Friday, December 28, 2012

Entry # 122 - "From Ashes: The Phoenix Effect"


Photo Credit: Alex Ketley 12/24/12 Sausalito, CA
In Ursula K. Le Guin’s wonderful essay, “Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?” Le Guin said:  

“Writers have to get used to launching something beautiful and watching it crash and burn. They also have to learn when to let go control, when the work takes off on its own and flies, farther than they had ever planned or imagined, to places they didn’t know they knew. All writers must leave room for acts of the spirit. But they also have to work hard and carefully, and wait patiently, to deserve them.”



I call this “The Phoenix Effect” because out of the ruins of a story under revision, a newer version rises from the ashes and it grows beyond anything I might have anticipated initially.  But it’s hard – for me as a writer – to let go and trust that something stronger and better will rise from those earlier, well-formed scenes and characters.  Cutting scenes and characters I’ve labored over and come to love is part of the hardest work in my writer’s day.



Recently I rewrote a powerful story that tended to over-power the reader. The revision process required the surgical removal of a character I particularly liked. But after trying to avoid this painful process for two years, the reality of what was needed would not let me rest, until I had altered the focus of the story.  The result is a stronger story. A Phoenix has risen from the ashes of that story and for that I am truly humbled by this process.



And yes. I often wait – though not as patiently as I should – to revise and to leave room for those acts of the spirit that carry the story beyond – into a stronger version of itself.   

As the old year winds down, writers tend to assess the results of the past year before planning their writing goals for the New Year.  So today I think about the successes and failed attempts of the past year; this is something true that I have learned and want to share with others.  Thank you to all of you who have read and written thoughtful, heartfelt emails about my posts.

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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:




Friday, December 21, 2012

Entry # 121 - "The Why of Horrible"

This week I am devastated by the unanswerable "how and why" of the horrible elementary school slaughter in Connecticut.  Everyone has an answer - and - No one has an answer. So I won't even go into that, but what I have thought about is how and what to write in the face of such horrific events.

Right now,  I am unable to work on the stories currently under revision on my computer.  Maybe next week, but what do I write now?  I am a writer.  I must write.

And how do I help the writers in my writing class? With a heavy heart I struggled to find a journal writing task worthy of the moment for my writing class prompt for the week. So what to do?  I've been reading lots of poetry.  Too much to use here.  I turned to poetry, as I often do when sadness threatens to overtake me.  Poetry has the power to comfort and help the mind confront the worst and best in the human heart, and we're all probably a little better after spending time with spare, evocative images of a poem or photo.

I turned to a favorite poet, Naomi Shihab Nye and poetry from two books that I often read & reread:  Words Under The Words by Nye, and another book of selected poems - edited by Nye, What Have You Lost? 

So here are some writing prompts taken from "evocative lines" - out of context - from several poems that I randomly read.  Perhaps they'll connect to something in your heart and mind. Or perhaps you'll find it helps your heart to read more poetry. If you keep a journal, then maybe this is a place to begin.  Take a line and write freely. Let the possibilities taken from these poems or others, connect and help. 

1.     Naomi Shihab Nye's "Telling The Story"
        "In America, what's real
         juggles with what isn't
         a woman I know props fabulous tulips
         in her flowerbed, in snow."
 

2.     more from Nye's poem - "Telling The Story"
        ..."a mother walking the same child
             to school.
             What will we learn today?
             There should be an answer,
             and it should
                     change."
 

3.        Naomi Shihab Nye's "Where Children Live"
           "Homes where children live exude a pleasant rumpledness, 

              like a bed made by a child, or a yard littered with balloons."

4.     Ezra Pound's "In a Station of the Metro"     
              note: this is all there is to this poem - only two lines
        "The apparition of those faces in the crowd;
          Petals on a wet, black bough."

 

If you wish, you can take a line (or more) from one of these and use it to write freely in your journal. I wish you a good week.  May peace be yours.   Jan
 

Having prepared and scheduled a different posting for this date, I went back and removed it and am posting this one instead.  Perhaps another day - I will find a time to post the other one. But not now. Not in the face of so much pain.  Not at a time when one of the best things about this time of the year is the laughter of little children - who make this season so special. Not in the face of such loss.

Please note:  I will not post on Tuesday, December 25, 2012 or Tuesday, January 1, 2012.  I need to take a break and spend time with family and friends.  It is a time for reflection.
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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Entry # 120 - WRITERS TALK - Pat Valdata - Maryland Poet and Prose Writer

Background Notes:   
 
 Pat Valdata is the author of a poetry book, Inherent Vice (2011), and a chapbook, Looking for Bivalve (2002), both published by Pecan Grove Press. Pat’s poetry has appeared most recently in Passager and the anthology Challenges for the Delusional (Jane Street Press, 2012). She has also written two novels, Crosswind (Wind Canyon Books, 1998) and the award-winning The Other Sister (Plain View Press, 2008). Her books are available online at www.cloudstreetcomm.com/books.htm


Pat lives in Elkton, Maryland, with her husband, Bob Schreiber. She has an MFA from Goddard College and is an avid birder and sailplane pilot.




Jan:    Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk about your work. Congratulations! Your recent poem, “Grim Reaper” won honorable mention in the Passager Poetry Contest and was published in the latest issue.     What inspired you to write this particular poem?


Pat:    “Grim Reaper,” like many of my published poems, started at the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, a writing workshop run by Peter Murphy that I have attended for many years. Peter gives very quirky writing prompts, and then we have only about 90 minutes to come up with a draft to be workshopped later that day. So I was sitting in my motel room in Cape May, with a view mostly of the parking lot, eating chocolate and trying to figure out how to write a poem that included a pledge, which the prompt required, along with images and words from several postcards. I had a very sick dog at home and knew that we were going to have to put her down soon after I got home, and that got me thinking more generally about loss and death. One of the postcards had a picture of Johnny Appleseed on it, so that gave me my opening, and off I went.



Jan:    Tell us about your process for writing poems, like “Grim Reaper” or “Inherent Vice”? How do you begin and when do you know that it is finished?



Pat:    Well, when I am not at the Getaway or writing to a prompt from our local poetry group, Lunchlines, I tend to begin with an image. It can be anything—a nuthatch, a roadside statue, beech leaves in October. Something just strikes me and I start to work with it. “Inherent Vice” came out of a trip to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. There was an exhibit called Inherent Vice, which is an art term that describes the tendency of some material to deteriorate because there’s something in the material itself that makes it happen. Some artists deliberately use materials they know will degrade over time, and some use materials not knowing this will occur, like the sculpture whose photo is on the cover of my book.



My process is that most often I start with a handwritten draft, and I’ll revise as I type it and start to see what form it needs to take. Often I’ll put a poem away for weeks, months, sometimes longer, because I think it’s important to put some distance between me and the poem for a while. Then I can look at it with fresh eyes, and often see potential revisions that I didn’t notice before. It’s hard for me to know when poem is finished. I can tinker with a poem for a long time before I am more-or-less happy with it, and I have had a few poems that I revised quite a bit after they were already published.


Jan:    Your poem, “Inherent Vice” (Can we include it here?) talks about how everything breaks down, the world falls apart and yet, “decay is deliberate…” And yet all is not lost, is it?  Is there a remaining ray of hope, and what do you think leaves us hopeful in the face of such “inherent vice” that we can “see it in the mirror?”




Inherent Vice



Inherent vice: The quality of a material or an object to self-destruct
or to be unusually difficult to maintain.
“Conservation Resources for Art and  Antiques,”
                                    Washington Conservation Guild




It all degrades: paint

fades, varnish cracks,

canvas mildews and frays.

Clouds dissipate, leaves

turn brown and fall.

The bookbinding rots,

The Ice Man melts.

Even petrified wood:

where did the cellulose go?



Decay is deliberate,

like Navajo sand painting,

words scribed in chalk

on a rainy sidewalk,

swans sculpted from ice.

No matter. We are all

design: inherent vice.

See it in the museum.

See it in your mirror.



Pat:    I think what we see in that mirror is our own inherent vice—how we age over time. Our bodies are designed to go kaput at some point, and the older we get, the more apparent that process becomes! I don’t see this as a particularly hopeful poem, but I like knowing that we are all part of this cycle of birth, death, decay and transformation that has been going on ever since life first evolved and that will continue for eons to come. There would be no transformation without that decay, so I see the decay as something positive.



Jan:    What continues to surprise you about your process as a poet?  



Pat:    Peter Murphy always tells us “You must surprise yourself! Do not settle for what you already know.”   I try to follow his advice when I write, whether it is poetry, fiction or nonfiction. I also like to read about writing poetry and to learn new forms and methods. I’ve been going to the West Chester University Poetry Conference for several years, which is all about form and narrative, and so I have been trying to do more with form lately. I am not very good at it yet, but I am having fun with triolets and sonnets, and trying to imbue my free verse poems with a better sense of sound and rhythm.



Jan:    You have published two novels: The Other Sister (Plain View Press, 2008) and Crosswind (Wind Canyon Publishing, 1997).  Which do you like better, writing poetry or novels and why?  



Pat:    Neither genre is better—they are both fun in their own ways. The advantage of a novel is having the scope to work in—lots of characters, long time periods, different settings, which is not something you get to work with in a poem unless you want to try an epic, which I don’t! But when I write fiction, I don’t sit down at the computer and think “Okay, now I am going to write a novel.” I think, “Okay, now I am going to write a scene.” So I am still working with a fairly compressed form.

Jan:    How does what you do to build a poem compare to the process for writing your novels?


Pat:    Whether I am writing a poem or a scene, the work needs to have an arc, with an intriguing beginning, the right level of detail, and a strong closing, so they have a lot in common.



Jan:   An earlier chapbook, Looking for Bivalve (2002) published by Pecan Grove Press was well received.


Pat:    Thank you!  


Jan:    Have your concerns about the world represented in your poetry changed since this earlier book was published?  If so - how?



Pat:    I wrote most of the poems in Looking for Bivalve in the1990s. I was younger then, and life was certainly different pre-9/11, so my poetry in that chapbook reflects who I was and how things were at that time. Of course, times have changed and I’ve changed, so the poetry I write today is probably different from what I would have written in the past, but I don’t think consciously about that. I just work with what I’ve got.



Jan:    What have you learned from working with publishers that you wish you had known when you first looked for a publisher?



Pat:    LOL! Oh, po-biz is the hardest part about being a writer. I am very lucky to have been published by Pecan Grove Press. My publisher, H. Palmer Hall, cares very much about making good books and about making books well, so he spends a lot of time and works closely with the poets to get the right cover design, to seek and destroy all typos, and to make sure the arrangement of the poems is just right. He worked hard to get my book finished in time to debut at the AWP conference in Washington, DC, in 2011, and he featured it on the press’s web site for quite a while. But he’s in Texas and I am in Maryland, so publicizing it in the Mid-Atlantic region was something I had to do myself, and that’s pretty much how it is with any publisher who is not in the same town as a poet. That’s just how it goes.



Fiction is a whole different story. It is really, really, really hard to get one’s fiction published through traditional publishing houses, which is one reason why you see so many people self-publishing or going straight to e-books. It is very cool that we have the technology now that lets this happen. My only problem with it is that so many of these books need to be copy edited and proofread before they go on sale.



Jan:    What other poets have most influenced your work as a poet?



Pat:    I love reading poetry, and I have so many books of poetry on my shelves! This is a very hard question to answer. Elizabeth Bishop is someone whose work I really admire. Her attention to detail and to language is exquisite. Denise Levertov is another poet who paid close attention to getting the details right. I was lucky enough to take a poetry workshop with her many years ago when I was just starting to write seriously, and she is the Denise mentioned in my poem “On Reading ‘Tattoo, Corazon: Ritchie Valens, 1959’ ” Other poets whose work I admire very much are Alicia Ostriker, Barbara Crooker, Pat Fargnoli, Ned Balbo, Robert Pinsky, Richard Wilbur.



Other poets are important to me not only for the quality of their work, but also because they have shown confidence in my own work that helped me trust myself as a poet. Probably Mark Doty was the first, when he was my thesis advisor at Goddard College; also Wendy Battin, Maxianne Berger, Robin Kemp, and Marilyn Taylor. Palmer, also, for publishing me, and he is a heck of a poet in his own right.


Jan:     Poet Barbara Crooker describes your poetry as, "Graced by clean lines, sharp images, economy of words, these are poems that will linger, long after you close the covers of the book." Your images do resonate.  For example, I loved your image of God “kicking off her pumps / pouring a glass of Malbec” at the end of a hard day… Can you describe this process of “seeing” an image that is unforgettable and leaving it to glow, like an ember in the reader’s mind?



Pat:    Oh, thank you so much for saying that my images resonate! That is such a nice compliment, and something poets always hope for. I can’t describe any process, really; like Hemingway, I just try to get the words right and keep revising until I think I have it. There’s no way of knowing what will resonate or not, but it is a joy when readers see something in one’s work that sticks.



Jan:    What is the worst advice about your own writing that you have received and chosen to ignore?



Pat:    “Write what you know” is pretty bad advice. Writing what you don’t know is so much more interesting.

Jan:    And what do you wish someone had told you when you finished college?  



Pat:    What I really wish someone had told me when I finished college was to go to grad school right away and to heck with being practical. I feel as though I wasted a lot of time being afraid of admitting that what I wanted more than anything else was to be a writer. 

Jan:    And as we end our interview, what advice do you offer to encourage other writers? 



Pat:    Just keep at it, and don’t get discouraged, especially if your family and friends don’t get what you are trying to do. Find other writers who do get it, and help one another out. Also, find good teachers. You don’t have to get a degree—that was goal of mine, but it isn’t for everyone—but you can take noncredit classes, and especially for a beginner, some writing classes can make a real difference in the quality of one’s work. 

In Maryland we are lucky to have the Writer’s Center, especially now that they have online workshops for those who live too far from Bethesda to take classes in person.
                                     Jan:    Thank you for this lovely interview.



                                     Pat:    You’re welcome, and thank you
                                                 for asking me to do this. 
Pat Valdata's  books are available online at www.cloudstreetcomm.com/books.htm


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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:


Friday, December 14, 2012

Entry # 119 - "What to Give YOUR Writer"

Last year about this time, I wrote this essay as Entry #30 for my blog. It's still relevant so here is a slightly updated version.  

As we wrap up 2012, if you are a writer or have one in your life, perhaps you’re thinking about what might be useful to jump-start 2013.  May I offer some suggestions?

Pens, writing calendars, and journals are happy things for most writers, even those who use laptops and e-readers on a daily basis, usually like to get them as gifts.  Workshops or writing classes are pricey, but nice. But to keep it simple, how about a subscription to an interesting journal!


It is useful to know that good writers read as much as they write, and a subscription to an excellent magazine or journal would be a welcomed gift for most. The small press in this country is alive and well, but for many it remains a labor of love. Some struggle to survive; putting money into a subscription is another way to keep people working in 2013.  

If you dislike advertising in your magazine and want to read evocative fiction, essays, poems and opinion pieces, and if you need to “hold” an actual  magazine in your hands, consider, “The Sun.” 
 It’s not for everyone, but I find I sit down and read it cover-to-cover when it arrives each month, even when I meant to put it down and work. Or explore regional literary magazines. Most areas in this country have local journals that publish a range of interesting fiction, essays, poetry and photography.  For example, in my local area (Maryland) we have The Little Patuxent Review, The Baltimore Review, The Delmarva Review, Poet Lore, and others.  


Of course, you can select a general magazine like Harpers or The New Yorker, but why not try a less traveled road. Conduct a search in the Poets & Writers online - list of literary journals for ideas.  Hundreds of literary journals are produced at colleges and universities around the country.  

Among the many wonderful journals consider:  Folio, Gettysburg Review, The Florida Review, Gulf Coast, Big Muddy, Sycamore Review, Iowa Review, New Letters, Roanoke Review, or numerous others.  Or you might consider the appropriately named - Glimmer Train. Any of these will provide “a good read” all year long.  

This year one of my favorites is One Story. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You get one really interesting story about every 3 weeks - of a single pocket-sized, portable story that is a sparkling gem.  You can slip it in a pocket to read and reread while you’re waiting.  And it’s lighter than a Kindle. It’s also a good introduction to new writers.


If writing tips are what you seek - consider the old standards like: Poets & Writers, The Writer, or Writer’s Digest.   

Most writers will appreciate these gifts that give ideas and encouragement all year long.  Also more and more magazines are available online and through e-books these days and some require a subscription so you could consider that too.   If you’re a Kindle or Nook reader - some of these are available there.     

Although I love my Kindle, I still read real paper as often as I can. There is something deeply satisfying about holding a book and flipping back to check on something I missed earlier.  I just don’t get the same experience when I flip around on my touch screen. I guess that even though I tend to be an “early adopter” - I also remain “old school” and that’s okay for now. 

Note:  I will take a break and not post on this site on
                 December 25, 2012 or January 1, 2013.

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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:




Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Entry # 118 - WRITERS TALK - Judith C. Reveal - Maryland Novelist

Background Notes
Judith C. Reveal - Author of the new historical novel, The Brownstone and Author of the Lindsey Gale Mystery Series: Cheating Death, The Music Room, and A House to Kill For.

Jan:    Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk about your work. Tell us about yourself. Why did you become a writer?

Judy:    I had the grand good luck to be born to a family of avid readers. Both of my parents encouraged me to read, and although we never had a library per se in our house, we had books, magazines, newspapers – every piece of reading material you could image spread across every surface of the house. I don’t ever recall not having a library card and spent many wonderful hours wandering through the stacks with Nancy Drew. It seems like a normal progression that I would move from reading to writing. I recall after receiving copies of my first published book, Cheating Death that I sent an email to an old friend who was once a roommate, and she responded to my news saying that she was not surprised and now she knew why we had so many books all over our apartment – that it was inevitable I would progress to writing. Since seriously taking on the enjoyable task of writing, I doubt that I will ever stop.


Jan:    Your newest novel, The Brownstone, is a bit different from your previous Lindsey Gale mystery series, in that it is historical fiction.  What inspired you to write this particular historical novel?

Judy:     I was born in 1945 and my ‘formative’ years were filled with Saturday afternoon movies at the local theater (The Roxy) in Berwyn, IL, watching John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Jimmy Stewart, etc., single handedly win World War II, so it is an era that is firmly ensconced in my psyche. This particular story started out as a short story assignment for a course I was taking and it was about 4 girls who shared an apartment during the war and how the war affected each of them. But the more I wrote, the more characters started surfacing – they came at me from every direction – poking me and prodding me and demanding a role in the story. So the story started to take on a life of its own and I just followed it around taking notes!

Jan:    Set in 1941, The Brownstone explores the lives of an eclectic group of seven tenants who find themselves renting flats in the large brownstone of Morris and Sadie Goldstein. The tenants become a tightly knit, but complex community, even as WWII unfolds around them. Tell us what you loved about writing this book.

Judy:    Although with each passing year we get further and further away from this era, I do believe that this event really forced America to grow up and take on the responsibilities of adulthood in the world. Responsibility is the key word here. As war has grown into terrorism and changed the face of the world, we can look back at the World War II era and sense that families were more closely knit together. I felt that I wanted to bring that sense of togetherness to the reader, although I must admit that I really loved getting to know these characters – both good and bad.

Jan:    And what surprised you about your process?

Judy:    Nothing really surprised me about the process itself.  I discovered along the way that there were changes that were necessary, although I rejected them at first. There are some characters that I had to remove because they really gave nothing to the various aspects of the story and it’s hard to get rid of a character. I had originally started with a prologue and ended with an epilogue that I found out (much to my surprise) that for most beta readers, these did not work. I loved them, but they got cut and in the long run I think that was the right thing to do.

Jan:    The Brownstone is not only your first historical novel, but it is also your first self-published endeavor.  Why did you decide to go the self-publishing route for this one?

Judy:    Control over my work and money. Like most writers today, I have been watching the debacle called “the publishing industry” especially with the traditional houses, and it is patently obvious that unless one has credentials, or an agent, or some foot in the door, the traditional houses are just not going to show an interest. Most of us could spend the rest of our lives schlepping our manuscripts from one place to another; waiting 6 months for an answer; and then getting the reject letter. Traditional publishing may give credibility to one’s work, but that’s about it. From the money aspect, self-publishing provides a better return on one’s sale. The process is quick and easy and makes a writer’s work accessible in a variety of formats.

Jan:    What have you learned from working with your previous publishers that made this the right choice at this time?

Judy:    I still have my mystery series (Lindsey Gale Mysteries) with Arline Chase at Cambridge Books and I am working on #4 in the series.  I am grateful to her for helping me along from the beginning and I enjoy working with her.  Self-publishing is just another aspect of this journey.

Jan:    Readers probably know you best for your murder mystery series set in Greensboro, MD, your hometown on the Eastern Shore.  How much does this actual ‘place’ influence the series?

Judy:    In smaller, regional areas, I think the ‘place’ can be both a benefit and a drawback. I have a number of readers who enjoy the stories because of the setting – but they know the various places I describe and they enjoy being in those places with my characters. I also have the ability to expand into neighboring counties and states but at some point in time, this may wear thin. I think the most important thing is the story itself.  If the story is not interesting, then the location does nothing to help it.

 

Jan:    The series features Lindsey Gale, who is publisher of the Greensboro Press and who often seems to find herself involved in solving murders. Who is the model for Lindsey and what makes her so likeable to readers?

Judy:    I don’t know that there is any one person who is a model – I have taken characteristics of several friends and acquaintances and mixed them up to create my characters.  Of course, writers always put parts of themselves into their characters and I’m sure I’ve done some of that as well.




Jan:    When you wrote the first of these mysteries, Cheating Death, did you imagine it would become a successful series?  How did that come about?

Judy:    I did not anticipate success or failure, just wanted to write stories that I hoped others would enjoy reading. I really don’t know where the story came from.  I actually don’t know where ANY of my stories come from – they just sort of appear one day and I start writing them.                 

I was not planning on writing a mystery series when I started with Cheating Death but I really like the major characters – Lindsey Gale and Conrad Trent – and felt that they had several stories in them that needed to be told. This just happened to be the first one.
Jan:    Of the three mystery novels in the series:  Cheating Death, The Music Room, and A House to Kill For, which is your favorite and why? 

Judy:    The Music Room is my favorite because I think it is the most interesting “story” of the three. It is based on an unresolved murder that occurred in the 1930s (not a true one, just fiction), and the event resurfaces after the last remaining person who knew the truth about the murder, dies and the story gets resurrected. As that occurs, new murders begin to take place and Lindsey and Conrad find themselves in the middle of the whole kerfuffle and they are the only people who have the information needed to unravel both the old crime and the new ones. I really enjoyed writing that story and I do think it is the best of the three.

Jan:     Often writers tend to work in isolation and are not so involved in helping other writers, but you are active in the Maryland writing community, presenting at workshops, conferences, community colleges, in addition, to doing freelance work as a writing consultant and serving as an officer for MWA and the Bay-to-Ocean Conferences. 

So what motivates your involvement to the larger community of writers?

Judy:    I believe that anyone who has a story to tell should tell it.  Not all writers are good writers and I’ve edited some manuscripts that are challenging, but every writer I’ve worked with has presented a story premise that is good and has potential.  I find writing to be a cathartic activity – when something is bothering me, if I sit down with a project, I quickly find myself floating off into another world where my imagination becomes very active and time just flies by – before I know it, several hours have passed and I am rejuvenated.  I try to encourage writers to take that step – some will succeed others will not, but no one knows until they start putting those words down on paper.

Jan:    What advice about your own writing have you chosen to ignore?

Judy:    HAHAHA! About twenty five years ago I had an editor read a short story that I knew was flawed, but I did not know why or how to fix it, and instead of encouraging me, he told me that if I wanted to write for my family or friends or just to please myself – that’s fine, but I would never be a published writer; I just wasn’t good enough. After spending thirty minutes crying, and another thirty minutes turning the air blue around my head, I determined that no one was going to tell me that, and I WOULD be published. I worked hard, attended conferences, classes, and workshops to learn more about the creative process, and I reached my goal. So I guess if I ignored anything, it was some smarmy little toad telling me I could not do something I so wanted to do.

Jan:    Thank you for the interview. And as we end our interview, what advice would you offer to encourage other writers? 

Judy:    Never stop writing, but be sure you get advice from other writers and editors about how you can hone your skills and continue to move on to the next level. And read, read, read – support your local library, and read.



Judith Reveal, 
Just Creative Writing & Indexing Service
Greensboro, MD 21639
"…so many books, so little time…"
Tam multi libri, tam breve tempus

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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:





Friday, December 7, 2012

Entry # 117 - A LIST - Books I Might Read in 2013 -

Sunday, December 2, 2012, the New York Times posted its List of 100 notable Books of 2012.   From that list - I have gleaned Jan's List of "Maybe" Books to read in 2013.  

Novels
This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
A Hologram For the King by Dave Eggers
In One Person by John Irving
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Salvage the Bones by  Jesmyn Ward
San Miguel by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Shout Her Lovely Name by Natalie Serber

Short Story Collections
The Book of Mischief: Stories by Steve Stern
Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro
Gods Without Men: Stories by Hari Kunzru
Married Love: And Other Stories by Tessa Hadley

Poetry   
Collected Poems by Jack Gilbert

Non Fiction  
My Poets by Maureen N. McLane
On a Farther Shore: The Life & Legacy of Rachel Carson 
                                    - by William Souder
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? 
                                    - by Jeannette Winterson 

Sometimes There Is A Void: Memoirs of An Outsider   - by Zakes Mda 
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity  
                  - by Katherine Boo 

Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief, and Small Boats
                                                  - by Roger Rosenblatt
Far From The Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity                      - by Andrew Solomon
  
And yes.  It is true that I have books still unopened and unread from last year.  And I am realistic enough to know that I'll likely read 40%of these.  And I offer no particular reason for my choices - except my own whimsical notions based on reading the brief reviews - which I won't give here, since you can easily go online & get reviews from the New York Times or Amazon. 
Feel Free to comment - suggest or add a book - on the blog
comment space below.  If you have trouble posting it, send me email so I can make any repairs that might be needed. Thanks.
email:    janbowmanwriter@gmail.com
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Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at: