Nebraska Update #1

I am feeling settled into my little place here, figuring out the best way to prop my feet and balance my computer on my lap without my legs going numb.  I’ve heard about a Nebraska specialty, Runza, which seems to be a bread bowl with a cabbage/burger mix inside--??  I replaced the disgusting sponges in the sink.  I was shown the best place to go to watch the Missouri River roll by.  I woke up as the first train passed in the night, whistle blaring, but mostly slept through the next one.  I drank a Nebraska beer (Eos) and I heard about where to go to get Buds for a dollar on Thursday.  The bagger at the grocery store followed me and my cart outside, and when I said, “Are you following me?” he said, “Yes, ma’am,” and I said, “I really don’t need any help with my groceries,” but he explained that it’s his job to help.  There’s an Arbor Day parade coming up later in the month (Nebraska City is the birthplace of Arbor Day!) that I don’t want to miss. And I have an inside connection I can use to get a tour of the taxidermy museum where, among other things, I hear there are 100 taxidermied chickens displayed in a coop. I’m reading The Receptionist by Janet Groth, a memoir about her life working for The New Yorker for 21 years and liking it a lot—so gossipy!

Also, I’ve been writing and not automatically hating everything.

Life is good.

I-80 Observations

 

--Ohio seems to have toned down the hyper-vigilant speed traps, leaving North Carolina as the state with the most speed traps, IMHO.

 

--I love the improvements to the Pennsylvania Turnpike—three lanes! No potholes!—but I kind of miss that adrenaline rush of trucks barreling by an inch from your car through rain and fog, lanes of opposing traffic separated by flimsy posts and steel rope.

 

--It’s worth stopping a Culver’s for a custard milkshake.

 

--They still make classic chef’s salads in the Midwest. I should have asked for French dressing or Thousand Island at the Big Boy in Maumee, Ohio.

 

--The World’s Largest Truckstop—in Iowa—is large but very disappointing. Shouldn’t such a mecca not have gas pumps that are broken and unable to pump without standing there, holding it? Plus, the bathroom was dirty.  Plus, while it was E-Z in, it definitely was NOT E-Z out. I do not recommend stopping there.

 

--I always wonder about that RV Hall of Fame (in Indiana). What must an RV driver do to be so honored with enshrinement in the Hall of Fame? There were a lot of cars—not RVs!—in the parking lot.

 

--Ohio’s roads are the flattest and straightest (and the most expensive).

 

--Illinois has the most peaceful roads—west of Chicago—and they really should be marked for 70, not 65.  The Chicago area is filled with maniacs…more adrenaline.

 

--My favorite green interstate sign comes after Pittsburgh:

“Ohio

And West”

 

--A squirrel ran across the interstate in front of my car in Indiana. I’ve never seen such a thing.  There were absolutely no trees around, by the way.

 

--I don’t care if it is just a Hampton Inn: don’t come to the breakfast bar in pajamas and bare feet.

Heading Off to Nebraska City!

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” 

~Virginia Woolf

 

I’m thinking about Virginia Woolf at the moment, most particularly A Room of One’s Own, because I am lucky enough to be heading off to a room on my own for the next month, thanks to a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  I’ll be finalizing one book (fingers crossed!) and perhaps poking around in a new one.  I’ll have time to walk around with my characters in my head and sticky plot problems simmering in my subconscious.  I can spread and pile and sort all my scraps of papers every which way.  I can go to bed whenever I want and wake up whenever I want.  My errands will be few and will seem novel in this new environment.  I can read the stack of books I’ve packed in my car.

There are many things I am grateful for, and tied for the top of my list are my husband for putting up with my absence and the people who start/run/support the valuable spaces artists need.

Also, selfishly, I’m grateful to see that Virginia Woolf also wrote this in A Room of One’s Own:

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

 

Or write well, I’d have to add!

Something to Ponder

The best food for thought comes at unexpected moments. I was walking in my neighborhood yesterday, supposed to be enjoying the brief glimpse of true spring weather, supposed to be pondering my work-in-progress...instead, I was reeling through various to-do lists and (the horror!) sub to-do lists and even sub-sub to-do lists, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an etched stone in someone's garden.  I whisked by, but something made me back up and go read what was written:

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life." ~ Socrates

I won't say my life instantly changed. But I will say that the words have been haunting me.

Link Corral: Me-me-me! Experts on the State of Publishing! Brackish Fiction Contest!

First things first…a super-short story of mine that was published in Camera Obscura has now been posted online:

From “Ghost, 1899”

You stand at the edge of the river.

You’re not sure how it happened.  It could have been that rigid knot growing inside your chest that you ignored.  It could have been staring blankly into emptiness or shooting deep into darkness.  It could have been stepping into the street at the wrong moment when the streetcar rattled by. It could have been bad drink at the hotel, or too many, and wandering here, to the edge of the river, and walking forward into the splash, the cold, the black. It could have been your baby. It could have been anything. When you were alive, you thought these details of dying would matter, and now you discover that they don’t. You’re dead. You must now find a way to believe that.

 

Read the entire (short!) text.

*****

The Washington Post speaks to an array of people at all points of the writing/publishing world, asking for t heir thoughts on what’s going on in this industry rife with change:

From novelist Jennifer Miller:   “My debut novel, “The Year of the Gadfly,” received the kind of reviews that a young novelist dreams of. But with over 60,000 titles published each year, it’s a basic fact that if your book doesn’t achieve “Gone Girl” status within a month or so, then it’s simply gone.

“Which is why I’ve spent the last year fighting to keep my book relevant. I produced a book trailer that featured famous journalists like Brian Williams and Christiane Amanpour. I organized an out-of-pocket three-month book tour last fall, and I invented the Novelade Stand: a lemonade stand for books, in which I set up a sidewalk table with colorful signs, homemade cookies and copies of “Gadfly.”

From Richard Peabody, speaking as a writing teacher:  “One thing hasn’t changed — a solitary writer plays with words in a room somewhere. If you understand that nugget, then you may have a future in this crazy biz.”

 

Read on.

*****

Submit!  There’s a fee, but you get a subscription to a great journal…plus, who can resist this prompt?

The Potomac Review announces a flash fiction themed contest:  “Brackish”

--Fresh water and salt water like Chesapeake Bay

--Oil and vinegar

--Chocolate ice cream and fried onions

--Bugs Bunny meets Freddy Krueger

These ideas aren’t prompts, just nudges to your imagination.  The concept behind our theme, Brackish, is to take two things or ideas, like fresh and salt water, that shouldn’t work together or mix well, but do anyway. 

In the spirit of the Potomac Review’s watery origins, we will celebrate this phenomenon by asking talented writers to participate in our first themed writing contest: a flash fiction contest. Contest dates: February 28st—April 5^th. Enter online and check the website for further details: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Altsub1.aspx?id=24421

The winner will receive publication in the Potomac Review, a year’s subscription to the Potomac Review, and $1,000!

To enter, submit a compelling piece of flash fiction of up to 1,500 words that combines any two (or more) subjects or genres with at $20 fee per entry. You can pay online via the website. Submissions will be judged by Drue Heinz and Pushcart Prize winner Kirk Nesset. This contest adheres to all CLMP Contest Guidelines.

The Potomac Review is an award winning internationally and nationally known literary magazine, based in the Mid Atlantic, along the Potomac River.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on Creating Suspense, Multiple POVs, and More: An Interview with the Author of Oleander Girl

Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Simon & Schuster ~ 289 pages

Interview by Debby DeRosa

How much of our identity is decided by our background, and how much can we choose?  18-year-old orphan Korobi Roy must find out for herself during the course of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new novel, Oleander Girl.Sheltered by her traditional grandfather, Korobi has grown up knowing little about her parents.  Her only tie to them is a letter her mother wrote to her father, which causes her to long for a love like theirs.  She meets Rajat, a handsome playboy from a wealthy family, and she thinks she has found what she desires.  Then, on the night of her engagement party, her grandfather dies from a heart attack, and she discovers a dark family mystery.  Putting her relationship in jeopardy, she travels from India to the United States to discover who she really is. Told from four points of view, Korobi’s captivating story explores the challenges of navigating a world filled with differences. 

Busy on her book tour, Divakaruni spares some time to share her techniques and intentions in writing Oleander Girl.

INTERVIEWER

The oleander is a prevalent image in your book.  Could you talk a little about the importance of this image in your story and why you chose this particular flower?

DIVAKARUNI

The oleander seemed to be the perfect symbol for the book on many levels. It is ambiguous, both positive and negative, beautiful and dangerous --and hardy, capable of protecting itself. It is central to the mystery of the protagonist Korobi’s mother Anu, because Anu (dying at childbirth) chooses to name her daughter after this complicated flower. A question that drives the novel is why Anu chooses to name Korobi after this flower. Why not Rose or Jasmine or Lily, as is more common? It is also a flower that grows in both India and America, connecting the two worlds through which the novel and our protagonist travels.

INTERVIEWER

As the quotes on the cover describe, your story was a “page turner.”I found the book to be incredibly suspenseful because of the family mystery and way you switched points of view.  Could you talk a little about your process of creating suspense?

DIVAKARUNI

I think carefully about what to reveal and when. A secret is what propels the action of Oleander Girl, so I had to plan it carefully. I examined literary novels that I have enjoyed which depend for their effect on secrets and mysteries, such as Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. I tried to make sure the suspense came as much out of character as out of event, and that its effects upon character were also seen clearly. I tried to plant enough foreshadowing so that the reader never felt tricked. I am glad it worked for you!

INTERVIEWER

Even though you change points of view in the story, Korobi is the main character and heroine.  How did you decide to use multiple points of view?  What challenges and opportunities did this choice create for you when writing the book?

DIVAKARUNI

The book has four major narrators. Korobi, the 18-year-old heiress of a distinguished if dilapidated old Kolkata family, is engaged to Rajat, whose family is newly rich and very posh. (He’s actually quite the bad boy, partying hard until he meets Korobi.)She gets a first person narrative as this is largely her story. I decided on first person for her because I want the readers to experience her emotions and bewilderment and conflicts close-up, particularly when she discovers a huge secret that her grandfather has kept from her all her life. The other three—Rajat, her grandmother, and Rajat’s family chauffeur—all get a third person point of view, as I wanted some distance, some irony, in their understanding of their situations. I chose four very distinct characters from different generations andsocial and religious backgrounds so that their vision and understanding of what’s happening, what’s right, and what’s their duty would rub against each other, creating irony and tension.

INTERVIEWER

Place is an important element inthe story.  The action of the story happens in India, New York, San Francisco, and Boston, often at the same time.  On top of that, Korobi speaks with people from Arizona and Georgia in her quest.  Why did you choose to include many places in your story, and how did you achieve the movement between places so seamlessly?

DIVAKARUNI

Oleander Girl is based on a mythic structure, the hero’s journey. (Though I’ve partly turned that structure on its head because unlike in the epics or myths like the Iliad where the male hero travels and the wife/sweetheart stays back home, here Korobi is the one who must undertake a dangerous journey alone and Rajat is left in India to feel anxiety, jealousy and some insecurity as he wonders if she will return to him or not.) This is why so many places are necessary in this novel. Place is always important to me. I feel it stamps itself upon character. I’m glad the movements work for you—they were a challenge, particularly as in half the world of the book it is night while in the other half it is daytime, and communication between the characters becomes increasingly difficult.

INTERVIEWER

Is there anything I haven’t asked that you would like people to know about your book?

DIVAKARUNI

This book grew out of my urgent belief that, as Auden says so beautifully, "We must love one another or die."  How, in this increasingly multicultural world fraught with violence, are we to coexist in peace with people whose religions, beliefs, ideologies and customs are all different and maybe even opposed to ours?  In Oleander Girl, I pose this question, and I hope that by the end of the novel the reader comes up with a satisfying answer.  

Buy the book on Amazon or through independent bookstore Politics & Prose.

More information about Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, including upcoming events. 

Note:  On May 9, Chitra Divakaruni will be in the DC area, reading from Oleander Girl, along with DC writer Manil Suri (who will read from his latest novel, City of Devi):  
7 pm ~ One More Page Books ~ 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, #101 ~ Arlington, VA

***

About the interviewer:  Debby DeRosa holds a BA in English from the University of South Carolina in Columbia and is working towards an MFA in Creative Writing from Converse College.  She is scheduled to graduate in June.  She works as a Marketing Manager for Five Star Plumbing Heating Cooling in Greer, SC, and she freelances as a copywriter and content developer.  She and her husband, Joe, have one daughter, Aimee, and they are expecting their second child in August.

"Moby-Dick" Opera to Come to Kennedy Center!

I’m absurdly excited that the Washington National Opera will be putting on a production of Jake Heggie’s “Moby-Dick” next year at the Kennedy Center!  By no means am I any kind of opera expert or super-fan, but I’ve always been enthralled by every opera I’ve ever seen; it’s perhaps the only art form where I become so utterly immersed that the irritating armrest-fighter next to me and the germy cougher across the aisle both melt away, leaving only me and the performance.

“Moby-Dick” is a natural for an operatic production, of course:  a epic story with larger than life characters, life and death, man vs. nature, tragedy, whales thrashing about, and a peg-leg!  The only thing missing as far as I can tell is, um, a soprano!  The cast photo shows one woman…not sure who she’ll turn out to be, but I’m looking forward to finding out.  (Research shows that she plays the cabin boy.)

Here’s the link for more info, though individual tickets aren’t available yet (go ahead…subscribe to the whole season!).

Here’s a Washington Post review of the original production in Dallas.  Anne Midgette writes:

“Moby-Dick,” though not perfect, turned out to be one of the most satisfying new operas I’ve seen premiered. And while new work is often seen by audiences as more a duty than a pleasure, the opening-night crowd in Dallas broke into spontaneous applause three times during the first half, and screamed and yelled its approval at the curtain calls. It was a wonderful and rare reminder that new opera truly can excite people if it’s done right.

 

While I don’t usually read paragraphs marked “spoiler alert”—I did in this Post article, assuming I know the end of the book so what could be spoiled?—but…I didn’t know the end of this opera; and when I read the ending, I got chills down my spine immediately.  I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPERA!!!