to feel like rock stars.

WN: What's next for your writing? Have you started on your next book?

ALBOM: I think you start the next book right after you finish the last one. Start thinking… haven’t started writing. Maybe somebody in Oshkosh will give me an idea I hadn’t thought of. I have one non-fiction book about faith that’s on my horizon. Other that, I’ll return to another novel as soon as I get back to my basement.

Book Banter -- The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Length: 550 pages
Genre: juvenile/historical fiction
Plot Basics: An unexpected narrator tells the story of Liesel Meminger. Liesel is sent to foster parents outside of Munich just before World War II begins. Her new life is tough, but she finds a secret pleasure in stealing books and the struggle to learn how to read them. She establishes a precious relationship with her accordion-playing foster father and with the young Jewish man they decide to hide in their basement.
Banter Points: The narrator (Word Nerd doesn't want to give it away... even though the book jacket does) is the most amazing voice to tell this story. Word Nerd supposes that Zusak could have picked a different POV, but had he done that, the story would not have had the emotional punch it did.

Zusak, Word Nerd thinks, is one of the rising-est new authors out there. His two latest books (Book Thief and I Am the Messenger) both have been nominated for and are winning awards. His writing is fresh and snappy and he doesn't shy away from his books having a meaning to them.
Bummer Points: Because this book is labeled as a kid's book, a lot of adults are sadly going to probably walk right past it.
Word Nerd recommendation: Don't be put off by the length , it doesn't feel like 550 pages while reading it because the story keeps moving along. Don't be put off that this book is shelved in the juvenile section either. It's a great book for anybody... and if you've got kids of the 8-13 range or so, read it to them (or with them) and talk about this history that happened in World War II. Oh, and have a box of Kleenex handy at the end.

September Bibliometer

Word Nerd can't believe the month of September is over and it's time to do another bibliometer reading, but apparently it is.

For September, the statistics are:
8 books for a total of 2221 pages, which is an average of 74 pages/day.

The YTD total is 25908 pages, which is an average of 94 pages/day. Word Nerd forgot to count the total number of books read this year. She has a hunch though its going to be more than the last few years have been.

The Next Classic

Thanks to those of you that voted in Word Nerd's "What Classic to Read Next" poll.

Results are in and the winner is:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Dorian Gray got 36% of the vote, trailed by Lord of the Flies, which received 25% and Foundation, which got 22%.

Word Nerd is a little bit sad that nobody voted for Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. Greene has been one of Word Nerd's favorite writers ever since she was forced to read his Brighton Rock in a college lit class. She will likely, though, pick up his books without the prompting of a poll.

So -- just to keep everything on the up-and-up, Word Nerd will report on Dorian Gray on Halloween. Like with The Count of Monte Cristo, she'll welcome comments that day from others who have read Dorian Gray.

Book Banter -- Bahamarama

Title: Bahamarama
Author: Bob Morris
Length: 298 pages
Genre: mystery
Plot Basics: Former football player Zack Chasteen gets let out of federal prison and all he wants is to be reunited with his special lady friend Barbara Pickering, a magazine editor, currently doing a shoot in the Bahamas. Zack goes to join her there. But when he gets to the Bahamas, Zack can't find her and instead, finds trouble.
Banter Points: The setting was definitely fun. A couple of the characters -- Zack's sidekick, Boggy, and the Bahamanian boy, Nixon, were really great.
Bummer Points: Chasteen is supposed to be an ex-football player, but Word Nerd didn't see much of how that impacted him now. She's glad the book didn't devolve into a litany of sports metaphors, but still, with that background, Word Nerd was expecting to see that past a little more.
Word Nerd recommendation: There should perhaps be a new category of books -- can we call it man-lit? This book is like chick-lit, minus the Manolo Blahniks and Prada, but has that same sort of sometimes-cynical, sometimes-comic tone. Book two is on Word Nerd's list of things to read eventually.