Happy 200th Birthday, Pride and Prejudice!

The 1894 "Peacock Edition"
of Pride and Prejudice

By Marilyn Brant

Maybe it's not this way for everyone (I'm well aware my personal circle of friends is inhabited by insatiable readers and dedicated writers), but I'm pretty sure just about everyone I know has one of these...and I'd be willing to bet most of you do, too: The Novel That Changed Your Life.

Oh, no, be assured, I'm not saying there can be only one such novel -- not for us bibliophiles -- but I think you'll know right away the very specific and remarkable kind of book I mean. The one from your childhood or young adulthood that's responsible for you knowing (perhaps even as you were reading it) that you'd stumbled upon a story that would spin your worldview forevermore in a different direction. The first time when you were actually aware that the prose of another writer -- living or dead -- had changed you. The author's words had pushed your mind outward and, like an idea whose time had come, kept your brain stretched so far that it could never return to its original dimensions.

Do you know your book? I think you do...

Mine is Pride and Prejudice. I knew really early on while reading the story that I was in the hands of a literary genius. By the time I'd reached the midpoint of the novel, that crafty Jane Austen had gotten me to look at every single person in my life with fresh eyes. She made me ponder just how similar each of them were to the memorable and masterfully drawn characters in P&P. Made me study their behavior with clearer vision. Made me think about the point of view and motivations of others long before I ever became a novelist.



Debut Novel: According to Jane,
October 2009

Even more cleverly, Austen left me little choice but to turn a more critical eye on myself and to ask, in the silent reaches of my fourteen-year-old mind, "Am I being blinded by either pride or prejudice, like Elizabeth and Darcy were, when it comes to this particular situation?" Or "Is this guy I'm talking to just trying to flatter me so I can serve as one of his social puppets, like Wickham might do?" Or, more painfully, "Could my piano playing really be as dreadful as Mary Bennet's?" These were weighty questions indeed for a high school freshman.

No matter how many times I've reread that brilliant novel in the decades since, I'll never forget -- nor will I ever stop being grateful for -- the way Austen's insights into the foibles of human behavior left its mark on my adolescent worldview and made me just a little more aware of the people surrounding me.

There was something so powerful about P&P that it almost haunted me as I left my teen years behind and became a working adult... I could very nearly hear Jane Austen's voice telling me to pay greater attention to her lessons on fairness, common sense, compassion and civility toward all. So much was I influenced by her work that I finally wrote a manuscript called According to Jane, which turned out to be my debut women's fiction book (Kensington). It's a story about a woman who has the ghost of Austen in her head, giving her dating advice.

New Release: Pride, Prejudice and the
Perfect Match, January 2013

And now, six books later, I'm returning to my writing origins with my seventh novel, just out today -- a new contemporary romance that is a digital nod to our dear Jane: Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match. It's a light, modern love story between an ER doc and a single mom, both of whom have ulterior motives for meeting on an internet dating site (Lady Catherine's Love Match Website, for those of you might appreciate the joke ;).

Why release this particular story right now? Ahhh...because The Novel That Changed My Life turns 200 years old this month (on January 28th, who else is breaking open something sparkly in Austen's honor, hmm?) and I wanted to mark the bicentennial of P&P with a special story. It's my way of celebrating the joy and wisdom my favorite author brought to me. I hope some of you will join me in raising a glass of your favorite beverage (it doesn't have to be a Regency-era drink, LOL) to the legacy Jane Austen left behind two centuries ago. Here's to Jane!!

Who else out there is an Austen fan? And, if you'd like to share, I'd love to know one of the novels that changed your life, too...

Can't Write? Read About It. by Jacqueline Luckett

My holidays were a bit of a blur, in a good way. I put up a Christmas tree with the intention of settling on my couch and writing in front of the tree. I hoped to be inspired to write paragraphs about Christmas and the New Year.

Sat in front of said tree. Celebrated Christmas, the day after, and the days after that. Loved the tree. Loved the idea of writing in front of it. Didn't write a word. Not one blog post. Not one Christmas inspired essay. Not one resolution.

I've been a bit stuck. All on its own my brain decided I needed a break; time to regroup, to rest and ponder. And so I did—without guilt. I shopped, cooked, ate, drank, hung out with my mother, my son, and my friends. I bought a new TV and cancelled cable. Hooray!! I felt wonderful.

On the first day of January, I needed inspiration. As if reading my mind, a Facebook friend sent me an article by Ann Patchett. Write for an hour 32 days in a row and the habit implants itself, or so Ms Patchett contends.

In search of more inspiration (as if this wasn’t enough), I looked around the Internet to see what other authors had to say. I came across two interesting articles.

A lengthy interview with Philip Roth on getting ideas and convincing friends that “writing is a job.” (He, of all people, should know!)

Then there’s this obscure letter: from Greek-born Lafcadio Hearn to a friend where he writes about the beauty of words.

After reading all three articles, I committed to 32 days of writing and following up on my ideas (my job) with beautiful words. The break, and the reading, was exactly what I needed. Hopefully, these articles will inspire you as well. Scroll down and revisit some of the blogs on writing from my writing Girlfriends as well. Lots of inspiration there, too.

I’d like to add to my list. What’s a great article you’ve recently read on writing?

Jacqueline is an avid reader and lover of books, an excellent cook, aspiring photographer, and world traveler. She's the author of two novels, PASSING LOVE and SEARCHING FOR TINA TURNER, and currently at work on her third novel. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.

To write or not to write... that is the question by Brenda Janowitz

Ah, holiday time.  Even though we're technically on to the new year, I'm still in that holiday mindset.  Hard to sit down and get things done, harder still to write.  Fellow girlfriend Amy Sue Nathan suggested that we read our way through the holidays, so I've done that (and am continuing to do that!), and I've really been lucky to read some amazing books in the past week and a half.

My editor suggested I pick up SEATING ARRANGEMENTS by Maggie Shipstead, which I loved.  The story of a WASPy family getting together on a WASPy island to celebrate a WASPy wedding weekend, it's a smart, funny read.  Every character felt so real to me, the plot felt fresh.  When I finished reading, I just wanted more.

Next, I read UP FROM THE BLUE, by the totally amazing Susan Henderson.  It's a book about mothers and daughters, the way we see the past, and how we come to terms with it.  Heartbreaking, haunting, and beautifully written.  It's a book you won't soon forget.

I then read MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan, which had been on my bookshelf for a while.  I don't know why it stayed unread for so long-- I loved this book!!  The story of three generations of women and a very special summer house in Maine, it's one of those books that you can't put down.  You'll see so much of yourself and your family in the Kelleher women.  An editor once taught me that the more detail a book has, the more universal it becomes, and that's true here.




After that, I picked up THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker, a book I'd be hearing about for a while.  It's now on all of the top books of 2012 lists, and I can see why.  It's so many different things-- a coming of age story set against the backdrop of a science fiction conceit.  I just couldn't put this book down.  I was obsessed with every part of it-- the implications of the earth's rotation beginning to slow, every detail of this 11 year old girl's life, what would happen to her family, would she get the boy?  Even though I've finished it, I can't stop thinking about it.

Now I'm reading Mindy Kaling's IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? (AND OTHER CONCERNS) and I'm just loving it.  It is, as you might expect, laugh out loud hilarious.  Mindy is charming, adorable, and says everything that I'm thinking.  I'm so glad I picked this one up!

Next up for me are the two books currently in transit from Amazon.com-- ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE by our very own girlfriend Jess Riley, and GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES by Jennifer Close.



So, what did you read over the holidays?  And what are you reading next?











I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, will be published by St. Martin's in 2013. My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.

SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley

review by Barbara Claypole White

Priscille Sibley’s powerful debut novel, The Promise of Stardust, is a compelling and compassionate story about a family torn apart in the wake of tragedy and ethical dilemma. It circles grandiose themes of life and death and has much to fuel book club discussions. And yet, underneath, it’s a beautifully crafted love story, one full of hope.

The book starts with gripping action: Matt Beaulieu, a thirty-something neurosurgeon, is working when he gets the call that his wife is in the E.R. Following what appears to be a minor accident, Elle McClure is brain dead. As Matt makes the heart-wrenching decision to terminate life support, he discovers Elle is pregnant. And this is where the real trauma begins. The family splits in its decision to keep her alive artificially so as to give the unborn baby a chance at survival. To make matters worse, Elle is a public figure. Everyone has an opinion on what Matt should do, and his intensely private family drama plays out in public. The ensuing court battle, which will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult, pits Matt against his own mother, who is an obstetrical nurse, and allies him with political groups whose agenda he doesn’t share.

                                                                                           

Although The Promise of Stardust delves into emotionally charged issues, it never does so gratuitously. Yes, I had a few tears, but there was no melodrama, no sense that my heartstrings were being stretched to snapping point. And since the author is a neonatal intensive care nurse, I found the medical information fascinating not maudlin. The hospital settings really came alive.

What I enjoyed most, however, was the gradual unveiling of an unexpected marriage. In the first few chapters, I made incorrect assumptions about Matt and Elle’s relationship. We know they grew up together, and then we learn they were teenage lovers. But their relationship is full of twists and turns; we discover the truth through flashbacks that start with their first kiss and end with their decision to marry.

Elle is an intriguing heroine. A brilliant woman who—literally—reached for the stars. An astrophysicist, she walked in space but nothing mattered more than carrying a baby to term. And Matt just stole my heart. So many times, I stopped to think, “What would I do if I were him?”

As you’ve probably figured out, The Promise of Stardust is a page-turner. I consumed it in two days (despite a major deadline breathing down my neck). I highly recommend it. In fact, I might have to read it again….

The Promise of Stardust launches next month and is available for pre-order from any of these links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound. 

For more information on the author, please visit www.priscillesibley.com

I will be giving away my advance reader copy to one lucky person! For a chance to win, please enter a comment below with your email address.  

 

Barbara Claypole White is the author of  The Unfinished Garden, a love story about grief, OCD, and dirt. Originally from England, she lives in the North Carolina forest with her family and a ridiculously large woodland garden.

Saturday Book Giveaway by Melissa Clark

Okay, there's this book, see, and it's been getting a lot of buzz, but I'll tell you upfront, I did not like it. But others do. I mean, Margaret friggin' Atwood gave it a blurb ("A seriously strange but funny plunge into the quest for authenticity.") If you Google the book, you will see the reviews, some glowing, some scathing, you will see articles and editorials, you will see 5 stars on Amazon and you will see 1 star. How has this book received so much attention? Are you curious? Are you interested? 

The book is "How Should a Person Be?" by Sheila Heti. I made it to page 178 before giving up. (It goes until 306.)

It is a hardback edition in pristine shape.

It is yours if you:

a) "follow" this blog (if you don't already)

and

b) leave a message in the "Comments" section below answering the simple question: How Should a Person Be? (and leave your email where I can contact you)

The winner will be chosen by Random.org on January 11th. I will announce the winner in the Comments section of this entry and we will take it from there.

Perhaps you will love it. Perhaps you will hate it. You'll only know once you win it. Good luck!



Melissa Clark does not attempt to answer the question How Should A Person Be? in her novels. Instead, she probes lazy sperm in Swimming Upstream, Slowly, and women who purr in Imperfect, both available as traditional and e-books. She blogs about various subjects on Connections Clark. Feel free to follow!

Tiiiiiime Isn't On Your Side by Jenny Gardiner

What???? You want me to talk about how I get work done over the holidays???? That would be me, the person who didn't get up her post on time today, and it's January 3rd, the holidays sufficiently behind enough that I should have???? The same person who has a column due for the newspaper and hasn't gotten that written either? Errr, ummm, I think that tells you more than you need to know about me and getting writing done over the holidays. Or any other time when there are just far too many demands on my time... I suck at it. I'd love to say that I can set aside all of the myriad happenings that start cropping up come December, and just hunker down and focus. And maybe at some point in my life I was better at it than I am now. But at least this year, I failed 100%. I got not one word written. But I did have a fun holiday! Hope that counts for something. Part of the problem is now that my kids are in college and beyond, they don't get back home very often. So when they do, I want to spend my time with them. Plus I'm no longer conditioned to ignoring the distractions that crop up with lots of people around (24/7 television blaring comes to mind, lots more picking up, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, etc). This year had more complications: two of my kids had been overseas for an extended period. One was mostly incommunicado, so once we got him home, I wanted to catch up with him! The other, well, fortunately we got to visit her, so I was gone for much of November traveling with her, my husband and other daughter. That came on the heels of a huge work project that sucked up much of my autumn. Fast forward to December, and on top of it I turned 50. So we had festivities involving that that I wasn't going to shun in order to write. And lots of traveling to see family. And holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. Each day over the past month+ (make that past several months) I vowed I would find a place to hide and work. Even make up for the work I failed to accomplish the previous day. But the truth is, I have no place to hide in my house. It's an open floor plan and between kids home and barking dogs and squawking parrots etc, quiet simply does not exist. And going elsewhere to work wasn't an option because I was busy being near my usually far-away kids. Not only did I not get work done, I never once went to the gym. And I ate and I drank and I ate and I drank, with lots of celebrating going on. So suffice it to say, I have a lot to catch up on now that the holidays are behind me. And hoping that gym time doesn't cut into my writing *too* much...Because I have been known to get a little distracted... The good thing is this: I am a crammer. I'm the all-nighter girl who studied for finals by staying up into the wee hours till I got it all done. And I'm that way with my writing, too. Once I get into it, I just go and go and go. So here's hoping I get back into it asap, squeezing in a little gym time while I'm at it, and finish up the far-too-many books I'm in the middle of writing!


  Sleeping with Ward Cleaver

Slim to None

Anywhere But Here

Where the Heart Is

Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me

Accidentally on Purpose (written as Erin Delany)

Compromising Positions (written as Erin Delany)

I'm Not the Biggest Bitch in this Relationship (I'm a contributor)

And these shorts:
Idol Worship: A Lost Week with the Weirdos and Wannabes at American Idol Auditions

The Gall of It All: And None of the Three F's Rhymes with Duck

Naked Man On Main Street

find me on Facebook: fan page
 find me on twitter here
 find me on my website

Impulse Control (And Why Twitter Scares Me) by Jess Riley

A piece of writing advice I always try to stick to is, “never go with your first impulse,” because it is usually a clichéd metaphor or tired device or stale phrase. 

In my case, my second, third, and fourth ideas are often equally hackneyed, but you get what I’m saying.

For example, my first impulse for this post was to write something about my New Year’s Writer Resolutions. (Write more! Read more!) Then I realized that everyone else was writing this, too. (Write more! Read more!)

"Basically worse than genocide ..."

Anyway, turns out this rule of thumb applies equally well to other aspects of the writing and publishing life. For example, let’s pretend you get a snarky, mean-spirited one-star review, saying your book is basically worse than genocide or pedophilia, and definitely more trite. After you stop crying into your basket of chili cheese fries at Culvers Custard, your first impulse will be to march back online and tell that meanie reviewer to eat a bag of dicks. Don’t do that! Instead, Google her, because she was dum-dum enough to post with her first and last name AND city. Enjoy a warm glow of schadenfreude when you learn she’s embroiled in a nasty legal battle due to something that was entirely her fault.

Social media. Well, here every one of my impulses here is to collapse in my chair and slide onto the floor. I joined Twitter last winter, and since I can’t bring myself to believe anyone is all that interested in my caffeine withdrawal or how my dog enjoys chasing frozen peas across the linoleum, I don’t tweet all that often.  Also, self-promotion makes my b-hole cringe. Every once in awhile I’ll get the fighting spirit and tweet four things in a row or comment or retweet something funny or interesting to my negative four followers, and then I’ll collapse in my chair and slide onto the floor. 

Here’s a sample tweet from a folder I started on my computer called “sample tweets:”  I don’t post about political stuff because I don’t want to be rude to my stupider relatives. 

Did I tweet this? 

Hey, got any peanut butter?

No. I lost interest and fed the dog peanut butter instead.

Also, Twitter kind of scares me. The other day someone neat started following me. Based on her screen name and interests, I thought she’d followed me ON PURPOSE, because I am also of this life situation / values / opinion / sense of humor. I immediately followed her back, feeling happy and loved, looking forward to interacting with my new friend. I liked her page on Facebook and read a few of her older blog entries, one of which was all about boosting your Twitter following (while decreasing the number of people YOU follow)…I guess the goal is to look really popular, like back in high school that none of us want to go back to. She’d gotten it down to a science, and there was a complicated process involved that seemed like it would take about forty hours a minute to coordinate.

One of the options for a “Tweet management service” this blogger utilized was an app that can “force people to unfollow you,” which seemed counter-intuitive to me.  Isn’t the whole idea to get more Twitter followers? Not, the service explained, if they ‘contaminate your brand.’

  

Holy Jesus Soul Vacuum!  SERIOUSLY?!

As soon as I finished reading this I logged back onto my Twitter account—perhaps forty minutes had elapsed between her following me, me following her back, and me reading this article and trying to wrap my head around booting people who didn’t smell nice enough for you, or whatever. 

Guess what? My new BFF unfollowed me the second I followed her back, hoping I wouldn’t notice she was using me to game her numbers. So, in mature fashion, I unfollowed her also. Who’s back to square one now, bishes?

So, Happy New Year, one and all! (Write more! Read more!) I hope your third impulse is to re-tweet this post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess Riley is the author of All the Lonely People, which is great for anyone who just endured a holiday from hell with their family, and Driving Sideways, which is great for anyone planning a road trip to meet their kidney donor.  Her Twitter handle is @jessrileywrites, but don't expect much.